[kiwi_steve]

Cheers guys, progress has halted for the moment, since the 'long hot dry summer' we were promised by the weather forecasters has become a humid rainforest kind of summer instead. It's pouring rain again here today. But at least I can go and light the burn pile in the small paddock.

Arran, I don't have a press, but I will heed your advice, and keep the speaker to play with it later on. For now I'll use the working one I have, which should fit just fine. It's deeper, but there is nothing behind it in the cabinet.

I tested the valves, and replaced the 6K7 and the 6A8, then aligned the I.F., and it played all day yesterday just fine. Interestingly, it was very unstable and whistly coming onto a station (like a BFO almost) with the shield on the 6K7 (either old or new), but with it off, it played just fine. I haven't checked the voltages yet - I may do that today just to ensure things are in spec.

Overall it's about what I'd expect for a 5-valve set (it's a 6-valve, but only because the detector and first audio valve are separate instead of using a 6B8 or something similar), but there is one fairly strong AM music channel we get here, and I think with a decent aerial it should work well enough to listen to that, or my AM transmitter.

I guess I should move this over to the cabinet forum to try and finish that now, once the skies clear... Once I do I'll add a link to the post here. Thanks to everyone for the support and advice

Cheers, Steve