Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Printable Version
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Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-13-2015
Well Mike and Sam came over yesterday and hung out for a good while. Made burgers on the grill. After getting the grand tour they called me a four letter name "Kirk"not commander just Kirk. The up shot of this is I felt need to get busy and fix some of this junk I been gathering.
A few months ago I attend an auction in which one of the many things that follow me home was a National HRO Senior.
For those who don't know what it is here's an article about them:
http://www.radioblvd.com/National%20HRO.htm
Production started at the end of 1934 ran into the mid 1960's. They had a long and glorious run. Many where sent to the UK under the lend lease program during WWII to intercept German code messages. We used a bunch of them here too.
This one I got at the auction was painted a pale green. It wouldn't let me take any pics of as it was too embarrassed! Original it was black wrinkle. Along with being green it also had a number extra holes in side and front panel. One just a hair bigger than an octal socket. You know what Kermit sez It's hard being green!
So after M and S left I though I why not get started on it. Started in on getting the cabinet off and after an hour of removing rusty screws ( tnx for the blaster S) knobs and the S meter it was apart. The good news (kinda) it's been recaped probably in the 1960's. Unfortuity I don't have the originals to restuff. Always like the look of a set that doesn't look like it's had a bunch of stuff done to it. With the metal case off I took into work removed a lot of the green paint. Back at home I made the patch pieces to repair the holes and use lead to secure them. Still have two more to go but I'm hoping to get them in sanded ,bondoed sanded and ready for primer tomorrow. Work has been a little slow.
The L76 is the serial # and it tells me that it was produced Feb '36. It probably didn't see any over seas action in WWII but still an almost 80yr old set.
More later if you like
Terry
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - morzh - 04-13-2015
A-ha, that's the green set that almost killed Mr. Cat. (The cat should thank me).
The burgers were really good. I am not sure what Terry puts in them, and how much it made my life shorter, tasty stuff usually does, but it sure makes those burgers juicy and yammie.
Goes well with Guinnes with no mold.
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - sam - 04-13-2015
kirk hint hint
terry Made burgers on the grill. mmmm garlic and onions, fresh patties
and NO MOLD On the beer 8)
and sat in comfy chairs
kirk also received a lesson on tubes
had great time must do again
sam
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - OldRestorer - 04-13-2015
I have nothing to say......... NOTHING!
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Arran - 04-13-2015
(04-13-2015, 09:08 PM)Radioroslyn Wrote: Well Mike and Sam came over yesterday and hung out for a good while. Made burgers on the grill. After getting the grand tour they called me a four letter name "Kirk"not commander just Kirk. The up shot of this is I felt need to get busy and fix some of this junk I been gathering.
A few months ago I attend an auction in which one of the many things that follow me home was a National HRO Senior.
For those who don't know what it is here's an article about them:
http://www.radioblvd.com/National%20HRO.htm
Production started at the end of 1934 ran into the mid 1960's. They had a long and glorious run. Many where sent to the UK under the lend lease program during WWII to intercept German code messages. We used a bunch of them here too.
This one I got at the auction was painted a pale green. It wouldn't let me take any pics of as it was too embarrassed! Original it was black wrinkle. Along with being green it also had a number extra holes in side and front panel. One just a hair bigger than an octal socket. You know what Kermit sez It's hard being green!
So after M and S left I though I why not get started on it. Started in on getting the cabinet off and after an hour of removing rusty screws ( tnx for the blaster S) knobs and the S meter it was apart. The good news (kinda) it's been recaped probably in the 1960's. Unfortuity I don't have the originals to restuff. Always like the look of a set that doesn't look like it's had a bunch of stuff done to it. With the metal case off I took into work removed a lot of the green paint. Back at home I made the patch pieces to repair the holes and use lead to secure them. Still have two more to go but I'm hoping to get them in sanded ,bondoed sanded and ready for primer tomorrow. Work has been a little slow.
The L76 is the serial # and it tells me that it was produced Feb '36. It probably didn't see any over seas action in WWII but still an almost 80yr old set.
More later if you like
Terry
Terry;
That HRO sounds like a good candidate for the electrolysis rust and paint stripping treatment, as long as the front panel is steel and not aluminum. I had a post war National 100 with the windshield wiper style dial, it was a U.S army spec model called a "100ASD" so it did not have the AM broadcast band except the upper end down to 1500 KC. A fellow collector convinced me that I paid too much for it, which I may have, but I wish that I had kept it just the same.
