Philco Model 20 Vacuum Tube TRF Radio Repair - 1930 - 93 Year Old Tube Radio - Part 2 [4K]

Part 2 - This 93 Year Old vacuum tube radio is a Tuned Radio Frequency or TRF design which pre-dates Superheterodyne radios in the market place. The first superhet was sold in 1924 according to wiki, but TRFs were still sold for a few more years to come.

This came to me via a friend and was owned by his Uncle who had intended to repair and restore it but never did get to it. Let's get her working.

See the checklist which appears when status changes, for tracking what is discovered that needs addressing in Red, followed by Green when resolved.

NOTE: This is not instruction, it is for entertainment for people like me who enjoy watching projects and the experiences gained. If you attempt to do any of the things in this video you are at your own risk. I am using special tech-bench safety equipment not detailed here so don't take for granted you can just plug these old items in safely without them being checked and repaired correctly. Check out the link below to Mr Carlson's Lab video below.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND REFERENCES:
[note: am in no way representing how these folks have shown doing these things - I don't even think they would approve.]

Schematics: NostalgiaAir.com, philcoradio.com

Frequency generator modification to add an inexpensive frequency counter: Thanks Tony B. for the video and description - it works very well! Here is the link to the xraytonyb video (he also demos it by doing an alignment):
   • Tenma Signal Generator Mod and Demo  
@xraytonyb

Thanks to shango066 for championing the approach of "fix it first", before mass re-capping. See shango066 for many examples of that approach.
@shango066

Awesome discussion of bench safety including variacs and isolation transformers by Mr Carlson's Lab (highly recommended):
   • Tech Tips Tuesday, Isolation Transformer a...  
‪@MrCarlsonsLab‬

Modification method for a commercial Tripp Lite isolation transformer for tech-bench use by Todd Harrison, his channel is called ToddFun:
   • ToddFun.com: Isolation Transformer - Tripp...  
‪@ToddFun‬

Camera: Canon G7X Mark III
Mic: Rode Micro
Video Editing Software: Power Director
Video Editor: just me

People interested in the following topics may be interested in the subject matter of this video: 1930s radios, tube radio repair, tube radio restoration, vacuum tube radio recapping, Philco Radio, Philco tube radio, Cathedral radio. radio recapping, valve radio, Vintage Radio, TRF Radio, antique radio, old radio repair, vintage radio, rf coil repair, Philco bakelite capacitor replacement, shango066, mr carlson, jordan pier, buzz1151, jim burns