Show us your radios!

[Giftmacher]

It's a gem! In Czechoslovakia FM (Eastern standard OIRT) portable receivers appeared in the late sixties.

 

[Chicago Jimmy]

Here is our Zenith 8S563 it's from 1941. I picked this up from the original owner. Changed all capacitors, most resistors, many rubber coated wires, dial belt, and grill cloth. The finish is all original. I have a AM transmitter that streams from the computer, so we can listen to a variety of old music & detective/mysteries, etc. We have about 30 tube radio's now.

 

[Dragon Soldier]

View attachment 4728
Here is our Zenith 8S563 it's from 1941. I picked this up from the original owner. Changed all capacitors, most resistors, many rubber coated wires, dial belt, and grill cloth. The finish is all original. I have a AM transmitter that streams from the computer, so we can listen to a variety of old music & detective/mysteries, etc. We have about 30 tube radio's now.

Very nice, love the dial and great condition for original finish.

I'd like more radios but they're becoming increasingly difficult to source at my preferred venues as vendors become more suspicious of liability issues.

 

[dhermann1]

Very sweet! Very similar to my 10S567. Great sound, and gorgeous to look at.

 

[2075rami]

My wife and I are camping this weekend at Tyler State Park, and since it was so chilly this morning (low 50s), we decided to drive into Tyler and scrounge around in the antique shops for the day. Found this Philco beauty sitting in the corner of the porch on an old Victorian style house turned antique shop. And yes, the price tag says $2.00. The power cord on this one looks better than any unrestored radio I've seen, so I decided to take a shot and plug it in when we got back to the campsite. Being completely new to tube technology, I didn't think it was gonna do anything at all after I plugged it in and switched it on. Then about 2 or 3 minutes later I heard soft static, so I dialed up and down the dial and found several stations that came in loud and clear. Too bad the only music stations I could find are Tejano! Hard to complain too much when total outlay was $2.17, though.

According to the label on the bottom of the case, it's a model B950 (code 121) if that means anything significant. Any idea what the approximate production date of this radio may have been?


Sent from my iPhone to the interwebs and straight to your brain using Tapatalk

 

[jamespowers]

My wife and I are camping this weekend at Tyler State Park, and since it was so chilly this morning (low 50s), we decided to drive into Tyler and scrounge around in the antique shops for the day. Found this Philco beauty sitting in the corner of the porch on an old Victorian style house turned antique shop. And yes, the price tag says $2.00. The power cord on this one looks better than any unrestored radio I've seen, so I decided to take a shot and plug it in when we got back to the campsite. Being completely new to tube technology, I didn't think it was gonna do anything at all after I plugged it in and switched it on. Then about 2 or 3 minutes later I heard soft static, so I dialed up and down the dial and found several stations that came in loud and clear. Too bad the only music stations I could find are Tejano!  Hard to complain too much when total outlay was $2.17, though. 

According to the label on the bottom of the case, it's a model B950 (code 121) if that means anything significant. Any idea what the approximate production date of this radio may have been?

1953 http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philco_53_950.html

 

[Giftmacher]

It's finally working
[video=youtube_share;BrbZy3oxxSU]http://youtu.be/BrbZy3oxxSU[/video]

 

[jamespowers]

It's finally working.

[video=youtube_share;2kJYqBGeMLI]http://youtu.be/2kJYqBGeMLI[/video]

Good Job!

 

[Giftmacher]

Thank you! I should open a bottle of red wine huh?

 

[jamespowers]

Thank you! I should open a bottle of red wine huh?

As long as I get some.

 

[Giftmacher]

Well, I was not honest, I don't have any . I'm going to make a cup of coffee and listen to some vintage music

 

[A Bomber General]

I purchased a 1940 Philco Model 40-190 for $25 from the grandson of the original owner in south Toledo. The radio powered up but nothing else happened. Six months of work refinishing the cabinet, obtaining replacement parts, and giving the chassis a full recap gives this work of art. The skyscraper-inspired cabinet is my favorite feature of this gem.

Working on tube radios from the 1930s-50s can be a little challenging, but in general, the sets were so well built that they respond quickly to some TLC.

 

[Giftmacher]

It would be nice, if we could see every step of renovation. You took a picture of it?

 

[jamespowers]

It would be nice, if we could see every step of renovation. You took a picture of it?

Yes, I second that but I also notice that his post count is not high enough to post pictures yet. You can send the picture to me via PM and I will post it though.

 

[A Bomber General]

Yes, I did take a whole series of shots of the radio, starting from the day I brought it home all the way through to the night that I plugged in it, and everything worked. It was supremely enjoyable to resurrect this radio. At jamespowers, I'll send you a few shots to post.

 

[Giftmacher]

Still waiting..

 

[A Bomber General]

Here's the Philco Model 40-190 the day I brought it home. It had a number of issues; it wouldn't power up properly, the dial glass was missing, the push buttons had degenerated into shards, and the finish was filthy and worn. A basket case but one with a lot of potential.

 

[A Bomber General]

Here's a progression of photos showing the rebuild process.

 

[A Bomber General]

As much as I like the Philco shown above, my 1952 Hallicrafters TW-1000 is my favorite. It sits atop my dresser and sees frequent use. While not an Art Deco piece, its receiving abilities are hard to match even with today's equipment. "They don't build 'em like they used to."

 

[jamespowers]

Here's a progression of photos showing the rebuild process. View attachment 6453
View attachment 6454
View attachment 6455
View attachment 6456
View attachment 6457
View attachment 6458
View attachment 6452

Nice job!