Just Another Pretty Face?
My new-to-me Heathkit Mohican receiver is due for some TLC
This is for all of you who remember the wonderful Heathkit devices of yesteryear. Just look at that front face and try not to smile. Quite simply, this is a lovely radio.
Recently, I picked up a Heathkit Mohican general coverage receiver from an eBay seller. The photo above shows it just as it came out of the box. I haven’t wiped the tuning face or cleaned or removed anything.
For a radio that was born around 1960, this old fellow is in pretty good shape. The worst of the chips and nicks are visible below the front panel dials. Everything else looks almost new.
The aerial antenna works and is not bent. The battery tray is intact and not corroded. There is no rust anywhere. A very thin layer of fine dust uniformly coats the interior, suggesting this radio has been on the shelf for quite some time.
A complete manual is available at Vintage-Radio.info on the Heathkit page, under the title of GC-1A.
I am most concerned about the capacitors. Fortunately, most of them are silver mica or ceramic disc capacitors. I only count four electrolytic capacitors in the spec sheet.
I’ve not yet applied power. This radio did not come with a mains power adapter. Back when this was built, portable meant lugging around a 17-pound mass and powering it with C-size cells. It takes 8 C cells. When operating well, it draws little power; on battery, it is said to operate for up to 400 hours of typical intermittent service.
I plan to power it up later this week after blowing the interior clean. If I’m lucky, it will operate and we’ll see no magic smoke. Then it will be a matter of more thoroughly cleaning the chassis, perhaps using DeOxIt on some of the front panel switches and drives, and aligning the receiver.
Fingers crossed.
Tom,
An older radio- I would re-format the capacitors, slowly. I would use a Vari-ac transformer and bring up the power at 20% at a time. Do this over a 24-hour period increasing every 4 hours till you get to full power. I did this for an old Eikco capacitor checker. Green tube version. It works now and no magic smoke came out. I can't find the Vari-ac right now.
Brian NT7Y
Tom,
I seem to recall that the transistors are socketed, and the sockets sometimes get a bit tarnished, gently re-seating the transistors may help if it seems deaf. The other thing, if I recall correctly, is that the transistors were germanium point-contact types, and may have a shorter life expectancy than the silicon ones.
But, all in all, it's a nice little radio, and I'm sure once you get it going it'll be a lot of enjoyment.
73,
Dave
KF7JAF