[GarySP]

Hello everyone. Walked through a yard sale this afternoon and happened upon a Coronado set that I believe to be a model 623. Cabinet is in rough shape, but the chassis doesn't look to bad. Has 6A7, 6D6, 75, 41, 80, and a 6N5 tuning eye for its compliment of tubes. Small tabletop model with BC/SW . Haven't researched it too much yet, but was hoping some of you might know what I adopted. Walked away from it twice, but it kept calling my name. In a fit of madness I offered $10.00 for it, and the seller jumped on it. If nothing else, the tubes should be worth that much it they test OK. Did I do alright, or should I have kept walking?? Take care, Gary

[morzh]

Unless 10 bucks is something that you stole from your children's mouths (in which case you should not buy any radios at all) 10 bucks today is the same as free. It is a token of "I acknowledge you gave me the radio and I thank you". Sort of like the original owner of Edison's house sold it to the company he was embezzling money from for $1.

So....yeah, if nothing else is good other than 2-3 tubes even then it's worth it.

[Arran]

I guess we would have to see the cabinet to figure out whether you should have kept walking. Is it complete? As in are all of the knobs and the speaker still with it? How about the grill cloth? I know that people try to appraise based on the value of the tubes but remember that these are used tubes, even if they all test good it isn't the same as if they were NOS and still in the original boxes.
I always take the view that the main cost of a radio is usually not in buying it, it's in restoring it, quite often you can end up further ahead by buying another example of the same set in better shape for a few dollars more.
That being said $10 was probably all right as long as the cabinet isn't an absolute wreck. The circuit is fairly average, really just a 1938 version of a AC powered AA5 with an eye tube. I found a picture of a similar set over on the radio attic site and it doesn't look too bad, it reminds me of a "Plant A"/Clinton set.
Regards
Arran

[GarySP]

Don't worry Morzh, nothing missed my kids mouths by my buying this radio. If anything, it's the opposite. They are both living at home while attending college...one working on a degree in accounting, and the other in nursing. So like the bumper sticker says ... "college parents...please throw money!!!" I don't know if I'll restore this set or not. The dial bezel is yellowed and cracked, and some pieces of veneer are missing. I picked it up sorta as a practice cabinet to hone my woodworking before attacking some of my better sets. It's also missing all the knobs, and quite honestly doesn't have a lot of wow factor looking at it. Thanks for the input, gentlemen. I appreciate the guidance from established hobbyists since I'm mostly a newbie and frequently jump in without closer consideration. Arran, I totally agree. The least expensive part of this hobby in the acquisition of the radios. Take care everyone, Gary.

[morzh]

Well, during the film photography days we had a saying "Want you friend to go broke, give him a camera".

I can extend that to "Want someone broke, start him on a hobby".
And I absolutely agree, acquiring a set is the least expensive part of the affair. Most of the times. Except when the set is a Walton or one of those trendy things. Then the expenditures can sum up to about half to equal to the acquisition price.

Well....for our wives I can say that: think of it, instead of radios that could've been booze.

[codefox1]

Ten gets you a sorry burger, 10W40 fried skuz and Kroaka-Cola-Ebola. Your choice.

[morzh]

Well, if you opt for the burger alone and in a different place, the burger may be actually quite good. Still.....think of it this way - it is simply ONE. And then there iz ZERO added to it. And it is just one zero.

What do 10 bucks b uy you today?

4 bags of onions.
1.5 Big Bug meals.
3 watermelons.
2 packs of very good hotdogs or 3 of good hotdogs or 5 of throw-away toilet-paper-filled hotdogs.
1.5 lbs of Shoprite Virginia Ham.
3 gallons of milk.
2 gallons of organic milk.
One mediocre T-bone steak.
5 5lb bags of spuds.
2 to 4 loafs of bread.
One medium 0.5t to 0.25 lbs cut of imported cheese.
One sixpak of a good microbrewed beer.
Two sixpaks of crappy Big Three pilsners. Real crappy.


all in all....not even a meal for a day.

[GarySP]

Nothing like putting it all in perspective!!! Geez, maybe I should eat the radio instead!!

[morzh]

Too much lead though.....it was made before RoHS The rest is safe: the lytics are dry so no electrolytes, the resistors are pure carbon, not all that different from those pills you pop when you ate something disagreable....if it were't for lead.....sure.

[codefox1]

Ten bucks gets a 90 day supply of tier one pills which you probably don't need anyway, opt for the largest dose generic offered at sme price, and then cut 'em up in quarters, every week or so to even out the dosage, and voila, you got a year's worth of stuff you didn't probably need, else probably will not get to the bottom f this thread.

Radios have no reported as known nutritritional value known to 2 legged humans, however old school kitchen based sets (warning Old School mentality) are sort of embalmed in fumes of grease. Preserves metal and wood alike if not too humid, and cleans up in a snap outdoors with ammonia, TSP as stated. Of course clip out any and discard responsibly all wax and electrolytic capacitors, IMHO for the pennies involved replace the carbon resistors as well.

[GarySP]

Starting to lean towards rebuilding this radio. Should be a good instructional radio before I tackle anything really intricate. Was able to find a schematic for a Coronado model 623 in Riders. The tube layout is exact, but my radio has 6 pre-set buttons below the dial face that don't appear in any photographs I've been able to find. Knowing very little about this radio, I can't be sure if it is in fact a 623. Does anyone out there know if Coronado made unpublished changes to their sets without documentation? Also noticed that the schematic says my eye tube should be a 6G5, but mine was replaced with a 6N5. Any and all bits of wisdom about this set will be greatly appreciated. Take care, Gary.

[Arran]

It may be a different model, normally a manufacturer would come out with a different model number even if the pushbutton bank was the only change. Anyone could have changed the eye tube, many will swap a 6U5 with a 6E5 though they are not directly interchangeable. A 6N5 is interchangeable for a 6AB5, you can use a 6U5 in it's place but not the other way around. The 6N5 was intended for use in farm sets apparently so it runs on a lower B+ voltage, it may or may not be correct for this set.
Regards
Arran

[GarySP]

Arran, once again you are right. Did a little more research and found the radio is actually a model 645. Didn't find it under Coronado, as it's faceplate would lead you to. Came up under Gamble - Skogmo, Inc, the department store based in Minneapolis. And it actually does use the 6G5 tuning eye. The 6N5 in my set must have been quick fix. Hope the higher b+ voltage didn't fry it...it's an engraved base ST. Take care, and thanks, Gary.

[GarySP]

Looked at it seriously now...no knobs, wrong eye tube, bad veneer, broken bezel. Think this is going to be a parts radio afterall. Hope I got some good tubes out of the deal. Can see spending the money on a oh-humm radio. Take care, Gary.