06/16/2026
I managed to find lots of 'radio time' yesterday(!), so worked on the Geloso until I had completed the project...
I started by undertaking the IF alignment. This is a dual-conversion receiver, with the 1st IF at 4.6MHz and the 2nd IF at (nominally) 467KHz, actual crystal filter frequency dependent. By swinging an analogue (unmodulated) signal generator around this frequency and monitoring the AGC level, I found the filter crystal frequency in this chassis to be 465.95KHz, so as is typical for ageing crystals (this one is around 66 years old), it had dropped in frequency from its nominal value of 467KHz - it had also lost some of its activity (see later in this post). Sometimes this can be corrected by opening up the crystal holder and cleaning the crystal element with IPA, but, unlike the other three crystals in this chassis, the filter crystal is a sealed unit (the others can be disassembled by removing screws). I could have broken the seal, but this risks damage to the crystal, so I decided to leave it alone.
Having determined the 2nd IF frequency (465.95KHz), I set my HP8656B signal generator to this frequency, with 30% modulation at 1KHz, and peaked each of the 2nd IF transformers using an output meter connected across the speaker terminals. That done, I set up the crystal filter load coil per the instructions in the manual, ie. with the signal generator set 4KHz above the crystal frequency, however, the signal peak obtained in doing this was a little 'muted' and not very sharp, indicating that the crystal has likely lost some of its activity.
I then moved on to the 1st IF setup. This first involves setting up the oscillation amplitude of the two crystals in this circuit that provide the 2nd local oscillator frequencies for AM/LSB and USB, one at 4133KHz, the other at 5067KHz, using a VTVM. I found one oscillator (for USB) had low output, and this would explain why it had been 'hesitating' for a fraction of a second when the mode switch was thrown to this position. Setting the oscillators to the correct outputs fixed this issue. The 1st IF transformer was then adjusted (peaked) with a 4.6MHz signal injected into the control grid of the 1st mixer tube. No issues were encountered during this stage of the alignment. I decided to leave any checks on the IF bandwidth and response curve symmetry until after I had completed the RF alignment.
The manual provides a diagram of the antenna, RF interstage and 1st local oscillator adjustments exactly as per the silk-screened metal cover plate over the trimmers and coil slugs I mentioned in an earlier post, with no information on the preferred order of adjustment, other than setting the oscillator coils and trimmers first. It could have least mentioned that the 'Calibration Reset' control must be adjusted to mid span before starting the RF alignment, as, unless this is done, the alignment can be problematic, especially on the higher frequency bands. My only other 'gripe' is that the arrangement of the local oscillator trimmers and coils are different to that of the antenna coils and RF interstage coils and trimmers, that can result in tweaking the wrong ones by mistake if not paying close attention (wonder how I know this...?).
The air spaced trimmers were very stiff to turn, and had been locked in place with very tough sealant, requiring the use of a large screwdriver to free them. I found that the higher bands were significantly out of adjustment, requiring many iterations of the coil slugs and trimmers to obtain satisfactory tracking. Also, Geloso had used quite large value trimmers on these bands, making adjustment very 'critical', and the slots in the ends of the slug adjustment screws are very narrow, so even with my vast array of 'twiddle sticks' I could find only one that would fit them (and in on case I had to use the tip of a modelling knife - not the best design on a number of counts!
This meant the RF alignment took a very long time, but I got there in the end... however, Band 2, covering 26MHz to 28MHz (the one that was completely 'deaf' when I first checked the receiver and that improved with cleaning the band change switch), was still quite deaf when compared to all the other bands. I spent some time investigation the problem by resistance checks between circuit nodes in the RF sub-chassis, this identifying that the primary winding of the RF amplifier/1st mixer interstage transformer was open circuit on Band 2 (the primary winding of this transformer, in the plate circuit of the RF amplifier tube, is aperiodic and uses very small gauge wire compared to that of the tuned secondary winding that couples to the control grid of the 1st mixer tube).
