Agreed - that was my experience with the RA17. Of course I have a 130 LC meter (no surprise there!)
and the only thing I had to do was replace the smoothing electrolytic, which had gone down with the
"Sprague twist-lock disconnection issue". Haven't fired it up in quite a while; must do so and make
sure it is still alive.
Craig
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
The old silver mica caps were used in lots of antique AM broadcast radios (1930s -1960s),
particularly in
the IF stages. They were known to cause a phenomenon called "thunderstorming", which, even
when receiving a strong station, caused a random loud static that sounded exactly like a nearby
thunderstorm. This was caused by the silver deposits on the surfaces of the mica layers actually
migrating toward the edges of the mica slabs. The high voltages used in those old tube radios drew
the silver atoms toward the edges of the mica, and when enough silver migrated to the edges, there
was enough current leakage in the capacitor to cause the "static" noise.
Of course, the only solution was to replace the old micas with new ones and retune the IF stages.
Spoken from experience {:>)
Dave M
