Thanks Manuel, last night I did the IF AM alignment (i have no gear for FM so that wi'll have to wait). I followed the specific procedure you showed in Ep 8 of your fantastic 4198 restoration. I can tell you it made me understand so much more the German text and i finally understood they meant a damper was needed on the opposite inductor while peaking the signal. I had all the parts laid out on the bench and was ready to built it when i started wondering if said damper had to be connected respecting polarity. Then my brain just started to fry, trying to figure out if there were indeed a + or - side. So i went along with a 1st attempt without the damper and although the IF seemed quite a bit off and i could greatly improve it, then end result wasn't very conclusive. It's just about the same or perhaps a little worse. Guess i'll have to redo it with the damper in place. I was pondering sending you an e-mail on the matter no to clutter your episode with my lengthy comment, but i wanted to ask permission first, I know how busy you are 🙂
Good job on that remote and the repair of the broken part. I always wondered what was inside these units and now i know. I think your solution to the electrostatic speakers is a good choice as you say once they stop working you're probably on a hiding to nothing trying to get them working again. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle the cabinet. I think a light reworking of the existing finish is a good choice as the finish is only original once and if its sanded back to the wood and redone i never think it looks as good. In this case it looks more than reasonable and so a light touch will bring it back wonderfully.
Thanks Sing Band, indeed those types of electrostatic tweeters don't really come back to life in my humble opinion. I've seen some that were built better, like the ones i have installed on the Blaupunkt, but they are not a Grundig product and I don't know the brand either, as I couldn't see any branding on them. But the polymer as well as the coating were much thicker and never wore off. As for the cabinet, yeah, your assessment is spot on; This radio despite its scratches and dings is still way too nice to even consider a chemical stripping, sanding and some kind of finishing coat, it would never look the same, we agree on that. I'll show you how i tackled it in the very next episode lol 🙂
That magic eye is supposedly EM34. Those were quite expensive already in the 90's, but available. Nowadays pretty difficult to find. Sometimes you can find an EM4 at lower price, and it is same tube but not octal base. I have a couple of both EM4 and EM34 NOS tubes. By changing the base of the tube or socket in the radio it is possible use either of those tubes. 🤓
Absolutely, one of the best replacement (maybe the only one in fact) is the Russian 6E5c (or S), that's what i will install in an upcoming episode. Needs either a circuitry change or a drop-in converter socket, stay tuned to find out :-) But even the 6E5C is getting more expensive...
Really enjoying the series. 👍
Thanks Manuel, last night I did the IF AM alignment (i have no gear for FM so that wi'll have to wait). I followed the specific procedure you showed in Ep 8 of your fantastic 4198 restoration. I can tell you it made me understand so much more the German text and i finally understood they meant a damper was needed on the opposite inductor while peaking the signal. I had all the parts laid out on the bench and was ready to built it when i started wondering if said damper had to be connected respecting polarity. Then my brain just started to fry, trying to figure out if there were indeed a + or - side. So i went along with a 1st attempt without the damper and although the IF seemed quite a bit off and i could greatly improve it, then end result wasn't very conclusive. It's just about the same or perhaps a little worse. Guess i'll have to redo it with the damper in place. I was pondering sending you an e-mail on the matter no to clutter your episode with my lengthy comment, but i wanted to ask permission first, I know how busy you are 🙂
Good job on that remote and the repair of the broken part. I always wondered what was inside these units and now i know. I think your solution to the electrostatic speakers is a good choice as you say once they stop working you're probably on a hiding to nothing trying to get them working again. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle the cabinet. I think a light reworking of the existing finish is a good choice as the finish is only original once and if its sanded back to the wood and redone i never think it looks as good. In this case it looks more than reasonable and so a light touch will bring it back wonderfully.
Thanks Sing Band, indeed those types of electrostatic tweeters don't really come back to life in my humble opinion. I've seen some that were built better, like the ones i have installed on the Blaupunkt, but they are not a Grundig product and I don't know the brand either, as I couldn't see any branding on them. But the polymer as well as the coating were much thicker and never wore off. As for the cabinet, yeah, your assessment is spot on; This radio despite its scratches and dings is still way too nice to even consider a chemical stripping, sanding and some kind of finishing coat, it would never look the same, we agree on that. I'll show you how i tackled it in the very next episode lol 🙂
That magic eye is supposedly EM34. Those were quite expensive already in the 90's, but available. Nowadays pretty difficult to find. Sometimes you can find an EM4 at lower price, and it is same tube but not octal base. I have a couple of both EM4 and EM34 NOS tubes. By changing the base of the tube or socket in the radio it is possible use either of those tubes. 🤓
Absolutely, one of the best replacement (maybe the only one in fact) is the Russian 6E5c (or S), that's what i will install in an upcoming episode. Needs either a circuitry change or a drop-in converter socket, stay tuned to find out :-) But even the 6E5C is getting more expensive...
Top job! Like new! Fantastic 😃
Thank you very much Serge, it's taking shape slowly but surely :-)