After some mishaps, she's back in service. Philips B4X23A restoration pt 4.

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Electronics Old and New by M Caldeira

Күн бұрын

The replacement IF transformers arrived, thanks to Paul, and get fitted in the radio. Testing is obviously a must, and the results .... well, not quite what I expected.
See for yourself.
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TimeStamps
00:00 After some mishaps, she's back in service. Philips B4X23A restoration pt 4.
00:10 Introduction.
00:34 The IF transformers have arrived.
02:53 First transformer in and IF alignment check.
06:37 Second transformer in, and alignment.
08:25 Aligning the discriminator.
13:20 testing FM with new transformers.
16:20 Back in the cabinet, and testing.
21:15 Conclusion.
_____HUNDREDS OF OTHER VIDEOS TO CHOOSE FROM____
DIY TEST GEAR: The title says it all:
• Zener Diode Tester - P...
RESTORATION BUILDING BLOCKS: A series of videos showing detailed steps used the restoration process of tube equipment:
• How to safely check th...
HowTo's: Various videos on some simple techniques and projects:
• Extend tube radio FM b...
See also playlists on some other completed restoration projects.
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• Philips BX750A tube ra...
TELEFUNKEN OPUS 2114:
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SABA UW-175-Z 3D:
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BUSH VHF64:
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GRUNDIG 3060A:
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TELEFUNKEN OPERETTE 8:
• Telefunken Operette 8 ...
GRAETZ SUPER 171W:
• Graetz Super 171W tube...
LOEWE-OPTA MAGNET 3737W:
• Loewe-Opta Magnet 3737...
BRAUN ATELIER 3:
• Braun Atelier 3
LOEWE-OPTA TRUXA STEREO 4741W:
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GRAETZ COMEDIA 616:
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SABA FREIBURG W2:
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GRAETZ MUSICA 4R417:
• Graetz Musica 4R417 re...
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CAPACITOR LEAKAGE TESTER:
• Capacitor leakage test...
#tuberadios #radiorestoration

Пікірлер: 79

@joes3485 3 ай бұрын

Glad that you were able to get replacement FM IF xfmrs. I had a discriminator xfmr. develop a short in one of the mica wafer capacitors in the base of the assembly. Unfortunately most manufacturers do not provide the values of those capacitors inside the assembly. I found what would get the xfmr. to align by trial and error, test selecting values from 22pfd to 47pfd. I see one on-line parts distributor now that offers small trimmer capacitors that have adjustment ranges from 5pft-65pfd. Those would be nice to replace those embedded silver mica wafer capacitors that famously fail with age. I was able to repair a Harman-Kardon F-50XK, I had assembled back in the early 1960s. The repair was made a couple of years ago. You do excellent work and have great explanations for anyone who is into radio restoration!

@electronicsoldandnew 3 ай бұрын

👍 thanks

@geirendre 2 жыл бұрын

Great that you got it all sorted out and the new transformers worked. It turned out pretty good in the end, the dialglass may have it's imperfections, but not much to do with that except replacing it if you can find one in mint condition. The funny thing is that a guy contacted me today and said he had a Philips B5X23A that I could have for free if I wanted it. It's the "BI-Ampli" (stereo) version of this, and a step up in trimlevel. Wood sides where the speakers are. That's going to be a fun challenge.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Should be a great project. The bi-ampli versions usually sound really good.

@DavidTipton101 2 жыл бұрын

That radio looks great Manuel. I found the sound quality poor also, not bad but I couldn't get it quite right, I felt it would have been better with pots for the tone adjustments. I agree a rework of the tone circuit may help.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Glad it’s not just me 😊

@mackfisher4487 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant you're a talented gentleman don't let anybody tell you that interlacing your videos with the schematic diagrams isn't valuable. Now that you have proper tuning tools do you you still take the family out for Chinese, regardless thank you for sharing Manuel.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Chinese is still a staple 😊 I sometime even leave the chopsticks at the table after the meal.

@tkcs8872 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your videos. Looking forward to the B7X14A (have one also). There is much between a B4X*** and a B7X***.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@SereghiAlexandru 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent ideea to use oil into the IT transformers

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@ralphmans 2 жыл бұрын

I’m not a big fan of side fired speakers, prefer the ones in the front although it makes the cabinet a bit taller. Excellent job once again.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@smvwees 2 жыл бұрын

My brother had such a radio in use.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@djkarlantony 2 жыл бұрын

Great restoration, I Have one of these in my collection.. I Purchased it because i really like the design. However I agree with your statement on the sound quality. The sound quality on most of my sets (especially the German telefunken ) is far superior.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@gmann4784 2 жыл бұрын

Another Awesome Job!!!!!!!!!!!!

