That’s a tough call Fred- The overall condition of the radio looks good but maybe someone tried hooking up AC to the set. Summer is a good time to have an AC shop! 😂👍🇺🇸
Well I'm like you so I'll probably take on the challenge as long as I can source the parts. Yes, I have central air so the shop is very pleasant. I'm here in North Jersey so our temps are probably very close.
If it was mine, I’d be forced to take on the challenge. Sometimes it’s about more than money. As far as the transistors are concerned I can offer a few thoughts. 1) Salvage them from an old pocket transistor radio. 2) Purchase NOS Soviet transistors off of eBay. They have really dried up since the war broke out in Ukraine, but there are still several sources. 3) I’ve often replaced germanium transistors with silicon and found rebiasing unnecessary. Even if it is, if you begin at the output stage it should be possibly to come up with suitable resistor values by doing a little bit of experimenting. 4) Replace the audio stage with an LM-386 or something similar. In the end it’s your decision. It’s your radio, your money and your time.
I will probably take it on as a project. I'm looking to cross reference the bad transistors to Russian . As I'm more of a traditionalist I probably won't use an lm386. The output shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Briefly looked at the schematic. since the currents are so low all but the audio stages would need rebiasing. Specifically R19. I have no idea what an R240 transistors is. maybe floor sweepings from Raytheon?
LOL , who knows what R250 or R251 could be other than PNP, there is no reference in the construction manual. I like a challenge so if I can source suitable parts I'll move forward.
The R250 audio output transistors were probably a 2N214 or sub. The R251 was a driver and probably a 2N213 sub. All NPN and a Germanium design. Try finding good old NTE103 to replace those Germanium ones. Best guess IMHO.
I would restore it. It is a fantastic radio. My radio didn't have knobs for it. I had to purchase another radio to recast new knobs. The knobs are very expensive and hard to get. I ended up with three XR-2 radios. Fix it!
Yea, I've pretty much decided to restore it. I still have to test all the transformers and source parts before I move forward. Stay tuned in for more details.
LOL, it's funny, I decided yesterday to tackle it I just finished going through the radio to make a parts order. Hopefully a get a quick video out by Sunday this weekend so stay tuned.🙂
