[Jayce]

Just a quick question and this may be a dumb one, but which direction does the tone control on the Philco 116X turn? I know what the settings are supposed to be, but this control seems backward to me like it goes in a counter-clockwise direction instead of the usual clockwise most controls go. I finally dug out my 116X to use regularly and just would like to know.   Also, I have noticed since their last transmitter repair that our local radio station sounds fuzzy on bass notes now on all my radios. Sigh...\

Edit: Found the manual in the Philco Library here! Forgot about looking there.   Anyways, it does work in the normal way it was just the dummy operator who had things backward.

[Brad Winder]

Lol! I am in the midst of restoring my 3116X...I guess I'll learn the tone control when I get to it.

Have you contacted your radio station? They may have an issue that they don't know about...

[Jayce]

The distortion seems to be something in the house and my postwar radios aren't having issues like my mid 30's radios are. I took my 1936 Atwater Kent tombstone out to the building and it sounds great out there with no issue, just like the 116X did before bringing it into the house. I would say that external antenna radios are effected worse, but my 1938 GE FE-112 doesn't seem to be having much issue either though you can sometimes hear a touch of the issue with it.
Right now I have to pull the chassis on the 116X again as I noticed the dial lamp was flickering and was just loose, but I caught one of the wires with my hand and now need to resolder it again! Might as well clean that hum control while I am at it.

[Phlogiston]

You are not over driving it - too much signal? You mentioned external antenna radios =bad, others = good. Is it only distorted on strong stations? How is your IF doing?

[Jayce]

That's what I want to check out. I've tried the short antenna, but no luck. I do notice on all my radios there is a lot of noise at the upper end of the dial in the house. It seems like radios with internal antennas can cut through it easier, but it is still there. Actually, the background noise at the upper end of the dial on all my radios actually 'sounds' the same as the distortion. I swear, each time we have had to add a new appliance to the house things have only gotten worse. Worst case, I'll pull the guts and take them up to my buddy's shop for a check-up. My late friend did all the work on this radio already, but there is a chance something got out of alignment as it didn't get to use it much until now.

[462ron]

Jayce FWIW, I’ve noticed a long time ago my radios with built in loop antennas seem to out perform any of my long wire sets. Both for sensitivity and noise reduction.

Ron

[Phlogiston]

Guys, that is interesting and unexpected since long wire antennas have greater capture-area and are less shielded (by the chassis, cabinet and other local obstructions) and the loops are directional - which can be used to reduce noise.

Not saying it isn't true, just unexpected. This would also depend on how long and high your "long wire" is.

[mikethedruid]

Might I suggest, before you get too concerned about this particular radio's noise problem, that you try a couple of things. First, try a regular, cheap transistor radio in the same locations and see if it too has noise problems. If it does, even to a different degree, you can surmise that the problem is NOT the radio, but some source of this interference in or around your home. Second, to double check, try this same experiment at the home of a friend where the transistor radio does not have interference sound. Then try the radio you have been talking about with about 10 feet of wire for an antenna. See if it has the interference there.
There is a set of very high tension TVA power lines, 240,000 volts, that ruins over my pasture only about 150 feet from the corner of my home. I have terrible 60 cycle hash from it. I made a vertically oriented antenna to use with my antique sets. It not only is omni-directional, but, since it is oriented at 90 degrees from the power lines, it minimizes the interference which it picks up. It actually works pretty well, and allows me to enjoy listening to my radios.

[Jayce]

I won't be able to do much testing today as the Browns game is on and it seems the issue with the sound is more noticeable with music than speech. (Pregame started at 1pm EST, game started after 3, and the post-game shows also last 2 hours!) I did notice that after they turned down the power last night that the same issue popped up to a lesser degree on my little Zenith 5D011Z consoltone I was listening to on the high end of the dial. So far I haven't noticed it on my Zenith 500 transistor radio, so am thinking it might be an actual line power issue in the house. I'll check things over tomorrow more after work as they won't be done with football until about midnight and I'll be in bed!
I also want to add that I live rural and the power lines in my area are OLD. Most of them are the same aluminum wrapped, steel core lines that were run in the 1940's and are full of splices. One line going over a neighbor's house has no less than five splices just over his car alone and one time it actually popped splices at two ends and dropped in his driveway.

[Phlogiston]

Understood. When mine pop I usually only loose 1 leg (120 - 0 - 120) so half of my stuff works.

[Jayce]

I finally got the dial light wire repair done on the radio last night. While doing that, I noticed the two 78's on the right side of the chassis were not seated in their sockets properly. I must have somehow cocked them to the side when I put the shields back on earlier, so got them fully seated in. Then I gently moved one capacitor that looked a little to close to the chassis and put the radio back together. Well, it seems a lot happier now! With the tone control on the 'B' position and going to the short room antenna for the upper channels has solved its distortion issue in the house. Even its bass response is much better once I got the hum control adjusted again. (Actually cleaned it as best as I could last night as well). Now it's issue is back to the touchy volume control that it has always had. It is worn just enough to act up if I don't turn it just right. Cleaning helps, but it's still cranky at times.

[Phlogiston]

Don't clean it anymore, it will just get worse.

[Jayce]

Yeah, I'm leaving it alone. Usually if a couple cleanings don't improve things, I just live with the control. Only reason I cleaned it the first time was the radio had been sitting a while and it was scratchy again. It's amazing where dust can find its way in!