As noted in a previous post, access inside the RF sub-chassis is very limited without its removal from the chassis and significant further disassembly, with a risk that other RF transformers and/or the phenolic switch wafers could be damaged in the process. As this band is rarely used (if ever), my suggestion to the owner was to leave it as is, which he was ok with. If the receiver was a particularly rare type, or the affected band was one that would be used regularly, eg. 40M and 20M, then it may have been worth the time/effort (and risk) to undertake the disassembly work needed to access the Band 2 interstage coil.
However, after I had spoken to the owner, I thought of a way of effecting a repair that would render this band largely functional, if not quite as good as the others, ie. by by-passing the RF amplifier on this band. This can be done quite easily on this receiver by linking a wire from the 'hot' end of the interstage transformer secondary tuned circuit to the antenna connection using a small value coupling capacitor and short length of wire. The small coupling capacitor minimizes loading of the tuned circuit, and allows it to still be tuned ok, as well as minimizing any impact on the other bands.
I tried this idea out using a short jury-rigged jumper wire and found that signals on Band 2 were only around 2.5dB down (according to the S-meter) compared to the upper 10M band (28MHz - 30MHz) and 15M band (21MHz - 21.5MHz), though there would be a little loss of RF selectivity due to the loss of the antenna tuned circuit from the signal path on this band (not a big deal with a 1st IF of 4.6MHz).
I experimented with the value of the coupling capacitor and found a value of 35pF to be the optimal to provide sufficient coupling of the signal, still allowed the interstage tuned circuit to be tuned, and minimize any impact to the other bands. I then installed the wire and capacitor in place of the jumper lead and re-aligned the RF section again (only minor 'touch-ups' needed, apart from on Band 2).
With the RF alignment completed, I turned my attention to the crystal calibrator. This was working, but inaudible on the higher frequency bands. I added a short length of stiff wire to the end of the miniature coax that I had connected to the plate of the calibrator tube via a 15pF capacitor I mentioned in an earlier post, and wrapped this around the lead from the antenna socket to the 4.6MHz IF trap several times, forming a low-value 'gimmick' capacitor. This provided sufficient coupling to hear the 3.5MHz calibrator signal on all bands. I subsequently noted that the second (later) schematic I found had the calibrator circuit coupled to the antenna trimmer, so I think the poor calibrator signal on sets without this had been noted as an issue, with the modification added to fix it.
Next, I coupled-up the Siglent spectrum analyzer to the 2nd IF of the receiver and checked the IF bandwidth at various settings of the selectivity control and operation of the crystal filter. The response curve symmetry was good, with no tweaks of the IF transformers necessary. These checks again confirmed that the crystal in the IF filter is low activity, resulting in a much broader resonance peak than would be expected at the higher selectivity settings, however, the phasing control can be adjusted to provide a reasonably deep notch that will be useful to null out unwanted adjacent stations. The manual/specs. do not note the expected IF selectivities, only 'very broad' at crystal position 1, to 'very harrow' (sic) at crystal position 4. I found that without the crystal in circuit, the IF bandwidth (-3dB) to be 3.467KHz, and crystal positions 1 (3.333KHz), 2 (3.167KHz), 3 (2.600KHz), and 4 (1.760KHz), with a maximum notch depth (in position 4) of -35dB below the peak - not great, but not too bad. The 1.78kHz bandwidth is a little too broad for CW reception under crowded band conditions, or if there is significant QRM present on the bands.
With that, I placed the chassis into its cabinet and re-tweaked the RF trimmers/slugs through the access slots on the base of the cabinet (as the proximity of the metal cabinet affects the tuning slightly - especially on the 10M and 15M bands). That done, I undertook some mid-band sensitivity (minimum discernable signal), and signal to noise (uV for >6dB SNR) checks using the HP8656B signal generator and Agilent 8935 test set, results as follows:
Band Frequency AM CW/SSB dB (uV equivalent)
1 29MHz