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@chrisclark6192 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Manuel. You did a really good job with this. The speakers and preset tone controls are a limiting factor in these sets, and having the speakers in the sides doesn't help. You just don't get the depth and warmth in the overall sound of a good quality valve radio. I admire your honesty when you said that you weren't happy with the performance of this set. Never feel guilty about saying what you think. If there is a way to improve the performance, then I know you will find it. As always, I enjoyed watching. Cheers Chris.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris.

@sajusebastian4991 2 жыл бұрын

Sorry did you made?

@maartenschapendonk6345 2 жыл бұрын

To get the coils loose I got the tip to spray them full with WD40 and briefly tap with the soldering iron to melt the wax [and dirt] into the WD40 and then remove it.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@nigelbrockwell6237 2 жыл бұрын

It will be interesting to see what your next similar Philips radio picks up. Like you, it didn't seem to have the receiving sparkle to other radios you've worked on. It is still a nice looking radio. When I was a television engineer back in the early 1980s, Philips TVs were not my favourite ones, because they suffered from many dry joints.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

The big brother is on its way to me right now. I’m looking forward to seeing the comparison myself.

@piwex69 2 жыл бұрын

This Hioki analog multimeter looks suspiciously similar to the Polish electronics industry proud of the mid 70' - the Meratester V640 (Meratronik). It might be quite apparent now it was just the licensed or unlicensed copy.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Could be. I got this one when I was still in high school in South Africa 😊

@y_x2 2 жыл бұрын

There is usually no AGC on FM section!

@mostlyoldthings 2 жыл бұрын

Great looking radio, shame that the sound is not that good. Lovely restoration as usual though!

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

thanks

@lennartbenschop656 2 жыл бұрын

You should measure the frequency response of the audio amplifier. Speakers, cabinet and possibly the small audio transformer are responsible for a rather poor bass response. Some Philips sets of that era had an artificially limited treble response to appeal to the wishes of customers that found the sound of FM too shrill.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@migsvensurfing6310 2 жыл бұрын

Well done. Yes im with you, I find it sounds to muddy in the base, to much ...rumble ...I would name it. Now it is time to choose if the radio should stay original or not..... a hard one.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

😊

@tubeDude48 2 жыл бұрын

Towards the end of the video...I agree! It sounds muffled.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

😞

@josealeixes2861 2 жыл бұрын

Boa noite senhor Manoel que bom que o senhor recebeu o rádio fico feliz parabéns agora tenha todo tempo que o senhor quiser pra arrumar eu não tenho pressa o fio da elétrica esta descascado lá no pé quem sabe o senhor troca coloca um novo muito obrigado tenha um fim de semana abençoado…

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@Timothycan 2 жыл бұрын

I'm fairly sure the disappointing sound is probably down to the speakers and cabinet design. You could try connecting it instead to two reasonable Hi-Fi speakers and see if it's better. That will prove it one way or the other.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I did and it makes a difference, but I’m still disappointed that the unit itself is not what I expected 😊

@tubeDude48 2 жыл бұрын

Hat's off to you sir! This proves I will never work on a Philips. As always, well done !!! Will you give us a link to the place where you got the EM80's?

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

sure: www.banzaimusic.com

@tubeDude48 2 жыл бұрын

@@electronicsoldandnew - Thanks, M.!

@greggaieck4808 2 жыл бұрын

Electronics old and new the philp radio Receiver B 4X 23A is cool

@dirkk792 2 жыл бұрын

Like usual...Nice Job!! But... You are not finished yet ! You should align the glasplate... Look at it ...the right side has to come up ...if you look at front...the gold band showing on the scale should be the same left and right ... You can easely loosen the metal clips which are holding the glasplate ..then align it ( right side a few milimeters up )..fasten..done. Then , if you look at front of this radio you will see that there is a big gap between the cabinet and the gold-couloured metal top plate . From inside you must loosen the screws holding this top metal plate ...push it higher ..then fasten it again... Job done. PS: Normaly there should be a dust seal there to prevent dust coming in there en also preventing light shining through the gap ( not a nice sight ). These original dustseals always turn into dust I usualy replace these with draft strips wich i buy at local DIY store. Greetings from Dirk from Belgium

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tips Dirk. I’m going to be experimenting with this radio for some time, so will do that then.

