This video was very interesting, I am currently building the Elenco AMFM 108CK radio and just finished the AM section. The alignment procedure in the manual is some what hard for me to understand, however, this video is so clear as the do an alignment, I have taken lots of notes and will watch this video again before working on the Elenco. Thank you kindly for posting this it was excellent.
Hi Radio Mechanic, Excellent stuff you provide. I am an ex Consumer Electronics Engineer , taught by the brilliant tutors/Engineers at Oldham Technical College, England. Since I am now 63 years old I guess they are all gone now as is the engineering section of the College. There's no more use for the army of TV and radio engineers there once was. But the skills we learned are highly regarded in whatever other field of electronics we have found ourselves in. I have built the same AM radio you have from Banggood, one thing I could perhaps add is that the reception will be markedly improved if you slide the antenna coils towards the end of the ferrite rod. You will find it peaks up as the end of the large coil is near the end of the ferrite. Best to do this with the radio tuned to either a weak station or just noise. Then readjust the antenna trimming capacitor.There are several other peoples videos on youtube of them building this same kit but they have the antenna coil fitted the wrong way round so that the little coil is nearest the end of the ferrite this is never going to peak up at all. Thanks for the memories, Patrick Holdaway.
By strange coincidence, I just purchased the identical kit (July 2020). Aligned by ear. Will now go back and do proper alignment. Great video! Thank you.
Old videos, but really great. I am not a young player so much as an old rookie. I think this is going to be a great channel as I continue to learn. Happily subscribed.
The old adage " One picture is worth a thousand words" is proven again with your video. I have read several books on alignment but none sunk in as well as your demonstration. Thank you.
Hi Eddie, Thanks. There are more coming on the subject. FM radio will be one and I have another AM Radio to restore that will need a full alignment. Going to use the antique test gear on that one.
Another great video for the new radio enthusiasts. Definitely nice to see you weren't using one of those golden screwdrivers. LOL, just don't give all the secrets away, you'll put me out of work. :) A note on alignments by ear. You would be surprised how accurately you can align a receiver by ear. I usually do my first run through by ear and then follow up with a SINAD meter. I have done so many now and have my hearing trained that I often can not get anymore improvement. Also helps that I ran sound for a band for years and am a audiophile. Took a long time to get my golden ear.
Hi Mike, thanks for the nice comment. Remember, these videos on 10 Buck are for the young players. If they are "warm to the touch" they will figure out pretty quickly how to "tune by ear". I seldom use anything but the sig gen on the first pass either. Been tuning engines by ear for years, and could tell when our machines in the field dropped from 9000 units/hour to 8900 units/hour just by walking into the fab room. 20 machines on the floor and I cold hear the one not up to par. You and I aren't going to be around forever.
I especially liked your demonstration of the varying instruments that can be used to align a radio. Actually, the analog VTVM seemed like the simplest and most accurate method.
Looks like you may have assembled an old Graymark kit back in your vocational electronics days. After forty years, I found mine, recapped it, and it works again. We built ours on a schematic board just like you did this one. Brings back memories.
Hi David. Nice Shack. Much cleaner than mine. Don't think I have ever seen a Graymark kit. But there used to be similar kits from R.S. and Allied back in the day. Figured I would update from heavy fiberboard to Lexan and use Teflon standoffs. Worked out pretty well. Thanks for watching and the nice comments.
Thanks, Great Video. Well demonstrated and explained . I’m new to the hobby , and how the board was set up really helped. Very time consuming , but appreciated.
Hi Vern, My radio kit is in the post, really looking forward to receiving, assembling and aligning it. Excellent series of Tutorial's, looking forward to the more in depth about the LO and IF stages. I am a young player in an old body! :-) Keep up the great work...
Hi there, Many thanks for the efforts you go to making all of these wonderful videos. I have learnt so much from the knowledge that you share. I am a 57 year old retired businessman. Amateur electronics is a hobby of mine that very much enjoy. I have a particular problem that I would appreciate some advise on. I have built a few chines cheap radios lately, most of which actually work. My latest kit is the AM/FM radio from ELENCO. Its an educational kit that is supposed to help the builder learn about the workings of both AM & FM. I am happy to be able to tell you that the AM section went well and is working well. The FM section has been completely built but sadly does not work. I have completed the testings as requested to the best of my ability using my Rigol DS1054z scope & Rigol DG1022 20 meg signal generator. The last section of testing requires signals well out of the range of the gear at hand. So that part had to be dealt with in other ways. The guide gives a list of required voltages for all of the transistors. They are all within the range quoted. I have tried injecting a 10.7 meg, freq 1k, deviation 22.5k signal into the base legs of all the transistors. All but Q5 & Q6 gave out a tone. Does this mean that it is the if transformers that need to be replaced ?? I am at something of a roadblock at the moment. Any help and advise you could offer would be gratefully received. In the mean time, I would like to wish you and your family a very happy new year, all the very best, Yours Ricky
I enjoy doing research on radio type projects. currently im looking at a tube Theremin. I just finished a solid state design Theremin . AM radio low level transmitters are a curiosity too. Repairing and restoring vintage test equipment is a keen interest, but nothing past the 1960’s. Digital and Computer gear ya can keep, but I have fabricated several home type computer rigs.
