[mikethedruid]

Tonight I sat back in my living room and listened to the Red Sox game on my Philco on FM. I noticed a slight microphonic tendency, barely noticeable , but there if ya know what to listen for. I went about tapping things from the top of the chassis and the FM-1000 and the Z300 caused thumping when I tapped them hard. I pulled the chassis again, and re-soldered a number of solder joints, shiny or not. That solved the problem and now the FM is really stable as well as loud enough. Well, I had the pleasure of listening to the last three innings of the game on the 48-482, clear, stable, and great sound. Even the Red Sox losing in the 9th has not dampened my pleasure.

The real lesson here is perseverance. I would not be satisfied with performance I knew was not up to the standard Philco would have demanded of a set, even with their built in antenna. I found that those who told me the antenna works well were absolutely correct, it does. Of course, I also was slapped with my own fallibility. I suppose I am getting old, but the condenser I miss-connected was one I remember I had clipped one end of.. then... when I went to put the new one in I do remember puzzling a bit. In the end I must have connected it one off. LOL. However, checking, checking, and checking again I finally found the problem and fixed it. I also know the new components I installed should keep the radio running well past my lifetime.

I have laid in a complete reserve set of tubes also. I never liked loctal sets. This is the first one I have restored. I much prefer octal tubes. Part of my prejudice stems from the fact that for a long time the loctal tubes were hard to find. With the internet, it is actually easier for me to get them now than it was years ago. The octal pins also provide more contact area in the sockets. I have a few hundred tubes in my stock, but I didn't have any for this set, and had to buy them all. Luckily, I got some good deals on eBay.

When you really go through this radio and do it right, it turns out to be a powerful performer. The tuning of the Z300 unit is a bit tricky. The alignment procedure gets one only so far. If you notice in the FM Alignment Notes, note 5 explains the way to do the alignment without a signal generator. This is, in fact, the best way to do the final tweaking of this unit. It takes a steady and delicate hand, and requires tiny adjustments to first the coil, and then the cap, and back again, until you reach the optimum performance. Once you get it right, the performance is remarkable.

Thanks again to all those who have helped and encouraged me. You made it a lot easier and more fun.