That article you linked to brought up some memories, they mentioned a Breting 12, well I haven't run across one of those but I did run across a Breting 14 locally in a shop, unfortunately the owner had some ridiculous pasted on it, on the logic that their adding one new filter cap and a home brew speaker should make it worth $450. Maybe the Breting will surface again one day for a much more realistic price.
Regards
Arran
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-13-2015
Hi Arran,
I like National gear it's well designed and sturdy. Have a bunch of from the SW-3, SRR, NC-100X, NC-100ADS, NC-200. to the NC-173 And the HRO. Electrolysis probably work well but I'm llazy just used drill/wire wheel. Not too concerned about the minor pitting as the wrinkle paint will cover it nicely.
I have a good friend that has a few Breting rxs. I don't remember the model #. Nice looking sets.
Got to hit the rack.
Terry
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-14-2015
I was able to spend a little time working on the HRO today. Got the rest of the green paint off, patches in place and leaded in, cleaned up patches and primed cabinet. Need to use a little bondo to fill in around patches. With it primed I can see where it needs a bit more cleanup.
Terry
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - sam - 04-14-2015
Pics for those that have not seen it may be nice
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Arran - 04-15-2015
(04-13-2015, 10:25 PM)Radioroslyn Wrote: Hi Arran,
I like National gear it's well designed and sturdy. Have a bunch of from the SW-3, SRR, NC-100X, NC-100ADS, NC-200. to the NC-173 And the HRO. Electrolysis probably work well but I'm llazy just used drill/wire wheel. Not too concerned about the minor pitting as the wrinkle paint will cover it nicely.
I have a good friend that has a few Breting rxs. I don't remember the model #. Nice looking sets.
Got to hit the rack.
Terry
Terry;
That's what made me adopt the electrolysis method, it's less messy and less work then most of the others for stripping rust and paint. I used to use a wire wheel too, and whilst it works on the flaky surface rust it barely touches the hard crusty scabs you run into sometimes. I've also used a bath of vinnegar and water to get rust off of things, I cleaned up some battery terminals in an old 1960s era Sony radio that way, as well as bicycle parts, but it can't be relied on to strip paint unfortunately.
With electrolysis it does take some time, so if you are in a hurry it's not really the best choice for paint and rust removal. But one thing it has going for it is that it's cheap, you just need some baking or washing soda, some scrap steel, a plastic container, water, and a DC power supply. The first time I tried this method was with a pipe vise that had been left in the back yard, this vise uses a length of large chain to grab onto the pipe, well every link was seized right up. I tried soaking the vise in vinegar and water, it stripped some rust but the chain remained locked up, so then in despiration I tried the electrolysis method, it took a while to figure out the size needed for a sacrificial anode but it did the job.
Regards
Arran
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Eliot Ness - 04-15-2015
(04-14-2015, 09:03 PM)Radioroslyn Wrote: ......patches in place and leaded in......Terry, can you explain how you are doing the lead-ing?
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-15-2015
Pretty basic. Cut out patch from sheet brass stock. Use dremel tool to fit it. Clamp a piece of aluminum under the hole to be patched. Get your biggest, baddest soldering iron and solder the patch in. Use disk sander to remove any excess. Bondo and block sand for nice smooth repair. This is for steel panel or chassis not AL
Terry
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Eliot Ness - 04-15-2015
OK, similar but on a smaller scale than what the old body guys did. Except they used torches and bars of lead.... it really was an art form to watch.
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-15-2015
I'm a little skiddish about using a torch. Did it years ago and manged to warp the heck out of what I was trying to fix.
Terry
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-26-2015
Here's a pic of the back corner of the HRO at the auction. It's at the end of the table, that yucky green thing with the coils on top. If you look closely on the side there are two holes. On the bottom is a square hole and topside is a round one about 1 1/4" around. That is one of the ones that got repaired (filled in) as it is not suppose to be there. The square hole is where the ant & gnd connections connect.
The repainting is coming along have done all of the outside panels. National painted the outsides in black wrinkle and the inside with black satin. So today I'm going to paint the insides.
Terry
RE: Poor poor little National HRO Senior L76 - Radioroslyn - 04-26-2015
Got busy gassing myself out with rattle cans. Cabinet is done and looks good. Repairs don't show at all on the outside on the inside just slightly. Somewhere along the way the index markers for the knobs where sanded off. Not by me. So I've got to make some replacements. Originals where just rivets. I'm going to use some small screws with the heads ground down smooth so there isn't a slot. Will glue them in from the back side no clearance for nut on the back side.
Pics to follow.
Terry