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Some of you know about my passion for old tube audio equipment and the last few weeks have been productive. One auction I attend regularly liquidated a GREAT radio collection a few weeks back and I came home with three Bakelite Zeniths and a wood cabinet Delco. Ran them all thru my lamp limiter to condition the capacitors and two of the Zeniths really show off. They're identical AM-FM sets from around 1950 (sold at two for one money) and I've owned very few radios that perform as well on AM as these do. Zenith advertising said "The Royalty of Radio & Television". They are finest of the fine.
They had a gorgeous 1939 Philco cabinet in original finish and still had all its original Philco tubes. It was playing happily during most of the auction, but I have nowhere to put another big console so I had to leave it.
One goal has always been to own a tube Zenith TransOceanic, but the tube sets are generally either prohibitively expensive (I'm not the only one looking for them) or trashed cosmetically (their nature meant they went everywhere and got beat up). Same auction was finishing out that collection last night and had a 1963 transistorized TransOceanic, so for the princely sum of $35 I now own it, and it came with original owner's and service manuals. Put a set of batteries in it and walla! Not quite as impressive as the old tube sets, but it functions well on all nine bands. I was able to tune Cuba, Mexico City, and and an English-language Philippine station (!) on the shortwave bands last night. I'm just far enough inland that I didn't get any marine traffic on those frequencies.
One thing I did notice on the lower-frequency SW bands is that there is a lot of what can only be described as fanatical religious broadcasting going on.
Right now the TO is on a moderately strong AM oldies station about 50 miles away. Tennessee Ernie Ford wailing "Sixteen Tons" sounds mighty good on it.
Last edited by rocketraider; August 4th, 2013 at 07:36 AM.
Back in the late 70's I got hooked on restoring old 5 tube radios. The cabinet designs were phenomenal. I also liked restoring old arcade equipment, juke boxes, and vending machines. The engineering of that stuff was quite challenging mechanically and electrically.
When I was a kid I used to collect and fix up old tube radios. Still have a few packed away.
I was overwhelmed by practicality, though - There's nothing on those bands I want to listen to anymore, so I let it drop years ago.
Still have some old tube audio gear around, though, just no place to set it up as a system right now.
I'm glad you're doing your part to keep that stuff going - it's really neat technology and they're not making any more of it.
So not to hijack this thread.... But I am looking to build a dim bulb tester for my 1959 AC Delco AM radio for my truck. I've heard the old vibrator contacts can be cleaned in this fashion. Since my truck radio is DC should I set it up to run off a car battery? Any of you experienced tube radio people care to share some good advice? Thanks much.
Let me check with the guy who built my lamp limiter. He mostly does AC stuff but may know how to make one for a DC radio. One of his hobbies is collecting old tube guitar amps and then hotrodding them. He just guided one of the guitar players at work thru building a truly custom amp and even taught the guitarist how to alter tone by a couple of simple tube changes.
Ok, thanks let me know what you find out. I need to get my old radio back to "buzzin". I know I can get a solid state vibrator, but they don't buzz when you turn the radio on.
Back in the late 70's I got hooked on restoring old 5 tube radios. The cabinet designs were phenomenal. I also liked restoring old arcade equipment, juke boxes, and vending machines. The engineering of that stuff was quite challenging mechanically and electrically.
I also collect old arcade stuff, but mostly pinball. I suspect we've crossed path in that area before. Maybe the Dallas pinball show or auction.
I was in to that stuff back in the 70's when I lived in New jersey. I worked at a pinball arcade when the first video games came out. I loved working on pinball machines, and was thinking about picking a few up now that I'm sorta retired. The ones I prefer to work on are the all relay logic type.
I worked on the ultimate video games back in the 80's, flight simulators, that was a blast.
When I was about 12 my mom had given me the only thing left from my dad after he passed away it was a Zeith trans ocenic radio I remember it was mad of vynal covered plywood the front lifted up on hinges and there were charts and an antennia that was about 6 feet tall. I mowed lawns for a whole summer so I could get it fixed.I remember taking it to a radio shop in Seekonk Mass. and droping it off the guy told me to come back in two weeks so I did and when I got there he told me that he did not remember me droping it off. So being 12 I told my mom and she called the guy and got nowhere so she called the cops but it was my word against his and I lost. If I ever see that guy again I would like to break him in half.
liquidated a GREAT radio collection a few weeks back and I came home with three Bakelite Zeniths and a wood cabinet Delco.
This thread is useless without pictures!!
I love seeing these old radios along with their restoration.
