Midwest 162-R
Technical topics...
The first problem I met was deteriorated wiring. All rubber insulated wire was used and it had dry-rotted and had to be replaced 100%. Apparently this isn't true of all these radios because some use cotton covered wire.
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The radio was fully recapped and all resistors checked. The published schematic has a number of errors and I had to sort them out as I went. I have kept my notes and will try to draw up a new diagram for posting here.
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The radio was purchased with no tubes or speaker. The original tubes appear to have been metal-based glass ones with some slip on shields. I simply purchased a full set of metal ones and have observed no operational differences.
The original speaker was a 6x9 field coil type. Unobtainable. The original speakers in these sets apparently weren't up to par for the amount of audio that they had to handle. I substituted a 6x9 car radio speaker and a 500 ohm, 25 watt resistor for the field choke. By adding in an extra 22uf of filter capacity, there is no audible hum.
One serious problem was a damaged bandswitch section. That could spell junkpile for a radio like this, but Mike The Midwest Guru was able to supply a replacement one. I was very fortunate to have found one.
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The set has a built in wire loop antenna around the back of the cabinet and uses a fancy scheme of switching and tuning it between bands. It is very effective and my outdoor antenna adds only minimal advantage.
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The cabinet was in pretty good shape and only needed a bit of regluing. I refinished it with lacquer and it really looks nice now. Oh, another 'cheap' aspect...one side of the cabinet is a burl veneer like the front, the other side is a very straight grain! I have the original plastic knobs but they are rather distorted and fragile. So, for general use I will stay with the wooden knobs shown in the pictures.
For more info, e-mail me...
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