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Johnson Messenger 2 Has Feedback Coming Thru Its Speaker? Video.

Crazy_D said:
Well, is it a newer style aluminum capacitor? estimate how old is it? if its another paper cap and just as old as that radio, like a pull from something else, then that might not be the best idea, but a aluminum cap would be better in place than that paper cap so since you have it on hand, if you have a lcr meter then you could check to see the real value. I would swap it out (if its a newer cap), as it probably has a slightly higher value than the original paper cap does. I have tested a vast number of capacitors I have pulled from tube radios restorations from the 1960's era and most of them are 25-70% out of tolerance. The average is about 35-40% from what I seen. yeah replace that cap with 80uf or higher, I prefer to use 100uf for all my cap change outs for the high voltage power supply B+ rails as they are a more common value for a brand new replacement part from mouser and will help the unit perform a touch better, I noticed less noise and reduced hum (pretty much gone, it was bad with the stock cap cans) on my titan 2 from my internal speaker when I upped the cap values from 47uf to 100uf, but since yours is a 80mf cap you probably wont notice any change if you changed it out to a single 100uf/450v like I did because I changed (3) 40mf caps, so I added 159uf capacitance (spec wise, real world it was like around 150uf when I measured) in comparison to you only adding additional 20mf if you go up to a 100uf from where you are at. If you have room you could fit in (2) 100uf's, this could be beneficial as I found out on other radios. I have never used a M2 personally, I don't know how bad (if any) any of the hums/noise coming from speaker, etc, please enlighten me is it a noisy radio like the titan 2 can be?
Click to expand...
Crazy_D said:
Well, is it a newer style aluminum capacitor? estimate how old is it? if its another paper cap and just as old as that radio, like a pull from something else, then that might not be the best idea, but a aluminum cap would be better in place than that paper cap so since you have it on hand, if you have a lcr meter then you could check to see the real value. I would swap it out (if its a newer cap), as it probably has a slightly higher value than the original paper cap does. I have tested a vast number of capacitors I have pulled from tube radios restorations from the 1960's era and most of them are 25-70% out of tolerance. The average is about 35-40% from what I seen. yeah replace that cap with 80uf or higher, I prefer to use 100uf for all my cap change outs for the high voltage power supply B+ rails as they are a more common value for a brand new replacement part from mouser and will help the unit perform a touch better, I noticed less noise and reduced hum (pretty much gone, it was bad with the stock cap cans) on my titan 2 from my internal speaker when I upped the cap values from 47uf to 100uf, but since yours is a 80mf cap you probably wont notice any change if you changed it out to a single 100uf/450v like I did because I changed (3) 40mf caps, so I added 159uf capacitance (spec wise, real world it was like around 150uf when I measured) in comparison to you only adding additional 20mf if you go up to a 100uf from where you are at. If you have room you could fit in (2) 100uf's, this could be beneficial as I found out on other radios. I have never used a M2 personally, I don't know how bad (if any) any of the hums/noise coming from speaker, etc, please enlighten me is it a noisy radio like the titan 2 can be?
Click to expand...


I bought the cap to put in a browning mk3 to make a long ping and never used it....its this type.cap.jpg
 
ok your good to go with that cap you got, put it in. I don't know about the paper cap your referring too, I have never seen it in person, but if you look at the circuit, one side of it goes to ground and the other side goes to B+. With the radio turned off and discharged, use a volt meter on continuity and touch one lead to ground and the other to one of either side of the cap legs and whichever one beeps, there is your ground and the other one is positive.
 
M2 top view.jpg
Crazy_D said:
ok your good to go with that cap you got, put it in. I don't know about the paper cap your referring too, I have never seen it in person, but if you look at the circuit, one side of it goes to ground and the other side goes to B+. With the radio turned off and discharged, use a volt meter on continuity and touch one lead to ground and the other to one of either side of the cap legs and whichever one beeps, there is your ground and the other one is positive.
Click to expand...

So the negative side of the cap goes to the ground?

The big cap by the transformer C59
 
Last edited:
BJ radionut said:
Ok: Hope this helps:
First: It not uncommon for V9 (12BW4) to test good-bad. This is the Rectifier Tube for the high voltage. I remember these testing good and being bad, and the reverse test weak to poor and still function ok. Some of that is due to the difference in the tube tester (style/brand) used.
Best options: Purchase a solid state replacement or replace with diodes wired to a tube base or the tubes socket.
Second: V1...6BJ6...RF amplifer....replace 6BJ6A
V2...12BE6...Mixer Stage....replace 12BE6A
Next: CD is right that the 12 pin plug (P10 on diagram/Tone Alert) located on the back (this is the male plug) which pushes into the female receptacle, must be wired correctly or your going to have "issues" so confirm this is correct.
Keep plugging away you'l get it going.
Best mic I found for those was the old Blue Turner Plus II
All the Best
Gary

That Cap off the V9 base the 80uf-450v...needs to go certainly! I would go slightly higher in value than 80uf but certainly not lower...
Click to expand...


I bought 2 nos 12BW4 tubes off ebay and I am getting the same test reading as the old ones....right between good ? Bad....and it did not fix the problem.
 
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Eastside said:
How do you adjust the carrier and modulation on these radios?
Click to expand...

The only power adjustment is C49 plate tuning, and there is no mic gain or such control so you would need to replace resistor(s) with different values like I had on my tram (my tram was too loud), or get a desk mic like a D104 or similar with a built in preamp/volume control so you can use that as the mic gain and preamp if you need more punch (I bet that radio would sound best with a tug8 or gstand), though a turner +2 or +3 desk mic would probably work great too. If that radio is too loud with Gstand. then you can build a L-pad for the input and/or replace mic circuit resistors.

What do you need, more or less mod?

You should be able to mount that capacitor underneath the chassis as its much smaller in physical size than that stock paper capacitor (get rid of it), like I did on my tram. but i cant confirm, I have never seen the bottom side of that radio in person.
 
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Where can I get a set of tubes for my messenger 2? buying them all separate is too expensive.
 
no one sells a tube kit, you will have to piece meal it all together. Boatanchor restoration is not cheap, I usually find myself spending a couple hundred dollars per rig I am restoring so that is why I only have super clean rigs.
 
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