Show us your radios!

[dhermann1]

Bomber General! Nice job! Curious about the dial glass. Is that hard to come by? I have had a Philco 40-180 that I managed to squish the glass of. I'd love to get it restored.

 

[A Bomber General]

Yes, it can be difficult to find original replacement glass. For my 40-190, I could only find the right dial "glass" in acrylic plastic. Radio Daze sells a variety of replacement dials, and you're in luck- part DG056 is a direct glass replacement for your dial but it will set you back about $30 plus shipping. If you hunt around a bit through the acrylics, you might be able to find the same dial a little cheaper. http://www.radiodaze.com/category/599.aspx

 

[Giftmacher]

Very nice job!
Does someone know when finish is already done on the cabinet but without shellac, if it still can be used on it without sanding? It was custom work in a local carpentry and 30's without glossy shellac looks really bad. I should have known before.

 

[koz5614]

How about a 15 tube Zenith? I've wanted this radio ever since I saw Curley hide inside of it in The Three Stooges short: "Dutiful but Dumb".

 

[jamespowers]

How about a 15 tube Zenith? I've wanted this radio ever since I saw Curley hide inside of it in The Three Stooges short: "Dutiful but Dumb".

And with a working green eye tube. Nice.

 

[MissMittens]

So jealous of your Zenith......I've seen a couple over the years but they were basket cases

 

[Amy Jeanne]

1941 Admiral 70-N6. The radio works (tried to find a nice AM 40s station today, but they don't exist here). The turntable works, too, but there's no needle. Can someone tell me what that lever on the upper left of the turntable is? One side says 10 and the other says 12. I'm guessing the record size? Thanks.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That is indeed the record size -- the record changer needs to know whether it's going to be dropping 10 or 12 inch records in order for the arm to move to the right start position.

I strongly recommend West-Tech Services for getting your needle situation squared away. On most of these record players, the crystal cartridge has gone bad -- the thing the needle fits into -- and replacements are no longer manufactured. West-Tech rebuilds your old one, guaranteed to work as good as new, and can supply you with needles. That looks like it takes a regular steel Victrola needle, but you'll be nicer to your records if you use a sapphire tip, which West-Tech can supply.

Once you get the phono working, you'll wonder how you ever did without it. Nothing beats 78s played thru a tube amplifier.

 

[jamespowers]

I picked up a 1955 Motorola Radio a few weeks ago at a garage sale. It works great and I use it every morning:

 

[Amy Jeanne]

That is indeed the record size -- the record changer needs to know whether it's going to be dropping 10 or 12 inch records in order for the arm to move to the right start position.

I strongly recommend West-Tech Services for getting your needle situation squared away. On most of these record players, the crystal cartridge has gone bad -- the thing the needle fits into -- and replacements are no longer manufactured. West-Tech rebuilds your old one, guaranteed to work as good as new, and can supply you with needles. That looks like it takes a regular steel Victrola needle, but you'll be nicer to your records if you use a sapphire tip, which West-Tech can supply.

Once you get the phono working, you'll wonder how you ever did without it. Nothing beats 78s played thru a tube amplifier.

FANTASTIC! Thank you! I'm thrilled this thing works. I'm still trying to tune into a 40s station lol I know they have to be out there!

 

[MissMittens]

Pro tip: Buy a cheap "RF signal generator" from one of those auction sites, something tube, like an Eico, for example. Make a wire for your iPod or music source, plug it in to the signal generator, set the dial to an empty frequency on your radio in another room, and tune your radio in

Works like a charm, and a good old RF generator like that can pretty much cover your whole house. It's also not rocket science to use. Plug in your iPod/music player, plug the generator in the wall, turn the big dial to the frequency you want and fine tune your radio. With one of these you'll always have period music at home

 

[Bugguy]

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."

View attachment 6459

I just picked up one of these. It doesn't power up, so I taking it to a guy up in Dayton OH that thrives on repairing them. I'm looking forward to hearing what I can pull in… maybe one of those number broadcasts.

 

[Jaychis]

I have about 100 antique radio's that I have restored and am in the process of restoring. This is one corner of my workshop. I have everything from a 1925 Radiola 20 to an early 1950's Magnavox console with AM/FM and phono.

 

[Giftmacher]

Telefunken got finally the original knobs.

 

[1930artdeco]

Just got this from a coworker. It will be my first attempt at a full resto-sometime this year.

Mike

 

[jamespowers]

Just got this from a coworker. It will be my first attempt at a full resto-sometime this year.

Mike

View attachment 25704

You certainly have a good starting point there.

 

[1930artdeco]

The nice thing is, it from the lower price range and therefore not as complicated. So it should be a really good starting point where I don't get frustrated with all of the electronics. But I have several other projects ahead of it.

Mike

 

[jamespowers]

The nice thing is, it from the lower price range and therefore not as complicated. So it should be a really good starting point where I don't get frustrated with all of the electronics. But I have several other projects ahead of it.

Mike

I take mine to a guy who fixes them for me. I would blow it up.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Just picked up a Zenith Transoceanic 8500YGT to replace the one that was stolen off my front porch twelve years ago. It was not as nice as my old one, but some black shoe polish applied to the leatherette case cleant it up nicely.

It didn't work when I first tried it, but I took out the chassis and could see that the main trouble point in these sets, a big wire-wound power resistor, had already been replaced. So I sprayed the tube pins with Deoxit, worked some into the bandswitches, and now it's sitting on the kitchen table playing quite nicely. "Information Please" is on, and every nuance of Clifton Fadiman's voice is audible.

I got a surprise when I opened the back of the case. Usually old portable sets like this one will have the remains of a battery pack in the compartment, and that's usually a mess to clean out. But this one had just the battery connector and a small part of the cardboard battery casing. The rest of the battery pack had been eaten by mice, who had turned it into an extremely impressive nest which is now inside my vacuum cleaner bag. How they managed to digest the zinc and the electrolyte is a mystery lost to the ages.

 

[jamespowers]

Just picked up a Zenith Transoceanic 8500YGT to replace the one that was stolen off my front porch twelve years ago. It was not as nice as my old one, but some black shoe polish applied to the leatherette case cleant it up nicely.

It didn't work when I first tried it, but I took out the chassis and could see that the main trouble point in these sets, a big wire-wound power resistor, had already been replaced. So I sprayed the tube pins with Deoxit, worked some into the bandswitches, and now it's sitting on the kitchen table playing quite nicely. "Information Please" is on, and every nuance of Clifton Fadiman's voice is audible.

I got a surprise when I opened the back of the case. Usually old portable sets like this one will have the remains of a battery pack in the compartment, and that's usually a mess to clean out. But this one had just the battery connector and a small part of the cardboard battery casing. The rest of the battery pack had been eaten by mice, who had turned it into an extremely impressive nest which is now inside my vacuum cleaner bag. How they managed to digest the zinc and the electrolyte is a mystery lost to the ages.

Radioactive mice