Need Help With Old Multiband Radio - Please Help...

[Ford 500]

Hello. I have a question for anyone that knows about older Multiband Radios. I
found a pretty old Multiband Radio (maybe from the 60's) at a Salvation Army
for $3. This one has the ability to get AM, FM, SW 1 and SW 2 (International
Stations), Police Low, Police High, Airplane, and Weather. I have a few
questions:

1) Does anyone know the year of this one? I do know the make and model. It is
an Elliott Tronics Worldmaster.

2) Any tips you all could offer on (not major) but some easier and common
restoration? Like anything that needs to be oiled, or any contact cleaner that
needs to be applied.

3) This is perhaps the biggest question. I noticed that AM, Airplane, Police
High and Low, and Weather do not work. I did get inside of it and noticed a
wire coming from the Band Selector was loose. I moved it into a hole that it
looked like it should go into, and then I was able to pick up AM. My question
is, Is it possible that Weather, Police, and Airplane are the same way, or has
the frequency on these been moved? Someone had told me that the chances of me
picking up ANY Police or Airplane are slim to none because they believe the
they both use a different frequency that the radio can't pick up.

Also, any other advice you could give me about a radio like this, I would
surely appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Thanks,
Tommy

 

[Ken G.]

The spot you put that wire is important . The hole you found should have
some old solder on it . It would not normally go on one that was never
soldered before .

Other than that if everything works you need not do anything . If the
controls are scratchy spray them with some WD-40 or whatever .

It is a common older multiband radio . look around on ebay on the
transistor radio pages to see more radios like it .

I can still receive stuff on the police band on radios today . The
weather band should receive the weather station . Air band is probabbly
dead unless you have airports close by . The SW bands should also
receive later at night is best .

Have fun

 

[Asimov]

"Ford 500" bravely wrote to "All" (19 Dec 03 13:54:56)
--- on the heady topic of "Need Help With Old Multiband Radio - Please Help..."

Since it is old I'd bet the problem is likely a lack of sensitivity.
Perhaps a weak IF tube or descriminator and/or very likely dried up or
leaky electrolytics. Band switches tend to get contaminated with time
and need a good cleaning to make good contacts in the relevant circuit
sections. However, I think police have gone to digital transmissions
networks which cannot be decoded using analog 60's equipment. Also
I heard airlines will/are using the internet for communications :-(


F5> From: [email protected] (Ford 500)

F5> Hello. I have a question for anyone that knows about older Multiband
F5> Radios. I found a pretty old Multiband Radio (maybe from the 60's) at a
F5> Salvation Army for $3. This one has the ability to get AM, FM, SW 1 and
F5> SW 2 (International Stations), Police Low, Police High, Airplane, and
F5> Weather. I have a few questions:

F5> 1) Does anyone know the year of this one? I do know the make and
F5> model. It is an Elliott Tronics Worldmaster.

F5> 2) Any tips you all could offer on (not major) but some easier and
F5> common restoration? Like anything that needs to be oiled, or any
F5> contact cleaner that needs to be applied.

F5> 3) This is perhaps the biggest question. I noticed that AM, Airplane,
F5> Police High and Low, and Weather do not work. I did get inside of it
F5> and noticed a wire coming from the Band Selector was loose. I moved it
F5> into a hole that it looked like it should go into, and then I was able
F5> to pick up AM. My question is, Is it possible that Weather, Police, and
F5> Airplane are the same way, or has the frequency on these been moved?
F5> Someone had told me that the chances of me picking up ANY Police or
F5> Airplane are slim to none because they believe the they both use a
F5> different frequency that the radio can't pick up.
F5> Also, any other advice you could give me about a radio like this, I
F5> would surely appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

F5> Thanks,
F5> Tommy


.... Real techs don't lick nine-volt batteries!

 

[Dr. A.T. Squeegee]

The spot you put that wire is important . The hole you found should have
some old solder on it . It would not normally go on one that was never
soldered before .

Other than that if everything works you need not do anything . If the
controls are scratchy spray them with some WD-40 or whatever .

