Category Archives: Radios and Tubes

1936 Grunow 566 Repair Finished! [Part 2]

Posted on March 10, 2012 by jwk

I started this radio a few days ago in Part 1. I left off with the radio up on the bench ready for service. It had a lot of issues with the power supply – and as I discovered while … Continue reading →

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Next Project: 1936 Grunow 566 Radio Repair [Part 1]

Posted on March 6, 2012 by jwk

I’m off to a good start for my March projects, fixing up the Grunow 588. Next up is my Grunow 566 from the year before, from 1936. I picked this one up from eBay in shockingly good original condition – … Continue reading →

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1937 Grunow 588 Radio Repair

Posted on March 3, 2012 by jwk

I finally had a free day with no major commitments and was able to finally get some work done on my projects – it’s been a productive day. I picked up this nice example of a Grunow 588 “Teledial” radio … Continue reading →

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Antique Car Radio Repair: the 1951 Firestone 4-B-31 “Roamer” Vibrator Radio

Posted on February 5, 2012 by jwk

A local friend is building a rat rod out of 1920s-1950s parts, a custom collection that ultimately will turn into a very fast car powered by a huge V8. He found a vintage car radio to go with it, the … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Grunow 589 Radio Repair Redux

Posted on December 29, 2011 by jwk

I’ve seen this model radio before in my shop and it was pretty exciting to work on another identical one. This particular one came in excellent shape – it looks like it was stored well for most of its life. … Continue reading →

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New Toy + Starting a Project [1937 GE F-135]

Posted on November 22, 2011 by jwk

I picked up a very nice 1937/1938 General Electric model F-135 radio from Craigslist a few weeks ago, and have been starting to dig into it. It’s one of the highest end radios they produced that year for the 1937 … Continue reading →

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Antique Radio in “House” Season 8 Episode 5

Posted on November 13, 2011 by jwk

In “House”, Season 8 Episode 5 (aired 11/7), we can see that the good Doctor has a 1937 Philco 37-620 Radiobar in his office. Unclear whether or not it has the original glassware. I’d love to have one of these … Continue reading →

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