Never get enoufgh radio. Built my first at 5. My mother was a phone OPERATOR. The army put me in to south eastern radio school. Ft gordon. Ga.Then to run multiplex radio eqp ment. Then worked at Sylvania tv for 30 years. Still at 70 fasnanated by radio. Enjoy watching. Tks de kv4li
7 years late but thank you, it is a great demonstration and very informative video. I have the same kit I bought it a very long time ago waiting for my grandson to come of age he is 9 today and its time to advance him from crystal set radio builds to this kit. I'm planning on doing nearly the same layout as your board but I'm having a little difficulty figuring out the wire connections for B1 antenna coil and transformer B2 in relation the (BIG) variable capacitor any advise would be appreciated Thanks again
I am presently in Thailand for the winter. So I can only go from (bad) memory. My antenna coil had some color coded wires ( Very faint ) that were mentioned on the schematic. If your instructions are in Chinese, Use Google Translate. In short the Larger antenna coil/section goes to the larger variable capacitor section. The smaller one is part of the oscillator and goes with the smaller part of the capacitor. However Phasing can cause issues. If the oscillator fails to run, reverse the connections. I was very lucky to find a large air variable of the correct values in my junk box that replaced the plastic variable in the kit. Good luck with the project.
ah great going to follow along this video today as i allready build the radio. I hope I can ask a quick question though? Are you hooking up the signal into the collector of the first transistor maybe, i cannot totally get it from your video ? Thank you and greetings, Leo
enjoying this series a lot. do the last set of adjustments between the oscillator can and the tuning cap also calibrate the numbers on the tuning dial? thank you for your time and effort.
Really good tutorial. Could you please tell me what value variable capacitor did I you use? I had an old variable capacitor spare which I modded by removing vanes from the aerial and oscillator sections. The two sections measure 150pf + 65pf (the two trimmers will add to those values). I cannot get the high end frequencies to tune. Fitting a poly varicon 150pf + 65pf, everything tunes in fine. I was wondering therefore what variable capacitor you used. Thanks.
Hi frienf. I got a question minute 17:36 when u measure the peak with the osciloscope. U connected to the speaker and the signal generator is 465khz. When u inject that signal 465khz what is the measure at the out speaker with yhe oscilosc.
Once again great video Vern. Teaching by showing the end result (the cool stuff) then working backwards to explain the why is sometimes the best method. Starting electronics with Ohm's Law is boring and people loose interest fast. This is great stuff. Your years of experience show through brightly but remind our young players that a road map to alignment is included in the service manual. If I can find a manual for free on line I will but there is always the old stand by, Sam's Photofacts, if the project is worth the twenty plus buck investment.
Hi Paul, Thanks for the kind words. Did mention in one video that it is important to follow the manual if available. None available for this one. Thanks for watching.
Man, did you answer a question I never thought I had, yesrs ago I was learning how to design superhets, from scratch, so I bought all the cans and tuning caps for both AM and FM IF's. As well as the L.O.'s. But after awhile I began to think, why use all these variety of cans., shouldn't the stages work with the same values of cans throughout, so I experimented, and I got radio signal, but mostly shortwave, due to skip ect... BUT now I see why there are designated cans, each one is designed for more and more filtering as the stages progress to the output. That's why mismatching the cans will give poor performance, wow, I never thought about it until now as you were explaining how the bandwidth is decreased for more selectivity as it goes down the line to the output. Thanks, for a great teaching you have done with this series.
Hi, Yesterday was my 20th birthday, so I made me a gift, I bought some old transistor radio to repair. I did a degree in digital electronic, so I know more about microcontrollers than analog electronics, and your videos are a great help in the improvement of my knowledge in analog. Your "10 buck" serie has help me in the choice of material too, I already had digital multimeter, function generator and oscilloscope and you helped me choosing a LCR meter and a needle multimeter. So thanks for sharing with us your knowledge. (Excuse me if some of my words don't mean anything, I'm french)
Merci mon ami. Your English is excellent and far better than my French. I am glad I can pass on tricks from un vieux. (J'espe're que c'est correct?) I try to pass on tricks for new players and show that even with older test equipment a lot of good work can be done. It is faster and easier sometimes with my new equipment, but much of this is too expensive for young players. Again, Merci.
The Radio Mechanic Your french is really good too. Working with old material is better in my opinion, it has been designed to work a long time when today's devices are dead really quickly, and it has the vintage mojo. And one more time, thank you for your content.
I purchased and completed the seven transistor radio kit following your RUclips video which was a big help upon completion radios is dead I am measure from negative to the base of all seven transistors and get .65 V DC if I hold the soldering iron over the board I get a hum I appreciate any advice
Hi Gary. Sorry to hear the radio didn't work. Watch the video below and I show how to trace trough the circuit. You will need a length of wire as an "Antenna" and a pin or test lead to connect to it. Also note in the video when I am showing the layout of the board there is a wire I have highlighted in RED from the antenna. This must go to the connection indicated. By following the procedure in the video you should be able to find out what stages work and where the signal is being lost. Let me know how you make out. Vern ruclips.net/video/xlkX6mYQX9g/видео.html
I did go back and studied your video several times and you'll never guess what was wrong. I did not solder two of those bridges. I found them thru a magnifier. I worked on trying to get figured out but could not for two days. I glad I didn't give up and very proud of my new accomplishment. I hope this gives you satisfaction that you have taught a sixty five year old guy something new. Thanks again and waiting for new project.
