I just recently joined VideoKarma in this past week and I must say that I am very excited to be a member of such a rad community.
I personally have been collecting radios since I was 11 years old when I went to a restaurant that had its walls lined with some of the coolest radios i've ever laid my eyes on. Since then, 6 years have passed, and my radio collection has grown to over an impressive 50 members that come in all shapes, brands, ages, and sizes. In fact my radios span 7 decades from the 1930s to the 1990s. Other than radios I also have a few vintage cameras and several old school tape players which are equally neat. Unfortunately, i've been running out space for my elaborate collection so recently i've been focusing more on repairing my faulty radios rather than collecting more. Most of these 'injured' radios are in need of new filter capacitors which I have heard is one of the most common 'injuries' to be found in vintage tube radios. I'm quite an amateur when it comes to radio restoration but I nevertheless hope to improve my skills and knowledge of vintage electronics so that someday I can restore old appliances like a pro!
Never before have I had the opportunity to connect with so many other people who share interests similar or identical to my own. Other than my best friend who specializes in vintage cameras not many people my age share such an enthusiasm for vintage electronics as I do. Therefore i'm quite 'amped up' to join the videokarma community and I hope that we can come together to enjoy the wonderful world of electronic oddities. :tresbon:

Welcome to VK!

Thank you for sharing your background and the picture.

Welcome.

Anything older than the 60's is likely to have some bad paper capacitors too. Always change the cap coupling the grid of the audio output to the plate of the preceding stage (unless it is a ceramic disc or an other stable type)....If you don't the tube may be running more current than it is designed for which will greatly shorten it's life.

Holy Crap ! You got a Lotta Crap !
e-crap that is..... which is good crap....

Love all the clock radios ! Especially the flip clocks..

.

Welcome. Take an introductory tour of Phil Nelson's site for beginner info and capacitor replacing. http://www.antiqueradio.org/begin.htm He does perhaps the best job of clearly explaining things that I've ever seen. Certainly better than any book I know of.

P.S. Where are you from? We may have some members nearby that would be glad to help you get started on the repairs.

.

Therefore i'm quite 'amped up' to join the videokarma community and I hope that we can come together to enjoy the wonderful world of electronic oddities. :tresbon:

Some of us are electronic oddities. :arrow:

Welcome aboard! And never be afraid to ask for anything...

Cheers,

Welcome!
Check out your local hamfests- are a good place to scrounge for tubes and parts, and often have vendors selling caps. The arrl website has a directory of hamfests.
I collect some cameras also,, im looking for a 12o film TLR style camera.
I also collect antique calulators and record changers, and a few TVs.

Welcome.

@JBL Guy No problem. By the way you've been part of the forum just as long as i've been collecting radios! What a coincidence!

@ Wisconjim
Thank you for the suggestion. I'm about as novice as they come in radio repair so i'll gladly take any help that is offered to me.
Right now I live in Boston but this coming summer i'll be moving back to my home state of New Mexico with my family.

Thanks squirrel boy! I like your
style! The first vintage radio I ever bought was a GE flip clock radio back in 3rd grade so it's no wonder I have such an appreciation for them.

Welcome to VK! Some nice pieces in your pic:thmbsp:

I have the same AM/FM Zenith (round dial, middle of the photo) those are usually easy to get going, once you replace the suspect caps. The blond radio phonograph it is sitting on looks interesting, never seen one like that, what brand is it? If you have a model number or a good photo of the record changer I could probably identify the changer, I have service info for most changers I can scan for you.

I have the same AM/FM Zenith (round dial, middle of the photo) those are usually easy to get going, once you replace the suspect caps. The blond radio phonograph it is sitting on looks interesting, never seen one like that, what brand is it? If you have a model number or a good photo of the record changer I could probably identify the changer, I have service info for most changers I can scan for you.

The blond job, might be a Motorola, late 40's, early 50's.

