Let's take a look at this 60 year old transistor clock radio. It appears to be from about 1964 but I am not certain of its date. The chassis was used in many models with differing case designs and consists of only 4 transistors. It can run quite well being driven by a single output transistor as a Class A amplifier.
Unfortunately, this little clock radio does not work. Let's see if we can bring it back to life using some troubleshooting logic - but with a dose of luck.
See the checklist which appears when status changes, for tracking what is discovered that needs addressing in Red, followed by Green when resolved.
NOTE: This is not instruction, it is for entertainment for people like me who enjoy watching projects and the experiences gained. If you attempt to do any of the things in this video you are at your own risk. I am using special tech-bench safety equipment not detailed here so don't take for granted you can just plug these old items in safely without them being checked and repaired correctly. Check out the link below to Mr Carlson's Lab video below.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND REFERENCES:
[note: am in no way representing how these folks have shown doing these things - I don't even think they would approve.]
Thanks again to Tony at xraytonyb for a great way to attach an inexpensive frequency counter to a signal generator and power it from the generator as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mgg8wvyDHw
@xraytonyb
Thanks to shango066 for championing the approach of "fix it first", before mass re-capping. See shango066 for many examples of that approach.
@shango066
Awesome discussion of bench safety including variacs and isolation transformers by Mr Carlson's Lab (highly recommended):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBsQ3sZ45Fk
@MrCarlsonsLab
Modification method for a commercial Tripp Lite isolation transformer for tech-bench use by Todd Harrison, his channel is called ToddFun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Yve2ijWyk
@ToddFun
People who may enjoy this video will interested in: portable transistor radio, Zenith transistor radio, 1960s radio, radio repair, radio troubleshooting, capacitor wizard meter, old radios, AM radios, clock radios
Camera: Canon G7X Mark III
Mic: Rode Micro
Video Editing Software: Power Director
Video Editor: just me