I recently acquired this unit (see attachments) and want to know where best to get insight and assistance for it. The bonus was it came with two small USA flags (with 48 stars in the blue field), two Wheat Pennies, and 3 records (including a very thick Edison and another one that is probably on the Banned LP List).
Hi David
This is a rather neat Unit. This is likely equipped with a GE "RPX" Phono Cartridge. This was the next best thing to a true "Hi Fi" cartridge in the late 1940s. IMHO, this cartridge performs much better than a crystal or ceramic cartridge. I have not heard the Philco BOL (Beam of Light) cartridge but it, too, shoud have lower distortion than a crystal or ceramic cartridge. PX are available. I do not know whether your turntable is 78RPM or 3 speed (or 4 Speed). Post a pic for it. Magnetic cartridges of this vintage put a smaller signal than crystal or ceramic cartridges, hence, they require a preamplifier. The upside down chassis below the radio chassis is the phono preamp.
The Edison record will fit the turntable, and you can likely hear the record faintly at the turntable but will not hear sound from the speaker. that is because Edison records do not move the needle left and right they move the needle up and down. Victor, Columbia and everyone else move the needle left and right.
Attached below is the schematic for this Unit, courtesy of Nostalgia Air:
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attachment=28043]
Before powering up the radio, the electrolytic filter capacitors must e replaced. It is also very important to replace all other paper /foil capacitors. We can help you with information on how to do this. There should also be many You Tube videos on the subject also. Good luck repairing / restoring this Unit.
Thanks for the information. Yes, I found some schematics on the Radio Musuem site. I wanted to figure out how to "rewind" the dial's "Frequency Feather" (my name for it).
I never thought about an LP with up/down encoding! My grandparents had one of those cylinder phonographs. Were they encoded vertically too?
I'll get some pictures of the phono tomorrow. I know it has two "pillars" on the diagonal with tiers to hold either 10" or 12" records.
I like the fixed magnet coil on the speaker because it was easy to connect to my amp and hear it play. Such a nice "warm" sound!
Here are two pics of the phonograph in it...