06-28-2009, 12:25 AM
Hi;
I picked up a radio today, that I wasn't expecting to find, nor was I looking for, at a garage sale. It's a Model 706A, a Canadian edition of one of the Bing Crosby 1201 models. It looks like it's all there except for the speaker, I already have one that I salvaged from a pair of junker 1201s that I parted out years ago. The cabinet needs refinishing, so I will be able to see if I can come up with a replacement for the Philcocote faux teak wood grain, but it is physically sound and solid.
I did run into an interesting problem, one that I should have noticed before buying it, the power line frequency isn't 50-60 cycle, it's 25-30 cycle. This isn't a problem for the radio, it's an AC/DC power supply, but I won't be able to operate the phonograph as is. So I am contemplating how to deal with this, it would be easy to swap motors, if I still had one from the units I parted out, I could see if I have another that's close, or I could find another method. Has anyone built an inverter to convert 60 cycle AC to 25 cycle AC? Could the motor be modified to operate from 60 cycle, by removing several turns of wire for example? This is assuming that the phonograph hasn't already been converted for 60 cycle use.
Best Regards
Arran
I picked up a radio today, that I wasn't expecting to find, nor was I looking for, at a garage sale. It's a Model 706A, a Canadian edition of one of the Bing Crosby 1201 models. It looks like it's all there except for the speaker, I already have one that I salvaged from a pair of junker 1201s that I parted out years ago. The cabinet needs refinishing, so I will be able to see if I can come up with a replacement for the Philcocote faux teak wood grain, but it is physically sound and solid.
I did run into an interesting problem, one that I should have noticed before buying it, the power line frequency isn't 50-60 cycle, it's 25-30 cycle. This isn't a problem for the radio, it's an AC/DC power supply, but I won't be able to operate the phonograph as is. So I am contemplating how to deal with this, it would be easy to swap motors, if I still had one from the units I parted out, I could see if I have another that's close, or I could find another method. Has anyone built an inverter to convert 60 cycle AC to 25 cycle AC? Could the motor be modified to operate from 60 cycle, by removing several turns of wire for example? This is assuming that the phonograph hasn't already been converted for 60 cycle use.
Best Regards
Arran
