Turn That Damn Thing Off!

I was a kid during the "energy crisis" of 1974, which is why a lot of what's going on today just feels like acid-indigestion deja vu. At school they had a thing where we were supposed to learn about energy and things we could do to use less power, where electricity and energy comes on, that sort of thing.

My dad was an electronics tech and he asks, you want a project? How about a radio that doesn't need electricity to run? You don't plug it in and it doesn't need batteries? Sure.

So (and this is via my hazy memories, so it wouldn't stand up in court), we took a Quaker Oaks box, a spool of copper wire, did a little math and wound a coil, which was mounted on a square foot of plywood. One end of the coil went to a post where a wire snaked out my bedroom window and hooked up to a metal bar that was my antenna; the other wire went through the same window and went to a metal stake that was stuck in the flower bed. A metal bar with a screw in it was used to tap the coil; we used a diode for the detector, and a couple more posts that hooked up a pair of old high-impedance headphones (the kind you see people wearing in World War II movies).

We lived near the transmitter for KFI in Los Angeles, which was (and still is) a 50,000 watt clear-channel station on 640 kHz AM. My father said the signal was so strong it would wipe out anything else on my set, but in practice I was able to pick up 570 (by moving the tap), and I think I sometimes got the other 50kilowatt behemoth, XTRA 690, which blew in strong after dark from its transmitter in Tijuana, Mexico.

I'd fall asleep listening to the radio at night, and sometimes listen in the mornings when I woke up. If my parents didn't check on me, I'd wake up in the middle of the night with sore ears from those hard, unpadded headphones. At the time KFI was a Top 40 station so I'd hear music, but I picked up the Laker games on 570, and more music on XTRA. In the mornings I'd get the Farm Report and the legendary morning team of Lohman & Barkley.

I don't have the crystal set anymore, but I kept listening to radios. I had a number of smallish transitors and one of those big 4-band jobs that picked up nothing but static on the non-broadcast band, but fueled dreams of exotic stations and broadcasts I couldn't pick up with the "normal" radios. These days I still listen to the radio—mainly in the car or podcasts of shows I can play while I work.

I love radios, particularly the older ones. It's like doing darkroom work in photography—you can do so much more with modern equipment and methods, but it's not as satisfying. I've tried internet radio and I can get all kinds of stations from all over the world with wonderful sound quality; but when you're sitting in the dark with nothing but the glow of the dial lights and maybe some vacuum tubes, you're sitting there making tiny adjustments via your fingertips on knobs, trying to project yourself a thousand miles to pick out a voice through static and atmospherics; it's just not the same looking at a web page and tapping a mouse.

That's also why I like old hollow-state stuff over solid-state and more modern equipment. The new stuff is fantastic and easy, but I feel insulated from the process. I'll admit that I'm often frustrated at the results I get; there's a big part of me that's spoiled with modern electronics and doesn't like getting staticy sound, doesn't like working to pick out an interesting broadcast only to have it fade away a minute later; doesn't like turning through 6 linear dial feet of white noise to find the only thing I can pick up is a religious sermon; doesn't like that picking up a foreign-language broadcast is exotic and fun for about 1 minute until I realize I have no idea what they're talking about and never will. But I still enjoy it, and there's always the hope that the next night I'll get something good.

There aren't many radios in my collection. I also collect photographic light meters, and all of my light meters (and I have many) take up less space than just my world band radios. Like a lot of people, I'm stuck for space and every time I acquire something new, I have to figure out how to stay off the TV show Hoarders.

Zenith Transoceanics

For years I lived near a local weekend flea market, and there was a guy who was there every week in a regular stall, selling this that and the other. His inventory changed, but he always had a big, black Zenith Transoceanic playing. I couldn't afford it at the time (I think he wanted $75), but I noticed that occasionally one would sell and he'd have a different one. I have no idea how many he had at home. But I thought it was slick and man, I wanted one. Buying my first one (the 8G0 below) was a milestone radio-collecting day for me.

8G005TZ1

This is the oldest of my T-Os; it dates from 1948. I like the look of it the best; it's got the "airplane" style square dial. It's also a little lighter than the later versions. Unfortunately it's got that fixed handle on the top and it's a little less comfortable to pick up when it's on a high shelf (it currently lives in a closet); the later cabinets have a hinged handle and that swinging handle helps. Weird how these little things you never think about make a difference. This is the worst performer of my fleet, but whether that's due to the earlier design or just internal problems remains to be seen. I don't want to work on it until it actually dies.

This one uses Loctal tubes, which were designed to resist being shaken out of their sockets. Other tubes were push-fit; loctals have a center pin that locked into place so it wouldn't creep out—that's important when you're putting a tube radio into a car or a boat, or wherever it's going to be moved around a lot. Most other radios were meant to be set down and left alone.

This TZ1 version is one of the later from this series; the earlier ones are 8G005Ys. The main difference is that the Ys have a 117Z6 octal rectifier tube, and the TZ1 uses a 117Z3 miniature.

H-500

From 1950. I dunno. They updated a lot of it, but I'm not thrilled. They added more brightwork to the front facia, but the airplane dial isn't any easier to read. The wavecatcher antenna on the top is held on by screws instead of little metal hands, but the medium gray doesn't do it for me.

Inside, the loctal tubes were replaced with miniatures.

B-600

The best performer in my fleet. I have to admit the slide-rule dial is easier to read, but I still like the 8G005's airplane dial better. The loop antenna is set into the top (not visible here), but you can pop it out easily if you open the back and press up from the bottom.

According to a website (which I can't find at this time), this is not only the last of the vacuum-tube T-Os, it's the last tubed portable radio made in the USA. (I don't have any of the transistor series T-O's. Too expensive.)

Hallicrafters TW500

It's not a T-O, but it's a look-alike. And I gave it to my father for Xmas one year but I'm listing it here anyway. It's a handsome rig (the case is covered in deep green alligator-skin leather. According to my dad it's not quite up to the Zenith Transoceanics in performance.

Boat Anchors

Hallicrafters SX42

This one's in storage (i.e. a back corner of a garage) until I'm ready to work on it. A flea market find for $25. One of those projects my father and I kept meaning to work on but just never did. It's a nice one and it should be an excellent radio if I don't botch it. It covers 540kHz to 110 MHz AM and 27 to 110MHz FM. That's something for 1947. It means you can still use it to pick up modern FM broadcasts. Dunno how much it drifts.

If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, Hallicrafters model nomenclature for receivers was "S" and "SX", where the latter typically had crystal IF filters, and was considered a deluxe unit.

National NC-173

Here's an interesting factoid: this radio (the model, not this particular one) was on Thor Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki trip across the South Pacific, and gets mentioned in his book. National used that in their advertising. It was effective: it's one of the reasons I bought it. Unfortunately I don't have the matching speaker for it.

Another buying point: it doesn't use the rare and expensive 6L6 tube.

To make a long story short, I wanted a project radio to work on. I wanted a tube-type, but it's getting hard to find tube jobs, even All-American Fives, at the junk stores anymore. They're all at antique malls where they'll sit for a year at an insane price.

So I figure if I'm going to lay out for a project, I may as well pay for something I want to own. I was going to work on my Hallicrafters SX-42, but it's buried in storage and I think it's got some black widows that need to be blasted out.

This is my first (and probably my last) National, and my first real project radio (other than putting together kits). I completely know what I'm doing, but I figure if I work on it methodically, I can do the things that need to be done, and I can ask for help when I hit dead ends.

I made a seperate page for this radio to document the repair process I go through. I'm going to have to recap it. The AF gain pot (lower left) is broken off and needs to be replaced. The CWO and Phasing controls have lost their knobs and nuts, so they're swimming around inside. A couple of other piece parts are obviously broken. The case is a little rough but not bad, considering. That should keep me busy on rainy days for quite some time.

Other General Converage Receivers

Realistic DX-120 Star Patrol

A $5 swap meet acquision. I eep meaning to sell it on eBay but I know it'll fetch about the same price, and it'll cost more to ship it. It's not a bad radio; for awhile I had a very similar Hallicrafters WR-600, and I thought this rig was a little better; the reception was better and the tone was a little more pleasant.

I never cared for the styling on these things; I think it's rather cold and stale, yet it was popular. When I was a teen I had a Knight Star Roamer which is close tothe same thing. If you watch old tv shows from the 1960s, you sometimes see these things used as ham radio receivers.

Just Plain Ol' Commercial Broadcast Radios

GE Superadio III

I bought this when I worked in an building where radio reception was execrable; all I could pick up where a couple local stations with music I couldn't stand. The job was brainless and repetitive, and we all listened to radios else we'd go insane. One of my coworkers had one and loved it, so I picked one up too. For awhile I was going to do the FM subcarrier mod, but wimped out because I liked the radio too much to bust it open and risk ruining it with my hamfisted soldering.

