05-12-2026, 06:56 PM
Hi SRv2,
No, no one should throw shade your way. The wave trap is between the mixer grid and ground. One would think that there would be a tuned circuit consisting of a gang of the tuning cap and a n appropriate coil (such as the secondary of the RF to convertor transformer) at the mixer grid, but this is a budget radio (or was a budget radio; collectors pay a mint for this now).
This may be a condenser or a bad (open) coil, or a bad (open) resistor. Unfortunately, run changes don't always make the schematic. For now, leave it out and connect the condenser and loop directly to the grid of the RF amp and see what happens; nothing will smoke.
Not all radios had this wave trap. I have several radios made in New York. The borough of Queens housed several radio manufacturers including Emerson, Grebe, FADA, Andrea Aladdin and others. Others were made in New York City (Manhattan). RCAs were built in Camden, NJ. These wave traps were often needed in areas with a lot of ship traffic, especially in the Great Lakes area, a major ship transportation area (Iron Ore, Coal, grain, etc.), as ship to ship and ship to shore communications for navigation and RDF were often on the Long Wave band and in the 420 - 480 KHz range, where the IF frequency of many radios fall. The only radio that I have that has a wave trap is a Coronado (Gamble Skogmo) battery farm set, likely sold for farms near the Great Lakes. Radios were built for certain areas. For example, there were 4 tube superhets (no IF amp, only IF tuned circuits) for the city, 5 tube superhets (The AA5) for suburban areas and 6 tube sets (The AA5 circuit with an added tuned RF amp) for fringe areas. Your set may have been built for the Great Lakes area.
Hope this helps.
No, no one should throw shade your way. The wave trap is between the mixer grid and ground. One would think that there would be a tuned circuit consisting of a gang of the tuning cap and a n appropriate coil (such as the secondary of the RF to convertor transformer) at the mixer grid, but this is a budget radio (or was a budget radio; collectors pay a mint for this now).
This may be a condenser or a bad (open) coil, or a bad (open) resistor. Unfortunately, run changes don't always make the schematic. For now, leave it out and connect the condenser and loop directly to the grid of the RF amp and see what happens; nothing will smoke.
Not all radios had this wave trap. I have several radios made in New York. The borough of Queens housed several radio manufacturers including Emerson, Grebe, FADA, Andrea Aladdin and others. Others were made in New York City (Manhattan). RCAs were built in Camden, NJ. These wave traps were often needed in areas with a lot of ship traffic, especially in the Great Lakes area, a major ship transportation area (Iron Ore, Coal, grain, etc.), as ship to ship and ship to shore communications for navigation and RDF were often on the Long Wave band and in the 420 - 480 KHz range, where the IF frequency of many radios fall. The only radio that I have that has a wave trap is a Coronado (Gamble Skogmo) battery farm set, likely sold for farms near the Great Lakes. Radios were built for certain areas. For example, there were 4 tube superhets (no IF amp, only IF tuned circuits) for the city, 5 tube superhets (The AA5) for suburban areas and 6 tube sets (The AA5 circuit with an added tuned RF amp) for fringe areas. Your set may have been built for the Great Lakes area.
Hope this helps.
"Do Justly, love Mercy and walk humbly with your God"- Micah 6:8
"Let us begin to do good"- St. Francis
Best Regards,
MrFixr55
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