Dear Radio Mechanic, Question: I am building the Elenco AM/FM-108CK. Working on the AM side. All test have passed, the problem is in the mixer/oscillator section, there is no signal output into the ist IF. I have checked all parts, soldering and connections. I have replaced the mixer transistor still no RF, All voltages are correct. Does this sound like defective oscillator coil?? Thank you kindly!!
What color is the screw in the Oscillator transformer coil? Should be Red. I have seen them come with the wrong coil before. Also check continuity of the transformer. Just follow the schematic. One side has three connections, the other side two. An ohm meter will verify if they are intact. Lastly it is very easy to get the antenna connections incorrect. Check carefully that you have connected the correct winding to the oscillator. The smaller coil on the antenna is for the oscillator. And one more thing, if everything else is correct try reversing the wires on the antenna oscillator winding. That is, there is one wire to the base of transistor V1 and one wire to Capacitor C223. Reverse them and see what happens. They can inhibit the oscillator if the phasing is incorrect. Good luck and thanks for watching.
Maybe I'm old, but I prefer an old VTVM to most of the new digital meters. For anyone who builds those radios on the circuit board provided, those test points that must be soldered shut are a real trap that blocks success.
Love those old large meter format VTVM's. Something very satisfying about them. Interesting name. I was in Sattahip Thailand for 11 Months in the 70's.
@@robinsattahip2376 Had a feeling that was the case. Was stationed at Samaesarn Army Base next to Utaphao Air Base for 11 Months 1970/71. Had a Bungalow at Kilosip/Sukhumvit highway 3 in the 70's. Was a simple 2 lane road then. Last Year I was living in Phetchaburi City, about 15 Minutes from the Ocean. Came home to take care of some personal business and now I am stuck here because of the CCP Virus. (Chinese Communist Party Virus). Hoping to get back soon. We are supposed to have access to the Vaccine in about a week. Then the fun begins getting all my visa crap lined up. Will need to renew my Thai driving License's ( Car/Motorcycle ). Hope I get back before they expire. Regards, Vern
@@theradiomechanic9625 That's now Pattaya International Airport though there are no scheduled flights now because of COVID. Best wishes to you. I started in electronics as a hobby at 12 and took it up again in retirement. Best wishes
A good demonstration, however you did not disable the LO when aligning the IF. The LO with the 455:Khz will peoduce other unwanted frequencies in the IF Amps creating error. You,also,did not use a RTMA dummy load network.
The way I explain receivers to others is to imagine the RF spectrum like a paper band, like paper tape from an old adding machine or cash register, running from low freq on one end to high freq on other end. Receiver is like a verticle slot in an index card slid up or down tape. What the slot in card reveals printed on tape is the signal a receiver would tune. The "width" of the slot is the band width.
It has just occurred to me the this ELENCO kit would make an excellent build for you to film making and more importantly, testing. How about it ? Maybe a small series of utube videos. I'm sure that they would be enjoyed by many. Yours Ricky (even if you skipped the build side of the project and concentrated on the testing element ?)
Hi, I watched the video again. I see you basically forgot about adjusting the aerial coil, since you adjusted the aerial trimming capacitor at the low end of the band and then remembered you should have adjusted that at the high end of the band. Same as you adjusted the (pad) oscillator coil at the low end of the band and the oscillator (trim) capacitor at the top end of the band. Then you should have adjusted (Slide) the aerial coil (pad) at the low end of the band for maximum signal/noise and then adjust the Aerial (trim) capacitor at the high end for maximum signal/noise. I am just as old and forgetful and at first forgot the exact same thing, left the aerial coil in the middle of the ferrite core and poured wax over it to stop it from slipping off the core. When I remembered how it should be done I had to pry the aerial core paper former from the wax to be able to slide the aerial coil towards the end of the ferrite. but It's all just done for entertainment. There is a lot less on medium wave (AM) in the UK these days than in the past, Commercial stations that are on FM are holding onto their FM stations as well as taking up DIgital radio channels. The BBC is rapidly shutting down local AM stations while the tremendous interference from computers, wireless routers and just about everything else electrical really makes AM radio almost a dead duck here now.
