Yeah the word *"Monopoly" or collective there of is the way the world is going and it becomes a Figuratively speaking "Boys only Club" unless you do things our way we will just wipe the floor with you and banish you to none existence

Thats really scary stuff Brad but not illogical in the progress of things

Yes my comment was meant in exactly that vain ...years ago most blokes could and would fix there cars (most of the time out of necessity...most were battlers and every penny counted and you made it count)
my Dad did and the last one he owned still had a distributor, points & nibbles...he taught my sister to warm up the car before she takes off and to this day she does...even thought I dont think its necessary these days and if it is no one does.. but that has stuck with her (I dont think it can hurt anyway)

Yes GTC sadly we are now in the Age of "impersonality" just give us your credit card so we can hit you for the fixed price and probably not fix it properly anyway...have to agree there something very valuable in the personal touch of trusting someone to do it right...and do right by you

I am not that old but I do remember a lot of things that are just now lost or we are losing in our society
I kinda feel sorry for the kids, the world they are getting..impersonal, no one cares and if you haven't got the $ your stuffed for services..progress? you got to wonder..at lest in the human sense


* Monopoly
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monopoly

In my experience, dealer service shops (aka stealerships) are staffed in the main by "apprentices".

Yes and you will still get charged around $120 an hour for labour, most of which lines the pockets of the general manager.

Apprentices are like that in all trades now. It's a sad fact that a lot of young blokes just don't have the patience to sit through their time and earn their trade certificate which allows them to fall back on their trade at any time in the future.

I busted a gut to get a job when I left school and I went to tech and did the pre-apprenticeship course to improve my standing and that paid off with an offer of an apprenticeship in the NSW Public Service. I made sure that every day of that job was spent not only keeping it but making sure I got through the four years without any dramas.

Kids these days want to get a top job as soon as they leave school though. They don't want to climb the ladder, crawl before walking and the like. They leave school and are beside themselves when they are rejected for jobs they simply have no prior experience with and those that manage to BS their way into a good job first off don't do any good at it anyway.

I won't suggest for a second that an apprentice's life is easy, particularly if, like me, they have to leave home, live independently and struggle on the few shillings they get paid. That little piece of A5 paper the apprentice gets at the end of their time with the crown seal of the Department of Industrial Relations is worth it though.

How do we explain this to Gen Y though?

Sadly these days a job and learning a trade or even being with the same company for X amount of years seems to have gone by the way side

Companies dont seem to want to train people and people seem to want to start at the top its really very sad the whole work ethic....years ago you learn what the job entails and move up the ranks
so when you were the Boss you knew what that apprentice etc has to do cause you did it your self

Now management comes in sideways to a place they know nothing about or whats being done cause they have never done it to understand whats involved

Even worse there no allegiance (if there ever really was) to employee's and now they just hire casuals
(ditto to employers)

Trades etc I guess thats a bit different but I suppose they can certainly sub contract the job out to the lowest bidder and once over if they have no need of that subbie ...good bye

more so now private employment agencies market your labour, your just a *commodity they are selling to employers

*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity

They reckon these days you will have like 5 different careers in your life time....

Also the rate companies seem to disappear (or get consumed) at dont help....

The rate at which technology changes what once was too is a cause for concern as above, sure theres lots of pluses but I think just as many minuses too and as pointed out things evolve to a point were you cant easily work on this product cause the tech involved is so intricate to the task...

you think there might always be certain jobs that will always be around but even now something like Dr's could become a thing of the past a lot of the techs there it just hasn't been integrated yet
At the moment a lot is an aid to a Dr but how far is it really away from making a Dr redundant for the most part

Cars that drive them selfs etc its all just around the corner

I'd hate to be looking for a Job now thought it wasn't that long ago I was and it was a nightmare
unless you truly have something the market needs you got little chance and being over educated could be a real handicap

The best hope in someways is to be independent , find something people need and fill that need with hopefully the right skill set you have or can acquire