@ColoRadio6996 2 жыл бұрын

I just love "Happy Endings", don't you?

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

😊

@michvod 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. I have the same radio and I would need the left side plastic cover for the speaker as mine is mangled. If possible, I would like to contact Paul if he has a spare one. Anyways, I mostly dealt with the radios that need to be aligned with sweep generator and oscilloscope for FM IF. Interestingly I tried aligning few radios with a sweep generator that were designed to be aligned via VVTM like yours, although the IF was peaked with VTVM, the response curves all looked wrong and distorted, but you couldn't make it any better on the scope. The radio worked perfectly though

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

I sometimes check the alignment with the sweep just for peace of mind.

@michvod 2 жыл бұрын

@@electronicsoldandnew Me same. Those radios were made by Ei Nis and it looked they used a very wide tuned IF

@sajusebastian4991 2 жыл бұрын

Hi,As usual very informative for me as I am planning to do some restoration after retirement 😁.Did you make a metal frame for putting the chassis you are repairing?Good idea.One of your subscribers from Vienna Austria.All the way from India.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, made the frame.

@sajusebastian4991 2 жыл бұрын

@@electronicsoldandnew Thanks for your quick reply

@Michlag 2 жыл бұрын

We're asking ourselves night and day what the new tube project will be? Give us a hint at least, if the video is delaying... :)

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

😊 a little older than usual

@Michlag 2 жыл бұрын

@@electronicsoldandnew wow... A dome one?

@kaleidosonix2487 2 жыл бұрын

Loving your channel, do you know if there's anyone on the Algarve doing anything similar.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

I don’t know anyone, unfortunately.

@jjarratt 2 жыл бұрын

I have a similar Philips radio and also am not completely satisfied with the sound. On AM the audio is fine but on FM the speakers don't seem to handle the wider range of frequencies. It does sound OK at lower volume on FM . I think the speakers are 700ohm impedance. Perhaps that is a factor. I have seen the same phenomenon on a Grundig 3192, although it has 5 ohm speakers.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@pedersteenberg2010 2 жыл бұрын

wow

@js0000356 2 жыл бұрын

There are fanboys of these type Philips radios, I have the same issues regarding the sound. I think the side-facing speakers were a poor designing choice in order to get them smaller. I have two of these types, one's a plano and the other one is the same as this one if I've got it right (both in storage) they just miss something. There are single front-facing speakers smaller ones from this era, that sound much better (my opinion). Nice to see it working though, good job. I had been looking for the parts for you because I took one apart some time ago for parts but couldn't find the damn things anymore.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Thank. I’m going to see how the big brother sounds when I’m done with it before I form a definitive opinion.

@dl7majstefan753 2 жыл бұрын

To the sound: Could it be that the phasing of the speakers isn´t correct? Maybe they have to be 180deg out of phase because they are back to back - contrary to speakers who are in the front panel who have to be in phase. (just my thought)

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

Didn’t think of that. I’ll try that. Thanks.

@paulbennell3313 2 жыл бұрын

I suspect the sound quality could be down to the shape of the cabinet and the location of the speakers. It seemed a bit "boxy" to me. Looks the business though and picks up well.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

It sure does

@stevehead365 2 жыл бұрын

About the sound, are the speakers in phase?

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

have tried reversing. no effect

@erikdenhouter 2 жыл бұрын

I wonder Manuel... You used for the discriminator two resistors of 100KΩ, and a meter over it with.... 10kΩ resistance (0.1 x 100KΩ). You will load that circuit down. The service manual says to use a 'diode Voltmeter', which I will freely translate in 'a tube Voltmeter' (VTVM) with a very high impedance ? Better use your DMM of 10MΩ if you don't have one. Maybe also use the two 220KΩ resistors. Make them equal by just comparing two out of your stock. Value is not so important as being equal.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

That could make a difference, but I then tried doing a visual check with the scope, and got no better result, unfortunately.

@DAVIDGREGORYKERR 2 жыл бұрын

I wonder why you cannot use crystal filters for 10.7Mhz and 455Khz which means you don't need IF cans anymore.

@dl7majstefan753 2 жыл бұрын

It´s a question of impedance. Crystal and ceramic filters are low impedance types, i.e. several hundred ohms. A tube gear requires high impedances at the anode, so additional transformers would be necessary at the filters for impedance matching.

@electronicsoldandnew 2 жыл бұрын

👍