Here one for the little red radio work the antenna coils knock out the radio completely all tune in all station come in real good but attaching the last antenna wire for am band when solder knock out the whole radio all three antenna wire are in the right places and it work really well but when I bring that wire to the right spot on the circuit board it goes dead on the radio will not tune any am station so i left it offbrad
Sir, Love your channel, just found it, and the alignment took me back to my 1976-1978 Sandusky High School Vocational Electronics class: This was a fun ride! Can you please show using an Arbitrary Waveform Generator as the source for alignment? Just getting back into it, and finding an RF Generator thats not all beat to Hell is hard these days..(I had one from Hickok Electrical Instrument Co., Cleveland Ohio and it was ancient even then) thought about it a lot, and found this page on internet from Tektronix where there's a PDF about it if you google this: 75W_20333_0-1.pdf I ask this because nowadays more of us seem to already have an AWG, as they came down (almost exponentially!) in cost. And since you can do so much with them, given the choice of an RF Generator vs. AWG, it actually might be the better investment today (MY how times change! I am amazed when I see the specs on modern "beginner" gear...Specs that would have been either thousands of dollars or even Unobtanioum when I was a kid!) And as you used 610 as your frequency of choice, are in my neck of the woods, WTVN, or maybe you are in Houston KILT? Just wondered... I've kept interested in it, even though I followed a different career (Registered Nurse) and I got the Extra Class license, and for yucks and giggles Commercial GROL, GMDSS Operator/Maintainer and Ship Radar Endorsement a few years back. In hopes to do more with it all in Retirement (56 this year) 73 and All the Best! DE W8LV Bill. w8lvradio@gmail.com
Hi William. RF generators are a dime a dozen at the ham flea markets. And a cheap counter can be found there also. Makes the old generators more useful when you are sure of the frequency. The Arbitrary Waveform Generator would simply be set at a sine of 455 KHz with am modulation on it and work just like the RF Generator as far as the radio is concerned. They are usually fairly expensive ( at least for one capable of getting up into higher RF regions for aligning the front end.). I have one that will go to 50 MHz and it wasn't cheap. Trying to keep costs down for the new players. Thanks for watching.
Howdy! Just found your channel via Mike's, I enjoyed and appreciate this video as I am trying to learn this properly....I have all the tools shown in this video, however you didn't show where you tied in all equipment or explained where all went. I just bought my first scope (ruclips.net/video/spUe7p2jXrM/видео.html) and wrapped the probe (connected ground to tip on probe)) around the ferrit bar at and laid it on top of the copper wire, set scope to low sensitive settings and was able to see the tunning and by such was able to tune up my radio that way. In your future video, could you address the IF can color representation and maybe a future video on FM broadcast alignment. Thanks! Jack, VEG
Have been trying to keep the 10 buck series simple for the young players hence the AM radio. Still have more to cover there. Sold off all my old FM radio alignment gear and now wishing I had kept the FM Stereo Generator. Will get another one when I find a deal. You are on the right track feeding the signal that way. I actually clipped the signal generator on to the insulation of the antenna connection at the tuning cap during the last part of the alignment.
OK, understand, thanks for the encouragement! My Jackson covers FM band as well as having provisions for FM mode, just put it on the bench today, getting a parts list together...I could have used it many Times! :) By chance, have you've been successful in using harmonics to align a radio for frequency? ~Jack, VEG
Hi Jack, yes harmonics can be used. Most of the early simple signal generators used harmonics for the upper bands. I did a video on one "10 Buck Test Bench Accurate Instruments R.F. Generator Part 2" Note that the band switch has 5 positions. A, B, C, D, E. The Last switch position does nothing, In fact the switch is wired so that the contacts for D and E are in parallel. There is NO change between the two positions. The Switch just is a reminder to look at the E scale which uses the second harmonic of D. There is NO change in the output. Remember however that when using the second harmonic any error in frequency is doubled. Vern
HI Ricky, for some reason I have not been getting all your comments. ( I actually did a video on this problem ) I came across these by chance. I have ordered one of these kits and will do a video when this arrives. Thanks for watching and a good lead as I have been trying to figure out how I was going to do a video on FM. This kit will be the answer.
The Radio Mechanic , Thats great news, I will very much look forward to watching the videos. In my view, ELENCO have not quite nailed it when it comes to the educational element of this kit. Im sure that your communication skills and extensive knowledge will benefit many. All the very best, Yours Ricky. Ps, I will resend my previous messages directly. Cheers
Hi Ricky, I would check the coils for continuity if you haven't done so yet. I will go through the whole thing when the kit arrives and try to help you out. Don't know why, but for some reason not all comments show up in my social tab. Most do, but some I do not find unless I go digging. Was not ignoring you. Just had not seen them. I actually did a video about that problem Again, thanks for watching and hang in there. The kit is coming. Vern
This video was very interesting, I am currently building the Elenco AMFM 108CK radio and just finished the AM section. The alignment procedure in the manual is some what hard for me to understand, however, this video is so clear as the do an alignment, I have taken lots of notes and will watch this video again before working on the Elenco. Thank you kindly for posting this it was excellent.
Your Welcome, thanks for watching
Hi Radio Mechanic, Excellent stuff you provide. I am an ex Consumer Electronics Engineer , taught by the brilliant tutors/Engineers at Oldham Technical College, England. Since I am now 63 years old I guess they are all gone now as is the engineering section of the College. There's no more use for the army of TV and radio engineers there once was. But the skills we learned are highly regarded in whatever other field of electronics we have found ourselves in. I have built the same AM radio you have from Banggood, one thing I could perhaps add is that the reception will be markedly improved if you slide the antenna coils towards the end of the ferrite rod. You will find it peaks up as the end of the large coil is near the end of the ferrite. Best to do this with the radio tuned to either a weak station or just noise. Then readjust the antenna trimming capacitor.There are several other peoples videos on youtube of them building this same kit but they have the antenna coil fitted the wrong way round so that the little coil is nearest the end of the ferrite this is never going to peak up at all. Thanks for the memories, Patrick Holdaway.
