[don'tdomelikethat]

I already have a 42-350 waiting for a restoration, and would like to find a nice 42-355. How are these radios performance wise, and sound wise? I already realize there won't be much, if any FM performance. Any opinions out there?

[Arran]

Sometimes you can pick up TV sound, but then again with the HTV switch that will be gone soon. There may be some other activity on that band but I couldn't tell you what.
Best Regards
Arran

[Doug Houston]

I expect that your 42-350 will have good audio. It was the beginning of FM broadcasting in the old 42-50 Mc. band. I have a 42-400, and the audio is very impressive. It was the first radio I' ever heard FM on, in about 1944, and I was ecstatic about it.

Unfortunately, about nothing is on that band, even today, so all you will be able to do is enjoy the AM broadcasts. You won't be disappointed.

[batterymaker]

The 355 has a deep, bassy tone. I think it was a console chassis installed in a large table set.

It's one of the few sets my wife will not allow to leave the house....

[Arran]

I performed a little research on the old FM band on the internet, I also ran across an article in an old 1945 copy of radio craft. The 42 to 50 megacycle band was switched from FM broadcasting to amateur use in November of 1945 I believe, then later on it was assigned to "Citizen's Band" use. In theory there could be CB activity in that band but I don't know whether you could listen in on an early FM set as the modulation is different, one of our experts would know. I was way off regarding the TV sound, I forgot that the Soviet set that could pick it up was in the 60-74 MC range, the old FM standard for Eastern Europe.
Here's my next point, given the interest in home broadcasting with limited range transmitters, it would make sense to construct such a unit to make use of an otherwise useless band. Given the old radio hobby I'm going to make a guess that someone has already done this.
Best Regards
Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

The 355 has a deep, bassy tone. I think it was a console chassis installed in a large table set.

The 42-355 chassis is indeed the same as a console chassis, Model 42-390.

[BDM]

I performed a little research on the old FM band on the internet, I also ran across an article in an old 1945 copy of radio craft. The 42 to 50 megacycle band was switched from FM broadcasting to amateur use in November of 1945 I believe, then later on it was assigned to "Citizen's Band" use. In theory there could be CB activity in that band but I don't know whether you could listen in on an early FM set as the modulation is different, one of our experts would know. I was way off regarding the TV sound, I forgot that the Soviet set that could pick it up was in the 60-74 MC range, the old FM standard for Eastern Europe.
Here's my next point, given the interest in home broadcasting with limited range transmitters, it would make sense to construct such a unit to make use of an otherwise useless band. Given the old radio hobby I'm going to make a guess that someone has already done this.
Best Regards
Arran

When FM broadcast was moved up to the current frequencies. The 42-50 was relegated to police/fire/forest/military and other services. The upper portion was also slated for channel 1 TV which was never used. Later, 45 -49.9 was used for cordless telephones, baby monitors and low power two way walkie talkies (Rat Shack sold a boat load). The lower portion was still public service use. Also, some military use is also mixed in.

The CB band as we know it operates from 26.9 through 27.4 mc AM, not FM (though you may hear FM with those illegal "export" sets). You can still hear the occasional baby monitor and cordless telephone in that band. But that's about it. Last year I heard a baby monitor while tunning across the band with my Zenith. Not sure which neighbor as the ones close do not have a baby. That surprised me.

[Raleigh]

I restored a 42-350 and had the speaker reconed. The audio performance of the 42-350 is kind of disappointing, compared to the earlier slant-front radios. The 41-250 and 40-150 sound much better. That is probably because of the smaller speaker, and maybe because the 42-350 doesn't have push-pull output. I have a 42-355 on my bench right now, but it is not yet ready to listen to. I'd imagine it would sound much the same as the 41-250. I also have a couple of 41-255s waiting restoration, but I haven't heard them yet.

The sensitivity of the 42-350 is excellent on AM and short wave. I usually use it in my basement where my workbench is, but when I take it upstairs, I am able to pick up distant stations quite well, at least in the evening.

I have also been able to pick up a couple of modern FM stations on the old FM band, though weakly. I had to turn the volume almost all the way up. I don't know why this is the case. Maybe something to do with harmonics of the IF frequency? I also picked up the audio of a TV station, again very weakly. (Now that they've turned off analog TV, I doubt I could hear that station now.) Otherwise, the 42-50 MHz FM band was silent.

