Thanks very much for these detailed insights. Perhaps if I get
adventurous (I'm not an electronics person) I'll open the case and
poke around with a toothpick to see if it changes anything. It may
well be from my amateur position that this will turn out to be more
expensive to repair than would be worth it. It has been a great radio
though, and if anyone gets the chance to acquire one in good condition
they should take it. If the toothpick treatment doesn't work maybe
someone will want it for parts, since 90% of it is still in good
shape.

Bob

On Apr 23, 10:40*pm, nesesu wrote:

From your description, it could be a failure of the solder. Sony has
been notorious for solder problems depending on the factory and
product as well as era it was made. If you can open the set and
operate it, then you could gently probe the components with a thin
insulated probe to see if a bit of pressure in an area restores
operation. One problem doing this is that if the defective joint is
actually moved, it can restore operation for hours, days or months
before it re-appears, If prodding does restore operation, then it is
often effective to simply resolder every joint that looks even
slightly suspect with a suitable small iron and top quality rosin
solder. If the radio is not RoHS compliant, then use tin-lead 63-37
solder.
If prodding around has no effect, the problem might be a defective
semi-conductor. You might also consider replacing all the electrolytic
caps since they are prone to going high ESR with age, again depending
on the date and make.

Neil S.