By strange coincidence, I just purchased the identical kit (July 2020). Aligned by ear. Will now go back and do proper alignment. Great video! Thank you.
Totally blown away by your brilliant lucid explanation. Thanks
That was very enjoyable. Nice to see you work through each stage and align everything. Very well presentation.
Thanks Buddy. Appreciate your watching and the comment.
Old videos, but really great. I am not a young player so much as an old rookie. I think this is going to be a great channel as I continue to learn. Happily subscribed.
The old adage " One picture is worth a thousand words" is proven again with your video. I have read several books on alignment but none sunk in as well as your demonstration. Thank you.
Hi Eddie, Thanks. There are more coming on the subject. FM radio will be one and I have another AM Radio to restore that will need a full alignment. Going to use the antique test gear on that one.
Another great video for the new radio enthusiasts. Definitely nice to see you weren't using one of those golden screwdrivers. LOL, just don't give all the secrets away, you'll put me out of work. :)
A note on alignments by ear. You would be surprised how accurately you can align a receiver by ear. I usually do my first run through by ear and then follow up with a SINAD meter. I have done so many now and have my hearing trained that I often can not get anymore improvement. Also helps that I ran sound for a band for years and am a audiophile. Took a long time to get my golden ear.
Hi Mike, thanks for the nice comment. Remember, these videos on 10 Buck are for the young players. If they are "warm to the touch" they will figure out pretty quickly how to "tune by ear".
I seldom use anything but the sig gen on the first pass either. Been tuning engines by ear for years, and could tell when our machines in the field dropped from 9000 units/hour to 8900 units/hour just by walking into the fab room. 20 machines on the floor and I cold hear the one not up to par. You and I aren't going to be around forever.
I especially liked your demonstration of the varying instruments that can be used to align a radio. Actually, the analog VTVM seemed like the simplest and most accurate method.
I believe in KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. ( Me not you )
Very important alignment content 😮😮😮
Looks like you may have assembled an old Graymark kit back in your vocational electronics days. After forty years, I found mine, recapped it, and it works again. We built ours on a schematic board just like you did this one. Brings back memories.
Hi David. Nice Shack. Much cleaner than mine. Don't think I have ever seen a Graymark kit. But there used to be similar kits from R.S. and Allied back in the day. Figured I would update from heavy fiberboard to Lexan and use Teflon standoffs. Worked out pretty well. Thanks for watching and the nice comments.
wb8vqv Oh wow I remember when we had a Graymark Semi Truck (their name on the side) deliver kits to our High School!
Such Memories!
Kids today have lost the sense of wonder.
Thanks, Great Video. Well demonstrated and explained . I’m new to the hobby , and how the board was set up really helped. Very time consuming , but appreciated.
Thank you Paul for the kind words and for watching.
Hi Vern, My radio kit is in the post, really looking forward to receiving, assembling and aligning it. Excellent series of Tutorial's, looking forward to the more in depth about the LO and IF stages. I am a young player in an old body! :-) Keep up the great work...
Hi Tony, Thanks for the note. Having time and commitment issues so the videos are slow in coming. But on the way. Vern
big thumbs up nice step by step keep up the awesome work
Thanks Allan, next video in the works...
Hi there, Many thanks for the efforts you go to making all of these wonderful videos. I have learnt so much from the knowledge that you share. I am a 57 year old retired businessman. Amateur electronics is a hobby of mine that very much enjoy. I have a particular problem that I would appreciate some advise on. I have built a few chines cheap radios lately, most of which actually work. My latest kit is the AM/FM radio from ELENCO. Its an educational kit that is supposed to help the builder learn about the workings of both AM & FM. I am happy to be able to tell you that the AM section went well and is working well. The FM section has been completely built but sadly does not work.
I have completed the testings as requested to the best of my ability using my Rigol DS1054z scope & Rigol DG1022 20 meg signal generator. The last section of testing requires signals well out of the range of the gear at hand. So that part had to be dealt with in other ways.
The guide gives a list of required voltages for all of the transistors. They are all within the range quoted. I have tried injecting a 10.7 meg, freq 1k, deviation 22.5k signal into the base legs of all the transistors. All but Q5 & Q6 gave out a tone.
Does this mean that it is the if transformers that need to be replaced ??
I am at something of a roadblock at the moment. Any help and advise you could offer would be gratefully received.
In the mean time, I would like to wish you and your family a very happy new year, all the very best, Yours Ricky
I enjoy doing research on radio type projects. currently im looking at a tube Theremin. I just finished a solid state design Theremin . AM radio low level transmitters are a curiosity too. Repairing and restoring vintage test equipment is a keen interest, but nothing past the 1960’s. Digital and Computer gear ya can keep, but I have fabricated several home type computer rigs.
Close enough for government work! ;-) Another great episode!
Hi Robert, Thanks, working on the next one..
Great Tutorial, Hope you will more video on this topic.