Again its really just the inhuman way our society operates but without us humans it wouldn't be..
crazy really..go figure

Anyway just my rambling thoughts

Edit: and I should add "oops sorry" totally taken this thread off topic but such is the nature of conversation and comment

Hi Laurie
I was one of the "couple of radio enthusiasts (who) popped round" last week.
In answer to some of the ensuing discussion on the forum; may I suggest:
It is ok to increase the value of the second electrolytic (on the B+ line) in moderation (double the original manufacturers value should be o.k. in 99.9% cases. This is isolated from the rectifier by the HT dropping resistor or preferably the choke.
The first electro maximum allowed value is a function of the particular rectifier's specifications and it's plate load resistance/impedance presented by the transformer secondary and any added resistors in the plate leads.
Some manufacturers included these, e.g. your Kriesler 11-9 circuit of 1947 and certain models of AWA etc. The 1948 Kriesler 11-7; 11-9 however does not have these resistors.
The 11-9 shows 75 ohm 1watt resistors; personally I would use at least 100 ohms and Not more than 1/2 watt (preferably 1/4 watt resistors. The idea being that in addition to easing the lot for the rectifier in normal service; should a catastrophic capacitor or rectifier breakdown occur, then the resistors will get overheated and hopefully expire before the transformer emits smoke and flame.

Getting back to your lack of activity in the front end of your radio : The next step is to measure all voltages on plates, screens, & cathodes of first two valves. A lack of volts on the plate may tell you something about the succeeding IF transformer !
Check the continuity of All the IF coils and Aerial and Oscillator coils.
If an IF is open circuit, it will not transfer signal, and should be replaced.
If a replacement is not available, a fix can be made thus: If the plate coil is open bypass it with approx. 47K - 100K resistor; If the Grid coil is open circuit bypass it with approx. 470K resistor; You will now need to introduce some coupling between the good coil and the substitute resistor by coupling the plate to the following grid with approx. 0.0047 to 0.01mFd capacitor rated at least 400 volts.
Another key cause of "nothing happening" in the front end is if the Oscillator is not playing ball. Check the Oscillator Coil for continuity; Oscillator Plate for voltage; any loose connections; wriggle valve about in socket; substitute another converter valve if you have one.

Radiola49

Yeah I was aware of some discussion on that point of upping the Cap after the Resistor (or as you say better choke) just left it as a more general comment in regards to valve rectifiers as opposed to silicon

But thanks for expanding that with additional information which explains the reasons why in regard to the first Cap..and second
(oh and yes the key word, moderation )

Those 75 ohm resistors I have noted in some circuits and using them as a fail safe (considering no other really exists) was why I believe they were there (apart from there soothing action)...anyway it seems really with radios there not much in the way of protection period, not even a mains fuse in a lot.

So a couple of resistors being use as fusible resistors (not a perfect ideal I know) isn't I suppose a bad idea, given the Notoriety of the 6X5's reputation, this I am not sure it fully deserves at the lest here in Oz but if a H~K short does happen its a spectacular failure I believe and possibly expensive if it takes out a transformer (due to a grounded heater dropping a short across B+ if I understand correctly, if independently powering & floating the 6X5 heater is an answer at lest you got that option in that case for a heater transformer...thought what issues might come along with that no idea susceptibility to noise pick up perhaps)

Thought in relation to those failures and radios in OZ I like to know how many really suffered that fate
Only techs of the day could answer that one I suppose...

Still I had been contemplating adding resistors to the supply in the radios I have (or lt bulbs maybe pico fuses or whatever they are))

really I guess its down to what are the odds of this failure happening

Well bow to your experience on the trouble shooting but Gee interesting Info on coupling
I'd guess its not as efficient as the original IF can but at lest a way round a situation that can (and probably will) arise

Thanks for the input here radiola49 Interesting stuff with details that need to be here I think