This Is the first model tube radio i received as a child. so when i found it online i jumped at the chance to buy it. This is a detailed video of it's repair.
Its always fun to buy something that you used to have and really enjoyed when very young. My first tube radio was a black Arvin model 855 with a chassis RE377. I was too young to know about silver mica disease and from what I remember it stopped playing and begin to sound like electrical storm nothing but static. I wish I had it today. I found one on eBay but it's white and plays great all original parts. I can't wait for it to fail... hahahaha 😆. It just won't quit
I had a Motorola as my first radio. I was born the year your radio was made. I still have it and it's still mint and sometimes I listen to it to reminisce.
Nice little radio. So glad you could find one of these for your childhood memories. My aunt bought me a little AITC pocket transistor radio when I was 7 years old. I found 2 of the same ones on ebay and bought them both. :-)
Very cool story. Yes someone did clear-coat it. I managed to find 3 radios that my mom got me. The very first Pocket radio, the Pocket radio i remember the best, and a portable radio I had for a number of years. I actually like the style of your radio, and the black color sets it off, too. 📻🙂
We are the same we didn't get a thumbs up. We will just have to endlessly go from one radio repairman to another till we find one who will give us a thumbs up.
Not a bad looking radio. I know just how you feel . I recently found 2radios-one is the first radio I can remember my mom got for me, (a pocket 5 transistor AM) And another AM/FM portable I had for years. Both bring back a lot of memories. I’m sure for you as well
Ah yes Bushwick Georgia...I know that area pretty well..my aunt lived in wadley and augusta is not far away....Im from Savannah Ga... then you have Meter GA too...my dad lives in Richmond hill...and just now moved from Swainsboro ga...I like them kind of radio's the all black look...very nice....I have an Emerson that is all black...Model 652
It seems most radio collector's always want that first radio they ever had simply because it was the first radio in which they were associated with or owned. The first radio I remember hearing on a regular basis (before we got a television) was at my Grandmother's house where we listened to the various local Alabama Country music and radio shows from the early 1950's and always to the original "Gunsmoke" series with William Conrad. The radio was a 1950 RCA Victor Model 9X 531 Radio (named by collector's today as the "Bullhorn"-why I don't know as it doesn't look like a bullhorn to me). If anyone knows how it got that name, please note it on this blog. It was the first radio I had restored and has very good sound and tonal quality with good volume from a fairly large speaker. To me it is not a bad looking radio, although I've read some people don't like the long slide station dial on the bottom of the front of the radio and think it is ugly. Several months ago I saw another one at a Thrift Store which had a crack on one side, but a crack that appears it can be re-glued and not be readily noticed. They didn't want much and I just couldn't leave it sitting there. The large rounded gold fins on the front of the radio were in great shape with its' still golden shine which can be rare on these radios as the plastic fins tend to get broken or dull with age. The radio has an RCA Jack on the backside for one of the 45 RPM changers which RCA had introduced on March 31, 1949. It seems to me that radios with the printed chassis boards were the beginnings of the throw-away radios just as the transistors were becoming popular..
Full cardiac arrest! Too funny. I must admit, I didn't really even understand until this video what people were talking about when they mentioned aligning a radio. Thank you for the video and why exactly is it suppose to be bad to use a metal screwdriver? Shorting hazard I suspect? I have a decent grasp of tube audio amp circuits, but the radio stuff is still pretty foreign to me. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! So a signal generator at 455 kilohertz is the ticket? I assume in sine wave form? Ah, Ozzy No more tears! Yep, gotta watch those ASCAP fees, lol. I remember listening to WLS from Chicago in the early seventies when I lived in Tulsa, I was like 11 years old, lol It only came in at night and then only on certain days....or actually nights. Great channel! This radio came out looking amazing! Thanks for sharing!!