Great video thanks for making and sharing. Regards Chris
Never get enoufgh radio. Built my first at 5. My mother was a phone OPERATOR. The army put me in to south eastern radio school. Ft gordon. Ga.Then to run multiplex radio eqp ment. Then worked at Sylvania tv for 30 years. Still at 70 fasnanated by radio. Enjoy watching. Tks de kv4li
7 years late but thank you, it is a great demonstration and very informative video. I have the same kit I bought it a very long time ago waiting for my grandson to come of age he is 9 today and its time to advance him from crystal set radio builds to this kit. I'm planning on doing nearly the same layout as your board but I'm having a little difficulty figuring out the wire connections for B1 antenna coil and transformer B2 in relation the (BIG) variable capacitor any advise would be appreciated Thanks again
I am presently in Thailand for the winter. So I can only go from (bad) memory. My antenna coil had some color coded wires ( Very faint ) that were mentioned on the schematic. If your instructions are in Chinese, Use Google Translate. In short the Larger antenna coil/section goes to the larger variable capacitor section. The smaller one is part of the oscillator and goes with the smaller part of the capacitor. However Phasing can cause issues.
If the oscillator fails to run, reverse the connections. I was very lucky to find a large air variable of the correct values in my junk box that
replaced the plastic variable in the kit. Good luck with the project.
ah great going to follow along this video today as i allready build the radio. I hope I can ask a quick question though? Are you hooking up the signal into the collector of the first transistor maybe, i cannot totally get it from your video ? Thank you and greetings, Leo
enjoying this series a lot. do the last set of adjustments between the oscillator can and the tuning cap also calibrate the numbers on the tuning dial? thank you for your time and effort.
Really good tutorial. Could you please tell me what value variable capacitor did I you use? I had an old variable capacitor spare which I modded by removing vanes from the aerial and oscillator sections. The two sections measure 150pf + 65pf (the two trimmers will add to those values). I cannot get the high end frequencies to tune. Fitting a poly varicon 150pf + 65pf, everything tunes in fine. I was wondering therefore what variable capacitor you used. Thanks.
Hi frienf. I got a question minute 17:36 when u measure the peak with the osciloscope. U connected to the speaker and the signal generator is 465khz.
When u inject that signal 465khz what is the measure at the out speaker with yhe oscilosc.
Once again great video Vern. Teaching by showing the end result (the cool stuff) then working backwards to explain the why is sometimes the best method. Starting electronics with Ohm's Law is boring and people loose interest fast. This is great stuff. Your years of experience show through brightly but remind our young players that a road map to alignment is included in the service manual. If I can find a manual for free on line I will but there is always the old stand by, Sam's Photofacts, if the project is worth the twenty plus buck investment.
Hi Paul, Thanks for the kind words. Did mention in one video that it is important to follow the manual if available. None available for this one. Thanks for watching.
Man, did you answer a question I never thought I had,
yesrs ago I was learning how to design superhets, from scratch,
so I bought all the cans and tuning caps for both AM and FM IF's.
As well as the L.O.'s. But after awhile I began to think, why use
all these variety of cans., shouldn't the stages work with the
same values of cans throughout, so I experimented, and I got
radio signal, but mostly shortwave, due to skip ect...
BUT now I see why there are designated cans, each one is designed
for more and more filtering as the stages progress to the output.
That's why mismatching the cans will give poor performance, wow, I never
thought about it until now as you were explaining how the bandwidth
is decreased for more selectivity as it goes down the line to the output.
Thanks, for a great teaching you have done with this series.
Wow, love those old American Beauty Soldering Irons.
Great video Vern. When you inject the signal at the isolator transistor, which leg of the transistor is the probe attached to? Cheers!
Hi,
Yesterday was my 20th birthday, so I made me a gift, I bought some old transistor radio to repair. I did a degree in digital electronic, so I know more about microcontrollers than analog electronics, and your videos are a great help in the improvement of my knowledge in analog. Your "10 buck" serie has help me in the choice of material too, I already had digital multimeter, function generator and oscilloscope and you helped me choosing a LCR meter and a needle multimeter. So thanks for sharing with us your knowledge. (Excuse me if some of my words don't mean anything, I'm french)
Merci mon ami. Your English is excellent and far better than my French. I am glad I can pass on tricks from un vieux. (J'espe're que c'est correct?) I try to pass on tricks for new players and show that even with older test equipment a lot of good work can be done. It is faster and easier sometimes with my new equipment, but much of this is too expensive for young players.
Again, Merci.
The Radio Mechanic Your french is really good too. Working with old material is better in my opinion, it has been designed to work a long time when today's devices are dead really quickly, and it has the vintage mojo. And one more time, thank you for your content.
Your welcome, come by any time...
I purchased and completed the seven transistor radio kit following your RUclips video which was a big help upon completion radios is dead I am measure from negative to the base of all seven transistors and get .65 V DC if I hold the soldering iron over the board I get a hum I appreciate any advice
Hi Gary. Sorry to hear the radio didn't work. Watch the video below and I show how to trace trough the circuit. You will need a length of wire as an "Antenna" and a pin or test lead to connect to it. Also note in the video when I am showing the layout of the board there is a wire I have highlighted in RED from the antenna. This must go to the connection indicated. By following the procedure in the video you should be able to find out what stages work and where the signal is being lost. Let me know how you make out. Vern
ruclips.net/video/xlkX6mYQX9g/видео.html
I did go back and studied your video several times and you'll never guess what was wrong. I did not solder two of those bridges. I found them thru a magnifier. I worked on trying to get figured out but could not for two days. I glad I didn't give up and very proud of my new accomplishment. I hope this gives you satisfaction that you have taught a sixty five year old guy something new. Thanks again and waiting for new project.
