The fact that you changed parts in the RF circuits will and always has thrown them off. As this is a record player it should be easy to see if the principal problem is in the RF, or Audio: play a record

One always, when fault finding generally starts with the power supply, then the audio & then the RF. Australian Mica caps tend to be reliable so we often, do not bother changing them. If I have one out of circuit, I will check, it. Changing them in tuned circuits can affect things radically.

As this is a BC set there is a possibility that you have put in a wrong part on the oscillator coil and that will be confirmed by the oscillator trimmers being unable to adjust sufficiently. Also if this has a ferrite antenna: It is not unusual for the coil on it to be dislodged, from where it should be.

If you get slow repetitive Morse code, the frequency has gone out the low end & those are Aviation NDB's. Since that was built the band has been extended & there are BC stations like REMA above 1600kHz.

What equipment do you have to calibrate it with? Methodology is important. IFT's first, then sort the stations.

Marc

....and got an EL81 to deliver B+.

I hope you meant EZ81.

Yes, Monochrome, it was a slip of the brain and I have corrected the post to say EZ81.

Marcc - I did change one mica on the antenna coil (the wire had broken off it). This is one of those sets where the connections go off in all directions and component locations can be hard to locate in relation to the schematic. I'll have to trawl through the whole circuit again to double-check all components.

Maven

I use a "head" type magnifier, which is handy for seeing the break, then after finding / removing the rubbish & before you get side tracked or have a "senior moment" put a drop of colour on it from a marker pen.

That method is also good for wire tracing, using different colours. I often use red for b+ Black B- Blue Screen.

I would concentrate on the circuit where the Mica cap was changed, bearing in mind that it will manifest by not getting a maximum signal strength before the trimmers run out of adjustment. It will not impinge on the initial setting of the IF as you are bypassing it by injecting IF signal into the signal grid (via cap) of the pentagrid.

Marc

Just rounding off this thread with pictures of the restoration of this wreck.
It's not perfect, but it is complete and functional. I had to recreate the main hinge-bearing wall of the cabinet base, make new half-hinges and catches, and re-cover the whole thing in luggage-like vynil.
Inside the speaker grilles, the speakers have some protection from some fibreglass fly screen that doesn't show in the photos.

Photos on the way..

Maven

Very nice! It takes vision to see life in the wreck you picked up.

How did you get the hinges, clasp and handle buckles looking so good? I've got an old valve tester in a wooden case let down by these items.

Great work indeed! Not something I would have attacked, given its original condition. Kudos to you.

Just corrected the link to the second photo.

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

QUOTE: How did you get the hinges, clasp and handle buckles looking so good?

The handle buckles are just painted with mica-based "gold" acrylic paint - from art/craft shop. The original plating was too far gone to do anything with.

The hook sides of the half-hinges were present on the speakers, but the axle sides of them were missing with all that side of the cabinet. I bought some cheap brass hinges from a hardware shop - less than $2 each, though it took visits to a few shops to find suitable ones. I hammered the pins out of them to separate the two leaves of each hinge, then glued the pins back, adding small sections of the rolled part of the unused leaves glued on as spacers so that the width of the open pins matched the open half-hinge hooks on the speakers. You can see that in the top photo.

The active hasp sides of the clasps were also present and could be polished up, but again the mating hook parts were missing. I made replacements by prising open the rolled part of a couple of the discarded brass hinge leaves from the previous operation and filing the opened hinge flaps to suitable shape and angle. That's what you see in the lower photo.

Another secret was photographing the result without flash on fairly long exposure - imparts a supernatural gleam to the metal!

Maven

Edit: I meant to add that I had to replace the lifting hook on the tone arm as well. I used half of one of those double hooks (name escapes me) that are used to wind a light cord around, such as a blind cord, filing and bending it to approximate shape.

Aha! Smoke and mirrors. It looks brilliant.

I used half of one of those double hooks (name escapes me)

A cleat tie hook?