Re: radio etc

Posted by DrewLA On 2016/4/24 0:24:19

Many radios can be brought back to life if you change a vibrator or a tube or two, but you'll have repeated issues unless you really go through it and replace all the capacitors and check and service the radio properly. A good job takes time and some know how, and while servicing the radio is something most people are capable of with the right tools (tube tester, soldering iron, new capacitors, replacement tubes, replacement solid state vibrator, etc.), there are lots of folks out there who specialize in servicing antique radios and can do the job fast and relatively inexpensively. Dan Skidmore in Los Angeles has been running a top notch radio repair service for the Studebaker community for a number of years (he advertises occasionally in Turning Wheels), he did my Packard radio four years ago and it's been working like a champ ever since. If you can find someone like that locally, who'll put the radio back to stock (not one of those folks who just gut the thing and replace it with modern internal a, yuck!), you'll be back and running, grooving away in no time.

Incidentally, there are a number of products on the market which allow you to keep your radio stock but add on an auxiliary mini (headphone) plug input. My personal experience with the RediRad has been excellent and it's allowed me to plug my iPhone in for long drives to get some good old tunes booming through the great tube radio in my car. If you have any desire to rally have a useful radio, consider one of those products as well.