Posted by Al Evangelista on September 08, 1999 at 20:11:59:
In Reply to: Radio Repair posted by Steve on September 08, 1999 at 17:35:21:
With labor costs up and hardware costs down it is no surprise that radio repair is mostly a thing of the past.
If you are comfortable doing so then attempt to rule out simple problems - antenna circuit connected? speaker voice coil OK (use an ohm meter or battery), power connection OK?, all tubes lit?, vibrator humming?, etc. An old timer once told me that when he did radio repair in the 30s his boss told him to replace all the coupling capacitors first before trying to diagnose a problem. Coupling capacitors are a relatively large cylindrical component (often wax coated paper) which connect the plate circuit of one tube to the grid circuit of the next. When a capacitor fails it allows some of the high voltage of the previous stage to influience the behavior of the following stage. After having ruled out the simple items these capacitors are usually the number one suspect.
Another approach would be to solicit the assistance of those in the amateur radio community. Most "Hams" would welcome the opportunity to help or to point you in the direction of a fellow ham who might be able to assist. They often have well stocked 'junk boxes' as well. You can locate amateurs in your area by visiting http://www.qrz.com/name.html and typing in your city, State code and hitting the search button.
Good Luck
-Al