Initial test National NC-173 tube Shortwave Receiver dusty old radio

Recently acquired this Ham Shortwave receiver from a fellow amateur in Santa Maria, CA. Shipping cost as much as the receiver, but it was well worth it. This receiver is in excellent condition, well worth restoring. With some minor cleaning & changing a few caps, it sprang right to life! I was very happy to see that. Next step will be a total re-cap job and verify resistors. I will post part 2 when this is complete, then I will assemble a station & use it for a on the air contact, Part 3. Big fun getting these old radios performing again. I grew up with Johnson transmitters and National receivers. This ones a keeper!

[@Nirky]

Love the pic of you and your dad!

[@elkabong6429]

How could we NOT enjoy this video, Terry???

[@roncarter2188]

Seeing pictures of you and your dad enjoying a hobby like the one that you have grown up to love and have a part in is really cool, keep up the good work. I always enjoy your videos even though I'm not a ham radio kind of guy I still love to see you working on all these vintage amps and radios. I've learned quite a bit and I appreciate that so much.

[@billpawley2849]

Oh man! Does that bring back childhood memories. (Just a short story) My Dad (W4OIL-sk) had one. He worked on TV's after getting off work at the Marine Base in Albany, Ga and I would sit down there in his shop and tune around and find stations for him as he worked. Often, one of his Ham Buddies would stop by and help out a little bit and they would have me tune in some 80 meter CW conversations. As they worked, they would bust out laughing (at this point, I knew no CW) and I would have to ask what they were laughing at, and often they would have to calm down before telling me. I miss those days, miss my Father.....

[@jimkodysz5404]

That National definitely sounds better than my new IC7300! "Real radios glow in the dark"

[@XPFTP]

it never fails.. the min you try n tune them in.. lol .... thought it was just me hahhahaha love the old stuff.. good vid OM 73

[@mrshankj5101]

That's an awesome shortwave radio!

[@alanbrown4766]

Many decades ago, when I wanted to tune in a SSB signal on a receiver with no product detector, I would turn off the AVC, turn up the AF volume most of the way up and use the RF Gain to set a comfortable level. That way the beat oscillator had enough insertion level for clear detection. I can see that if you left the AVC on with this receiver it could probably manage a SSB signal OK but the trick is to use the RF gain for comfortable listening level and bring the AF gain to pretty close to max. Just a thought. Great receiver. My boat anchor receivers were a SP100, SX28. I now own a 75A2, SX-73, & SP600, Al W1VTP

[@johnbigbooty]

Terry, great photo of your Dad.

[@RadioTom103]

What a beautiful receiver! I'm jealous!

[@Bigjoedo66]

Really nice old receiver. Well done D-lab

[@johncunningham5435]

Nice radio; "brings back the old days".

[@TheRadioShop]

Beautiful old rig Terry. Thanks for the peek.

[@joseorlandolopes4861]

ola terry bons videos acompanho suas jornadas nas feiras bons equipamentos que vc repara e traz de volta a vida parabens pela dedicaçao e exemplo de radio tecnico tenho um completo com fones,caixa de som e manual ate mais BRASIL SP

[@bmh67wa]

I've always loved the look of those old National receivers. You've got a beauty there.

[@johntmcguirejr8526]

You're one lucky man to have this fine vintage ham receiver come across your D-lab bench. Have a great time with the restoration of this receiver

[@buildstoys]

Nice job Terry, very clean NC!

[@8xlaxx]

I like how excited you get when you crack open one of these beauties,...you got passion. Also, nice seeing you and your pop having a brew together while enjoying the hobby!

[@jamesschenk1963]

I really enjoyed this video and the pictures of you and your dad.

[@brandonboulton2776]

First thing i always do is to open it up and clean it out of all dust. Then clean up all boards and connections, then test the tubes. Then test caps. "Deoxit" everything.

[@wireworks616]

What a beautiful piece of equipment. Would love to have one of these.

[@TerryMcKean]

Wow!.. that radio's definitely a masterpiece, inside and out. I love the symmetrical layout of the front-panel, too... it was cool when the twin tuning dials and the meter woke up as you cranked up the AC at 05:20 :-)

[@halibut1249]

That is the coolest radio!! It sounds great, and looks and performs great too. And you tune it like a fiddle. What a find!!

[@hestheMaster]

Wow what a really powerful and sensitive receiver this is. And you hardly touched it. Hmm, Santa Maria has some very good wineries!👍🏼🍷

[@cuban9splat]

Great job Terry. Happy to see you bring it up slowly. I learned about that the hard way LOL. Thanks for sharing with us. Looking forward to parts 2 and 3. 73 DE K7RMJ Frank

[@sheldonkelley1392]

Have one I bought new with a manual, but without the speaker you have. Just hums now. Need to replace a filter cap and some others I suppose. Wish I knew the part number of the power capacitor you used. Will try to look at the video closer or search using the manual information. Great video!

