Re: Packard Radios
Posted by Richter12x2 On 2015/3/20 23:03:57
What I've done for a couple of 40's and 50's radios is to replace the paper caps and the tubes (altogether, maybe $30 per radio) then run a cheap mp3 player in with a phono out - we have a big Zenith 12 tube console radio in our entryway that plays big band and swing when you turn it on - if you pull the iPod out of the back and pick it, then you can get shows like Little Orphan Annie and the Shadow, or listen to the news and hear about Amelia Earhardt flying around the world, or Britain declaring war on Germany. If you Google "OTR" for Old Time Radio, you can download a lot of those mp3s for free.
In the kitchen we have a 50's Crosley Dashboard that I just finished restoring for my wife for Valentine's day - when you turn it on, it plays Billboard's top hits from the 50's, so we'll listen to that at dinner.
In both cases, I just disconnected and isolated the IF stage, the part that connects to the antenna, so it ignores the radio altogether and just acts a tube amp for whatever comes in the phono jack. So it looks and sounds (and turns on) like any old radio, but we don't have any AM stations close enough to receive. If you connect the IF stage on the big Zenith, you can pick up Radio Disney, but with a lot of static.
Just another consideration - the only capacitors that really fail are the paper/wax ones, and the electrolytics - you replace the paper/wax ones with 'orange drops' and the old big electrolytics with new small ones - they run between a dime and fifty cents each, you'll spend more on shipping them than on the capacitors you need. Old tubes I've bought on eBay.
I haven't played with the Packard Radios yet, just because I didn't have a suitable 6v power supply, but that'll be coming up soon.
Attached a picture of the Dashboard radio - can't find any pictures of the Zenith
Attach file:
(64.29 KB)
In the kitchen we have a 50's Crosley Dashboard that I just finished restoring for my wife for Valentine's day - when you turn it on, it plays Billboard's top hits from the 50's, so we'll listen to that at dinner.
In both cases, I just disconnected and isolated the IF stage, the part that connects to the antenna, so it ignores the radio altogether and just acts a tube amp for whatever comes in the phono jack. So it looks and sounds (and turns on) like any old radio, but we don't have any AM stations close enough to receive. If you connect the IF stage on the big Zenith, you can pick up Radio Disney, but with a lot of static.
Just another consideration - the only capacitors that really fail are the paper/wax ones, and the electrolytics - you replace the paper/wax ones with 'orange drops' and the old big electrolytics with new small ones - they run between a dime and fifty cents each, you'll spend more on shipping them than on the capacitors you need. Old tubes I've bought on eBay.
I haven't played with the Packard Radios yet, just because I didn't have a suitable 6v power supply, but that'll be coming up soon.
Attached a picture of the Dashboard radio - can't find any pictures of the Zenith
Attach file:
(64.29 KB)
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