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Categories
December 2025 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Meta
Category Archives: DIY
Project Epsilon: Linear Regulated Power Supply from Spare Parts
Belgian engineering student Gert-Jan built a great looking, and functional, linear regulated power supply for a test bench from an old radio transformer and a handful of supporting parts. This is a pretty nice looking adaptation of the common LM317-based … Continue reading
DIY Replacements for Vintage Couplets and Printed Electric Circuits
Starting in the ’50s, they’d figured out how to start miniaturizing components. “Couplets” and “printed electric circuits” started showing up in equipment around then. These components were combinations of several resistors and capacitors in a single package. Like most components … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Electronics, Ideas, Vintage
Tagged centralab, couplet, crl, eico, hf-81, pc-191, printed circuit, printed electric circuit, Sprague, tc-24, vintage circuit
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Modern Hand Made Vacuum Tubes
Enterprising French amateur Claude Paillard , F2FO, creates beautiful modern vacuum tubes by hand in his shop. These would be effective as an 01A replacement or similar in an early radio. It’s a real work of art. Check it out!
What do you get from a $25 multimeter?
Fred Clift wrote over on his blog about why it’s worthwhile to pick a more expensive multimeter. He’s comparing a $200 Fluke to a $6 Harbor Freight multimeter, which really is a no-brainer. I’m not sure the Harbor Freight model … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary, DIY, Electronics, Gadgets, Test Equipment
Tagged cen-tech, fluke, harbor freight, mastech, Multimeter, multimeter comparison, test equipment
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Getting Started With Vintage Radio and Electronics: Basic Tools for the Hobbyist
A few people have asked me variations of “What tools do I need to fix my first radio?”, “What do I need to put together this soldering kit?”, and such. It’s not as simple as you might think. There’s a … Continue reading
Posted in Collections, Commentary, DIY, Electronics, Gadgets, Resources, Tools
Tagged electronics repair, fluke, fume extractor, Hakko, hobby, hobbyist, how to get started with electronics repair, mask, Multimeter, recommendations, safety goggles, solder, soldering iron, vellman, what do I need to buy, what tools do I need to buy, wire cutter, wire stripper
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Now for Sale: Westinghouse H-126 Little Jewel “Refrigerator” Capacitor Replacement Kits
Rain City Audio is proud to announce a new product offering: capacitor repair kits for the Westinghouse H-126 Little Jewel / “Refrigerator” Antique Radio!
This repair kit contains the most commonly needed parts to refurbish your Westinghouse H-126 Little Jewel / Refrigerator radio. You’ll receive 13 modern, high quality replacement film and electrolytic capacitors to bring your radio up to full performance. Take the guesswork out of fixing your own collectible model of Little Jewel, and save the hassle of using a parts site like Digi-Key, and order a kitted set of parts that’s ready to replace.
Included in this kit:
1 x 0.001 uF (You’ll receive 0.001 uF)
1 x 0.2 uF (You’ll receive 0.22 uF)
2 x 0.04 uF (You’ll receive 0.047 uF)
1 x 0.005 uF (You’ll receive 0.0047 uF)
1 x 0.025 uF (You’ll receive 0.022 uF)
2 x 0.01 uF (You’ll receive 0.01 uF)
1 x 0.1 uF (You’ll receive 0.1 uF)
1 x 0.1 uF Continue reading
Posted in DIY
Tagged capacitor, capacitor replacement, Fridge, H-126, Kit, Little Jewel, Westinghouse
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1936 GE Model A-52 Antique Radio Repaired!
A change of pace from the Bose equalizers and hi-fi I’ve been working on a lot of lately, I had the pleasure of working on a 1936 GE Model A-52 antique radio. This is a nicely designed and straightforward table … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Electronics, Projects, Radios and Tubes, Vintage
Tagged 1936, A-52, antique radio, capacitor, capacitor replacement, GE, General Electric, radio, repair, restoration, tube radio, vacuum tube, vintage, vintage radio, volume control, wooden radio
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Bose 901 Series I Equalizer #47431 Repaired!
Once in a rare while I’ll run across an old Bose Active Equalizer that I buy for myself, but they never last too long – I get a lot of requests to purchase a complete Bose 901 Series I equalizer … Continue reading
Posted in Bose, DIY, Electronics, Vintage
Tagged Active Equalizer, Bose, Bose 901, capacitor, repair, restoration, Series 1, vintage, vintage radio
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Evidence of Past Repairs
It’s always interesting to see what’s happened with equipment that’s been worked on previously. It’s often a mixed bag with some great repair jobs, some that have a lot of room for improvement, and some that really just don’t measure … Continue reading
Posted in Collections, Commentary, DIY, Electronics
Tagged bad quality, evidence, good quality, past, past repairs, previous, previous repairs, quality, repairs, soldering, workmanship
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RETROVOLTAGE 
Use Copper Shielding Tape to Protect Dial Strings from Hot Tools [Tips and Tricks]
Dial strings are, quite frankly, about the worst things in the world. They’re usually a complex and finicky mechanical system parked right in the middle of an otherwise straightforward electrical project, and if a string breaks good luck getting it … Continue reading →