[@kornami8678]

Looks just like my dad's. I loved it. Wish I never sold it. How stupid of me. If I remember right, when you want to listen to the SSBers, switching from AVC to MVC should help. You know Thor Heyerdahl took that model with him on the Kon-Tiki Expedition across the Pacific.

[@NebukedNezzer]

a great receiver. I will be watching to get tips on restoring the one I have.

[@andrewrae2813]

Looking forward to your videos on that beauty

[@jeffreycollins7297]

My Dad got my into shortwave and radio too. Granted we didn't have anything like that, it was a cool JVC boombox that had three SW bands you could spend an evening tuning in and listening to the world. Looking forward to the rest of these videos.

[@tomjones239]

Jeffrey Collins ... I saw a broken cheap portable radio in a Dollar Store years ago that had shortwave bands on it and offered them five bucks for it. I took it home and fixed it and it worked great on shortwave. That got me into the hobby. I had been interested in shortwave before that because I`ve always loved late night AM DX but had never seen one for sale. The shortwave bands were alive with weird broadcasts back in the 1990s when I got this radio. I quickly went to Radio Shack and started buying better receivers.

[@smokinjo79]

They have this exact radio in the series Gotham. I love the way it glows on the show. I’d love to see one in person.

[@harrystevens3885]

Something about that beautiful radio reminded me of the Amityville horror house,can't think what...:)

[@proudsnowtiger]

Gorgeous. I hope that was a Californian red to complement its previous home.

[@tpcdude]

Heard you on 75m MCRN net today .. thanks for the videos, good stuff. KC8ZUL

[@unixbehr]

Wow battle ship grey .

[@mymessylab]

Lovable...👍

[@bobkozlarekwa2sqq59]

Had one of these in the mid 70’s. Case was I’d bad shape so I painted it totally wrinkle finish black. I wonder where it is today?

[@warplanner8852]

Of course, you _know_ this was the receiver that was used aboard the Kon Tiki expedition (call sign LI2B) in 1947 by Thor Heyerdahl and the crew as they drifted from Peru to Polynesia.

[@DeeegerD]

Used to have a National - sold it unfortunately when I had to move a long distance.

[@schreds8882]

Terry, I have an old Panasonic RF-2200. It doesn't seem to pick up much of anything on the SW bands. FM and AM work fine. I only have the built-in antenna and I was just curious if there is just that little to listen to these days. I haven't turned on a SW receiver in decades. Not since I sold off my dad's equipment back in the 90's.

[@fabinhoosmar]

Muito lindo esse receptor. capacitores originais

[@NebukedNezzer]

one of my neighbor friends gave me one of these along with the wedge stand for it. I am an electronics expert and have no problems making things like this work properly. the one I have works so good and sounds so good I did not touch a thing. yes if I am going to put it to work I will recap it.

[@JA-fy1bn]

WOW!

[@RobertKohut]

Nice!! She's a beaut' :-)

[@NebukedNezzer]

turn the sharp selectivity off for am

[@carlosshayes5735]

How far backed up are you for a Johnson valiant

[@davelafortune4816]

I have a used one with speaker and headphones... all original parts it appears. If interested?

[@jimgiordano8218]

Pristine condition for it's age.

[@Homer19521]

You haven't aged a minute. Must be all that vino. Going to the Kzoo hamfest on the 20th?

[@d-labelectronics]

Hello, Yes, I plan to be there & shoot video!

[@CLP2102]

i need that speaker

[@professorshortbusx1061]

What is it with the wine? Do you make the wine? Is alcohol your hobby? Why always the wine?

[@rciancia]

Cool radio Terry ... its pristine !!!! P.S. I sent you an email - please take a peek. - Thanks Ron

[@d-labelectronics]

no e-mails showed up to my n6tlu address

[@rciancia]

@@d-labelectronics I sent it to d-labamps@C...T.net .... do you still have that ?

[@41johndeere]

there is one on ebay 169.00 free shipping transformer been replaced

[@d-labelectronics]

Yep, I see it. Looks pretty good. Concerned that they dont show the underside? Might be a mess

[@TheMariepi3]

compare this receiver with a Funcube Pro +

[@jimmyharris1481]

hmmm... Not much experience in operating such an old tube receiver ?

[@strangequark420]

Sound like you tuned in some Martians on that thing.

[@aidanhawkins6491]

2ND