[jcassity]

im not seeing their battery pack there in that pic.

im also wondering how the recharge occurred for these packs.

[Chas]

Ron,

I agree, I had forgotten the 1320 has that higher profile driver housing...
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Scott in the image below that was from the post I found, possibly, a partial (fuzzy) view of a "B" battery. Look in between the legs of the children.

   


The "A" battery would have been recharged overnight or once a week by a trickle charger, usually a Rectox, (copper-Oxide) but there were many varieties of battery chargers in the 20's some rather dangerous.

In the country the farmer would swap the battery with one in the tractor or the lighting plant. Sometimes the radio fan would lug the "A" battery to Filling Station for a re-charge. The wool carpets would catch H**l when acid got spilled on them.

The "B" battery would eventually become consumed and would be replace from the Hardware Store, cost was around $3.00 for 45 volt standard "B" with a 22-1/2 volt tap.  There were "B" supplies, re-chargeable "B" (L/A), "A" supplies, "A-B" supplies and supplies that housed a L/A battery with a chemical rectifier for the "B" or a BH cold cathode rectifier. Combinations of a "B" supply, a L/A 60 amp hr battery and trickle charger controlled by a filament current relay. Turn on the filaments for the radio and the relay automagically transferred the trickle charger AC to the "B" supply AC...

Philco made a series of A & B battery supplies... Exide did as well with a built in transfer relay.

Chas

[MrFixr55]

My $0.02

First off, is that a mouse carcass in there?

In cleaning, wear an N95 mask, gloves, etc. and do this outside. Even if you don't come down with hantavirus symptoms from working on this, sufficient exposure to the virus may mess up some esoteric lab tests that may be done on you at a later date. Assays for Vancomycin, Amikacin, Valproic Acid, other theraputic drugs and some endocrine tests, etc., that may use mouse antibodies as part of the "sandwich" (Sorry, my education is as a Laboratory Technologist and I have been working for a manufacturer of Clinical Lab instruments for 40 years).

Use plenty of insecticide, wipe down with a dilute bleach solution, Lysol, etc., leave outside in the heat, etc. and douse again!

The "RA" Section appears fairly complete but the coils may be open. They could be repaired or rewound. The big issue with the "DA" Section is the missing knobs and shafts, missing Tube Island and obviously open transformers. Seems that the missing jacks are inside, so you only have to find the nuts. The rods that hold the front and back panels together on the DA can be turned around if you can't get the screws out.

I used 2 commonly available P-T156 transformers in my RA / DA These are relatively cheap (approx $14.00 from AES and others), and I was able to fit them in the frames of the originals.

The RA Section was originally separate from the "DA" Section and could be purchased separately. It could be used as the "tuner" for a crystal detector. One may have bought the RA, a crystal detector assembly such as the Westinghouse DB and a set of Brandes headphones. Then when the user saved enough money, or got over the novelty and wanted a real (for 1921) radio, he / she could have gotten the DA (Detector Amplifier). The GE1300 / 1400 combination was very similar in function to the RA / DA except that the crystal detector was built into the1300 . The RA / DA, RC, the 1300 / 1400 were all sold by RCA and represented the "top of the line" until more sophisticated units such as the Aeriola Grand, Regenoflex, Superheterodyne, etc. became available. Some of these later models could cost more than a Model T Ford.

I agree that this unit should not be junked, but if a donor DA can be found cheap, combine best of parts. I bought my RC in January for $320.00, my biggest single expenditure in this hobby (I can't bring myself into buying an A-K TA Island for $400.00, let alone a complete A-K 9 or A-K 10 for $1000 or more)

Now, what to do with it if you actually get enough DA Parts to fix. Demonstrate it as it was designed to be or use it as an amplifier and pump 1920s music and news from an internet site. To really cheat, connect the "program" directly into a horn speaker or bury an old transistor radio speaker into the horn. However, every once in a while, fire up the original components and take yourself back to 1921.

These things are history, and are in the 100 year old zone. I marvel at the "BBT" 00 and 01s and the glow when fired up. When I use mine, I think of the original users and what they may have listened to, and pray for their souls, as they are most likely deceased.

Sorry, my $0.02 turned into $200 in words. Good luck!!

[Chas]

jcassity,

I have PM'ed you, please give my offer careful, but immediate attention. Avoiding extensive rebuilding and all the "health" precautions is important. Keep in mind the commitment to repair/rebuild will carry responsibility. So accuracy and robustness are important, even though it does not seem clear at the moment. Choices of repair components also lends to not only authenticity but the robustness. In a public environment a radio that works poorly is no comparison to one that works as it did in its era. Such a fine working instrument bears testimony to the restorer as well as the curator.

Hope to hear from you soon...

Regards,

Chas

   
Sorry for numerous edits, I used a saved text file because my ISP failed this afternoon. There were a lot of line feeds hidden because of the text editor Oops...

[jcassity]

I am sorry to have not responded. On my other two boards i visit, a pop up happens after i log in which interrupts you and forces you to take action by reading them or acknowledge and get to them later.

This sites pm notification design is somewhat passive.

When i come here,, i log in and instantly within a blink of an eye just scroll down to the area of interest.
The light blue banner is not catching my eye.... nor is the button on the upper left area showing a count or alarm or color change or anything to tell me i have a new pm.

however,,, the light blue banner tells me so my bad.

[jcassity]

Solved,

Per my call with the store owner, and after understanding more about his combined personal preferences coupled with having this set playing at his business, it revealed an idea i had come up with during our call.

Since in his opinion he really doesn't enjoy listening to the quote / unquote "radio" anymore like he used to because its "mostly garbage" music or the same 10 songs or people talking politics, he's not really all that concerned about the "all original" aspects.

When hearing more about what he thinks, i drummed up an idea about grafting in some wifi tech where from the "store smart phone" , he could connect to this radio as a wireless device and pick music from his custom play list.  I would either duplicate by hand or locate knobs/jacks and do some cleanup and wipe down of the chassis.  the rear coil would go to chass and the internals may stay put or if the variometer is needed by someone that would ship out as well.

my points i made to him were exactly on point with what he actually didn't know how to word until i mentioned them.  I feel like................
-- I am interested in giving the radio a chance to become useful and alive again.
-- I am against tossing it out in the garbage because i feel it deserves some respect even with all the battle scares, its a seasoned radio veteran.


Thoughts?  has anyone done this before?  
I was actually thinking he should just buy an old smartphone just for this radio,, and with a cable/jack, play out to a speaker i mount.  this way the whole wireless aspect,, and software/firmware updates and all that goobly ga is not a factor.  Keep it somewhat simpler so to speak.

[Chas]

Scott,

Sorry, I am no expert on the modern "wireless" radio which I think is where your going.

That said a new WIFI remote speaker (device) or in Bluetooth may be the answer. I "think" that these devices may be available as "caseless" modules of which external controls could be added.

However, IMHO, using a finished stand alone device tucked behind the radio and connected via jack/plug to a "restored" speaker. Such a speaker (horn) that has a ruined driver replaced with a modern speaker hidden in the base so the acoustic effect of the horn is used. That may be an answer. If the WIFI/Bluetooth device fails, it would be a drop in replacement.

Good Luck!

Chas