It's the best "regular" radio I own. It's great for DXing. Right now I keep batteries in it an it's my standby "emergency" radio, though I'll plug it in from time to time just to keep it going.

JVC KD-AHD79

I mention this for two reasons: first is that I'm trying to pad this list as much as possible, and second is that it's an HD-Radio, which is unique for me. I got this for my car when the OEM radio's cassette deck went berzerk and made the whole thing unlistenable (the cassette would override the radio, so even though I didn't have a cassette in it, it would still make life miserable). Might as well upgrade if I'm going to replace it, so it was between HD and Sirius/XM. I hate paying subscription fees, so I went with HD (but the unit can still bring in Sat if you buy an adapter for it).

It's a so-so performer. I don't blame the radio for FM—I live in an area on the fringe of two major markets and I can't pick up either very well; my car's windshield antenna is no great shakes either. When the radio is able to pick up an HD signal, the quality is fantastic. I'm still able to pick up regular FM.

The AM reception is non-existant, though. Even where I live, I can pick up various AM stations with other radios (including the previous car system), but not on this thing. I could be parked under the transmitter and it wouldn't pick it up. It also doesn't help that the tuner doesn't have the ability for you to manually set a frequency; the only thing you can do is scan and let the radio stop when it picks up a signal. If the signal is too weak, it won't stop. You might think the signal is strong enough to live with, but not the radio.

If I had it to do over again, I'd still get this radio. But I'm thinking of installing a better antenna.

Pioneer SX-203

My modern component-stereo receiver. It's a nice box and I use it with my other component stereo stuff (turntable, CD, cassette and the reel-to-reel). Right now it's in the garage because I have no place to set it up properly. But I suppose what I should do is put a couple speakers on the shelves and have a real audiophile setup. There's nothing like listening to Kind of Blue from a folding chair next to an old oil stain.

Zenith H-503

I bought this as something to work on, but when it arrived it worked great already, so there ain't much to do with it internally. Cosmetically it needs some help and I'm working on it.

This is a sort of companion piece to the Transoceanics of the era (about 1952, which would make it the little brother of the H500). It's got the same leather covering, the same fold-over front with the loop antenna (Zenith called it a Wavemagnet) on the cover (it's underneath the Zenith name in the photo), and the gold/bronze/whatever face. The major diff is that the TOs are general coverage shortwave; this is AM broadcast only.

Inside it's also very similar to the TOs. It uses a set of 1-volt miniature tubes and it's AC/DC, so there's a big chamber on the bottom where there's a cord and a plug for those huge old batteries.

Even though I didn't really get to work on it (which is why I'd wanted it), it turned out that this radio uses a 1L6 tube, which is currently hard to get and valuable. A 1L6 is worth more than the rest of the radio combined, and I can use it one of my TOs where the 1L6 is dead or dying. If I end up robbing the 1L6 here, I'll probably replace it with something else that'll be close enough, or make a solid-state replacement. On this kind of radio, nobody will care.

Anything Else

Fada Neutrodyne

This is from the 1920s; like most radios of that era, it was a kit; I've seen several but never two that were identical.

Fada was a radio equipment manufacturer known mostly now for their beautiful, art deco cabinets in the late 20s and early 30s.

This guy is a neutrodyne, which is a type of receiver. Neutrodynes (sometimes known as Hazeltines, among other things) were popular in the 1920s before Howard Armstrong invented the super-hetrodyne. Super-hets tune with a single knob and it's a no-brainer, and it's what really made radio into a common household appliance that anyone could use. Neutrodynes, on the other hand, required three tuning knobs and pulling in stations was not simple.

I feel about this radio much the same way I feel about anniversary clocks; the cabinet shell and the inside layout is beautiful, but it's a huge pain. I bought the radio (without tubes) on eBay for about $75, and then had to lay out about the same amount to find the tubes for it. It takes old four-prong triodes called 01As and they're not cheap. Then (and this is where I'm stuck at the moment) had to come up with a power supply. This beast takes three different voltages. In the 20s the owner was expected to rig up a series of batteries to do it; more modern radios spoil us by taking AC current from the wall and splitting it up inside. So anyway, I need to make up a power supply to run this thing. You can buy them, but they cost as much as I've already paid for the radio. If I had a bunch of radios like this I'd be more inclined, but I don't want to pay $150 for a p/s to use on this one radio.