Just found a old raido

[RetroHacker]

Chris - welcome to AudioKarma! As others have posted, you should definitely do some reading on radios before undertaking a repair. Also, you should familiarize yourself with the components found in old electronics - they don't look very much like their modern counterparts, and there are some that you just plain _won't_ see in modern stuff - selenium rectifiers come to mind.

But, don't give up, a little reading goes a long way, and with a some patience and dedication, you can learn how to work on these electronics. I'd suggest getting a book out of your library on basic electronic theory, get familliar with what capacitors, resistors and diodes do. A book specifically geared toward vintage radio repair is also a very good start. I'd also suggest reading www.antiqueradio.org - Phil's got a TON of very helpful information there, as well as his repair stories, and pictures of his sets as he's rebuilt them. It's a great place to go to read about radio, and he's even got a beginner's section. I would check out his beginner's section, and read through some of the articles there - especially "How to Replace Capacitors". I'd also suggest reading through some of the "Radio Wrinkles", where he shows some of the sets in his collection, and documentation of how he repaired them. Also, definitely read the "How to check out a radio before playing" in the beginner's section, and I'd suggest building a dim bulb tester, as described in that section. A dim bulb tester is an extremely simple device that can be constructed from common electrical parts, available at any home improvement store. It basically consists of a light bulb in series with a power socket - allowing you to run a radio on reduced voltage, as well as check for hazardous short circuits.

All in all, it's important to have fun, as well as keep from zapping the living daylights out of yourself. Do some research, and you can learn a lot. It's extremely useful knowledge to have, and understanding radio will help you understand the innerworkings of other electronics too. Even if you don't plan on fixing your radio right away, I'd suggest doing some reading on it, learn what you can - it'll probably help you down the road. Or maybe not. But at least you'll know what a capacitor is!

-Ian