Hi Gary, from one 65 year old to another, I am Very pleased to be of help. And thanks for watching.
Dear Radio Mechanic, Question: I am building the Elenco AM/FM-108CK. Working on the AM side. All test have passed, the problem is in the mixer/oscillator section, there is no signal output into the ist IF. I have checked all parts, soldering and connections. I have replaced the mixer transistor still no RF, All voltages are correct. Does this sound like defective oscillator coil?? Thank you kindly!!
What color is the screw in the Oscillator transformer coil? Should be Red. I have seen them come with the wrong coil before. Also check continuity of the transformer. Just follow the schematic. One side has three connections, the other side two. An ohm meter will verify if they are intact. Lastly it is very easy to get the antenna connections incorrect. Check carefully that you have connected the correct winding to the oscillator. The smaller coil on the antenna is for the oscillator. And one more thing, if everything else is correct try reversing the wires on the antenna oscillator winding. That is, there is one wire to the base of transistor V1 and one wire to Capacitor C223. Reverse them and see what happens. They can inhibit the oscillator if the phasing is incorrect. Good luck and thanks for watching.
Hi when you are injecting 525khz and the 1605khz wherw exactly you connect the lead of the Signal generatore? please
I ask u cause when i inject an audio signal of 786hz with the 465khz carrier at the out of the speaker i read 800hz more or lest. Is it right.
Don't drink and drive bud we wanna keep you around awhile!
Thank you brilliant,from mark
Maj. Armstrong would like these videos!
Maybe I'm old, but I prefer an old VTVM to most of the new digital meters. For anyone who builds those radios on the circuit board provided, those test points that must be soldered shut are a real trap that blocks success.
Love those old large meter format VTVM's. Something very satisfying about them. Interesting name. I was in Sattahip Thailand for 11 Months in the 70's.
@@theradiomechanic9625 That's where I live, I retired here. Robert in Sattahip is my online name.
@@robinsattahip2376 Had a feeling that was the case. Was stationed at Samaesarn Army Base next to Utaphao Air Base for 11 Months 1970/71. Had a Bungalow at Kilosip/Sukhumvit highway 3 in the 70's. Was a simple 2 lane road then. Last Year I was living in Phetchaburi City, about 15 Minutes from the Ocean. Came home to take care of some personal business and now I am stuck here because of the CCP Virus. (Chinese Communist Party Virus). Hoping to get back soon. We are supposed to have access to the Vaccine in about a week. Then the fun begins getting all my visa crap lined up. Will need to renew my Thai driving License's ( Car/Motorcycle ). Hope I get back before they expire. Regards, Vern
@@theradiomechanic9625 That's now Pattaya International Airport though there are no scheduled flights now because of COVID. Best wishes to you. I started in electronics as a hobby at 12 and took it up again in retirement. Best wishes
@@theradiomechanic9625 Hope you make it back here soon.
A good demonstration, however you did not disable the LO when aligning the IF. The LO with the 455:Khz will peoduce other unwanted frequencies in the IF Amps creating error. You,also,did not use a RTMA dummy load network.
The way I explain receivers to others is to imagine the RF spectrum like a paper band, like paper tape from an old adding machine or cash register, running from low freq on one end to high freq on other end. Receiver is like a verticle slot in an index card slid up or down tape. What the slot in card reveals printed on tape is the signal a receiver would tune. The "width" of the slot is the band width.
It has just occurred to me the this ELENCO kit would make an excellent build for you to film making and more importantly, testing. How about it ? Maybe a small series of utube videos. I'm sure that they would be enjoyed by many. Yours Ricky (even if you skipped the build side of the project and concentrated on the testing element ?)
radio chemistry class❤❤
Where can I find the breadboard you are using?
Is it demodulated and just give me the audio signal?? And not tha 465 carrier. Please set me right or wrong. I dont get the picture.
In Australia we use 9 khz spacing
I actually have an Aussie Chrysler radio sitting on my desk
@theradiomechanic9625
I have a kriesler 11 75 with bad tone arm
And a 11 104 all working.
I know I should replace the caps.
Hi, I watched the video again. I see you basically forgot about adjusting the aerial coil, since you adjusted the aerial trimming capacitor at the low end of the band and then remembered you should have adjusted that at the high end of the band. Same as you adjusted the (pad) oscillator coil at the low end of the band and the oscillator (trim) capacitor at the top end of the band. Then you should have adjusted (Slide) the aerial coil (pad) at the low end of the band for maximum signal/noise and then adjust the Aerial (trim) capacitor at the high end for maximum signal/noise. I am just as old and forgetful and at first forgot the exact same thing, left the aerial coil in the middle of the ferrite core and poured wax over it to stop it from slipping off the core. When I remembered how it should be done I had to pry the aerial core paper former from the wax to be able to slide the aerial coil towards the end of the ferrite. but It's all just done for entertainment. There is a lot less on medium wave (AM) in the UK these days than in the past, Commercial stations that are on FM are holding onto their FM stations as well as taking up DIgital radio channels. The BBC is rapidly shutting down local AM stations while the tremendous interference from computers, wireless routers and just about everything else electrical really makes AM radio almost a dead duck here now.
