I am having a problem in getting acceptable reception with some Philco radios. I am now working on a Philco 80 and 84. Both 4 tube radios. During the alignment process I get a good signal tone from the generator which I turn down to get better sensitivity during the alignment process. All seems to be OK thru the different stages of aligning a radio Then why when when finished and I do a reception test I get few if any stations and they are rather low in volumn. I am at a loss if these is a bad coil or conection then why wouldn't the signal from the generator too be low side and hard to hear during alignment.Also I short the grid cap with my figner and get a good loude feedback sound, so the power circuit seems to be OK.I would apreciate any input on this issue. Thank You.

: I am having a problem in getting acceptable reception with some Philco radios. I am now working on a Philco 80 and 84. Both 4 tube radios. During the alignment process I get a good signal tone from the generator which I turn down to get better sensitivity during the alignment process. All seems to be OK thru the different stages of aligning a radio Then why when when finished and I do a reception test I get few if any stations and they are rather low in volumn. I am at a loss if these is a bad coil or conection then why wouldn't the signal from the generator too be low side and hard to hear during alignment.Also I short the grid cap with my figner and get a good loude feedback sound, so the power circuit seems to be OK.I would apreciate any input on this issue. Thank You.
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Regeneration control not set correctly? If set too "low" you won't get whistles and birdies but sensitivity will be low, too. Also, this set needs a decent long-wire antenna and a good ground.

Four tube sets were the budget line back in the day, so don't expect much sensitivity out of them. As CV said, put a longer antenna wire on and see. I would just align using local AM stations across the dial on a set like this..not much you can mess up. Make sure you didn't miss any alignment trim adj pots, etc. Go over all resistor values, and of course change the old bypass caps if the alignment doesn't work.