Monarch "Hi-Fi Master" Plastic AA5 Tube Midget AM Radio

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

Rob, it is a beauty... nice find. I like the city of los angeles approval sticker on the back.

Where's the warning on the plastic bag that the set was packed in. Like keep out of reach of childen, don't use in baby cribs, etc.
Maybe people were more intelligent, 50 or so years ago.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Where's the warning on the plastic bag that the set was packed in. Like keep out of reach of childen, don't use in baby cribs, etc.
Maybe people were more intelligent, 50 or so years ago.

Yes but the fact that one of the cheapest radios around is called a "hi-fi master", shows that although some things have changed, others have stayed the same!

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

DHMO is by far one of the of the worst offenders..

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

Ya DHMO is bad stuff, I was told that Penn & Teller went to an environmentalist convention and convinced a whole bunch of them to sign a petition to ban it. The trouble with that is that though it is bad stuff the average person is made of about 70% DHMO by weight (! ) so significant scientific advances will be needed to develop a human safe alternative. Liquor seems an appealing alternative, and some have tried to convert their bodies over to it already...

[Robb]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

Yes but the fact that one of the cheapest radios around is called a "hi-fi master", shows that although some things have changed, others have stayed the same!

The cheapest made things back then were still quality by todays standards !
They did not understand how to manufacture "cheap" back then !

[powerking]

Ah, those thing bring back memories. IIRC, it was a few days before Christmas 1965 and a fairly large box arrives (our house in S.E. PA) with wrapped presents; I was seven then. Four of them were identical: tagged to me, bothers and sister. This box was from my uncle Gerry in CA (an E.E. for International Rectifier, and pilot, and general know-it-all). Christmas morning and yup each of us got a different color Monarch like that. We had them fail over the next few years, try to fix them, and the last one was finally tossed by the end of the decade or so. I think getting those presents helped set me off in the tracks of my older brothers to pursue electronics and how to fix stuff. Thanks Robb for opening up this time capsule/thread.

Tom (PK)

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Robb

The cheapest made things back then were still quality by todays standards !
They did not understand how to manufacture "cheap" back then !

If you look inside, it's obvious, how much hand work went into it. Some models had screws and nuts, instead of rivets, even for the tube sockets.They would use a spot of paint on the threads, a form of Japanese Loctite.
The real low-end models, didn't have any inspection approval labels and the line cord was real thin, like found on Christmas lighting items.

[maxhifi]

Hey rob, any chances we could see the inside?

[transmaster]

This little radio has the type of power cord used on TV's of the time. If anyone is looking for one they have them at Surplus Sales of Nebraska, they used to call them cheater cords. When you take the back cover off the power cord came away with them to service the TV you needed a "cheater cord" to power it back up for testing.

http://www.surplussales.com/Electrical/ElecCords-1.html

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by transmaster

This little radio has the type of power cord used on TV's of the time. If anyone is looking for one they have them at Surplus Sales of Nebraska, they used to call them cheater cords. When you take the back cover off the power cord came away with them to service the radio you needed a "cheater cord" to power it back up for testing.

http://www.surplussales.com/Electrical/ElecCords-1.html

Twenty bucks a copy! I don't think so.

[Robb]

heres a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlR5...iilZlA6BPw9HFQ

[wa2ise]

This is what typical JAA5's look like under the chassis:

[Robb]

Scary !

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

This is what typical JAA5's look like under the chassis:

I love those big old clunky resistors. That's like a one watter.
The "Ten" branded tubes were good quality.

[Sandy G]

Well, they WON'T displace my R-389, but they still have a certain charm, I guess, in a weird kinda way..