04-03-2014, 12:46 PM
Firstly a couple of thanks: to 60 OldJohn for the radio and Yorkie for transporting it.
The set was offered free on The Other Side with the warning that the tuning gang was bent and the case beyond repair. The latter was something of a red rag to a bull.
When I got it I found that the case was in far better condition than expected. All that was wrong was a few worm holes which had done nothing beyond cosmetic damage. Of more concern was the rectifier valve (AZ31) being AWOL but luckily I found I'd got one.
After fitting that I got a reassuring amount of crackling so it was obviously worth going on with.
The cabinet went in the freezer for a week and I got on with the chassis.
There were only about half a dozen caps to change. The bent vanes don't look like random damage and I wonder if this was done by The Phantom as a means of trimming.
When I re-tested it I thought I'd made a mess with the tone corrector as it sounded like it hadn't got one fitted. I found that with the tone control fully clock-wise it sounded muffled but a slight rotation made it shrill and further turning made no difference at all.
The pot track had gone at one end so I simply reversed it. This actually suits me better as it makes more sense, to my mind, for the treble to increase as the knob is turned clock-wise.
This model has an auto-transformer for the HT and PU sockets with no isolating caps. I've fitted those but still wouldn't connect anything to them that I'd mind blowing up.
Fitting these caps meant disturbing the screened cable and the insulation on the black core fell to bits, though the red one seemed OK. Instead of just changing the whole cable I re-stuffed the old one.
The cabinet has come up very well, it looks far worse in the photo than in reality, and will get better with further polishing.
Just before Christmas I sold an RMB at a loss as it was surplus to requirements but this is a much better-performing set. It also has decent valves with heaters that won't fail if I as much as break wind within a hundred yards of them.
- Joe
The set was offered free on The Other Side with the warning that the tuning gang was bent and the case beyond repair. The latter was something of a red rag to a bull.
When I got it I found that the case was in far better condition than expected. All that was wrong was a few worm holes which had done nothing beyond cosmetic damage. Of more concern was the rectifier valve (AZ31) being AWOL but luckily I found I'd got one.
After fitting that I got a reassuring amount of crackling so it was obviously worth going on with.
The cabinet went in the freezer for a week and I got on with the chassis.
There were only about half a dozen caps to change. The bent vanes don't look like random damage and I wonder if this was done by The Phantom as a means of trimming.
When I re-tested it I thought I'd made a mess with the tone corrector as it sounded like it hadn't got one fitted. I found that with the tone control fully clock-wise it sounded muffled but a slight rotation made it shrill and further turning made no difference at all.
The pot track had gone at one end so I simply reversed it. This actually suits me better as it makes more sense, to my mind, for the treble to increase as the knob is turned clock-wise.
This model has an auto-transformer for the HT and PU sockets with no isolating caps. I've fitted those but still wouldn't connect anything to them that I'd mind blowing up.
Fitting these caps meant disturbing the screened cable and the insulation on the black core fell to bits, though the red one seemed OK. Instead of just changing the whole cable I re-stuffed the old one.
The cabinet has come up very well, it looks far worse in the photo than in reality, and will get better with further polishing.
Just before Christmas I sold an RMB at a loss as it was surplus to requirements but this is a much better-performing set. It also has decent valves with heaters that won't fail if I as much as break wind within a hundred yards of them.
- Joe
