Old School Amplitude Modulation

[pajeff02]

Since Photobucket can go suck it... we'll try this with YouTube:

Last night, I finished up the restoration of the 1931 Crosley Oracle Grandfather Clock Radio. Not bad for a $75 pick at a local antique shop. All total, I have around $120 into the restoration -- about $80 for the replacement electrical parts, $20 for the new electrical cord, fuse holders and polarized plugs, and another $20 for the grille clothe. Surfing the web, I found two that sold for $650 recently. Not that we'll ever sell it but it is nice to work on something that is worth more than I actually spend restoring it.

[pajeff02]

Went to an antique radio show down in Kutztown a few weeks back. Lots of eye candy and had a pocketful of cash to pick up another set but just could not settle on one that I had to have. Maybe next year.

[pajeff02]

Made a deal to buy the next addition to the collection yesterday. I arrived early for Court in Towanda (about an hour east of us) so I window shopped up and down Main Street. Spotted an Arvin Midget from maybe the early '40s in an antique shop. I sent the owner a text as the shop was closed and we worked it out that he'll bring the set to Mansfield when he comes over for a high school game in two weeks. Excited to start my next restoration.

[pajeff02]

Correction - two new additions. I also picked up a restored Radiola from the '40s this afternoon. It is a small table top unit with a brown plastic housing. Perfect for the Beaver house! On the way back we swung off the highway and went exploring. Hit two antique stores we had never been to and found a place with around 7 or 8 un-restored antique radios. The guy offered to sell me a lot of four for $300, which was pretty much in line with what I was pricing them at, but I passed.

[bigrondownhiller]

Looks like someone has a new addiction.

[pajeff02]

I am just enthralled with "old stuff" anymore. Guess I am showing my years.

[bigrondownhiller]

Old stuff has character. Lots of it was built by hand by people who took pride in it. Not made as cheap as possible and thrown out as soon as something new comes out or it just fails.

[pajeff02]

I took apart the Arvin radio on Tuesday and inspected all of the components. Everything appears to be stock underneath, which means that I will be replacing all of the capacitors. In the process, I will also replace the electric cord and install an in-line fuse. I ordered the new parts, including a set of tubes as I have not yet tested them and want to have replacements on hand anyway. Other than having a very compact chassis, which will make the work a bit more difficult to work on, it does not look too complicated. If anyone is interested in electronics, this is the schematic for it: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/pagesbym...7/M0012507.pdf Just a simple two-tube design from around 1938, I believe.

[GTP231]

Went to an antique radio show down in Kutztown a few weeks back. Lots of eye candy and had a pocketful of cash to pick up another set but just could not settle on one that I had to have. Maybe next year.

Kutztown sounds like a hike for you

[pajeff02]

It's not too bad. We looped down to Gilbert first to see my brother at the military vehicle show, went to Kutztown and then to the Beaver house. They have their spring show coming up in several weeks and I may try to go again.

[pajeff02]

Rookie mistake on my Arvin. The schematic includes a parts list that lists all of the capacitors that require replacement. I assumed that it was a complete list, however, I was coming up one capacitor short when I started work on it over the weekend. Turns out that two (2) .05 mfd capacitors are required even though it is only listed once in the parts table. This capacitor is labeled C-227 in the schematic and sure enough, there are two (2) of them fairly close together.

Schematic is in post #28, above.

[pajeff02]

Ordered up the missing capacitor and also some parts to work on an early Electrola that I have had for years.

[pajeff02]

Puzzling through the schematic on this thing and either I am having a stupid attack or things are not quite matching up with what I am actually seeing on the chassis.

[bigrondownhiller]

Maybe it was upgraded or changed in the past?

[pajeff02]

Everything looks absolutely factory on the chassis. All the capacitor part numbers are matching up, it is just how the thing is wired that is confusing me. It's possible they changed something during the production run and that this is not shown on the schematic. The differences are subtle, but clearly some things are not matching up. The nice thing about these restorations is that so long as you correctly swap out the old capacitors it should work when you apply power. The only issue is that there are three (3) electrolytic capacitors sealed in a can. They all have a common ground, but I have two (2) different values. I just need to ensure that I get these replaced with the right parts and that the polarity is correct.