My latest find - Motorola X15A

Found this at an antique mall in WI on my recent trip there. It was $22, but in super clean condition. Circa 1960... it's as old as I am.

It looks nice. It's been repaired. I think it was worth the price.........

That is an interesting model.  I didn't know Motorola marketed a pocket unit.  Their larger portables were of domestic production.  I guess the miniature discrete domestic production was reserved for 2 way and pager manufacture.  Good find.

Greg, do you repair and restore transistor radios, or collect them, working or not?

More the latter. I can repair transistor circuits, but I never understood the circuits enough to diagnose problems that aren't blatantly obvious.

I'm not sure I could do that well!

They're not too bad actually, although I would prefer troubleshooting one with a signal generator and oscilliscope. The first 2 way radios and pagers I repaired weren't too much different in construction from your radio.

I have a cute little Airline transistor radio I have had since I was a tadpole. It does not work anymore and I'd like to get it going one of these days. I know how to turn it on, adjust the volume, change the station and install batteries. Nothing else makes any sense to me. How about some SS instruction, 75?

To be honest, The biggest and most difficult to obtain help, would to get a good equivalent of the perpetual troubleshooters library for getting good working drawings with the good test points. The older transistor units are laid out much like it's tube based counterparts. They are relatively easy to check and align with a good signal generator. I have always used and prefer to use a oscilliscope to perform my measurements. I can check levels but also check for any distortion that can indicate a problem in the circuit.

I know transistor circuits are low voltage. I've heard that batteries in meters can damage transistors if you don't know what you are doing. Emitter, collector, base. I get their elements confused with their tube counterparts.

The higher voltage batteries like the 22.5 volt in some VOM's can ruin a component. That's why I use the o scope for signal work and use proportionate resistance ranges with the meter. I always used an analog meter as they can show small cut outs and level changes a bit better than a digital.

Warning Will Robinson!!!!!!!

The early transistors had higher leakage than the newer ones.
The earlier transistors are not interchangeable with the newer ones.

I always recommend this book to anyone wanting to sharpen up on solid state electronics. It was originally published when the technology was still new. It is an excellent reference book as well. I have just about worn out my second copy. I bought my first in 1976.

https://www.amazon.com/Basic-Electronics-Dover-Books-Engineering/dp/0486210766/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467757747&sr=1-6&keywords=basic+electronics