Category Archives: Radios and Tubes

1950 RCA 9X561 Radio Repair

Posted on October 29, 2012 by jwk

A friend I’ve made through the antique radio community is also a repairman himself, but ran into some scheduling difficulty with a piece of work on his bench and sent the chassis over to me for service: an RCA 9X561, … Continue reading →

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First Look: 1934 Grunow 750 “World Cruiser”

Posted on October 10, 2012 by jwk

I’m getting ready to sell some of my radio collection to make room for new ones, but until that happens I’ve been under something of a self-imposed moratorium on new purchases. This one came up on eBay a little while … Continue reading →

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First Look: 1934 GE M-125 Radio

Posted on September 24, 2012 by jwk

I was lucky enough to find a very rare, high-end radio for sale on Craigslist and jumped on it as quickly as I could. This particular one is the 1934/35 General Electric model M-125, their highest end offering for that … Continue reading →

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Round-Up of RTLSDR Upconverter Choices

Posted on September 14, 2012 by jwk

1/31/2026: This was originally written in 2012 and hasn’t been updated since 2014, but it’s preserved here in case any of the information is useful and to show the state of the ecosystem when RTLSDR first came on the scene. … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, DIY, Electronics, Radio, Radios and Tubes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 49 Comments

Fixing a 1934 Simplex Model P Dual Band Vintage Radio

Posted on June 27, 2012 by jwk

I picked up this 1934 Simplex Model P Dual Band radio for my personal collection about 7 months ago, but haven’t worked on it much until this weekend. It sat on my articulated chassis stand in the corner waiting for … Continue reading →

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Repairing the Farnsworth K-262P Vintage Radio

Posted on June 24, 2012 by jwk

I recently worked on a Farnsworth K-262P from between 1948 and 1951. His wife bought the radio to listen to records, and it came to me with reports that it had been working for a time but had inexplicably gone … Continue reading →

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1938 Philco 38-C-12 “Coronation” Radio Repair

Posted on June 19, 2012 by jwk

I’ve had this radio on my bench for a little while, and she’s finally back up and running – and it plays great! It’s a 1938 Philco 38-C-12, special edition to commemorate the crowning of King George IV and Queen … Continue reading →

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Highway Advisory Radio Interference in Seattle from Saskatchewan (CBK)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by jwk

Flammable cargo was prohibited under the Washington State Convention Center on I-5 last weekend according to the large Smarter Highways signs along SR-520 in Washington, as there’s some sort of maintenance happening. There’s a highway advisory radio station on 530 AM … Continue reading →

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Build Log and Review: Mable Audio VT-86PP Kit Hi-Fi Amp Project

Posted on March 30, 2012 by jwk

About a year ago, someone left a comment that really looked like spam on one of my pages advertising a web store selling tube audio gear and parts for guitar and audio amplifiers. Against everything I’ve ever learned about behaving … Continue reading →

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Antique Tube Box Art

Posted on March 15, 2012 by jwk

I took a gamble on a box-lot of parts from Craigslist, and it turned out to be an excellent find. One of the things I found was a collection of tubes in their original boxes from 1926. That doesn’t happen … Continue reading →

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