Category Archives: Vintage

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

Posted on February 5, 2012 by retrovoltage

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 retrovoltage

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 retrovoltage

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 retrovoltage

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

Unboxing my Sharp PC-4501 classic Personal Computer

Posted on January 9, 2012 by retrovoltage

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Grunow 589 Radio Repair Redux

Posted on December 29, 2011 by retrovoltage

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 →

Posted in Photos, Projects, Radios and Tubes, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

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

Posted on November 22, 2011 by retrovoltage

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 retrovoltage

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 →

Posted in Collections, Photos, Radios and Tubes, Television, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Firestone 4-B-31 “Roamer” Car Radio [In Progress]

Posted on November 12, 2011 by retrovoltage

Just a short update to show what I’m working on right now. Other priorities have gotten in the way of actually updating this site over the last week, but things are still going on in the background! One project up … Continue reading →

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1942 GE LF-116 Radio Repair Part 5 – Alignment and Reinstallation [Finished!]

Posted on October 24, 2011 by retrovoltage

(June 2026 – Noting that this was one of my early repairs, several years before I started taking commercial work and this was truly a hobby. A few things you’ll see here don’t reflect how I’d do that work today!) … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Radios and Tubes, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments