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Category: Restorations

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This RCA Radiola III A I bought from Bob in the 2012 RadioActivity Event of MAARC Mid Atlantic Antique Radio Club on June 22nd, 2012.
The set was in poor condition, no tubes, lots of rust all over (Pict 1), missing a audio transformerv(Pict 2), as you can see in the pictures. As always, the 2 remaining interstage transformers were open an the set was quite dirt. The 2 rheostats had brittle resistance wire that was broken in several parts (Left rheostat on Pict 3). The coil unit were in fair condition, just needing a terminal rewiring and a complete cleaning.

Pict 1

Pict 2

Pict 3

Its restoration has given me a lot of work. Lots of phosphoric acid based rust remover and steel brush removed the rust pretty well from knob shafts, transformer base, and the ground sheet. The bakelite parts were washed with water and laundry soap. Also I rewired both rheostats with new resistance wire (Right rheostat at Pict 3) from Pelican wire Company, Inc. I used white lacquer stick for filling in the marks on radio Bakelite (Pict 4).
Two of the interstage transformers were replaced by the universal type made by Hammond and sold by various dealers as AES. The third one I got from Gary, Play Thinks of Past. The cases from the old transformers were sanded and black painted, and they fitted the new transformers perfectly, as you can see in Picts 5 and 6. The terminal board that came in the new transformer is a duplicate of the original. Also, I replaced the grid leak resistor 2M ohms and cap 250 pF by re-stuffing the original cap (Pict 5).

Pict 4

Pict 5

Pict 6

The set plays great now either with a headphone using the first output or with a high impedance speaker using the final stage AF speaker output, as you can see in Picts 7 and 8.

Pict 7

Pict 8

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Category: Adittion to Collection

RadioFallFest is annual, one-day event hosted by the Mid Atlantic Antique Radio Club - MAARC. The event was held on Sunday, October 21st, in the Davidsonville Family Recreation Center in Maryland. Some nice radios from the event: an Emerson 350AW with a very fancy cabinet, an Emerson 250AW midget in fair condition from the auction, both with pictures below, a Zenith 705 in not so good condition (it will need lots of restoration work), and a Dictogrand loudspeaker.

Emerson 350AW

Emerson 250AW

Zenith 705

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Category: Addition to Website

Two RCA radios have been added to this site. Those two radios were the first ones I restored in 2012. The chassis of the model 9X561 was very rusty, with no tubes, but otherwise complete. Lots of rust remover, wire brush, and cleaning has put it back to a very nice condition. Both were totally recapped and plays great.

Click to see additional picts and details of RCA Model 8X451, 1949


Click to see additional picts and details of radio RCA Model 9X561, 1950

 

Details
Category: Adittion to Collection

Radio Philco 91 complete, but deserving a complete restoration. Lots of loose veneer and rust.



Radio Philco 54, in the same situation




And a nice Tower Ship Speaker from Buford.



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Category: News

I just went in the first day, Sep 21st. I got there by 11AM, and a great deal of radio enthusiasts were already spread in one and a half pavilion of tables full of radios. It has been a while I don`t see an attendance like that one. Thumbs up!!!


 

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