Is everybody staying warm?

[electra225]

Our members have been making themselves scarce on the forum for the last week or so. I was wondering if you guys were "weathered in" in the parts of the country that get snow and nasty winter weather. I haven't done much in the shop lately, domestic issues taking up more of my time. I had wanted to start on my Concert Grand, but that isn't going to happen now for awhile. Car show season is here, but, again, time for that is going to be scarce. I have been battling spambots on the forum, with Bill's able assistance, which is about all I have accomplished of any value lately. I hope you all are well and safe and if you are in areas that get cold and snow, that you stay warm and join us here on the forum....

[TC Chris]

I thought maybe it would get above 20 deg. F. today but it missed by a degree or so. Temps at my house slid below zero one night. Farther inland it was well below zero. The radio morning news guy pointed out "It could be worse--you could be in Wisconsin." They are on the wrong side of Lake Michigan, so they are not protected by its moderating effect in W and NW winds. Here on the downwind side, we are warmer but wow, are we getting lake-effect snow. I shovel the sidewalks and driveway, a.m. and p.m., twice a day. It's continuous, and it's all powder. At least until the cars mush it down, that is. My city, which used to be quite adept at snow removal, seems to have forgotten how to do it in the age of climate change. Between the mushy streets and cold temps, I have not been biking to work. The nice red truck starts happily and reliably even below zero. Driving is slow and the snow muffles the noise. All of my coldest-weather clothing has been deployed. I decided to walk downtown to an MLK Day concert at the City Opera House so as to avoid parking hassles. It's only about a mile away. It was 5 deg. out but the right clothes made the walk comfortable and I got some exercise.

It was really interesting to see photos of snow in New Orleans, Houston, and other SE cities.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

It's probably more interesting to see pictures of snow in areas that normally don't get snow to actually being there. Many of those areas don't have snow removal equipment....

I have been covering the plants of an evening to protect them from frost. The frost got the bouganvillas. Now they are all brown and nasty looking. We'll have the bushes cut to about a foot off the ground. They will come back better and fuller than before. The only way to kill a bouganvilla is to dig it up, making sure you get all the roots, or it will just come back.

[walyfd]

Wednesday morning. Picture says it all

[William]

The coldest it got in my little town was 1 above zero and that was plenty cold enough. And like Chris, twice a day snow removal but for me it is three homes. Mine, my 89 year old neighbor lady across the street and my 92 year old aunt's house.

Bill

[Conelrad]

It hit 26 one recent morning here.

Cold for this area.

DG

[electra225]

I remember those -8 days when I was starting trucks. We had a charcoal heater we set under the oil pan for a few minutes so it would crank fast enough for the engine to start. We used straight 30 weight oil in diesels in those days, so it was like moving molasses when it was that cold. A Mack or a Detroit Diesel would start to about -20 without heat, but a Cummins was a different story. If it was going to get much below +20 at night, we would just top off the fuel, then leave the engine running all night. I don't miss those days one iota. Stay warm, Walter.......

Mom drove her old straight 8 Buick with no hood because us kids used her hood for a sled. That old Buick would set outside, in the cold, in the snow, no hood, six volt battery. It would crank the old 320 over so slow you would think there was no way it would start. It would turn over four or five times, find a piston at TDC, then off she'd go......

The lifters might rattle for a few seconds until they got oil. We ran the "expensive" Standard Perma-Lube 10W30 in it, which was like running synthetic racing oil nowadays. IIRC, it was like 79 cents a quart.......

[Motorola minion]

I had to work on some cars the last two weeks, rear brakes, battery, shop for another car for my 18 YO, etc. Ill take this over extreme heat any day, the more you move, the better you feel. Hate feeling dizzy and nauseous after too many muggy summer days/nights, the way it is in the East.

Its STILL no fun without a heated garage, but at least the Fisher Warwick plays fine. Its impossible to play record players unless they have warmed up inside .

-3 on Wednesday and I had to run up to beyond Scranton for a project meeting, not before I met up with another member to trade projects. Road salt (magnesium chloride) is everywhere, so once its above freezing, the cars must get a hosing off. I do a better job than so-called "up-blast" car washes, which do not take that feature seriously enough!!!

[walyfd]

You drove through my homeland. Not to be nosy but where were you headed? It was viciously cold here on Wednesday. Not too many console enthusiasts in my area so the scranton reference causes my interest.

I'm working on the sony r2r for the fisher console this weekend. Last time I had it looked at was a guy on Long Island. Hard to find anyone into consoles let alone r2r recorders anymore.

[electra225]

That is the reason we are here. Because there is few and far between servicing options for consoles and record players. What are you doing to your R2R deck?

[William]

What model Sony do you have?

[walyfd]

This one. Right channel is totally out. Seems to be a common issue with them and the wiring is a nightmare

https://www.tapeheads.net/threads/sony-dk-555-a.29334/

[William]

Impressive looking unit and interesting that it has 3 6AQ5's, I wonder how that works. I bet when working it sounded great.

Bill

[walyfd]

It did. It's from the console. And to get back on topic, the heat it generates is amazing!

[electra225]

10 tubes, one of which is a 5V4 must create enough heat in that cabinet to bake bread! What troubleshooting have you done? Reckon it is in the head(s) or in the amp someplace that is causing the dead channel? If the dead channel issue is chronic with that model, what is the typical cause of it?

[walyfd]

Not the heads. No clue what causes it but this is the second unit it's happened to and who really fixed them back then? They threw them out.

[electra225]

So they are using one 6AQ5 for a mono output tube, then they are using a 6AQ5 in each channel for stereo audio output. Interesting. I see a stereo/mono function switch that probably is reasonable to be under at least mild suspicion. It might kill stereo output entirely if it was dirty. Does it work okay in mono? I don't see anything right off hand that would be that much out of the ordinary. Start with checking voltages, maybe get out your signal tracer, test tubes that kind of thing. 12AT7's are pretty tough, but one might has a dead triode that is killing one channel. Perhaps a tad early to toss? I have a smaller Sony Superscope and it needs some work as well. Let us know what you find. Good luck.....

[William]

That answers my question on why 3 6AQ5 tubes.

Bill

[electra225]

The wiring on that R2R is bizarre. I agree with Walter. There is a switch in each stereo output that I'm still not sure what they do, exactly. They could get dirty and cause trouble. External speakers, maybe? This is one of those projects that tries your patience and exercises your vocabulary......

[TC Chris]

That answers my question on why 3 6AQ5 tunes.

Bill

Is that the recording output to the head? Or oscillator?

Chris Campbell