[idaho181]

    I'm assuming there should be some kind of cover on the back of this radio? The power cord is toast as well.

[jerryhawthorne]

Mike, I will take a wild stab at this but I don't believe that radio had a back on it. No need to keep prying fingers away, this is an A/C (transformer powered) radio. No real danger of shock and better ventilation for heat removal.
Jerry

[idaho181]

OK I understand. There is a white wire at the bottom that is just cut and the end of it is in the middle of the bottom of the radio. Is this normal? I can't find the other end that might have been attached. Looks like a shortwave type antenna to me. Is this radio worth trying to save or should it go for parts?
Mike

[jerryhawthorne]

Mike, I think I see the wire your talking about. Is there not also a black wire ending there? I believe this was an add on type of dipole antenna stapled around the back of the radio for FM reception. Due to the age of your radio I will guess again that this is the old FM frequency which was changed to the new FM frequency after the war. Essentially the FM band on this radio is useless. IMHO it would not hurt to remove those wires stapled around the back. Others may add in here as if it was factory, you may want to leave them for originality.
As for saving the radio, absolutely! Certainly doesn't look like a parts radio to me. Put out a picture of the cabinet front/sides well we have the top. Chassis looks nice and clean to me.

Jerry

[idaho181]

Once again sir....you are correct. There is a black wire cut also. They both run around the edge of the cabinet and go into the tall metal encased tube? on the left side. Being cut they aren't working ...but should I just remove the staples and take the black & white wires off the tall metal thing?

[Ron Ramirez]

Jerry is correct on both counts - in that your 42-355 never had a back, and that the "mystery" wire is part of the FM dipole.

I would not remove the white or black wires, but leave them in place. Notice how the two wires terminate in a plug which plugs into the back of the chassis?

There are ways to make that old 42-50 mc FM band useful:

http://www.somerset.net/arm/fm_only.html

I should add that I have never tried any of those converters, but I'll have to do so sometime.

[jerryhawthorne]

Mike, Ron gave a nice link for converting the FM up to the new band. Something to think about in the future. Those two wires are cut to a length to match the FM frequency. They were made that way. Nothing to worry about. On to the chassis and cabinet restoration!

Jerry

[idaho181]

Sounds good. There is a local guy here that has replaced the caps on my other radios. I will see if he wants to go through the chassis and get it working. Wondering if I should just remove the chassis and bring the guys over to him while I finish restoring the cabinet. I will just leave the black & white wires in place. Will it pick up short wave without them?

[jerryhawthorne]

Mike, sooner or later your going to want to get your feet wet and start doing the electrical part. With all the help here, it is pretty easy. At any rate, leave the black and white wires attached to the cabinet. Those are only for FM and will unplug from the back of the radio. In order for your friend to properly check out the AM and SW bands, he will need the antenna that goes around the inside back of the radio. That loop antenna is matched to the radio.
Regards, Jerry

[idaho181]

Man, I know nothing about radios. I plant wheat and raise cattle. I can follow instructions....but the technology of the old radios is Greek to me. I used to listen to Eddie Arnold sing his 'Cattle Song'.....in the early mornings before I went to school. That was on an old zenith big dial radio.

I will pull the chassis our of the cabinet and see if it scares me.

[jerryhawthorne]

Well Mike, I couldn't do what you do either! Cows scare me a little, wheat is for bread. But I knew about as much about radios as I did about cows. The stuff is pretty simple if you can run a soldering iron and read a schematic (think of it as a road map), just different cities as you move along it. Quite satisfying when you do one. Bet you wish you had that old Zenith big dial radio.

Jerry

[idaho181]

OK The white & black wires seem to be hard wired into a square metal container on the left side of the chassis. I won't be able to remove the chassis because they go into this metal container. The solid wire antenna is readily exposed so you can see where those are tapped to the chassis. What do I do about the hard wired wires? I would like to get the chassis out so as to start on the cabinet restoration. I can shoot more pics if helpful.

Mike

[Ron Ramirez]

No, the black and white wires are soldered into a (very) flat plug which plugs into the chassis. Using a small flat blade screwdriver, carefully and slowly ease the plug out of the chassis. Don't rush or you may break the plug!

[idaho181]

   
Ok. I see where the solid rod antenna disconnects from the chassis with a screwdriver. How do I disconnect the white and black wired antenna from the chassis?

[Ron Ramirez]

Hello? I just told you how! Read my post just above your last one (#28 ).