How to repair National NC-183D shortwave receiver dead band Ham radio

This receiver came to the shop with 1 very low band (B) Other bands were booming with response. I assumed that is was bad caps, however this one turned out to be much more involved. Sometime in its past, a fine coil wire had been damaged, killing the band in question. Lucky for me I was able to repair it using tweezers and a quality soldering station. You always hear the stories of lack of sensitivity or dead high frequency response of vintage receivers. Well, here is a simple way to determine if the failure is in the RF amplification section. Gotta keep these old boat anchors kicking! Hope this info is of value to you. What caused this wire to break? I'll never know for sure. TD

[@radioman140]

Great troubleshooting explained calmly and logically. Thanks for the view inside the coil which made your explanation even more understandable. Great classic radio and thanks for keeping them glowing!

[@brucedeville3810]

Excellent video, thanks.

[@cuban9splat]

Excellent. Love those old National receivers. Thanks for sharing it with us. 73 DE K7RMJ Frank

[@bobrowlette9913]

Great video and a beautiful radio. Thanks!

[@victormontuori8208]

You are the best Terry

[@daveanderson5680]

Kool late Deco styling.....and great construction. And as always,....another expert repair

[@SkyWire88]

Nice video D-man. Cheers!

[@justanotherguy3850]

I did enjoy the video! I no longer have the radio but it was my first general coverage receiver in 1972. Of course I no longer have it but certainly wish that I did. Especially if we ever have an EMP explode right over us it'll be one of the radios that survives. I might not be able to transmit on it but I can at least listen. Well done!

[@rciancia]

Well Done Terry... coil problems are the worst. Glad you found it and fixed it... way to go... Only DLAB can get things running :)

[@johnhodgson5313]

Well done. I was thinking that if the speaker was close to the radio and that wire was unsupported it might have fatigued from vibration from the "booming audio". Love your description. I don't think it was from a transmitter, that is more likely to burn in the inside of the coil where the wire will get hotter. The slipped tool or fingers idea is likely the best explanation.

[@-Todays-Tom-Sawyer-]

Great work Terry, Sharp eye finding that one. I love mine.

[@williamreadon9052]

reminds me of my dad and I, decades ago going into radio shack and testing tubes, buying tube sockets etc... we never had a new TV or radio he would get old tube type sets and fix them, usually free, those were made to be fixed not tossed like today's electronics

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

Nice work, Terry. Thanks for the tips!

[@TheRadioShop]

Great tip Terry. Thanks for sharing

[@superhet7281]

Excellent explanation! I have a 183-D in my projects pile. This info will be helpful.

[@MichaelLloyd]

Wow. That was micro surgery. Nice work as always Terry.

[@normanschedler9498]

Very cool, thanks Terry.

[@JerryEricsson]

I had to go and see if I could find one of those for sale on Ebay, as of today, there were two up there, one was local pickup only in Oklahoma the other was 100 for the unit and 100 for shipping. Don't have the two hundred for the one that will ship or the 250 for the local pickup which is a LONG haul from South Dakota. Ah well I don't have any place to put it right now anyhow, guess I will have to just use my old SONY World Traveler, or my little Grundig GR8 for shortwave listening, I can't afford another ham set either, I have a couple of 2 meter mobile rigs and a couple hand held but being the only ham in my home town, I have nobody to talk to without a BIG antenna to get out of our little valley and some 30 miles to the nearest 2 meter repeater. 73's KE0JBL

[@billyrey9679]

Good find. Had to do that to a blown speaker coil. Bill

[@animalcorvair]

you do very good work

[@jeffadams5510]

LOVE this!!!!

[@n8nkqrp595]

A most excellent repair! But I wonder... could "that person" be....? Nah. 73 Terry

[@Paul-gz5dp]

I have rewound coils before and re-calibrated radios before.

[@yardleybottles6025]

I just bought one of these. Bo cover on transformer, looks like something melted at one time, residue underneath.

[@zeber127]

Красивое , правильное, железное радио

[@danmyself5341]

a walk through a museum radio, when sets were not all in one chip

[@mikedevita5558]

Question: Would the bandspread have tuned in band B with a broken coil wire?

[@RobertKohut]

Nice!!

[@ne2i]

Radio is up on QTH....

[@Team-fabulous]

Cracking radio and video. Very interesting.... If the coil could not have been repaired could you have taken the required voltage from another coil!?

[@johnhodgson5313]

No, that is part of a tuned circuit, you would have had that section trying to tune another band.

[@russfuquay1676]

Love the videos. How can I contact you about an amp repair? I used the email from your website but didn't get a response?

[@d-labelectronics]

Hello Russ, sorry been very busy. I will get to the web mail soon. Lots going on, little time. TD

[@mariepi]

there is a noticeable difference between this National receiver and a current Funcube Pro+

[@thetacticalninja9423]

A sweet romance is not for me I need electricity If you wanna make me flip Hit me with a micro chip I'll be a diode, cathode, electrode Overload, generator, oscillator Make a circuit with me Just plug in and go-go-go I'll be your human dynamo Signals in my power cord Impulse on my circuit board I'm an AC/DC man You can read my circuit diagram I feed on electric jolts I need fifty-thousand volts A sweet romance is not for me I really need electricity If you wanna make me flip Come on and hit me with a micro chip I'm an AC/DC man You can read my circuit diagram I feed on electric jolts I need fifty-thousand volts

[@douro20]

That 6SN7 has a lot of boil-off...

[@willrobbinson1]

but it's still working !