Need Advice Aligning a Vintage Radio

[aircatheavy]

Hello friends.

I have a Vintage Realistic Patrolman SW-60 multi band radio that I would like to service and re align.

I do have a frequency generator and an oscilloscope
I am also wondering if there are any parts that commonly need replacing on these old radios that would help their performance.
I also have the wiring diagram for this unit, but do not know where to find the info I need on it.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

 

[WA0CBW]

What makes you think it needs alignment?

 

[aircatheavy]

What makes you think it needs alignment?

It's old ?

How would I even know if it needed it?

Also, the Volume knob is a mess. Does nothing other than make scratchy noises and the volume jumps all over the place.

 

[aircatheavy]

It has other bands......

AM
FM
SW
VHF hi
VHF lo
UHF

Can all these bands be aligned ?
VHF lo and UHF don't seem to work at all.

 

[WA0CBW]

The noisy volume control may just need to be cleaned. Unless someone has been making internal adjustments it shouldn't need alignment. You would need the service alignment instructions if you were to try an alignment. Have you ever done an alignment?

 

[SuperG900]

The noisy volume control may just need to be cleaned. Unless someone has been making internal adjustments it shouldn't need alignment. You would need the service alignment instructions if you were to try an alignment. Have you ever done an alignment?

Yep. Unlikely it would need an alignment at all - just clean the controls with some deoxit and should be good to go.

 

[aircatheavy]

The noisy volume control may just need to be cleaned. Unless someone has been making internal adjustments it shouldn't need alignment. You would need the service alignment instructions if you were to try an alignment. Have you ever done an alignment?

hello,
No, I've been watching YouTube videos on it.
I think I could do it. I've worked with Oscilloscopes and electronics in the past.

But no, I have never done an alignment.

 

[aircatheavy]

Yep. Unlikely it would need an alignment at all - just clean the controls with some deoxit and should be good to go.

Thanks.

I can't seem to get anything from the UHF band of the VHF lo band.

Is that something fixable?

 

[WA0CBW]

That sounds like maybe the band selector switch needs cleaning. SuperG900 has the right idea.

 

[aircatheavy]

I used CRC QD Contact Cleaner and it did help the Volume control knob.

No dice with the Band selctor

 

[prcguy]

DeoxIT D5 spray is the absolute best for cleaning volume pots and switches. Otherwise I would recommend testing the radio to see if it meets factory specs before considering any parts replacement. If it runs on AC there is a good chance the power supply filter caps have dropped in value and you could have some audio hum on AC power. If not I would not replace anything.

 

[majoco]

It's only 25 years old - a lot of my 'daily drivers' are older than that. At worst, the electrolytic capacitors may be getting a bit leaky but if the radio works on some bands then it's unlikely. Yes, contact cleaner should solve a lot of the problems but don't go soaking everything in it. The bandswitch is best cleaned by squirting some switch cleaner in a lid or something like that then going round the switch contacts very carefully with a q-tip or similar dipped in the cleaner. Don't get too much on the switch insulator - it takes ages to dry out which changes it's capacitance and therefore the tuning.
You can't do an alignment of a complex radio like that by ear - an ordinary AM band radio, perhaps but yours - no. You'll need a minimum of a good stable signal generator and an analogue voltmeter. Even so I would hesitate to go anywhere near the VHF/UHF band alignment - one tweak and it's lost and gone forever.

I can't seem to get anything from the UHF band of the VHF lo band.

Is there anything to get on those bands where you live? VHF low band is very little used as it was the TV band and they're long gone. UHF bands are full of quick conversations followed by hours of silence. FM BC band has heaps of signals - likewise the air band 118 to 136MHz. The problem with using a manually tuned radio for that sort of signal is that you can only listen to one frequency at a time - and it may be a licenced company frequency but if they're not saying anything, you'll just breeze straight past it.

 

[WB9YBM]

I can't seem to get anything from the UHF band of the VHF lo band.
Is that something fixable?

My first question would be, is there even any activity on those bands in your area? The radio can't receive what's not there...

 

[aircatheavy]

It's only 25 years old - a lot of my 'daily drivers' are older than that. At worst, the electrolytic capacitors may be getting a bit leaky but if the radio works on some bands then it's unlikely. Yes, contact cleaner should solve a lot of the problems but don't go soaking everything in it. The bandswitch is best cleaned by squirting some switch cleaner in a lid or something like that then going round the switch contacts very carefully with a q-tip or similar dipped in the cleaner. Don't get too much on the switch insulator - it takes ages to dry out which changes it's capacitance and therefore the tuning.
You can't do an alignment of a complex radio like that by ear - an ordinary AM band radio, perhaps but yours - no. You'll need a minimum of a good stable signal generator and an analogue voltmeter. Even so I would hesitate to go anywhere near the VHF/UHF band alignment - one tweak and it's lost and gone forever.

Is there anything to get on those bands where you live? VHF low band is very little used as it was the TV band and they're long gone. UHF bands are full of quick conversations followed by hours of silence. FM BC band has heaps of signals - likewise the air band 118 to 136MHz. The problem with using a manually tuned radio for that sort of signal is that you can only listen to one frequency at a time - and it may be a licenced company frequency but if they're not saying anything, you'll just breeze straight past it.

I have a BC246T that I can use to look for transmission on the UHF band.
I do get some.
But when I try to tune the old radio....nothing.....even with strong signals where guys are talking clearly.

I suspect the old radio UHF bans are out of alignment. Maybe someone already tried and tweaked them away?

 

[aircatheavy]

My first question would be, is there even any activity on those bands in your area? The radio can't receive what's not there...

Yes. I use my BC246T scanner to find an active freq but the old radio never gets it.

 

[aircatheavy]

I think if I'm gonna mess with vintage radios, I better learn to align them.

I do have an oscilloscope and frequency generator.

 

[aircatheavy]

What makes you think it needs alignment?

Two radios sitting side by side....one receives active UHF and VHF transmissions on specific frequencies, one does not.

What else could it be in the antenna connections appear good?

 

[majoco]

Try radiating a signal from your generator in the UHF and VHF bands and see which radio picks it up best. I would expect your scanner to have better sensitivity.