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Links
Informational Links
Below are links to various websites that are included here to provide you with access to interesting and fun radio-related content.
Places to Listen to Old-Time Radio
The CBS Radio Mystery Theater provides old-time radio shows from the golden age of radio to listen to for free.
The >Old Time Radio (OTR) Downloads lets you stream their shows on your computer, or download for free their OTR shows to your computer, jump drive, phone, MP3-player, or CD. (Most of those choices will also let you then play those old-time shows on your vintage radio. All you'll need is an AM Transmitter, which you can buy online or purchase a custom-made one from Raymond Cady.)
View Some Beautiful Vintage Radios
The Radio Boulevard - Western Historic Radio Museum is WHRM Radio's Photo Gallery of Roaring 20s Radios including battery sets, crystal sets and early AC sets from 1920 to 1929. The site has useful information, excellent radio images, and a photo of Owen Young, Guglielmo Marconi, and Ed Nally Jr. on Marconi's yacht. My favorite photo is of the Atwater-Kent Model 37 because of it's art deco styling.
More Radios Plus Vintage TVs
One of the world's first websites for antique radios and TVs, launched in 1995 and still going strong is Antiqueradio.org. It has some great tips and tricks if you are just starting out in radio restoration or repair.
Vintage Technologies like Vacuum Tubes, Test Equipment, and More
Over at Stevenjohnson.com you will find a collector of old technology, antique vacuum tube radios & vintage transistor radios, electronic test equipment, soldering irons & soldering guns, and vintage record players. As well as great resource on all the technologies listed.
Car Radio History
Why would we not want to also look at the history of car radios. Depending on how many years back you want to look, some car radio systems are definitely vintage. Take a look at this Titlemax.com article containing links regarding The History of Car Radio
Vintage Radio Restoration
Hackaday.com serves up Fresh Hacks Every Day from around the Internet. Our playful posts are the gold-standard in entertainment for engineers and engineering enthusiasts. We are taking back the term “Hacking” which has been soured in the public mind. Hacking is an art form that uses something in a way in which it was not originally intended. This highly creative activity can be highly technical, simply clever, or both. Hackers bask in the glory of building it instead of buying it, repairing it rather than trashing it, and raiding their junk bins for new projects every time they can steal a few moments away.
Over at Instructables.com you will find tons of great information on how to do all manor of activities including restoring antique radios.
Videos
Abandoned House Of a Radio Collector Filled With Antique Radios - Bros of Decay
How interesting it would be to go through abandoned property and find some of those awesome antique radios. The man in this video is exploring an abandoned home in Belgium that belonged to a "radio collector/radio repairman," and besides all of the usual stuff you might expect to find in an abandoned home, there is one room full of old radios. You might enjoy taking a look. The video is almost 12 minutes long.
Philco Radio Repair – Jesse Garrett
Ever wish you could wave a magic wand and have your beloved console radio cabinet restored? Well, except for those unidentified magicians among us, it takes a great deal of work and time to restore any cabinet, but a big, beautiful console cabinet is even more time consuming. In this sped-up video of a restoration of a Philco Console radio set, you at least can feel a little bit like the quick restoration is possible. Oh and it’s set to classical music so you can rest and relax while you watch someone else does the work. Could it get any easier?
Fixing a 60 Year Old Radio – Blake’s Garage
This is not a video for the serious antique radio collector who wants to repair radios, but if you are just starting out as a collector, Blake shows you how he made a simple dial repair. Of course, his method isn’t traditional or long-term restorative, but it gives you a look at the chassis of a Zenith radio, and is good for a bit of a chuckle, too.
Rodent-Infested Post-War Radio – 1946 Philco Repair – The Guitologist
So, when you purchase an old radio for five dollars, you shouldn’t be surprised if you find it is full of lady bug carcasses, dust bunnies, or an ancient mouse nest. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the chance if you like the radio. Besides, the Guitologist shows you a bit about testing and walks you through how he replaces the power cord, caps and tubes in the Philco Model 46-421 radio that he bought.
Articles
You Just Brought an Old Radio Home: Now What Do You Do? - Raymond Cady
Whether you are just beginning to collect antique radios or you have been at it for a number of years, if you are thinking about doing more than just admiring your radio, this article may be of some help to you.
