Parts or repair? Philips AL990
The great thing about buying broken items off ebay is that with a bit of tinkering they can only get better - or stay the same, but let's try to keep positive. Perhaps it's just a blown fuse...
Comments (46)
Hm on Android I can't do paragraph breaks. I was just going to add that the wind in your garden gave my subwoofer a good workout! Your 4K videos look gorgeous on a proper telly, though. Out of interest what are you using for editing? Davinci Resolve?
I’m still just using iMovie - it does everything I need most of the time.
What an excellent video! I have a more modern Grundig SW radio that I've had fun with over the years. Stringing a wire out into the back garden makes for a good antenna. Iranian propaganda broadcasts were amusing.
Nice video Matt.. I'm a radio amateur and love restoring old radio equipment. Daft question re; the alarm - you did set an alarm time didn't you? Just asking.. Many transformers have a fuse built into the primary winding, the rationale being that if you cook it, you replace it. A simple continuity test of the primary (mains) side with your multimeter will confirm that the magic smoke has been emitted...
Reminds me of the film “The Fourth Protocol”. Pierce Brosnan, sat in his pants, listening to his short wave radio for the signal to set the bomb off.
Great video, Mat, and a good example of how some items can be brought back to life without expert knowledge of electronics, just a bit of common sense methodically applied. I had a Sony SW radio back in the 1970s but yhe thing is, I could never find anything worth listening to except the BBC World Service which wasn’t easily available in the UK in those days. I remember recording old repeats of Hancock by connecting a cassette recorder to the earphone socket. Btw the Gixie clock is still working and looking great. It is a little dim in broad daylight so I have made a hood for it out of black card. I have it near my LaMetric clock which is easy to read in all levels of ambient illumination, but not nearly so pretty to look at. Have you received yours yet? I’m sure I ordered a black base, but mine came with a tacky wood effect. Somehow, I don’t think the inventors will be making millions out of this product!
I never got into SW but the occasional time I found myself with a radio that could pick it up back in the day I could never receive anything either. I think for it to have worked properly I’d need to have taken it much more seriously with a giant aerial in the garden - then I might have been able to listen to people speaking in languages I couldn’t understand. As far as the Glixie goes - I’m still out of the country, but the security cameras at home haven’t shown any attempted parcel deliveries - unless of course there is some customs payment due and then they’d have just posted a card through instead. I’ll find out in a week or so.
I enjoyed this immensely
Probably some of the regulation circuits are blown apart, thats why the 12V DC wont work either but works fine on a total of 4 Batteries that sum up to 6V. My best guess is that 12V gets regulated to anywhere between 5 to 6V and the 240V gets transformed to 15V AC and then after rectification regulated aswell. Fixing should be somewhat easy to experienced electronics people.
It uses 6 1.5v C cells. Unfortunately I don’t fall into the category of experienced electronics person. However I’m happy with what I’ve done. I will never want to plug this radio into power.
This video puts our throwaway culture to shame. I note with a chuckle that short wave pop music stations avoid YouTube content matches!
The 80’s knobs and buttons here look great, but I was really impressed when you explained how the side handles protect them... such a smart design.
Love those handles, a few of my old radios have them and they're so handy- I was working on a CD player recently and I had to put all sorts of things under it to stop the various buttons and gadgets from getting scratched on the table!
Great wee video. Makes you think how many broken pieces of valuable equipment get thrown out every year that probably only need a few basic fixes to get them working again...
Nice review / repair . Thank you as always .
A really interesting video. One of the shames that kids have no days is because of the internet, there's no huge wow factor in something like shortwave. As a kid in the 80s the idea that you could hear radio stations from all over the world (or however far it does go) was amazing to me. I know here in the states, when the weather was right, at nighttime on AM radio you'd sometimes get broadcasts from half the country away, and whatever they were talking about I'd listen. But then again I would sit there and read maps and atlases so I guess I was a little nerd. Anywho I never did get a shortwave radio and I still for some reason want one.
One of the better feelings in this world when buying something like this and figuring out how to get it running. Good job!
You could check your guess that the transformer is dead by checking the resistance across the AC input terminals with your meter. It should be a few ohms, but not open or zero. (Sure, you don't plan to repair it to use — I'm just thinking that you might want to satisfy viewers' curiosity or perhaps head off a few more comments!)
I can’t add anything to the video now as I’m on holiday, I’m afraid viewers will have to remain curious about any omissions.
That was one of the best recently, Mat. I am quite envious of that receiver, it was a real bargain. I think I shall have to set up a few Ebay saves searches. Hope the cruise is going well. S.
Thanks - it’s going fine. I just wish I could find a few old tech shops too - it would be nice to bring something odd back.
What model Sony recorder are you using around the 14 minute mark?
That’s a Sony PCM-D100.
I am suspicious of your guarantee at the end.
