01-15-2020, 09:13 PM
If you want to repair or restore these radios you will need quite a few things.
1. Basic hand tools, needle nose pliers, regular pliers, a set of screwdrivers, a set of small (jewelers) screwdrivers, small and medium sized diagonal cutters.
2. A good soldering gun. A Weller 140 - 150 watt type. Get an older one with the nuts to hold in the tips. The new ones with set screws suck. You can find them inexpensively on eBay.
3. A multi-meter which measures volts, ohms, and current. Some will also measure capacitance, which is nice to have. These can be bought from eBay, or Harbor Freight. Don't get the cheapest one. Spend a little more and get a good one.
4. A tube tester which has sockets for the older types of tubes, 4, 5, 6, and 7 pin large base tubes, and 8 pin octal and 8 pin loctal tubes. These too can be found on eBay for reasonable prices. I suggest replacing any electrolytic capacitors in it before you begin to use it.
5. To align the radio after you finish with the parts replacement you will need a signal generator. You will find discussions on this board about such things. There are some new ones being sold on eBay. Personally, I prefer to use one of the old tube type sig gens. Again, if you get an old one, replace at least the electrolytic filter caps. I have replaced the paper caps in mine too. I cross check its output using a digital short wave radio which I bought from e-bay. You could also take it to an electronics repair place and have them check the alignment instead. My own sig gen is actually so close with its output that I don't really have to double check it with the radio, I do it out of habit.
I realize that all this sounds like you are going to have to buy a lot of stuff to repair antique radios. Yes, you actually are. It may take time to get it all together, but that will give you time to read and study so you will have some knowledge to help you when you start to put those tools and instruments to work.
1. Basic hand tools, needle nose pliers, regular pliers, a set of screwdrivers, a set of small (jewelers) screwdrivers, small and medium sized diagonal cutters.
2. A good soldering gun. A Weller 140 - 150 watt type. Get an older one with the nuts to hold in the tips. The new ones with set screws suck. You can find them inexpensively on eBay.
3. A multi-meter which measures volts, ohms, and current. Some will also measure capacitance, which is nice to have. These can be bought from eBay, or Harbor Freight. Don't get the cheapest one. Spend a little more and get a good one.
4. A tube tester which has sockets for the older types of tubes, 4, 5, 6, and 7 pin large base tubes, and 8 pin octal and 8 pin loctal tubes. These too can be found on eBay for reasonable prices. I suggest replacing any electrolytic capacitors in it before you begin to use it.
5. To align the radio after you finish with the parts replacement you will need a signal generator. You will find discussions on this board about such things. There are some new ones being sold on eBay. Personally, I prefer to use one of the old tube type sig gens. Again, if you get an old one, replace at least the electrolytic filter caps. I have replaced the paper caps in mine too. I cross check its output using a digital short wave radio which I bought from e-bay. You could also take it to an electronics repair place and have them check the alignment instead. My own sig gen is actually so close with its output that I don't really have to double check it with the radio, I do it out of habit.
I realize that all this sounds like you are going to have to buy a lot of stuff to repair antique radios. Yes, you actually are. It may take time to get it all together, but that will give you time to read and study so you will have some knowledge to help you when you start to put those tools and instruments to work.