Eleanor Poehler, A Minnesota Radio Pioneer - Donna L. Halper
1922. It was a year when radio was growing faster than anyone in the Department of Commerce (the agency that regulated radio prior to the FRC and FCC) had ever imagined. A year earlier, there had only been about fifteen commercial stations in the entire United States, and now in June of 1922, there were several hundred. It seemed every town wanted its own station, even though radio back then was a volunteer activity. Stations were not on all day – several hours in the evening was common, and some were only on a couple of nights a week. Eleanor Poehler was one of radio’s early broadcasters . . . a unique woman, and a “first” in Minneapolis/St. Paul radio.
The Total Solar Eclipse of 8/21/2017 - Max Robinson
The Total Solar Eclipse of 8/21/2017. The weather forecast from the day before the eclipse was doubtful. Traffic was projected to be a nightmare. But at the Smith's home (friends of the author's whose home was in the path of totality for the eclipse) invited us to dinner. We set up for photographing the eclipse, and the results are included in this article by Max Robinson.
Previous Articles Posted on this Web Page
To keep this content fresh for you, the articles linked on this page are periodically replaced by different ones. When that happens, the articles that used to be linked here are not lost; they are listed and linked by title with author below. Enjoy and come back regularly for new article postings!
- Understanding Antique Radios – Phil Nelson
- Vintage Transistor Radios of the 1950s and 60s – Michael Jack
- The Temple Comparator - Jim Collings
- RCA-Victor Company - Encyclopedia
- Floor Model Radios and Radio-Phonographs... - Radio Boulevard
- Radio at Sea - Thomas H. White
- The Radio Beginner - Philip I. Nelson
- Could an Old-School Tube Amp Make the Music You Love Sound Better? - Ben Marks
- Vintage Transistor Radios of the 1950s and 60s - Michael Jack
- Putting Empty Spaces in Vacuum Tubes - Irving J. Saxl, Ph.D.
- Bicycle Radios - Steven Johnson
Raymond Cady
Biography
Raymond Cady practically started out loving those classic old radios. His first was a six-transistor Japanese model back in 1962. When it finally refused to play anymore, Raymond took it apart. When his next radio, a Silvertone AM clock radio, also died, he took it apart, too. Perhaps he would have become a radio repairman back then, but as is true for many people, life took him in another direction. Many years later, Raymond met a career radioman who took him on as an apprentice. Now he has a number of years of experience in radio repair and restoration under his belt, which, combined with his never give in, never surrender approach, he believes that all antique radios can be repaired and restored. Now, as a retired IT Director, he finally has the time to work with those radios as his avocation. So, if you have a radio from the 1920-1950 era that needs new life, but you don’t have the time or skills to bring it back to its original function and beauty, he’d be happy to help.
Thomas R. Sammon
Biography
I have been collecting and restoring antique clocks for two decades in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area. Along the way, I have gathered a pretty substantial collection and have acquired some skills, too -- as I am TOO CHEAP to hire much work done! Restoring and collecting radios came about 5 years after my passion with clocks began; so, for about 15 years, I have been collecting and doing minor restorations to antique radios. I must admit though, electronics is a "long hard slog" for me but I have just recently made it a goal to become a better, more educated radio repairman. I have a long way to go but I'm chipping away at it.
Dana Kresky
William H. (Bill) Jones
Biography
I am a scientist in the area of Electrical Engineering, having worked in research and Advanced Development for my entire career. I have worked for companies such as General Electric and Honeywell, and startup companies in Silicon Valley, California. I have ten patents in my areas of engineering. I am an airplane pilot, with an instrument rating. I have an Amateur Radio license. While private flying and Amateur Radio have been my most pleasing hobbies, I do have others. I have grown and hybridized roses for many years and find that to be quite pleasant. And, of course, I enjoy the restoration of antique radios. My first job was in a radio shop when I was just seventeen years old and I worked at this job about ten years, both full and part time as I went to high school and college. I was also in the U.S. Army as a radio repairman in the Signal Corp. I started the antique radio hobby after I retired. I have an electronics laboratory where I conduct electronic experiments and work on radios.
