USN Type 'RBS' HF Receiver - First Power-Up after Recap

I have been working on a friend's USN Type 'RBS' HF receiver and power supply. Both of these units have been recapped and a few resistors have also been replaced in the receiver (I have not yet checked all resistor values). I worked on the power supply first, and that was checked for operation a few days ago, but I only finished recapping the receiver on New Year's Eve. The connectors on the interconnecting cable between the two units were in poor shape and this needed to be tidied-up prior to powering-up the receiver. This video shows the initial power-up and function testing. Lots more work to do, including cleaning switches and controls - cleaning the band change switch is not easy on this unit as it has sealed RF compartments that require the switch shaft to be removed and the units unsoldered and unbolted from the chassis to gain access. I will also be checking resistors/replacing out of tolerance ones, and carrying out alignment checks/tweaks as necessary - but at least its working on three bands.
The two chassis included a total of twelve 'bathtub' stye paper-in-oil capacitors - mostly multi-sectional, and five paper-impregnated paper block capacitors, most of which were weeping oil and had excessive electrical leakage (over 70uA at 300vDC). The cable includes thick friable asbestos fibre packing between the individual wires, so needed to be handled with caution wearing PPE.

[@lylewatts6370]

Yes you got to love the old boat anchor radios. Thanks for sharing.

[@brucemacmillan127]

nice to see these boat anchors brought back to life. Look forward to hearing it when cleaned & aligned. Happy New Year Gerry

[@RadioRestoration]

Hi Bruce. Good to hear from you - hope you had a good Christmas and all the best for the New Year - can't believe its 10 years ago this year since we met up on the South Coast! Not done any further work on the RBS yet - should get back to it today or later in the week

[@thevintageaudiolife]

Thanks for posting, i have one just like this and I've been wanting to bring it back to life. Thanks

[@RadioRestoration]

Its a good radio - but the power supply is total 'overkill'!

[@zdzisiek1979]

Bardzo ciekawe urządzenia pokazujesz. Gratuluje Pozdrawiam z Polski :)

[@Wtfinc]

SO COOL! I want one so bad! They so expensive. All i got is a boat radio that buffets horribly, no idea why, still needs lots of work but i need to make a schematic for it because I can’t find one. It transmits but I think barely.

[@RadioRestoration]

Glad you like it Kasper. I have no idea what these sets sell for. It is a really solidly-made set, though I doubt its performance will be quite in the same league as the RBB/RBC sets - then again, it weighs much less and easily fits on my small bench!

[@acajoom]

beautiful machine ! I'd use it as a synthetizer 🙂

[@RadioRestoration]

It is certainly a well-built piece of kit!

[@joelima201]

Great work , Happy New Year Gerry !

[@RadioRestoration]

Thanks Joe! - and a very Happy New Year to you too!! - may your soldering iron remain smoking for many years...