[mikethedruid]

"The night time is the right time." That saying sure does hold true for radios. I decided to see how my old RCA would do this evening. With just a VERY short antenna, my signal generator turned off actually, and hooked to the antenna lead, I was able to pick up lots of stations on the broadcast band, among them the ball game on 700 AM, WLW out of Cincinnati. That came in remarkably clear. Next I tried band B, which runs from 1.6 MC to 6 MC. I was able to get a few stations on that band also, among them WWV at 5 MC very clearly. Then I tried band C, which runs from 5.5 MC to 18.5 MC. I could receive stations in several places on that band, especially those around 9 to 10 MC and the ones below, between 7.6 and 5.5 MC. This all bodes VERY well. One sad note. The old paper cone of this receiver, which was originally cracked long ago and repaired, and had some more cracks again when I received it, which I repaired, cracked yet again while I was setting the IF. Fortunately I could still use it to test the radio, but the sound quality is crap. I am going to order a new cone for it, and fix it myself this time. I replaced the cone on my old Philco 37-61, and it worked like a champ. I have written a dealer on eBay who sells lots of different cones to get his advice on which one of his items would be best for my use. Until them this one will suffice for the alignment work I have left. I can hardly wait until my dial arrives from Radio Daze, so I can get that done. Today I also ordered decals from Radio Daze. I got the sheet with 4 different styles of RCA Victor on it, one of which I have seen on several sets of my model at the bottom in the front. I have seen a number of sets with various decals for the band. One is like the T7, one is just letters A, B, C, but most of the pictures I have seen of this model have NO DECALS AT ALL! I have actually ordered the decal set for my RCA 18T, which is a later set, to cut and use. It has the letters for the bands, as well as all the words for "POWER," "VOLUME," "TONE," "RANGE," and "TUNING." It will require a bit of fine cutting to get just right, but will look good, although probably not original. I actually wonder if some sets didn't have any decals at all. Mine had no signs of them at all before I did my first cleaning, I looked. Now I am going to relax for the rest of the night, drink iced tea, and watch a western movie on YouTube. I've earned it.