Hey guys. Sort of new to am. I bought a dx 60 at a local fest recently. What should I look for before power up for safety? Guy said it worked but I want to be safe. I also want to use my d104 with it. Can I just replace the mic with a 1/4 inch jack? My MT1 has a 1/4 inch jack and I want to convert the mic for use on both. Plan to use a National 140 for rx. I am very concerned about safety my 2 year old loves radio already. I will probably add a back board (likely peg) to keep fingers out.
I always power up a "new" piece of gear using a variac type of AC supply with volt and current meters. I start out at about 30v and slowly ramp up to about 110v over an hour or so. If I see excessive current draw, I shut it down and find out whats cooking. In standby that xmtr probably draws less than 1 amp. I don't know if you have anything like that available but it can save a hard to find part (such as a transformer) from going up in smoke. You can wire a standard light bulb in series with the AC cord to the unit and that will limit the the voltage and current for a quick test. The most likely item(s) to give you trouble would be the power supply filter caps. I believe the DX-60 has four 40uf @450v electrolytics in the HV section of the supply. If you bring them up to full voltage slowly they may reform and allow you to at least test the rest of the radio. At nearly 50 years old, they should be replaced as soon as possible, unless of course, the previous owner has already done this.
You didn't say whether your 60 was an early one or a "B" model. The early ones had a fused plug with two 3 amp fuses and the B version had a circuit breaker.
As to safety, I think most of the HV is in the PA cage, so there may not be too much exposed from the rear - don't quote me on that as it's been awhile since I have looked at mine.
You can change the mic jack to be compatible with your MT-1 - no problem. You may want to put a 3 circuit jack in, in case you add PTT later on.
There are no shortage of hints, kinks, and tips that you can use when restoring an old piece of gear.
Good luck with yours.