I just finished up repairing a 1960 Zenith console stereo - sounds wonderful! Even has the reverb unit and extended stereo features.
Of course I have no idea where I can put it yet, despite being a kitchen island for a year and a half...
Originally Posted by tmaleck
I also collect old arcade stuff, but mostly pinball. I suspect we've crossed path in that area before. Maybe the Dallas pinball show or auction.
I have a friend down the street who is heavily into pinball games and repair and................Pintos...
If you need pinball parts or repair, he could be of some help.
Tube (old technology) I can do. Uploading pics(modern technology) is a different story. It boils sown to making my lazy self learn how to do it.
I played with the TO some last night and boy howdy does that thing show off! On the midrange shortwave band it was pulling in Radio Romania International in that clipped British accent peculiar to Eastern Europeans who have studied in England. It has absolutely no trouble picking up Central American stations and even picked up an Ecuadorian station. I'm not 100% sure but I believe it pulled in a Taiwanese broadcast as I heard reference to Taipei while it was tuned to that frequency.
mstudley- that was lower than whale **** for that radio guy to steal your TO. He knew what he had in his shop and odds are either kept it for himself or worse sold it to someone he knew was looking for one.
I had a well-known old car radio repair service try the same stunt with a 1964 Olds AM-FM unit- after about a year I started bugging him every week or so to get the job done and shipped back and he kept putting me off. I started calling every day and finally told him if the radio was not back in my possession within one week, I was coming to Ohio after it. That radio suddenly appeared in the mail a few days later, but I have always had doubts it was the same radio I sent him.
Rob- local antique shop has a 50s Magnavox AM-FM-phono console, with separate cabinets. Works and right channel speaker in one box, left channel speaker in another. Takes up a lot of room but it is a pretty thing.
I think that it is really amazing to not only get those stations, but to get anything at all, with all of the frequency shifting that has been done over the years.
I bought a programmable scanner at a thrift store last year and all I can pick up is the weather station. All of the fun stuff got moved or turned digital.
You should keep a log of what you hear, from where, and when.
Originally Posted by rocketraider
Tube (old technology) I can do. Uploading pics(modern technology) is a different story. It boils sown to making my lazy self learn how to do it.
Oh come on, you can do it!
There are plenty of threads in the site help section to help you out, no matter how you got the pictures.
I will go ahead and demonstrate with my big beast (#4 of 4 consoles I have), that is playing now as I post.
This thing really set the first owner out some cash!
The radio sounds good but the turntable sounds awesome. I put in an Electro-Voice 26 cartridge to replace the missing original and it brings music to life. The high frequency horns make a difference, too - I can hear the unique tone of each thumbed guitar string.
It has a tape input for my mp3 player which sounds rather tinny compared to the turntable.
Happiness is the soft warm glow of vacuum tubes in the night...
This is the tuner, preamp, and reverb amp...
Below is the power amp, running two 6BQ5's per channel...
The 6BQ5 packs a lot into a small package. It is sometimes known as the "mouse that roars".
While the max plate voltage on these were rated 300V, they are frequently overdriven by equipment designers.
This Zenith runs them at 365V!
Originally Posted by rocketraider
Rob- local antique shop has a 50s Magnavox AM-FM-phono console, with separate cabinets. Works and right channel speaker in one box, left channel speaker in another. Takes up a lot of room but it is a pretty thing.
I have seen some of these and would love to have more.
THIS one I really want! http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/3960261250.html
However they take up too much space, which I am clean out of....
My last want is a Magnavox Concert Grande from the late 50s. I will make room for that.
My next house WILL be bigger!
Thanks to your post I was on the look out for old radios I found two at a yard sale one is a tube type jonson 23 channel cb base and a Hallicrafters SX99 short wave mulit band receiver the jonson needs a power cord but the hallicrafters is complete and fires up. I have them both in my barn in my work shop.
I had one of these in the early '70's when I was 14 or 15, I bought it for 35 bucks from a local appliance store, it was a really nice unit, a Curtis Mathes 2918 I believe, I could pick up WABC in N.Y. at the time. I sold it to a buddy a few years later, and about 10 years ago, asked if he still had it. he couldn't remember what he did with it, I haven't seen another since...would like to get another though.
Last edited by 1969w3155; August 10th, 2013 at 05:07 PM.
I had one of these in the early '70's when I was 14 or 15, I bought it for 35 bucks from a local appliance store, it was a really nice unit, a Curtis Mathes 2918 I believe, I could pick up WABC in N.Y. at the time. I sold it to a buddy a few years later, and about 10 years ago, asked if he still had it. he couldn't remember what he did with it, I haven't seen another since...would like to get another though.
