I said that this set wasn't properly finished. This was partly down to not having all the bits it needed but there was also a large element of wishing to quit while I was ahead.
Last week I was ordering some other components so had a look at it to see just what it did need.
The first thing I saw was that the large wax capacitor I'd left in place had been badly dripping.
[attachment=2210]
A closer look revealed that it had nothing to do with the tone control but was in fact the mains filter. I'd looked for this before doing anything else with the intention of sniping it and had assumed that whoever had changed the volume pot must have beaten me to it. It also shows how poor I still am at relating circuit diagrams to the real nuts and bolts of things.
After chopping that out I thought I'd better check that it still worked and found it did but not very well. I could only get Virgin (or Absolute Radio as it is these days) as that is a very strong signal here but it still sounded poor unless I stuck a jump lead on as an extra aerial.
When my parts arrived I changed all the Hunt's capacitors and quite a lot of the resistors. Doing these was greatly simplified by the CCC (that's Col's Cunning Coiler - new members see http://golbornevintageradio.co.uk/forum/...hp?tid=102&highlight=wire+winder). This not only sorted out the operation on Medium Wave but also VHF which was a very nice bonus.
It proves the validity of the standing advice that just because a set works it doesn't mean that all is well with it. The bit of use I have given it since acquiring it must have pushed these already ailing components into outright failure. Out of curiosity I meggered the old capacitors and the best one read 100MΩ.
I had found suitable dial lamps on sale but they seemed very pricey so, as I'd got some in hand, I fitted a couple of LEDs - the dropper for these was cheaper than a proper lamp and should last longer. Obviously I've done this in a way that can be reversed in a couple of minutes if I ever do feel profligate.
[attachment=2211]
I also checked its UL41 and found it to be healthy.
So that's another one done and I'm waiting to see what turns up next.
Last week I was ordering some other components so had a look at it to see just what it did need.
The first thing I saw was that the large wax capacitor I'd left in place had been badly dripping.
[attachment=2210]
A closer look revealed that it had nothing to do with the tone control but was in fact the mains filter. I'd looked for this before doing anything else with the intention of sniping it and had assumed that whoever had changed the volume pot must have beaten me to it. It also shows how poor I still am at relating circuit diagrams to the real nuts and bolts of things.
After chopping that out I thought I'd better check that it still worked and found it did but not very well. I could only get Virgin (or Absolute Radio as it is these days) as that is a very strong signal here but it still sounded poor unless I stuck a jump lead on as an extra aerial.
When my parts arrived I changed all the Hunt's capacitors and quite a lot of the resistors. Doing these was greatly simplified by the CCC (that's Col's Cunning Coiler - new members see http://golbornevintageradio.co.uk/forum/...hp?tid=102&highlight=wire+winder). This not only sorted out the operation on Medium Wave but also VHF which was a very nice bonus.
It proves the validity of the standing advice that just because a set works it doesn't mean that all is well with it. The bit of use I have given it since acquiring it must have pushed these already ailing components into outright failure. Out of curiosity I meggered the old capacitors and the best one read 100MΩ.
I had found suitable dial lamps on sale but they seemed very pricey so, as I'd got some in hand, I fitted a couple of LEDs - the dropper for these was cheaper than a proper lamp and should last longer. Obviously I've done this in a way that can be reversed in a couple of minutes if I ever do feel profligate.
[attachment=2211]
I also checked its UL41 and found it to be healthy.
So that's another one done and I'm waiting to see what turns up next.
