06-17-2009, 09:58 AM
I restored a 42-350 and had the speaker reconed. The audio performance of the 42-350 is kind of disappointing, compared to the earlier slant-front radios. The 41-250 and 40-150 sound much better. That is probably because of the smaller speaker, and maybe because the 42-350 doesn't have push-pull output. I have a 42-355 on my bench right now, but it is not yet ready to listen to. I'd imagine it would sound much the same as the 41-250. I also have a couple of 41-255s waiting restoration, but I haven't heard them yet.
The sensitivity of the 42-350 is excellent on AM and short wave. I usually use it in my basement where my workbench is, but when I take it upstairs, I am able to pick up distant stations quite well, at least in the evening.
I have also been able to pick up a couple of modern FM stations on the old FM band, though weakly. I had to turn the volume almost all the way up. I don't know why this is the case. Maybe something to do with harmonics of the IF frequency? I also picked up the audio of a TV station, again very weakly. (Now that they've turned off analog TV, I doubt I could hear that station now.) Otherwise, the 42-50 MHz FM band was silent.
When I ordered my schematics from Chuck, he included a print-out from this web site http://www.somerset.net/arm/fm_only.html . The site includes several designs for converters to convert signals from the modern FM band so you can listen to modern stations on radios with the old FM band. Chuck links to the site on his Philco Repair Bench site. I haven't yet tried to build a converter.
The sensitivity of the 42-350 is excellent on AM and short wave. I usually use it in my basement where my workbench is, but when I take it upstairs, I am able to pick up distant stations quite well, at least in the evening.
I have also been able to pick up a couple of modern FM stations on the old FM band, though weakly. I had to turn the volume almost all the way up. I don't know why this is the case. Maybe something to do with harmonics of the IF frequency? I also picked up the audio of a TV station, again very weakly. (Now that they've turned off analog TV, I doubt I could hear that station now.) Otherwise, the 42-50 MHz FM band was silent.
When I ordered my schematics from Chuck, he included a print-out from this web site http://www.somerset.net/arm/fm_only.html . The site includes several designs for converters to convert signals from the modern FM band so you can listen to modern stations on radios with the old FM band. Chuck links to the site on his Philco Repair Bench site. I haven't yet tried to build a converter.
John Honeycutt
