06-21-2013, 10:27 PM
Recently got another 16B from an ebay seller. The thing looks rough as a cob, the cabinet is in really bad shape. No speaker bolts (nor holes!), and the speaker they shipped with it is not the one that goes with the radio. It's a single output setup, and the output transformer is open to boot.
That being said, I connected a speaker with similar properties, replaced a few tubes that were missing, and brought the set up on a variac. It played right out the gate! I've been recapping it, and it gets a little better with every new cap. As it is right now, it's the best performing 16B that I have! Still a lot of work to do, ordered the grommets for the tuner mounts, and waiting on those.
This one also has the usual problem with Band 5.. it doesn't want to work below 14 MHz.. with one proviso: If I carefully manipulate the bandswitch between bands 4 and 5, then I can get reception all across Band 5, with what I figure must be excellent sensitivity: noiseless reception at 28.8uV.
I've cleaned and inspected the bandswitch, and can't see anyplace that there is a problem. Any ideas?
That being said, I connected a speaker with similar properties, replaced a few tubes that were missing, and brought the set up on a variac. It played right out the gate! I've been recapping it, and it gets a little better with every new cap. As it is right now, it's the best performing 16B that I have! Still a lot of work to do, ordered the grommets for the tuner mounts, and waiting on those.
This one also has the usual problem with Band 5.. it doesn't want to work below 14 MHz.. with one proviso: If I carefully manipulate the bandswitch between bands 4 and 5, then I can get reception all across Band 5, with what I figure must be excellent sensitivity: noiseless reception at 28.8uV.
I've cleaned and inspected the bandswitch, and can't see anyplace that there is a problem. Any ideas?