PYE pz101

try nzvrshome.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/PYE-PZ101-PZ45-PZ85.pdf

hmmmm would appear i need a signal generator and a scope

Is there anyway to repair the existing antenna coil? This outfit: www.tubesandmore.com/ (Antique Electronic Supply) used to sell universal Antenna coils, but they don't seem to have them at the moment, keep an eye on their website.
If the only problem with your radio is a faulty Antenna coil, then you could get away without needing a signal generator.

Have you tried just peaking the ant trimmer (C3)?   Unless the two coils have 'slid' from their original locations on the former then they should be fine - what you're describing with low signal sounds like an open primary or secondary on that coil might be the problem - did you measure their resistances?  Sorry if you have, I'm not trying to state the obvious, I'm just thinking out loud.

In terms of alignment - you can tweak it by ear and get 95% of the way there unless its been very messed with. If the dial pointer still is pretty close to the right frequencies at either end then I'd suspect just tweaking C3 for maximum volume on a station should be all it needs.

Having said all that, if you want to learn to do a proper alignment then the first thing to do is finish your sig gen, set it to 470kc/s and feed that via a 0.1uF cap to the spot mentioned on page one of the service docs (the grid (pin 6) of the ECH42). Normally you will want the minimum signal level you can just hear over the background noise as this stops the AVC kicking in - although I've never really found that to be much of a problem in terms of getting the IF's peaked. Be careful with those iron dust cores - if they are too stiff (often they either have a strip of rubber jammed in the thread to stop them turning on their own - or wax - or both) its easy to crack them, at which point they can be impossible to tune. 

Also make sure the needle is in the right spot on the dial string to cover the dial properly - there should be a spot on the right hand end of the dial which the pointer should be on when the gang is fully meshed (according to the notes section on page 2 of the service info).

Now things get tricky because I am pretty sure the PZ101 service info relating to alignment of the dial is wrong (someone else will hopefully jump in and confirm this, and double check my working below), it is for a different model, a multiband radio - PZ95TG if I'm not mistaken. An olden-days case of a copy-paste error while putting the service info together. Step 2 should probably be:
Set the dial to 600, feed a 600kc/s signal in the aerial via the 0.1uF cap and tweak the iron dust core L3 for max.

And step 3 should be something like:
Set the dial to 1500kc/s and feed a 1500kc/s signal in the aerial via the 0.1uF cap and tune C10 for maximum volume

Step 4 is correct, repeat 2 and 3 until the pointer is bang on at each end.

Its then that you suddenly realise that you actually want to listen to a station at 1598kc/s (The Coast here in Chch) and you then go and undo all that work so the needle will go high enough to tune it in  - I always work on the principle that I want my radios to play the stations I can get and the actual frequency alignment of the dial is not as important as that... so I tend to just earball the upper end of the dial to ensure that station just squeaks in.  This might not be a problem for you where you are.

Oh - and step 5 is missing - the important one here. Once all this is done, set it up with the aerial you intend to use and tune C3 for max volume - thats the aerial coil being peaked and is the final step.  If its still weak then check your valves - it could be something simple like a near-dead valve pulling the performance down.

And all this assumes you've recapped it and checked voltages etc?

Hopefully that helps (and hopefully its correct - or at least more correct than Pye got it   )

Thanks Steve yeah i already figured out that hot glue was a one way Journey (after i did it!)

kinda had no choice as the thing was actually broken in two! but the wax is good advice.

It seems that both coils do still have continuity so maybe despite all the coil may not be the cause of the low signal

gonna do the full check all voltages and swap out valves thing now.

thanks for the advice!

Yes the distance between the primary and secondary on the former is part of the overall tuning arrangement. I'm not sure of the exact purpose of the 30pF capacitor, it could be forming a high pass pi filter with the aerial coil to keep low frequency noise out of the rf stages? Someone will know.

In experiments I did with crystal set circuits a few years back I found I could change the tuned frequency of the set by moving the aerial winding on a ferrite rod in relation to the secondary circuit winding, and by changing that distance then re-tuning with the tuning gang over and over I could find a sweet spot where maximum signal was.

I would think most aerial coils from most similar era radios with similar set ups (same value of capacitance in the tuning gang, no fancy internal aerial arrangement etc) would be suitable near-enough replacements. It might be worth looking for one just to try. I'll see what I have here.

Cheers, Steve