My first Communications Receiver, the Trio JR-500S (aka Allied A-2516) restoration

[@DavidTipton101]

Good job Manuel. I am catching up on my video watching 😄

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks Dave. Have fun 😂

[@ZAR797]

Good Job Manuel. Very interesting looking at your work.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks

[@lennartbenschop656]

Interesting those old communications receivers. Still all tube (save for some diodes) in 1969-1971, while broadcast radios had pretty much switched to all solid state by then. Note that the 3.5 and 7 MHz band use the sum frequency to mix to the first IF around 9MHz, while the higher bands use the difference frequency. This way the lower bands are tuned to LSB, while the higher bands are tuned to USB. Because of receiver (transceiver) designs like this, the convention to use LSB on lower bands and USB on higher bands got established (only for radio amateurs).

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Makes sense. I wondered why the convention arose, and now I know. Thanks.

[@borayurt66]

Wow! This I did not know. I was about to ask how this radio discriminates between LSB and USB, your comment answered my question and I learned why we use LSB at

[@retro_tech]

Great video, Manuel. And a very nice and interesting piece of equipment.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks

[@BJcanal270]

Today is a rainy day and is a pleasure to see your videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Pleasure

[@paulsradiohacks]

lovely looking radio

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@merashallan]

I looked up the service manual for the Allied A-2516 and found the same schematic you were looking at, complete with drawn-in resistor. These radios transitioning the move from tubes to transistors are often neglected. I am glad this one got some much-needed attention!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@vrviewsfromjr6622]

Watching this was like putting on a nice comfortable pair of shoes. Everything all very accessible and understandable. Replacing those caps made a huge difference. Much as I like the Sony (lurking in the background), that is more like wearing a brand new pair of shoes at wedding that you realise on the day are two sizes too small. 😁Great work as always and a very interesting receiver. Highly enjoyable!! Nice to see Manuel's Mega Multiplier making an appearance too.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊 Thank you

[@nibelung1646]

Really nice work and reciever! TY for great video!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Pleasure

[@petersdelucaaa2vg306]

I really enjoyed watching you restore this HF receiver. Nevertheless, I must warn you! My radio addiction started with Amateur Radio and then expanded to tube AM, FM, SW German radios, thanks to your help. I’ve heard that the addiction can also go in the opposite direction….LOL…We would certainly welcome you to the Ham community.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@lyntonprescott3412]

Outstanding work on a lovely little valve receiver. Great results in the end despite not having all the instructions you would have liked, but you deduced all the correct places to tweak in order to make the set better. Well done Sir. I have two Trio communications receivers. An R600, and an R 1000. Both solid state but they have been very reliable and they work well with my long wire aerial. Also have an old Kenwood (Trio) VHF transceiver which still works but does not conform to the modern channel spacings. Hope you enjoyed the restoration. Tell your friend in London to send you a Yaesu FRG7! Now that I would watch and follow until my monitor goes dim!! Best wishes for a happy 2024. Lynton G4XCQ 😁

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 the request for the frg7 has been made 😊

[@Bus2000]

I own the same receiver. Used it a lot in the 80s . Have to restore it one day. Do not have the nice legs. Did a lot of RTTY decoding using a MSX home computer. To get the oscillator stable I build a PLL unit for it to lock on a nearby I think 100KHz raster. I have removed the PLL circuit in the past.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@josealeixes2861]

Manoel boa noite não sei nem o que falar que trabalho perfeito tudo voltou a funcionar como de fábrica perfeito parabéns …

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Obrigado José. 👍 agora tenho de conseguir o mesmo com o Sony 😊

[@DerekHerbst747]

Nice to see you dipping your toe into the HF receiver waters. Those Trio (Kenwood) radios are really neat! I've done a few as well but not this model. It's a lot like the Yaesu FT and FR series.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 need to try some other models too.

[@johnblystone8781]

Thanks for a really good video. Would love to see you restore a Hammarlund or Hallicrafters "boat anchor".

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 it’s on my wish list 😊

[@TrevorsBench]

Overseas DX from Louisiana, Tennessee Nice!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@michaelwitas9482]

If a product was an Allied Knight, it most likely was sold as kit. However, there may have been both factory assembled and kit versions available. Allied was bought out by Tandy/Radio Shack in the 1970's. For a brief period, they referred to the catalog and stores as "Allied/Radio Shack". But before that time, Allied and Radio Shack were separate companies. Allied stores sold their own house brands such as "Allied" and "Knight" but also sold many other brands including Fisher, Nordmende, Scott and various Japanese brands. One of their early 1960's portable radios was made by Bang & Olufsen. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, some of the high-end Allied branded stereo receivers were made by Pioneer .