WHOA! Hold the phone. I've been taught that you NEVER use WD40 on
electronics because it leaves an oily residue that will, over time,
attract dirt and grunge and make things worse than they were to begin
with.

You need to drop by an electronics supply store, and get some
cleaner explicitly designed for cleaning dirty electronic controls. The
salesfolk should be able to guide you, but don't get anything that
leaves residue unless it is explicitly designed to leave, say, a dry
protective film.

Happy hunting.


--
Dr. Anton Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR)
kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t c&o&m
Motorola Radio Programming & Service Available -
http://www.bluefeathertech.com/rf.html
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (Red Green)

 

[Ford 500]

I wanted to give you all an update. I cleaned the band selector, volume, tune
and tone dials. It works better. The funniest thing now is that the Police Low
band brings in some FM stations, but still no Airport, Weather, or Police High.
Any suggestions on this?

Thanks in advance.

Tommy

 

[[email protected]]

My question

is, Is it possible that Weather, Police, and Airplane are the same way, or has
the frequency on these been moved? Someone had told me that the chances of me
picking up ANY Police or Airplane are slim to none because they believe the
they both use a different frequency that the radio can't pick up.

The police bands are no longer active (most likely) The Airport band
should still be the same.

 

[Mark]

I wanted to give you all an update. I cleaned the band selector, volume, tune
and tone dials. It works better. The funniest thing now is that the Police Low
band brings in some FM stations, but still no Airport, Weather, or Police High.
Any suggestions on this?

Thanks in advance.

Tommy

The "police" bands (more accurately called public service)
will still be active, but the transmissions will be very
brief and sporadic, so catching one just spinning the dial
will be very hit and miss. Mostly you'll not find police
these days, but other city/county services.

The weather band should have at least one station that
broadcasts continuously. Your ability to receive it will
depend on your range from a city of decent size. Anything
more than 30-60 miles and you're probably SOL.

As to aircraft, unless you're within 10-20 miles of a major
airport, you'd be very fortunate to tune past an active
frequency at the exact moment a plane was transmitting.

If you're truly interested in these kinds of comms, look
into purchasing a scanner.
--
Mark

The truth as I perceive it to be.
Your perception may be different.

Triple Z is spam control.

 

[Ken G.]

You were told wrong wd40 will not hurt controls . If you think it does
then you have not tried it to see .

 

[[email protected]]

You were told wrong wd40 will not hurt controls . If you think it does
then you have not tried it to see .

It won't hurt the control, it will just make it unstable.
If the control its used for any sensitive adjustment
(frequency, BFO, ect.) it could have a negative
effect

 

[Ford 500]

Here's another update on the Multiband Radio. Last night I did a little
investigating and came up with a theory. The AM wire that was completely loose,
well, I listened very closely with it loose to hear the type of low hissing
sound it makes, and then I switched over to the Weather/Airport/Police High
band where nothing has been coming in and the sound is the exact same. It leads
me to believe that maybe a wire that controls that band has come loose. I
figured that at the very least I should be getting some kind of interference as
you would get with AM, and at the very least I knew I should be able to get the
Weather channel but I didn't, it's totally dead. Which leads me to another
problem.

The radio is made in such a way that I don't see pulling the board out from the
back. This is one of the old ones that has a leather or vinyl covering, and
that snaps open in the back to get to the guts. Many things like the antenna
and coils are in the way of pulling it from the back. I noticed that there are
4 screws with strange washers where maybe the front can come off, but the
Tuning knob is in the way of being able to pull the front off of it. I have to
get to the front part of the board because I checked all the rest of the wires
coming from the band selector and my guess is that if one is loose, it would be
on the side of the board facing the front. Any suggestions on what I could do?

I would appreciate any suggestions as to whether a wire could be loose on the
Weather/Airport/Police High band like it was on the AM band, or will I have to
connect an external antenna to it to hear anything?

I would appreciate any help with this. I'm sorry if the questions sound stupid,
but this is a good project in my opinion and I always did want a world band
radio, I think I could fix it with a little time and research. I thank you all
for your help.

Thanks,
Tommy