Welcome! You have some not so common radios there! I see a few I recognize, and on the top left hand side, a General Electric am/fm table top tube radio, that is like the one my family had in the 1960s! Nice to start when you are young, I did too! Got my first couple of radios and tv's when I was 9 or 10 years old, and I'm still enjoying the hobby at 55 years old! :-) Work carefully and safely, and you'll continue to learn as you go, this group is full of knowledge, and fun, too!

I have the same AM/FM Zenith (round dial, middle of the photo) those are usually easy to get going, once you replace the suspect caps. The blond radio phonograph it is sitting on looks interesting, never seen one like that, what brand is it? If you have a model number or a good photo of the record changer I could probably identify the changer, I have service info for most changers I can scan for you.

The 'blond' radio is actually a 1947 Stromberg/Carlson. I will have to take a gander at the model number again but if I'm not mistaken it's the "Series 10".

Welcome! You have some not so common radios there! I see a few I recognize, and on the top left hand side, a General Electric am/fm table top tube radio, that is like the one my family had in the 1960s! Nice to start when you are young, I did too! Got my first couple of radios and tv's when I was 9 or 10 years old, and I'm still enjoying the hobby at 55 years old! :-) Work carefully and safely, and you'll continue to learn as you go, this group is full of knowledge, and fun, too!

It's always cool when people recognize my radios! The GE with the gold dial that you were referring to is also one of my personal favorites! I bought it at an estate sale back in the summer of '09 when I was first getting into antique radios. Somehow it still works well with its original filter capacitor!

Welcome aboard! I'm glad that you enjoy the hobby of electronics & collecting / preservation! I'm also glad that you have an appreciation for these things, because I've observed many folks who look at "vintage" things almost with disdain and refer to them as old/obsolete/worthless/ludicrous/archaic instead of acknowledging the progression of design & technology over time.

Was the time you saw those radios in the restaurant the moment that got you "hooked" on this hobby?

Welcome ashore :)

Was the time you saw those radios in the restaurant the moment that got you "hooked" on this hobby?

Yes I was hooked! It was the first time I had ever seen so many rad and retro radios in one place! Coincidentally I ended up collecting some of those same radios that I saw at the restaurant down the line.

Welcome to VK, I started at the same age you did, when NOBODY wanted a tube radio.
You have a nice collection and like Jim said, Phil Nelson has a fantastic website that takes you from the beginnings of how to do it right.

BTW-I have one like that B&W portable GE tube set on the right side, those radios had the 1R5-1U4-1U5-3V4 common to battery radios of the 50's. Mine is red-orange but missing its handle. Those sets need some special care so the delicate filaments of those 1.5-volt tubes are not stressed.

Please send me a P-M if you need any funky tubes for radios and Ill mail them cheap, not like the fleabay tube hucksters

Welcome to the forum, im sure youll love this place.

Ive learned a ton in my time here. Have fun, go slow in your restorations, dont be afraid to ask questions and youll do just fine.

Welcome to VK, I started at the same age you did, when NOBODY wanted a tube radio.
You have a nice collection and like Jim said, Phil Nelson has a fantastic website that takes you from the beginnings of how to do it right.

BTW-I have one like that B&W portable GE tube set on the right side, those radios had the 1R5-1U4-1U5-3V4 common to battery radios of the 50's. Mine is red-orange but missing its handle. Those sets need some special care so the delicate filaments of those 1.5-volt tubes are not stressed.

Please send me a P-M if you need any funky tubes for radios and Ill mail them cheap, not like the fleabay tube hucksters

Thank you for the advise! The portable radio that you were speaking of is actually a very special radio to me because it was originally my mom's cousin Dale's. He got it for Christmas at the age of twelve back in 1956! He told me that he listened to it quite often back in the day and he said that he received a station from Mexico all the way from his home in Western New York State! Unfortunately, the radio has been completely dead for years but he passed it on to me with the hope that I could fix it. I have no intention of letting him down.