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Old 9th Feb 2017, 8:23 pm   #1
ManxDave
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Default Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

I received this radio in a very grubby condition with just a few crackles showing a glimmer of life in the audio section.
I suspected the Plessey, Hunts and Daly capacitors and possibly tin whiskers in the 3 AF127s. I was correct about the Plesseys, C19 which should have been 350uF measured 27pF! C12 was 170uF instead of 100uF, the others weren't too far off. The transistors were OK ( for now! ). I now had very weak stations on MW but nothing on LW. A few squirts of Servisol and a lot of working of the volume pot and MW was very loud and clear.
Squirting Servisol onto the wavechange switch had no effect on LW so I had to dismantle a bit deeper to see where the problem lay. Here is the surprising fault for me, the battery +ve wire is connected directly to the wavechange switch. It had obviously been tugged too hard at some stage pulling the contact on the switch out of alignment. After adjusting, LW was also loud and clear. I secured the battery leads so another tug in future won't cause the same problem.
This is quite a sensitive radio with surprisingly loud audio before distortion.
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Old 9th Feb 2017, 10:14 pm   #2
Wellington
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Thumbs up Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

What an unusual set! I've never seen one of those before. Good Work!
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Old 9th Feb 2017, 10:18 pm   #3
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

AF12x transistors don't suffer from tin whiskers - at least not yet. They were used in the factory for a few sets at the end of the Ge era, though in this case they may be later replacements.
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Old 9th Feb 2017, 10:49 pm   #4
ManxDave
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

Thanks Wellington, I like it very much. Good solid tuning via plastic cogs rather than drive cord.
That is really good news Paul, as I used AF127s to replace AF117s that were shorting to case in a Bush TR130 then I read somewhere that 127s develop the same problem. Obviously I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet! Without derailing the thread ( much ) what would your personal choice be for replacing AF117s in RF/IF stages like this?
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Old 9th Feb 2017, 10:54 pm   #5
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

Nothing wrong with AF127s, but just about any Ge HF transistor will work in a MW/LW set like this. The last time I did one I used some 2N1307 switching transistors I had to hand. Even silicon types normally work.
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Old 9th Feb 2017, 11:05 pm   #6
ManxDave
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

Thanks. I am trying to build up a small stock of useful spares for radios. Dave
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Old 9th Feb 2017, 11:31 pm   #7
Philips210
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

Hi.

That's a good result getting this radio working and it's quite an unusual set. I have several BRC/Ferguson radios but hadn't come across that particular model.

Regarding the problem of tin whiskers. As has been pointed out, the AF12x transistors are not known to suffer from this problem and make good replacements for the AF11x series.
I do however have an unsolved mystery with a NOS AF124 transistor in my collection. It had a short between the shield connection and the collector and I raised the possible concern that it could also be suffering from the tin whisker problem. If the inside of the can of an AF12x device is tin plated then there's a possibility of the same problem occuring with these transistors.

Regards
Symon.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 5:01 am   #8
Refugee
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

I have got one of those sets. The twidler has been in and wrecked the oscillator coil. The rest of the set looks quite good. I like the dials but am short of a coil from the period.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 9:20 am   #9
camtechman
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Default Re: Ferguson Fieldfare 3114

Here's the MK1 model
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