Here one for the little red radio work the antenna coils knock out the radio completely all tune in all station come in real good but attaching the last antenna wire for am band when solder knock out the whole radio all three antenna wire are in the right places and it work really well but when I bring that wire to the right spot on the circuit board it goes dead on the radio will not tune any am station so i left it offbrad
A slight correction to my original comment. The Transistors that failed to give out a tone were 4 & 5 (not 5 & 6 as quoted before)
Sir,
Love your channel, just found it, and the alignment took me back to my 1976-1978 Sandusky High School Vocational Electronics class: This was a fun ride! Can you please show using an Arbitrary Waveform Generator as the source for alignment? Just getting back into it, and finding an RF Generator thats not all beat to Hell is hard these days..(I had one from Hickok Electrical Instrument Co., Cleveland Ohio and it was ancient even then) thought about it a lot, and found this page on internet from Tektronix where there's a PDF about it if you google this:
75W_20333_0-1.pdf
I ask this because nowadays more of us seem to already have an AWG, as they came down (almost exponentially!) in cost. And since you can do so much with them, given the choice of an RF Generator vs. AWG, it actually might be the better investment today (MY how times change! I am amazed when I see the specs on modern "beginner" gear...Specs that would have been either thousands of dollars or even Unobtanioum when I was a kid!)
And as you used 610 as your frequency of choice, are in my neck of the woods, WTVN, or maybe you are in Houston KILT? Just wondered...
I've kept interested in it, even though I followed a different career (Registered Nurse) and I got the Extra Class license, and for yucks and giggles Commercial GROL, GMDSS Operator/Maintainer and Ship Radar Endorsement a few years back. In hopes to do more with it all in Retirement (56 this year)
73 and All the Best! DE W8LV Bill. w8lvradio@gmail.com
Hi William. RF generators are a dime a dozen at the ham flea markets. And a cheap counter can be found there also. Makes the old generators more useful when you are sure of the frequency. The Arbitrary Waveform Generator would simply be set at a sine of 455 KHz with am modulation on it and work just like the RF Generator as far as the radio is concerned.
They are usually fairly expensive ( at least for one capable of getting up into higher RF regions for aligning the front end.). I have one that will go to 50 MHz and it wasn't cheap. Trying to keep costs down for the new players. Thanks for watching.
Howdy! Just found your channel via Mike's, I enjoyed and appreciate this video as I am trying to learn this properly....I have all the tools shown in this video, however you didn't show where you tied in all equipment or explained where all went. I just bought my first scope (ruclips.net/video/spUe7p2jXrM/видео.html) and wrapped the probe (connected ground to tip on probe)) around the ferrit bar at and laid it on top of the copper wire, set scope to low sensitive settings and was able to see the tunning and by such was able to tune up my radio that way. In your future video, could you address the IF can color representation and maybe a future video on FM broadcast alignment. Thanks! Jack, VEG
Have been trying to keep the 10 buck series simple for the young players hence the AM radio. Still have more to cover there. Sold off all my old FM radio alignment gear and now wishing I had kept the FM Stereo Generator. Will get another one when I find a deal. You are on the right track feeding the signal that way. I actually clipped the signal generator on to the insulation of the antenna connection at the tuning cap during the last part of the alignment.
OK, understand, thanks for the encouragement! My Jackson covers FM band as well as having provisions for FM mode, just put it on the bench today, getting a parts list together...I could have used it many Times! :) By chance, have you've been successful in using harmonics to align a radio for frequency? ~Jack, VEG
Hi Jack, yes harmonics can be used. Most of the early simple signal generators used harmonics for the upper bands. I did a video on one "10 Buck Test Bench Accurate Instruments R.F. Generator Part 2" Note that the band switch has 5 positions. A, B, C, D, E. The Last switch position does nothing, In fact the switch is wired so that the contacts for D and E are in parallel. There is NO change between the two positions. The Switch just is a reminder to look at the E scale which uses the second harmonic of D. There is NO change in the output.
Remember however that when using the second harmonic any error in frequency is doubled. Vern
Its a bit hard to follow when you make mistake i,am trying to add up as you go and nothing makes any sense.
Further to the last comment, here is a link to the problem radio.
www.elenco.com/admin_data/pdffiles/amfm108k.pdf
HI Ricky, for some reason I have not been getting all your comments. ( I actually did a video on this problem ) I came across these by chance. I have ordered one of these kits and will do a video when this arrives. Thanks for watching and a good lead as I have been trying to figure out how I was going to do a video on FM. This kit will be the answer.
The Radio Mechanic , Thats great news, I will very much look forward to watching the videos. In my view, ELENCO have not quite nailed it when it comes to the educational element of this kit. Im sure that your communication skills and extensive knowledge will benefit many. All the very best, Yours Ricky. Ps, I will resend my previous messages directly. Cheers
Hi Ricky, I would check the coils for continuity if you haven't done so yet. I will go through the whole thing when the kit arrives and try to help you out. Don't know why, but for some reason not all comments show up in my social tab. Most do, but some I do not find unless I go digging. Was not ignoring you. Just had not seen them. I actually did a video about that problem Again, thanks for watching and hang in there. The kit is coming. Vern
Fix goof first! Very newbe.