The Radio Repair and Restoration Group is a standing group, comprised of W8UM Club members who share an interest and passion for fixing all types of new and vintage equipment related to both Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio/telephony in general. The group self-formed from members of the club in 2017, to carry out needed repairs on existing club radio equipment. As donations of vintage equipment to the club became more frequent, this group enthusiastically took on the role of repairing and restoring select units, as well as restoring the many historic radios from the club’s past. The Group encounters a wide range of challenges, ranging from the most mundane of repair challenges (e.g., changing capacitors and replacing missing fuses) to far more complex restoration tasks that require in-circuit analysis and advanced signal tracing with high-performance test equipment such as spectrum and vector network analyzers. In addition to repairing all types of radio equipment, the Radio Repair and Restoration Group Members gladly offer advice and instruction on the use of the multitude of available test equipment, as well as best practices for building and modifying radio and electronic circuits.
Some of the recent restorations include,
- RME-69 Receiver
- Hallicrafters SX-28 Receiver
- Hallicafters S-40A Receiver
- SteppIR motor and copper tape repair
- TenTec HF and 6M amplifiers
- TenTec 50 amp Power Supply
- AM/FM/Phone Stereo Console
- Collins 30L-1 amplifier
- Heath Kit SB-220 amplifier
- Alliance Antenna AZ/EL Rotator
- Ameritron AL-82 amplifier
- Heathkit Two’er Transceiver
The Radio Repair and Restoration Group Publications
- QST 2020, Refurbished, Donated and Modified. Putting all the pieces together at W8UM
- QST 2023 (Classic Radio), University Radio Group Restores Two Receivers