I recently bought this cheap aa5 radio off ebay as an attempt at a new hobby. I have replaced all the capacitors and the radio turns on now but all I get is static and the occasional squeal when I turn the tuning knob. All the tubes light up too. Any suggestions as to what my next step would be? Be kind, I'm new to this.

Hi Greg

Measure plate and screen voltages on tubes. These tube elements should be positive, most in the 100 volt DC area.

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel/723/M0004723.pdf

Norm

:I recently bought this cheap aa5 radio off ebay as an attempt at a new hobby. I have replaced all the capacitors and the radio turns on now but all I get is static and the occasional squeal when I turn the tuning knob. All the tubes light up too. Any suggestions as to what my next step would be? Be kind, I'm new to this.
:

:Hi Greg
:
: Measure plate and screen voltages on tubes. These tube elements should be positive, most in the 100 volt DC area.
:
:http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel/723/M0004723.pdf
:
:Norm
:
::I recently bought this cheap aa5 radio off ebay as an attempt at a new hobby. I have replaced all the capacitors and the radio turns on now but all I get is static and the occasional squeal when I turn the tuning knob. All the tubes light up too. Any suggestions as to what my next step would be? Be kind, I'm new to this.
::
:
:
Greg:
The first thing I would do is check the local oscillator with another radio. To do this, take another radio (I prefer a hand held battery one) and tune it above 1000 kHz, to a blank spot. Tune the suspect radio around below 1000 kHz, and at a point about 455 kHz below the working radio frequency, you should hear the local oscillator of your patient as an unmodulated carrier. Since you say you hear noise and squeal, I am for now going to assume that the power supply and the audio and maybe even the IF are working well enough to leave them alone for now. Without the local oscillator working, you are not going to hear stations. We will then check for an oscillating IF amplifier.
Lewis

::Hi Greg
::
:: Measure plate and screen voltages on tubes. These tube elements should be positive, most in the 100 volt DC area.
::
::http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel/723/M0004723.pdf
::
::Norm
::
:::I recently bought this cheap aa5 radio off ebay as an attempt at a new hobby. I have replaced all the capacitors and the radio turns on now but all I get is static and the occasional squeal when I turn the tuning knob. All the tubes light up too. Any suggestions as to what my next step would be? Be kind, I'm new to this.
:::
::
::
:Greg:
:The first thing I would do is check the local oscillator with another radio. To do this, take another radio (I prefer a hand held battery one) and tune it above 1000 kHz, to a blank spot. Tune the suspect radio around below 1000 kHz, and at a point about 455 kHz below the working radio frequency, you should hear the local oscillator of your patient as an unmodulated carrier. Since you say you hear noise and squeal, I am for now going to assume that the power supply and the audio and maybe even the IF are working well enough to leave them alone for now. Without the local oscillator working, you are not going to hear stations. We will then check for an oscillating IF amplifier.
:Lewis
:
Thanks guys. Im going to try hese suggestions over the next day or so and will get back to you. I appreciate it.

:::Hi Greg
:::
::: Measure plate and screen voltages on tubes. These tube elements should be positive, most in the 100 volt DC area.
:::
:::http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel/723/M0004723.pdf
:::
:::Norm
:::
::::I recently bought this cheap aa5 radio off ebay as an attempt at a new hobby. I have replaced all the capacitors and the radio turns on now but all I get is static and the occasional squeal when I turn the tuning knob. All the tubes light up too. Any suggestions as to what my next step would be? Be kind, I'm new to this.
::::
:::
:::
::Greg:
::The first thing I would do is check the local oscillator with another radio. To do this, take another radio (I prefer a hand held battery one) and tune it above 1000 kHz, to a blank spot. Tune the suspect radio around below 1000 kHz, and at a point about 455 kHz below the working radio frequency, you should hear the local oscillator of your patient as an unmodulated carrier. Since you say you hear noise and squeal, I am for now going to assume that the power supply and the audio and maybe even the IF are working well enough to leave them alone for now. Without the local oscillator working, you are not going to hear stations. We will then check for an oscillating IF amplifier.
::Lewis
::
:Thanks guys. Im going to try hese suggestions over the next day or so and will get back to you. I appreciate it.
:Here's another thing you can try. Check the AVC filter. If it is bad, there can be or will be no filtering for stronger stations because the station is changing the bias on the tube grids. It kinda works like the filters in a power supply where you get hum if the filters are open. I have an old PHILCO that had a LOT of oscillations & traced it to a bad AVC filter. PHILCO's were made so sensitive that even if you touched a wire they would break into oscillation!!!!
:

:::Hi Greg
:::
::: Measure plate and screen voltages on tubes. These tube elements should be positive, most in the 100 volt DC area.
:::
:::http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel/723/M0004723.pdf
:::
:::Norm
:::
::::I recently bought this cheap aa5 radio off ebay as an attempt at a new hobby. I have replaced all the capacitors and the radio turns on now but all I get is static and the occasional squeal when I turn the tuning knob. All the tubes light up too. Any suggestions as to what my next step would be? Be kind, I'm new to this.
::::
:::
:::
::Greg:
::The first thing I would do is check the local oscillator with another radio. To do this, take another radio (I prefer a hand held battery one) and tune it above 1000 kHz, to a blank spot. Tune the suspect radio around below 1000 kHz, and at a point about 455 kHz below the working radio frequency, you should hear the local oscillator of your patient as an unmodulated carrier. Since you say you hear noise and squeal, I am for now going to assume that the power supply and the audio and maybe even the IF are working well enough to leave them alone for now. Without the local oscillator working, you are not going to hear stations. We will then check for an oscillating IF amplifier.
::Lewis
::
:Thanks guys. Im going to try hese suggestions over the next day or so and will get back to you. I appreciate it.
:Here's another thing you can try. Check the AVC filter. If it is bad, there can be or will be no filtering for stronger stations because the station is changing the bias on the tube grids. It kinda works like the filters in a power supply where you get hum if the filters are open. I have an old PHILCO that had a LOT of oscillations & traced it to a bad AVC filter. PHILCO's were made so sensitive that even if you touched a wire they would break into oscillation!!!!
: