[mikethedruid]

"They say the night time,
Is the right time,
To be,
With the one you love...."

Well, night time came, and I fired up the radio again. I went through the alignment one more time, this time with my Eico 324 signal generator, double checking everything. I also always use my Tecsun PL-600 digital readout radio to make sure the output of my signal generator is right on. It does not have a band that reads 400 - 500 KC, so I just use the regular AM band at double the IF frequency I am checking. In this case I tuned the Tecsun to 920KC, double the 460 KC IF of the RCA C9-4. For all the rest I just used the actual frequency on the Tecsun. Then I tried it again on my test antenna. I did some final tweaking of the alignment using actual broadcast stations, and now they are dead on all up and down the dial. Great reception and LOTS of stations, every 10 KC it seems, although sometimes there will be two stations which use the same frequency fighting each other. Lord, how I do miss the old "clear channel" days ! Reception is equally good on both short wave bands.

I did notice a problem with the "magic eye" It did not seem to be responding when I tuned in a strong station. I went back in, double and triple checked all the connections both in the radio chassis itself, and also inside the remote socket and socket cover for the 6E5 tube. I finally saw some loose strands from bad soldering IN THE REMOTE SOCKET which I hadn't touched until then. It appears that this was a problem waiting to happen since the day it was made ! I removed the stray strands, redressed the wires inside the housing, put it all back together, and the "magic eye" now works as it should.

So, now on to the cabinet. I'll take it out on my porch where the light is good tomorrow if the weather is nicer than today was, remove the speaker board with the original grill cloth which is in perfect condition, and then clean the cabinet well with go-jo and see what it looks like after that. While it is still wet with the remains of the gojo, you can get a good idea of what it would look like with just a few coats of tung oil rubbed over the surface. It looks pretty good as is, so I expect that may be all I will need to do.

Another thing I now must undertake is making a bracket and mount to hold the 6E5 in place. Good thing I have some scrap sheet tin to make it from, a little thicker than what they make tin cans from, otherwise I would have to resort to using those !