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks for the info 👍

[@mostlyoldthings]

Great stuff Manuel, a captivating diversion! I have a Lafayette HA 350 which has been on the "Back Burner" for ages, you have inspired me to take another look at it. It's nowhere near as accessible, particularly the S meter, which appears to be open circuit but is built in a very complicated way into the front panel, but hey ho nothing worthwhile is ever easy🙂

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Indeed. The effort matches the final satisfaction 😊

[@mostlyoldthings]

Indeed 👍

[@mostlyoldthings]

Further to you inspiring me, I went to my "lab" got the Receiver out and spent part of the afternoon struggling to get the meter out, it wasn't as bad as I had thought, just a couple of screws hidden under other components on the underside. I now have the meter out and have ordered a Chinese 500uA replacement which I shall strip and swap the dial on to keep the look of the original. The unit has been messed with and there are the usual suspect electrolytics to be replaced, it has very similar symptoms to yours prior to the capacitor replacement, so I'm hoping that the magic will help regain some performance. Thanks again for getting me going on the restoration.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 good luck

[@mostlyoldthings]

@@electronicsoldandnew 👍🙂

[@vk4uh96]

Good work. S-meter zero is done with antenna disconnected or shorted to ground NOT on background noise. It’s important to be able to assess the noise level with your S-meter

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Makes sense

[@vincenzofidanza2539]

Hello Manuel, crystal oscillator are picky, the stop oscillating when you get to much power out of the oscillator. A crystal can be tuned using a compensator in series or in parallel. Ex in SSB RTX of this era the LSB and USB crystals use this system to have their frequency positioned on the correct side of the curve of the SSB filter. Crystals also age and shift in frequency has you have noted. This way of tuning with a small variable capacitor can work but not always you are able to compensate for this frequency shift. Crystal were also used in a VXO circuit with in series a capacitor and an inductor to obtain a shift on several kilocycles as used to obviate for an relatively unstable VFO in ex using a base frequency of 8MHZ X18 to obtain 144 Mhz in common circuits of AM transmitters of this era.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 thank you

[@mackfisher4487]

Manuel, Careful it might become addictive, I've always favored the communications receivers for amateur radio and shortwave listening. The term boat anchor, similar to those large German radios that you favor have incredible features and lots of those funny light bulbs.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Im probably well on my way up the addiction path 😊

[@jean-pierredesoza2340]

For those curious in decoding those communication signals on a computer, all you need is a piece of software and some way to manage the audio pipeline on your computer. On Windows that would be with some virtual audio cable, on macOS with a utility called Soundflower. There is a software suite named FLDIGI that decodes many "modes" of transmission, CW (morse), RTTY (telex), or Weather Fax are the best known. This is necessary if your receiver is an SDR, and you need to pipe the audio out of it into the FLDIGI decoder. I don't get much CW in my area, just two navigation beacons which broadcast their ID in morse. Thanks Manuel, yet another interesting project done !

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks for the info 👍

[@daveturner5305]

It might be interesting to build a simple crystal based Colpitts oscillator and test/measure the crystals out of the Trio.

[@torugonza]

Qué extraño ver los pequeños cubitos tal como las FI de transistores, en medio de las válvulas y las bobinas más grandes..😮

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@migsvensurfing6310]

The first thing I would have done was to ensure that the 115V-220V switch would not accidentially be switched.

[@bofor3948]

Yes, needs a flush fitting switch that requires a screwdriver in a slot to move it.

[@RobertBelt-x6d]

@@bofor3948 I was given a Collins that has this adapted feature to it. Protecting the set from a 230v to a 117v is a disaster waiting to happen.

[@ralphjarmain3851]

Agree, that style of switch could do with a reversible locking plate, which may have been fitted originally (or not).

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@ricardoaliasdelatorre6836]

Hi Manuel, a sugestion for this nice receiver, it has a VFO output at if frecuency~9Mhz.Do you think it could be possible to add a frecuency counter for Dial .A second part project..

[@electronicsoldandnew]

That could be gone, but the owner definitely wants it to stay original

[@greg5391]

Set the main tuning dial to indicate zero, then gently push the outer ring on the tuning knob and rotate it to also indicate zero. Then 1khz resolution is available.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@greg5391]

The Drake amateur radios were set up the same. The dial skirt is meant to be adjusted for greater accuracy on each band. Usually used with a crystal calibrator.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@dl7majstefan753]

Just wanted to write the same - it´s like my R-4C.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@berndb.5097]

Experience has shown that this type of quartz unfortunately ages. Unfortunately, the coils can only be used to pull the crystals in one direction (lowering the frequency). As the crystals age, their resonance frequency decreases. It would then be better to connect a trim-capacitor in series. I had a similar problem and was able to solve it this way.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Makes sense. Thanks.