Yep WABC from NY ant the Wolfman Jack show. Could also pic up WLS out of Chicago. And I lived on the Eastern Coast of Va. They played all the good stuff but could only pick them up after dark.
That Zenith console is enough to make me slobber all over my keyboard. Was it much trouble to adapt that EV cartridge to the Cobra arm? Actually the Cobra makes me think it may be earlier than 1960 since Zenith was using a lot of Voice of Music tables by the late 50s. Both my 56 and 59 Zenith portables have V-M changers.
That Mathes is gorgeous too. They weren't common around here due to they were expensive- even compared to a Zenith or RCA Victrola console. An uncle had a mid-60s Mathes console with B/W TV-AM-FM-stereo-phonograph and it stayed in the family for years thru three or four owners. The picture tube finally quit in early 80s and after that IDK what happened to it. One thing I remember is that the turntable drawer never seemed like it pulled out far enough- it was clumsy to load records.
You could pick up those faraway stations at night because they were what are called "clear channel" stations (no connection to current Clear Channel Communications broadcasting company; CCC is an abomination far as I'm concerned). Normal AM stations powered down or signed off at night per requirements of their license, and the clear-channels (sometimes broadcasting at up to 50,000 watts power) took us to other worlds.
Here's a good Wiki on them including a list of current clear channel stations- including the infamous Mexican "X" that blasted all over the Southwest, XERF. 50,000 watts my patoot. I'd almost bet they were hitting close to 80 if not 100 even in the early 60s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear-channel_station
Here on the VA-NC border I can easily pick up a lot of the Eastern CC stations with the Zeniths and the Philco, including CFZM in Toronto.
Last edited by rocketraider; August 10th, 2013 at 07:42 PM.
Hey rocketraider, had any luck on talking to your buddy about a dim bulb tester for my 12V car radio? I guess I could build an AC type tester, but I don't want to fry my vibrator. Perhaps, from what I read I can regulate the voltage by using different wattage bulbs (say a 40w)?
I'm really enjoying seeing those old tube radios... The designers made them like pieces of art.
Rob if you don't have a specific spot for that....I do. Where do you get tubes tested now a days?
I have a spot allocated, although not a very good one. I can see some toes getting smashed against it.
Either you own a tube tester, use a friend's, or just buy a new tube if you think one is defective.
The biggest issues with this equipment now days are leaky paper coupling caps or deteriorating electrolytic caps.
I had one really bad paper cap in this Zenith that was overbiasing the amp's output tubes, causing the plates to gradually turn cherry red. Had that not been replaced, the tubes would have been killed. Replacement tubes for it are very expensive, whether used or NOS. I will not use cheap chinese tubes, as I tried one in a radio and it sounded awful.
Originally Posted by 1969w3155
I had one of these in the early '70's when I was 14 or 15, I bought it for 35 bucks from a local appliance store, it was a really nice unit, a Curtis Mathes 2918 I believe,
Nice looking set - how does it sound?
I liked how designers made most of them sound very natural, with deep bass and clear highs. Wood cabinets and large speakers helped onthe low end for sure. I have a few sets similar to that one, just smaller.
One is a very early solid state one and it has much less power than its tube driven predecessor!
Originally Posted by rocketraider
That Zenith console is enough to make me slobber all over my keyboard. Was it much trouble to adapt that EV cartridge to the Cobra arm? Actually the Cobra makes me think it may be earlier than 1960 since Zenith was using a lot of Voice of Music tables by the late 50s. Both my 56 and 59 Zenith portables have V-M changers.
Unfortunately, the turntable unit in there IS a VM. Zenith changed to them and still used the 'cobra' tonearm for a while. I have seen a few sets that have a VM changer with the words "Cobra-Matic" on it.
Originally Posted by drop top olds
I'm really enjoying seeing those old tube radios... The designers made them like pieces of art.
Yes they did - home decor was important back then. Elegance was 'in'.
Of course wood was the easiest and most common to use long ago, as plastic molding was not yet matured. Even after it did, wood was more elegant, and to me it still is.
Hey I have seen phone cases that look like woodgrain - i think we are headed back that way!
If so i will be happy, as I am tired of the bland plastic look to everything.
Oh - for anyone who just want to look at a variety of old audio equipment, I ran across this slideshow of different units. http://www.flickr.com/photos/2033385...th/4310639775/
These things are simply gorgeous.
There are a few kitty pictures in there, too, so you're forewarned!
