Help Needed - Pye Transistor

[Darren-UK]

I note from an earlier post that you think it's BBC on LW you can receive. Radio 4 is at 1500m and, over there in Galway, you should be able to receive RTE1 loud and clear somewhere just below 1200m LW. Remember that a ferrite aerial is directional. I think there's still a BBC MW station transmitting from Northern Ireland which you should be able to receive too. Can't recall the wavelength offhand though but it's somewhere mid-scale; 250 - 300m. Someone will soon tell us. Whatever, if you can't receive RTE1 then there's definately something wrong.

Regarding wavechanger contacts, cleaning them is virtually essential after a radio has gone through a long-ish period of disuse. Contacts tarnish and you'd be surprised just at how even the smallest amount of dust can make a difference.

Other points to check are the ferrite rod coils, especially the fine wires leading therefrom. Breaks in these aren't always that easy to spot. Check, too, that said coils are firmly located on the rod; it's common for them to loosen, shift and thus cause the radio to go 'deaf'. From your images it would appear, however, that the coils are firmly in position. Check anyway, it only takes a mere moment.

From your chassis image I can see what appears to be a modern electrolytic capacitor towards top right. Do you know, therefore, if any work over and above the on/off switch has been done to the radio?

I can also see trimmers mounted on the tuning gang. I would expect to see a splash of paint (probably red or white) on them. This is done at manufacture, or by a post-manufacture, service engineer to seal them in position. I can't see any paint on them, so have they been twiddled? Don't worry too much about that though; you don't always find paint on these things and even if they have been twiddled I'd expect to see a trace of paint remaining. No trace suggests no paint was there originally, but it's worth bearing in mind.

[DangerMan]

Hi Brian, nice looking set as has been said !
The fact that the set works at all is a promising start, and it has OC series Mullard transistors which are probably among the most reliable of the lot... another plus point !

Further to the suggestions already made, do you know whether the set has ever worked properly after the separate on-off switch was added ?... if not, there's more wiring to the volume control which could be damaged or incorrect, though if it has been known to work as it is now, that's not so likely.
TTFN
Pete

[brianciaran]

Thanks Guys for the suggestions, i know very little about the workings of radios so I'm just going to give things a sympathetic cleaning and see how things go. I think to do this I'm going to have to remove the workings from the cabinet. I really dont know what modifications have been done, I'll give a clean first and see how things go. Got a new battery today, could only get Ever Ready Silver seal, after attaching the contacts don't seem very secure and there is definitely interuptions in voltage/current supply, I could not receive any station, just intermittent station noise. Is there a recommended Battery make for these and what is it other than ever ready? It's a PP9 9V.
Is there a recommended cleaner for cleaning contacts and what components should be cleaned and what components should not be cleaned? I have a Maplin store within a few miles, would I get stuff there?

Thanks,

Brian

[Brian R Pateman]

The Eveready Silver Seals are as good as any.

Try squeezing the clips very gently to tighten up the battery contacts.

Components to clean are the wavechange switch and volume control. Servisol contact cleaner is good. Available from Maplin;

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=4153

Use sparingly and operate the switches after spraying.

Regards,

[brianciaran]

Thanks Brian and everyone else who have made comments and suggestions. I'll give the cleaning a go as suggested and report back.
From the pictures I've posted is there any diagrams available for this type of radio that would help me in identifying parts. i.e. for a learner like me is there any diagrams or pictures or notes that identifies components? any things to look out for? i.e. I have a Multimeter, any tests I should be doing and on which components? I've received quite a few suggestions from all the posts but as I dont really know how to identify the components, I'm struggling. Is there a basic book or something I could buy or guide or something like that?

Thanks,

Brian

[Steve_P]

Well, try here...

http://www.vintage-radio.com/repair-...ion/index.html

Cheers,

Steve P.

[brianciaran]

Thanks for that info. Steve, everything helps

Brian