Lovely to see a restoration! I would really like to see more of that, love to watch both LGR and 8-Bit Guy when they restore things. You don't need to know more about the technical part than you do, as I think you've made a great job anyways. Also, if it's already broken, what harm can be done?
Thanks - there are things (most things) that I know very little about - but there’s still fun to be had pressing buttons and twiddling dials until something occasionally happens.
Lovely piece of kit. Just one observation that red strap in battery compartment triggered my ocd. I expect you know why 😀
Techmoan does restorations! haha.. and not a bad job, actually. If you ever need any technical advice for repairing electronics stuff, feel free to ask. Also, if you are ever featuring another shortwave radio that can receive in the amateur radio bands like the HF band, for example, we could coordinate and see if I could transmit something that you would be able to receive. My gear isn't quite that powerful to go from Texas to the UK, but I have a family member who has a bit better gear and he has been able to talk to people all over Europe and even Russia. So, I could drive over to his house and transmit something and see if you could pick it up.
It’s a very kind offer and if I knew more about the subject I’d take you up on it, however I’m completely in the dark on SW and ham radio.
Nice radio. Paul of Mr Carlson's Lab did a restore on a Sony CRF-320, a predecessor to the 330K but without the cassette. Really nice radio https://youtu.be/AlfJ1dxTuWI. Given your obsession with things technical, especially the stuff with lots of buttons, lights, and knobs, I'm surprised you never became a radio ham. I'm similarly afflicted and have been licensed nearly 30 years (it would be more like 40 but Mr Morse's code kept 13-year-old me from getting in then). Love the Rotational Ferroreceptor!
What a splendid way to spend an afternoon, how satisfying. It won't be the same resurrecting old 2019 iPhones in 2050. I've never seen a sophisticated SW radio and I noticed that it has controls for BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator?) and RF GAIN. How would you feel about doing a 'How to use a radio like this?' video or videoette maybe? What can you receive on it? Was its purpose to be a home-from-home kind of thing for travelers... Kind of like Raspberry Pi at your mother-in-law's house so you can watch BBC iPlayer where you live in the US? (If that was something you did, which I don't, even if I do pay my mother-in-law's TV licenses, because it would be wrong.)
Unfortunately I know less about Short Wave Radios than pretty much anyone alive. They’ve always been a mystery to me and still are.
Well I don't have that Sony radio you want in my inventory, however, I have something far better - the greatest invention of the last 10 years, now you can have every radio station in the world come in, crystal clear, and you don't have to go outside, and it's free!! - Here you go: https://radio.garden/
Very satisfying to revive something that doesn't work -probably why I was once a computer engineer. As a kid I used to spend ages fiddling around on the short wave channels on our Radiogram (now there's a word from the past) seeing what I could pick up. Only time I ever used Short Wave in anger was when we went on holiday to Cyprus as the first Gulf War was threatening so we could get World Service.
I used to fix things for friends, as I liked to take the back cover and have a look. That ended when one day a friend brought his non-functioning ghetto blaster over. I plugged in my 12V adapter, and it lit up for about half a second, then went silent forever. Turns out the adapter plug I had was positive centre, but the unit needed negative centre. A lesson I'll never forget.
Nice to see you salvage it. Now I want to dig my old Sony (deffo not THAT one) radio and mess about - the Techmoan effect strikes again. Happy hols.
The 12v input circuit would not use the transformer...but since the rest of the radio apparently uses 9v (your 6? D cells) there is probably a regulator circuit that had the magic smoke release from it when they plugged it in wrong. If you wanted to fix it, I would start by tracing the input from the 12v line...I may try to find your Dutch service manual...well that was quick...I would look at transistors 7066 7065 7083, the service manual pictures of the circuit boards show their location and even the voltages you should see at the pins...with 12v connected...and you can see in the schematic where your D-cell batteries fit into the circuit...if you get a wild hair that is.
Thanks for the information, but I’ll never want to plug this radio in. It was just something to play around with as a bit of fun. I’ve got plenty of better radios that do plug in.
This is awesome! I have an old JVC TV boombox that needs an aerial and that one you got is just the right length! Would you mind linking to where you got that one?
It was this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07MF1HM5J/ you’ll need to use your old copper hinge washers from your existing aerial.
I would give you a short wave, but since you are all the way across the pond, I'll give you a long wave :-P. Have a great weekend!
I have had SW Radios in the past with alarm functions that only enable when the radio is on constant power, wether it be AC or the 12v DC jack. Perhaps this is the same?
Possibly but I did see the note icon appear once. There’s something odd with it though. There’s a bit more to this than I showed in the video because I wanted to keep things uncomplicated - but the clock circuits are definitely knackered. When I turn the radio off the frequencies appear and go through a jittery sweep for about 10 seconds before blanking and going back to the clock.
Great video as always Mat.
Great to see one of your “can I fix it” adventures worjing out! Ewen
Very nice to see an old piece of hardware being recovered!