Need Help with my Airline 5 tube am radio gen-1662

Hi Guys

Ok where to start, I got this radio mostly in 1 piece except the speaker was removed and antenna also.
I am not sure if the radio was working in the past but my best guess sez not well;). I am not sure how to wire my
speaker, it doesn't have any + or - marked on it. It has 2 wires 1 white and 1 black from the radio, I tried hooking
them up one way and have no buzz and very faint static. Then I tried hooking them the opposite way, and as the
radio warmed up it has a bad buzz with louder static still with no signal. Which way is the correct, I have no idea
how to test my antenna other then visually it looks alright. I hooked the antenna to the points where it appeared
to have been attached originally on the tuner, but I can't receive and signals at all. I aplogise for my vague info but
I am really new to this and have a real love for tube radios, any info you may have please let me know.

Thanks
Mike

It's not really going to make a difference which way you connect the wires on the speaker. If it is connected backwards, the speaker cone will be pulled inward instead of outwards. Speakers in the old radios have a short excursion so it's really hard to see which way it's traveling and since this isn't "audiophile" grade equipment I doubt that you will hear any difference no matter which way it's connected. The fact that your radio buzzed when connected one way but not the other may have just been a loose or intermittent connection. As for your antenna, if it looks like it's in good condition with no obvious breaks it is most likely fine. I recommend that before you power it up again, you should replace the electolytic capacitors and any paper capacitors. If these are bad (and they usually are) the other components, including your tubes, can get fried. Here are a few websites that you may find very helpful. http://antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm
http://www.ppinyot.com/
http://techpreservation.dyndns.org/schematics/

Good luck.

Yes do recap the radio.Dont plug it in till you do.Sprman : )

Hi
Thanks for the info, its just a matter of time before
I find the bad component, on a lighter note; I finally
got my MK-56R Motorola working after years of troubleshooting.
I simply HAD to get it running, it was the same model (but not color)
as my Great Aunt's radio that was sold after her passing before I had
a chance to claim it. But the memories are priceless, If you find a Yellow
56R in your travels let me know.

Mike

Hi Guys

I have some questions about my radio. 1st what is this little flat brown rectangular component marked pc- 150 manfactured by CRL? It measusures about 1-1/4" by 3/4" with 6 leads out of it? Is this a capacitor of some kind? do I need to replace it too? It looks kind of like a ceramic capacitor. 2nd all my plastic round Tropocap capacitors have one end where the wire goes in thats flat and the other has a slightly raised smaller diameter where the wire comes out, is this the way to determine the polarity of the cap? 3rd the big round yellow Aerovox type PRT paper-wax cap marked AEH6, Who would a similar replacement? I has two leads, red-green out one end and one black wire out the other. Thanks for your time.

the tropocap cap has aplus and minus end soyou are right.the aerovox cap should be replaced that is why your radio hums.

Hi Guys

One more question I have about my radio, on tube 12AV6 there is a little tin cover that wasn't on the tube when I got it,
but found it was supposed to go there. What is it's purpose? and is it critical to the operation of the radio?

Thanks for your time!