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Joined: Sep 2012
City: Kokomo, Indiana
New guy in the forum. Just got started collecting/restoring old radios this summer. So far I have 3 Philcos. A model 18X I bought for $125.00 off of Craigslist which has a fully restored cabinet. The radio works ok, but needs recapped and the tubes checked. The shadowmeter is inop. The second is a Model 39-40 I just got for $16.00 at an antique mall. They had it their "bargain" room. Someone had replaced the speaker cloth with 1970's psychedelic couch upholstery. It was ugly as sin and I bought it mainly for parts. Got it home and it worked! AM only receives from about 1300 up and only one channel comes in loud enough to hear. Shortwave works great all across the dial. I replaced the speaker cloth, used Old English on the wood and polished the brass faceplate and it looks pretty darned good. And my third is a model 38-12 that was a complete wreck I got for ten bucks. So far I have restored the cabinet and have it put aside for a future project. I have a few "others" as well. A Zenith model G503 flip front from 1950, $20.00, (in progress), an RCA 6-XD-5B from 1955/56, free, (looks great, doesn't work), a GE model 114 from 1946,$30.00, which works but needs re-capped and a Coronado model 6953A 32 volt farm model tombstone. That radio was my first restoration project and it's 95% completed. Got that one for $50.00 at a local antique shop. Works well, needs a little veneer work, glueing mostly, and I made a power source out of two old laptop power supplies.
(This post was last modified: 09-06-2012, 11:22 AM by Groundhog74.)
Posts: 2,353
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Joined: May 2010
City: Clayton, NC
Welcome to the Phorum! Sounds like your 39-40 is mis-aligned on the upper BC side, find out where the high frequency BC trimmer is and carefully adjust it, this should bring the high side broadcast frequencies in.
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Joined: Oct 2008
City: Merrick, Long Island, NY
I think you're hooked, and for not all that much money. Welcome. Lots of resources here.
Posts: 227
Threads: 60
Joined: Sep 2012
City: Kokomo, Indiana
Yeah, I think I'm hooked too. So far it's all good. Not too much outlay of cash, it's something I can do thru the winter to keep from going insane, the wife's kinda into it as well cause we go to antique shops together again like we used to years ago. If I get too many I can alway sell off a few. There's always something to fiddle with so I don't spend nearly as much time cruising the channels on the tv like before. I'm up for retirement in a few years..it'll be a good hobby then too. Right now I've got a wedding to help pay for (I thought the groom's parents got off cheap???) then I'm going to start ordering the caps and tubes I need for all these things. Looking for a tube tester and a signal generator. No big rush, just keeping my eyes open. I have access to a tube tester for now that I can use almost anytime, but it'd be nice to have one at the house. The guys I know who are or used to be in the hobby tell me I have to pick a brand, or type to stick with or I'll go crazy trying to keep up with all of it. I kinda enjoy the research and learning about the different brands, company histories etc. But I am sticking to strictly am or am/shortwave tube sets 1930's on up. No transistor stuff, nothing with a built in record player, no 1920's stuff, etc.
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City: Clayton, NC
For most of us our tastes evolve as we learn more about the hobby. But for me, in spite of all the "other radios" I have gotten into and out of, Philcos remain my favorites.
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Joined: Sep 2011
City: moline, il
Welcome Mr New Guy.
My advise is go slow buying radios till you know what niche you want to collect. I spent my 1st year trying to buy any radio I came across.
Now I only collect and buy certain ones. I ended up donating and giving away many radios that did not meet my later collecting standards.
best wishes
Bruce
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Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
Welcome, Groundhog!
You've been given good advice from all. As Bruce says, you should take it easy buying until you know what you want to collect. (And, yes, when you arrive at that point, you will know it.)
I think a lot of us start out buying anything and everything. Eventually, though, most of us begin to focus on something. It might be one particular manufacturer, or a particular style of cabinet, etc. It's part of the natural progression of radio collecting.
I went from buying anything in the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, to 1920s battery sets by the mid-1980s, then to Philco in 1990. Now, after years of admiring the "classics," I've opened the door to a few of these as well.
I, too, have sold a few radios this year and given away some others as I begin to do some refocusing - I want to stick with the Philcos with higher tube counts and good SW coverage, Philco Tropic sets, and a few Scotts as well as the king of them all - my McMurdo Silver Masterpiece VI. But I still like the Philco 19 and 89 sets. Even though they would be considered lower-end radios and do not have real SW coverage, they offer surprisingly good performance for a six-tube set.
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Guys, beware. Ron infected me with a bad case of 19/89-itis. I went from not liking them at all to really liking them a lot!!
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