[palonso]

Dear colleagues,

I have an Order ready to place to the firm RENOVATED RADIOS LLc from Michigan. This is the only supplier to my knowledge which can sell knobs for the old Philco Radios. I am in the process of restoration of my beautiful Philco Radio Model 38-10 - Code 121  and I intend to order some knobs and chassi supports. The problem is that the only shipping modal they use in International Shipping is the USPS First Class International. This is the cheaper modal to send from US to other countries but there is not a tracking number nor an insurance. I would like to have my items shipped to Brazil by USPS Priority Modal that is more expensive but includes a Tracking Number and Insurance. The firm (is a one man firm) provides an email for contact (chris@renovatedradios.com) and I wrote to Chris a number of times but he (or she) does not respond at all. 

Does anybody have a phone number for me in order to contact Chris ? Or, any other suggestion of supplier to buy the knobs for that Radio ? 

I would appreciate a lot any direction on this issue. I enclose a photo of the Radio.

Thank you all in advance and have all of you a very good weekend !

Paulo Alonso

[jrblasde]

A beautiful radio, Paulo! I'm going to hop on this thread so that I can save the contact info. I've got a yucky old 48-482 in my attic which I might eventually restore. It's coated inside and out with a glaze of cigarette tar. I put a wire wheel to a small part of the chassis, and that's some tough crud! But it is also missing all four knobs.

[GarySP]

Hello Paulo. The only contact information I found was in the contact us portion of the website.
http://www.renovatedradios.com/contact-us.php
You might try fellow phorum member Mike Koste at Gobs of Knobs. You can PM him at his phorum address, ekimetsok
He's helped me many times over the years. Take care and BE HEALTHY! Gary

[Paul Philco322]

If Mike Koste cannot help there is a woman who sells at meets, has made it to Kutztown I believe, her handle is Radio pup. If you want to pm me I can get you her contact.

Paul

[Arran]

The rubber parts are available from a few places I think, but why do you think you need knobs? The knobs on your 38-10 look correct to me, some of those sets had a bar shaped knob for the bandswitch but the photos I have seen of the 38-10T have the same knobs as your set. One point though, as you are probably aware the front panel on the 38-10T had a faux wood grain finish, and the outer ring of the dial bezel was black. I don't know why but a lot of restorers seem to have this impulse to polish up dial bezels for really no reason at all, most were antiqued at the factory, one of the few exceptions being some 1936-37 RCA models.
Regards
Arran

[morzh]

Paul, you are talking of Julie and Marty McCall.
She was not at the last show; I think Marty is having some medical issues.

[palonso]

Dear Colleagues,

Thanks a lot to all of you who replied to my inquiry regarding Renovated Radios. I want to address some considerations message by message:

To Gary - Thank you so much for the suggestion on Mike Koste. I will await a little more to see if Chris will post any reply to my email and eventually I can refer to Mike according to your instructions.

To Paul - Thank you also for your offer to contact Julia and Marty Mc Call. In case it is necessary I will let you know.

To Arran - Yes, you are completely right. I really do not need spare knobs because my original knobs are working very well indeed. The idea was to purchase a spare set, because according to my reasoning and to the messages in our Phorum, chances are that finding these items in the future must become even more difficult. I have a complete set of vacuum tubes for my radio and I was fortunate to purchase two Dial Wheels from Radio Daze ( a tip from Gary !) because my dial has become brittle (there are small fractures in the Dial wheel) certainly due to the aging process. I appreciated most your considerations that the original outer ring of the dial bezel was black. When I received the radio from my father it already had that polished golden color. My father bought that Radio for my grand mother in 1938 in a trip to New York, after graduating from the Brazilian Navy Officials School. He brought the radio for her and, at that time, radio sets like this one were rarities in Brazil. Short before her passing away my grandmother told my father that the Radio should be given to me. Being an electronic engineer I carried out the best restoration I could in 1977.
Thank you very much also for your considerations. In case you can suggest some other places from which I could order the chassi items, I would be grateful.

Best Regards to all the colleagues,

Paulo Alonso

[GarySP]

Hello Paulo. You say you restored this radio in 1977? You may want to consider rechecking resistors for drifting, and recapping the chassis again. Those components are at least 45 years old, and age is not their friend. I may be too cautious, but I don't fully trust newer replacement caps much farther than 10-15 years. Just my way. Take care and BE HEALTHY! Gary

[palonso]

GARY,

Your advice regarding the capacitors in the chassi, matches with my perception. Resistors are less sensitive to changes but I am considering seriously to replace all the critical capacitors specially electrolytical ones. My capacitors were all replaced in 1977 and I manage to purchase in Brazil all tubular original electrolytical capacitors (capacitors that are mounted in a vertical position in the chassis, like a vacuum tube). The capacitors are three and the brand is Sylvania, 4, 8 and 12 microFarads, 750 volts. These capacitors loose their properties with age, specially the isolation rated voltage . Now it will be impossible to find this kind of capacitors in Brazil. i will replace them by modern, new capacitors but they will be mounted in the lower side of the chassis. This will change a little the original characteristics of the circuit but, anyway, the radio will operate better and less subject to leakage currents in the capacitors.

This is a project to be done at easy in a calm period and free from other mental pressures. I will be on vacation from my University (I am a Professor at the Engineering School of Rio de Janeiro State University in the Eelectronics Department) in the period of January 19th to February 18th 2025 and it seems a good opportunity to carry out the electronics retrofit. Also it will allow time for the new Dial, purchased from Radio Daze, to reach Brazil.

Thank you a lot for your intelligent advice ever. To be included in this Phorum was indeed a great and beneficial occurence for me.

Best Regards and many thanks

Paulo Alonso