Hey all. Very interesting forums and glad to be here.

It's actually my daughter's doing. She's a retro fan and spotted an N3-43 on gumtree and had to have it. And I think she grabbed a bargain at $100. Very good condition overall and fully operational aside the fact it has no needle on the turntable. I will post up some photos when I get a chance.

Couple of questions about this unit -

Is the scratchy noise (speaker interference) turning dials par for the course or is that a result of dust in the switches that a hear causes that?
Or is that a urban myth?
Can it be rectified?

Can you still source needles for the turntable?

Appreciate any help of info out there on this unit.

Cheers

Btw sorry if I posted in the wrong area. Feel free to move it if I have

Welcome.

Is the scratchy noise (speaker interference) turning dials par for the course or is that a result of dust in the switches that a hear causes that?

Which particular controls are causing the scratch noise?

It's not unusual for an old potentiometer (volume control, or tone) to go scratchy.

If it happens when you're changing stations then it could be caused by dust on the tuning capacitor, or something else.

If mode switches are noisy then that can sometimes be cured by spraying with CRC contact cleaner.

If the scratchiness happens by itself, then that could be a speaker problem.

Can you still source needles for the turntable?

Maybe, but it depends on the particular turntable or arm and whether it's just the stylus or cartridge+stylus that needs replacing.

GTC

Thanks for the tips re the scratchiness. It is the volume/tone switches that are noisy. The speakers are still very good. Surprisingly clear sound considering it's 40-50 years old. The only issue is one globe has blown on the tuning panel. And as is common in this range there is heat damage from the globes to the plastic above. Every picture I've seen of this and similar models of this area have the same damage.

And the stylus's are in plentiful supply on ebay from a seller on the east coast I discovered today. He has a huge assortment in his shop if anyone is chasing a particular type.

Thanks again for your info

PS the stylus for this model is a Sapphire HV7 or a Diamond HV7D for future reference

Try this company in Qld, apart from stylii they also have replacement cartridges.

Often with aged cartridges the rubber suspension for the stylus has perished.

Best thing to do then is get a new cartridge.

http://www.soundring.com.au/en/hi-fi-cartridges.

It is the volume/tone switches that are noisy.

They can sometimes be rescued by getting some CRC contact cleaner into them. Note: this not WD40 or anything like that. This stuff is designed to do its job and evaporate quickly -- not leave an oily film behind.

Otherwise, if you want to cure the problem permanently, the potentiometers will need to be replaced. They may or may not be hard to find depending on their ohmic value and whether or not there are switches attached (e.g. on/off).

I'm not familiar with that model, but I'm guessing it's stereo -- in which case the pots are double ganged -- one for each channel.

Heat damage from dial bulbs is common in some radios. The usual cures are to use lower wattage bulbs (if available) or to put a dropping resistor in circuit to run the bulbs at a lower voltage and hence lower wattage, but such resistors need to be high wattage to compensate.