I've been fiddling a bit w/ 3 TF radios over the holidays to see if something might be done here
first I had to get a power source happening - a friend gave me an antique battery charger awhile back that had been the "base station power" for the search radios on the ski hill for ages, so I
overhauled it , and it works [Nix may recognize it
] - radio manual sez current draw is 2.5 amps and fuse should be 7.5amps, so I figure a 5 amp charger should do perfect! I'll consider it a Christmas present from Andy
next scrounged the parts stash and found
an original speaker w/ the wires, complete w/ original connectors,
that need fixin - ok ....
for you TF guys, this pic
shows the wires , this one shows the
guts front and back , with tubes labeled - here's one of the
3 vibrators I\'ve got - the 'original' came from a radio I'm almost certain has never been opened, the 'replacement' came from #2 which was from the radio repair shops panel truck, which has obviously been messed with, the solid state one I bought years ago to get the 3rd radio working [all it took until I let the smoke out]
got the
first radio hooked up [unmolested original], and the vibrator vibrates, tubes light, speaker up to the ear gives the faint hum of the vibrator - no antenna handy [2, but on the trucks] - should still have some noise even w/o an antenna??
on to number 2, the one from the radio truck that I was hoping might work - seems to have been smucked on the volume switch [prolly dropped
] which pushed the switch back out of the threaded piece and
broke 2 wires loose! - got the switch back together and it feels like it still works - need to figure which terminals the wires go to and solder them back [vibrator from this radio vibrates installed in #1 and 3]
# 3, the one I smoked some time ago, vibrates, but most tubes are so black [internal] that they may be fried - only saw any glow in one, tho I will let it cook awhile later to see which get warm - don't see any obviously fried components, but there hasta be, as it did quit in a cloud of smoke
so what's next Nix? I think the best bet is to fix the wires on #2 and see what it does - do I hafta have an antenna hooked in? maybe just a coat hanger? seems to work on some ratmobiles ya see around whose antennas have gone on to being zip guns