I don't have any tube equipment set up right now, but you-all are making me feel pretty bad about having left my grandfather's top-of-the-line RCA stereo in the basement of my old house because there was no room in the moving truck, or in the new house (also, it didn't work, and I was powering it through a Fisher 500-B receiver).
Here are the pictures from the Flickr stream linked above:
and here are some shots of the units in my basement, "back in the day."
Dang Eric - that is one nice looking unit, esp on the inside!
I liked how many companies filled those big cabinets full of speakers, to get the most out of the few watts they put out. And each watt sounded so nice, as you recall.
I have a similar phonograph as in the top linked pics, the SHF-7.
Below are a few pics...
Just to be clear, the photos of the smaller unit, like yours, were ones I linked to from the Flickr stream you posted.
The large unit was the one I had.
Wow, I remember tuning in WLS in Chicago from NJ on my tiny Panasonic transistor radio. Then when we moved to Chicago, I had to make sure I could get WABC for when I felt homesick. Still have that radio. It was a blast at night when those stations could boost to 500,000 watts. Listening to baseball games was a favorite too. I was just trying to tune in a Brewers game from Milwaukee a month or so ago and was getting the Cleveland game and the Detroit game while dialing around. I'll have to post a pic of the Crosley clock radio I inherited from my grandmother. I just unboxed it and tested it in March after being stored for over 20 years.
I posted about having my transoceanic stolen from me as a kid my daughters never heard me speak of it after telling them the story without my knowledge thay tracked one down and got it for me for christmas. I cried like a sap but what can I say they cared enough for me to do that I have got great kids I will post a picture shortly.
Very Nice consoles, I listen to only tube amps and receivers. I've assembled a couple modern kit amps, a 300B SE and an EL34 PP. I got into the hobby just before the prices of vintage gear started to climb dramatically, even my Macs were affordable though still expensive. Almost all my gear is restored and works well, I've collected fishers, HH Scott and McIntosh.
Holy Crap what a cool thread.I had a tube hi-fi stereo record player tube type. I bought it for $3. buck because it was full of 78 records. Took it home plugged it in not knowing it was a tube type. It looked just like the one my kindergarten teacher used for us. When it didn't work right away i shut it off. Then a week later i remembered the teacher let it warm up. So i plugged it in and five minutes later wa la. A friend begged me to sell it to him he looked at it seen it work offered me $30 bucks and i seen his eyes light up and let it go. Man i wished i kept it. I have a home made tube telegraph key right now and have no clue what to due with it. it has a 1960's stereo speaker. I think this is a practice key cheap key. I also have some cb radio's and a base station. Wished i knew someone close i could give this stuff to who needs and wants it. Now you guys got me wanting me to go find a tube type stereo. Sorry for the long story.
Weren't Hallicrafters radios DIY kits? Or am I thinking of someone else. Ultimately cool and more so with the Arabic-style World Wide script- that tells you it was truly a world radio and that one was probably sold new in the Middle East. The paperwork with my transistor TO indicated it was sold new in Lebanon in Nov 1963. I wonder if the Gulf Oil engineer who owned it heard about the JFK assassination listening to it.
I have an RCA Strato-World that is very similar to the HC appearance-wise. There's also a Philco TransWorld waiting in the wings, and a GE World Monitor that works great on FM, but AM and the SW bands need help.
Regarding kits, you are thinking of Heathkit. They are most famous for their ham radio kits, but made kits for everything from garage door openers to robots.
There is no Arabic writing on the Hallicrafters radio. I'm afraid the poor image may give off that impression. At the bottom of the radio it says "World Wide" in cursive, and in the middle of the radio it says "Dynamic Range" in a different font than the rest of the plain text.
I would like to play too, here is a couple of oldies I have in the living room, a General Electric AM & short wave radio and a Dominion Co. pump organ. Both work but the organ has been converted to a electric top. Anyone have a idea of the age of these pieces..
It never ceases to amaze me how many people who play with cars also have like hobbies in aircraft, antiques, radios and other stuff we take apart and try to restore.... Tedd
August 4th, 2013, 07:30 AM
Yard sale find today
I had one of these in the early '70's when I was 14 or 15, I bought it for 35 bucks from a local appliance store, it was a really nice unit, a Curtis Mathes 2918 I believe, I could pick up WABC in N.Y. at the time. I sold it to a buddy a few years later, and about 10 years ago, asked if he still had it. he couldn't remember what he did with it, I haven't seen another since...would like to get another though.
They played all the good stuff but could only pick them up after dark.
