[NJARC] Radios at War of the Worlds

[Al Klase]

Folks,

I found myself up to my armpits in half-assed radios at Sarnoff last 
Saturday.  Perhaps as may as one third of the set proved to be 
unusable.  I didn't have time to evaluate each one, or even pay 
attention to whose they were.

Now, all these things are 70-years-old, and no matter how careful one is 
there will still be some problems.  Thinks like noisy volume controls 
that clear up, at least temporarily, with a couple of twists and bad 
contacts in tube sockets and band switches come and go and are hard to 
predict and eliminate completely.  Getting one of these antiques to work 
like-new is a non-trivial assignment.

There were a couple of radios with RF/IF instability.  When you hear a 
whistle when you tune through a station, that's a problem.

The key here is that a five-minute test isn't the answer.  When you work 
on a set, try to listen to it for an extended time.  Get it going, then 
leave it play in the shop for a while, maybe even a week.  When it makes 
trouble, try to figure out why, and eliminate that problem.  Tapping on 
things with a stick is a really good way to isolate intermittents.  
Contact cleaner on switches, the volume control, and tube sockets is a 
good investment.

When you find a particular problem, like a resistor that's gone way-high 
in value or a funky tube socket, look for more of the same.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the War of the Worlds 
event, especially the guys who brought really-solid good-playing radios 
like Bob Bennet and Sal Brisindi.

Regards,
Al

P.S.  I also have a suspicion that the better quality sets like RCA's, 
Zeniths, and GE's are easier to get operating reliability.  There were 
reasons these thing cost a hundred buck in depression money.

-- 
Al Klase - N3FRQ
Jersey City, NJ
http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/