Monthly Archives: January 2012

Huge and Powerful: The 1937 GE F-135 Repair Complete

Posted on January 27, 2012 by jwk

I’ve finally had the time to finish one of my long-running projects repairing GE’s most powerful radio offering from 1937, the GE F-135. I picked it up from Craigslist back in November but other responsibilities kept me from getting much … Continue reading →

Posted in Photos, Projects, Radios and Tubes, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

More Strange Coiled Wires [Mailbag]

Posted on January 24, 2012 by jwk

I had an interesting call the other day with a gentleman about a radio he’s working on, among other topics: That’s a Philco 46-420. They’re nice little bakelite radios with 6 tubes designed to receive the AM broadcast band. He’d come … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Mailbag, Photos, Radios and Tubes, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s that piece of wire, some kind of gimmick? [Mailbag]

Posted on January 17, 2012 by jwk

I was talking with a fellow antique radio hobbyist on the phone the other day about a repair he was working on. A TrueTone battery radio, he’d taken care of all the important steps – checking out the tubes, replacing … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Mailbag, Photos, Radios and Tubes, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I love my chassis stand.

Posted on January 13, 2012 by jwk

It’s the winter here in Seattle and it gets cold outside occasionally. Cold enough that I can’t vent my soldering fumes out an open window like I normally do most of the year, but I don’t want them in my … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Photos, Projects | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Unboxing my Sharp PC-4501 classic Personal Computer

Posted on January 9, 2012 by jwk

It’s 1987 and I’ve been needing a new laptop. After a careful process of comparison shopping I settled on my Sharp PC-4501 from Montgomery Ward. Let’s open it up and take a look! For only $699.99, it’s a state of … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Electronics, Hardware, Photos, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

New Arrival: 1934 Simplex Model P Dual Band Radio

Posted on January 3, 2012 by jwk

I was cruising eBay randomly the other day and made an incredibly lucky find…a 1934 Simplex Model P Dual Band tombstone radio had just been listed. I have a pretty low maximum that I’m willing to pay for any radio, … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Photos, Projects, Radios and Tubes, Vintage | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment