Hi All, I decided to try my hand at restoring an 'antique' electronic item
Down in Margate, South Africa, these seem to be very hard to track down.
I just picked up this valve set at a 2nd hand dealer, and wondered if anybody had more info on it for me, before I even try to plug it in (series lightbulb of course),
Your radio was likely made around 1948. Pye was "absorbed" into Philips for lack of a better word. Personally I wouldn't have much trouble working on a set like that with little technical info. Tubes need certain voltages to operate no matter what they are in. Might take me ten times as long to repair but eventually I would track down the trouble spots and being partial to vintage tube gear I'm used to breaking out the crystal ball for answerers.
I suppose the electrolytic's are woefully depleted. One thing though when and if you replace electrolytics with modern devices supply voltages tend to be higher than what the radio called for. That would call for a different dropper resistor or two.
If the major power supply capacitors are shot, you will hear a loud hum as soon as the tubes warm up. If the hum varies as you turn the volume pot up and down, then the hum is likely coming from before the audio amplifier stages. If you can't read the tube numbers from the tubes because of dirt or being wiped clean, one useful trick is to put the tubes in a refrigerator for a few hours, then bring back out into the room temperature. As moisture condenses on the tube, you may be able to read some further information. You can do the same equivalent by just breathing on a room-temperature tube, like you would breath on a mirror to see if you are alive or not.
Hi All. The set has quite a few wax caps, will work on changing them. I will actually scope the thing tomorrow to check what is happening.
I am getting quite a few signals with only 5ft of cable as an antenna (one signal I definately identified as 700Km away in johannesburg)
once I have recapped the set, and figured out how exactly the dial cable goes back, then I will try with a longer antenna.
I have not found a manual for this set, but I found the manuals for some other pyc sets that have a similar tuning dial layout and cabling, so I will work from that
I do not know what impedance speaker is supposed to be on this set (only got the chassis, not the cabinet), but I am currently using 1 side of a computer speaker set (not the amplifier, just the speaker itself)
When I power the set up tomorrow, I will try and record the sound it is producing and post that.
This is the first tube set I have ever worked on, so I was surprised that it is actually in a working condition off the bat.
The tubes are all originals, with the numbers clearly visible, and also the nameplate says what the tube numbers are.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.