I'm taking a break from the few Philco sets I have (because they deserve a lot of time and attention which I can't commit to right at the moment) and also a major restoration on a New Zealand made Pacific Radio model 38 (there is a thread over on ARF about that which I really need to get back to at some point but I kind of hit a wall with it so its in a box for now). What I need is something relatively quick and nice... so I was looking through my stash of 'needing love' radios and saw this one. I had no idea what this was until I pulled it apart - because the dial glass (plastic) was so badly fogged I couldn't read a thing... although I figured it was American due to the RMA label on it. The stamping of the 'brass' escutcheon was very light and hard to read as well - although in hindsight it's quite obvious now that I know what it says. All I really knew is that I loved the cabinet and saw a diamond in the rough.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...4ycy0z.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...hmavfu.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...ow0zvh.jpg]
So I pulled the chassis and found it was an Airline - probably nothing much to get excited about over there in Americaville but they are pretty scarce here in Kiwiland. The dial is in great condition, although the lamps need new grommets to hold them in place (or I might LED convert the backlight).
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...xidysj.jpg]
It took a bit of sleuthing to find the model - its not on the chassis anywhere... but turns out its a 62-316. I'd kind of guessed at mid-30's and the ARTS&P label (The licensing for patents down under was covered by these labels purchased by the manufacturers based on the number of valves (thats the queens English translation of toob
) in the set) backed that up ('C' is 1936) I got the schematic and service info from Nostalgia Air and some photos of it all shiny and finished from Radio Museum and then got stuck in.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...kjxwc6.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...y2rj8x.png]
First I pulled the dial glass and cleaned it just to see if it could be saved or if I'd be teaching myself to heat-form plastics... fortunately for my quick'n'nice requirements it appeared to be some kind of varnish or something similar all over the front which cleaned off with IPA... there is a small crack on the edge but I've carefully glued that for now and it seems to be alright.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...qswymz.jpg]
The chassis is in definite need of a full restore (even if just to get rid of the rust), but my intention here is to get it working and looking good and just enjoy it for a while, then later down the track i'll properly restore the chassis with a full strip and rebuild. The power transformer is not original (I'm pretty sure), and the volume pot isn't either - but they both work fine so they can stay. The valve-lineup isn't right either (wrong versions of the right valves anyway) - so I'll rectify that if I can find the right ones.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...bvy1ej.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...vuzlmx.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...bktftn.jpg]
So far I've electrically restored and aligned it (all the earths come back to one point - bit of a mission with modern short-lead components so its not pretty), tested the valves and scraped and sanded the cabinet ready to do something with it (although I'll take advice on that since its got some staining in the wood, and also appears to be coloured with something). I'll add some more photos when I get a moment... but its sounding great, and is quite sensitive. The only minor problem is the speaker is a little coarse / scratchy sounding but I'm pretty happy with it so far overall.
Chassis photos to come, but here is the cabinet mostly sanded - I still need to get into the black edging in the fretwork and clean the old varnish off that somehow. Cabinets are definitely not my strong suit.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...d2vbzu.jpg]
Cheers
Steve
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...4ycy0z.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...hmavfu.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...ow0zvh.jpg]
So I pulled the chassis and found it was an Airline - probably nothing much to get excited about over there in Americaville but they are pretty scarce here in Kiwiland. The dial is in great condition, although the lamps need new grommets to hold them in place (or I might LED convert the backlight).
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...xidysj.jpg]
It took a bit of sleuthing to find the model - its not on the chassis anywhere... but turns out its a 62-316. I'd kind of guessed at mid-30's and the ARTS&P label (The licensing for patents down under was covered by these labels purchased by the manufacturers based on the number of valves (thats the queens English translation of toob
) in the set) backed that up ('C' is 1936) I got the schematic and service info from Nostalgia Air and some photos of it all shiny and finished from Radio Museum and then got stuck in.[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...kjxwc6.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...y2rj8x.png]
First I pulled the dial glass and cleaned it just to see if it could be saved or if I'd be teaching myself to heat-form plastics... fortunately for my quick'n'nice requirements it appeared to be some kind of varnish or something similar all over the front which cleaned off with IPA... there is a small crack on the edge but I've carefully glued that for now and it seems to be alright.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...qswymz.jpg]
The chassis is in definite need of a full restore (even if just to get rid of the rust), but my intention here is to get it working and looking good and just enjoy it for a while, then later down the track i'll properly restore the chassis with a full strip and rebuild. The power transformer is not original (I'm pretty sure), and the volume pot isn't either - but they both work fine so they can stay. The valve-lineup isn't right either (wrong versions of the right valves anyway) - so I'll rectify that if I can find the right ones.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...bvy1ej.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...vuzlmx.jpg]
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...bktftn.jpg]
So far I've electrically restored and aligned it (all the earths come back to one point - bit of a mission with modern short-lead components so its not pretty), tested the valves and scraped and sanded the cabinet ready to do something with it (although I'll take advice on that since its got some staining in the wood, and also appears to be coloured with something). I'll add some more photos when I get a moment... but its sounding great, and is quite sensitive. The only minor problem is the speaker is a little coarse / scratchy sounding but I'm pretty happy with it so far overall.
Chassis photos to come, but here is the cabinet mostly sanded - I still need to get into the black edging in the fretwork and clean the old varnish off that somehow. Cabinets are definitely not my strong suit.
[Image: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff222...d2vbzu.jpg]
Cheers
Steve
There are no personal problems that can't be overcome with the liberal application of high explosives
