Old Remcon off eBay...

[Dodgy Geezer]

This looks like a 'bitsa'.

It's in a non-standard case with the word RONCON 12 stencilled on the front. The PCB is obviously the Remcon - but it has no makers name, just a felt-tip 'mod 1'/ At least the aerial looks original (and banana shaped).

The switches are open frame - each double switch has 32 contact faces... Which is why it's easier to do the |RF first...

[Dodgy Geezer]

Took the 250uf out - looked ok - tested at 145uf. Don't know if that would have an impact. These caps aren't cheap - best part of £10 with postage...

[Dave]

Farnell and RS are not the best source of small quantities of components !

i've just checked bitsboxuk.com (recommended by Phil some time ago)

Panasonic 220mfd/16v 24p each

Panasonic 220mfd/50v 89p each

The significant bit......postage £2.50

[Dodgy Geezer]

Ah - I was looking for 250uf axials, which seem to be a lot more expensive. I assume these are old superseded items - some sites were charging £80 or so....

I don't know if you can easily get a precise match for the original component from the common suppliers any more...

[Wayne_H]

There's always flea bay:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/40256575031 ... 9M27JRJNFZ

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/11604166567 ... BMlP7xpb1j

I'll check my 'old stock' & let you know.

[Dodgy Geezer]

Well, Phil's experience wins again!

Looking at the caps on offer, I thought that if 20% tolerance is ok, then 145uf should be close enough to 250uf to function at some level. So I looked in my bits box and found a 26.960 Xtal, which seemed close enough to the original red for government work.

Into the case, off to the radio, turn on. Slight hiss suppression - hardly noticeable. Pulled out more of the aerial, bit more suppression. Keyed a tone and it WORKED!

All tones except one worked - looks like a bit of cleaning is needed. I had mended one slider pot - maybe I need to do two. No point changing the crystal or retuning the set unless/until I find a superregen receiver of a known frequency...

Thanks, Phil,

DG

[Dodgy Geezer]

There's always flea bay:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/40256575031 ... 9M27JRJNFZ

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/11604166567 ... BMlP7xpb1j

I'll check my 'old stock' & let you know.

Ah - hadn't thought of looking internationally. Those don't appear on my UK ebay. Don't bother about finding bits - it looks as if I'm on my way now...Thanks for the offer...

DG

[Phil_G]

... found a 26.960 Xtal, which seemed close enough to the original red for government work.

PM your postal address & I'll send you a few crystals Any colour preference?

[Dodgy Geezer]

Phil - generous as ever!

I don't really need any crystals at the moment - and I won't know about a suitable frequency unless/until I can pick up a reed receiver and look at its crystal. I guess I should change that old electrolytic for something nearer to 250uf...

The one tone that was missing turned out to be a missing resistor on the pcb. I wonder why? Perhaps it was removed for some other use...

I really have never seen a reed receiver or a reed bank on ebay. You could help by suggesting a search string! Or, of course, providing the dimensions for one. It should be possible to recreate a Remcon receiver from scratch using the schematic on your site, a piece of spring steel and a relay coil...