When I ordered my schematics from Chuck, he included a print-out from this web site http://www.somerset.net/arm/fm_only.html . The site includes several designs for converters to convert signals from the modern FM band so you can listen to modern stations on radios with the old FM band. Chuck links to the site on his Philco Repair Bench site. I haven't yet tried to build a converter.

[Fred R]

Just like Raleigh, I have had the same experience with the 42-350. For the one I kept, I went and built the converter linked to on Chuck's site. In the past, I had built FM converters using TV tuners. No matter what tuner I used in them, they drifted and usually pretty bad. I was impressed how stable the 42-350 was on FM using the crystal controlled converter. The same converter was tried on a Zenith 12H689 with impressive results.

My 42-350 is hot on the AM and shortwave bands. The use of high gain 7V7 IF tubes help but the small speaker and single ended 7B5 don't. Surprisingly, the lack of a limiter stage did not introduce and noise in my location so I find the set very usable on a daily basis.

Fred

[Raleigh]

My 42-350, and indeed almost all my AM radios seem to be sensitive to some intermittent noise in my neighborhood. It is a kind of buzzing or crackling that starts some evenings after 5:00 PM or so and then continues all night. Some nights I don't hear it at all. I think it is probably some electrical appliance a neighbor is using.

The 42-350 seems especially sensitive to it, but the 41-280 is pretty bad also. Some modern radios are sensitive to this noise and some are not, but most seem to reject the noise better than the antiques do.

Oddly, my 41-250 is not very sensitive to this noise, though I can still hear it a little bit. I wish I knew what the differences might be so I could modify the radios that pick up this noise to make them less sensitive to it.

[Arran]

When FM broadcast was moved up to the current frequencies. The 42-50 was relegated to police/fire/forest/military and other services. The upper portion was also slated for channel 1 TV which was never used. Later, 45 -49.9 was used for cordless telephones, baby monitors and low power two way walkie talkies (Rat Shack sold a boat load). The lower portion was still public service use. Also, some military use is also mixed in.

The CB band as we know it operates from 26.9 through 27.4 mc AM, not FM (though you may hear FM with those illegal "export" sets). You can still hear the occasional baby monitor and cordless telephone in that band. But that's about it. Last year I heard a baby monitor while tunning across the band with my Zenith. Not sure which neighbor as the ones close do not have a baby. That surprised me.

I remember back around 1988-90 or so I could pick up a baby monitor at one end of the AM broadcast band, I could hear baby talk and the occasional howl come through. I never could figure out where it was coming from, as in your situation none of the close neighbors had a baby, the propagation must have been quite far. This was interesting since they were supposedly designed not to transmit outside of the confines of the average house. I still think that it would be fun to have a Part 15 transmitter that would broadcast on the old FM band, maybe get into Pirate radio as well.
Best Regards
Arran

[BDM]

Too my knowledge, baby monitors never used the high end of the BCB. Though early cordless telephones did. I owned one many years ago. Of course this was before they expanded the present BCB. Also, it had to be local. Those flea powered sets using that portion of the band wouldn't be able to over come even the floor noise. If I remember correctly, my cordless phone had 10/mw output for the handset, and 100/mw for the base. It was weak! I was lucky to get two doors away.

Now when the 49/mc sets showed up. The distance was naturally improved. Not so much due to power output, but because the physical size of the antenna more closely matched the band being used. That little metal whip antenna used for the 1.7/mc phone was a HUGE compromise in efficiency.

When 46-49/mc was the norm, I used to pick up many baby monitors, cordless phones, two way walkie talkies (kids type that Rat Shack sold), even the State Police on the lower portion. Once, I was playing around and picked up my local PD drug unit. They used the low portion of the band with walkie talkies and no repeater system. I was amazed at the time.

[Raleigh]

A couple of weeks ago I finally finished the 42-355 that was on my bench. It is a nice radio! Clearly the best audio of any of the slant-fronts I've heard. Much better than the 42-350, though I listen to that one a lot, too.

I get good sensitivity on the AM and SW bands, and on the old FM band I even pick up a station or two from the modern FM band. So far, I haven't heard any RFI on it, either

Since I set up my SSTRAN a couple of months ago, I can listen to anything I want to on the AM band, so I might not bother with the FM downcoverter.

don'tdomelikethat, did you ever get a 42-355?

[don'tdomelikethat]

Yes, I now have both the 42-350, and 42-355!