Using a metal screwdriver adds an additional core to the transformer type winding on the devices, and throws off the alignment. You can now get some nice ceramic screwdrivers that are much stronger then the plastic of years gone by. I grew up in the 50's, we lived on a farm so far in the sticks that there was no power available, so we had a battery pack radio. Funds were real tight, so there was a limit on how much radio we could hear, but some programs were must hear, Fibber McGee and Molly, Lone Ranger, Suspicion and many others, and during the morning, mom had her soap operas, as well as RADIO BINGO! You got the bingo cards (printed news type paper) and they would call the bingo numbers, if you hit, a bingo, take the card into the store and get your prize! I can still remember sitting with my dad by the light of the kerosene lamp in the living room listening to the fights on that old battery pack radio. Radio was more a part of our lives then TV ever became. I still listen to some of the old radio stuff on the WWW from time to time.
Did you clean the speaker contacts both on the speaker and the PC board? Also, at the end it appeared that you had cleaned up the case, but you didn't say one way or the other if you actually did or not. If you did, what did you do to clean it up?
Wow great job especially on the casing itself. Big difference, looks fairly new now. I'm a new sub and I have a question that I'm curious about. Can this tube radio or any tube radio be converted to a small guitar amp? Thanks.
Thank You. Welcome to the channel. You could modify a" line in" to the input of the audio amplifier. But the output wouldn't be as robust as a guitar amp.But maybe on a nice console with a push pull output.
Aa5 series strung radio isnt the best candidate for guitar use. No isolation from the line and most of the tubes arent for audio frequency amplification. Better off looking for a pa or projector amp for a conversion.
Radio Rescue thanks for the reply. Do you by any chance have a video on how to add a line in input? If not, do you plan on doing one when you find the perfect candidate to do so? Thanks again.
Christopher Johnson thanks for your reply as well. I'm just curious and mostly since I run into many different old tube radios. Plus the only one I've purchased is an old Motorola that the inside looks similar to the one in this video. BTW I by no means now how to repair any electronics but I'm very interested in learning how to do so. Especially with the amount of old tube guitar amps I have, I figure there will come a time when one of them will need service and it will be awesome if I can repair it myself. But that's a completely different conversation. But thanks again for taking out the time and replying to someone with my curiosity. 👍🏻
That was a really good vid and related to a project of mine. The alignment and tube testing is appreciated. Does anyone know where I can find a schematic for a Motorola 5C25NW ? I've looked all over and cannot find anything !!
Good Job nice radio, I agree with you on the political thing. Even here in Canada all you hear is nonsense on the news. So sick of hearing about Russia, Trump and other such BS.
You must've been in North Dakota or Minnesota. I'm in southern Ontario, we border Michigan and New York. We still have a few AM stations on the dial here.
Its always fun to buy something that you used to have and really enjoyed when very young. My first tube radio was a black Arvin model 855 with a chassis RE377. I was too young to know about silver mica disease and from what I remember it stopped playing and begin to sound like electrical storm nothing but static. I wish I had it today. I found one on eBay but it's white and plays great all original parts. I can't wait for it to fail... hahahaha 😆. It just won't quit
I had a Motorola as my first radio. I was born the year your radio was made. I still have it and it's still mint and sometimes I listen to it to reminisce.
Отличная работа!Классное радио!Привет из Сибири!
Awesome little radio, cool that you found one like you had ! Enjoy it for many years ! D.
Nice little radio. So glad you could find one of these for your childhood memories. My aunt bought me a little AITC pocket transistor radio when I was 7 years old. I found 2 of the same ones on ebay and bought them both. :-)
I like it. The metal edge stabilizes the circuit board. I always liked Motorola for being a bit different in design & engineering.
Very cool story.
Yes someone did clear-coat it.
I managed to find 3 radios that my mom got me. The very first Pocket radio, the Pocket radio i remember the best, and a portable radio I had for a number of years.
I actually like the style of your radio, and the black color sets it off, too.
📻🙂
We are the same we didn't get a thumbs up. We will just have to endlessly go from one radio repairman to another till we find one who will give us a thumbs up.
Wow it looks brand new! Cute little radio
Not a bad looking radio.
I know just how you feel . I recently found 2radios-one is the first radio I can remember my mom got for me, (a pocket 5 transistor AM)
And another AM/FM portable I had for years.
Both bring back a lot of memories.
I’m sure for you as well
It’s cool you have music stations on AM. As big as Jacksonville Florida is, we have no am stations playing music.
📻🙂
Looks great, I've had a few of those PLAcir board radios, I usually end up having to replace a chunk of the trace too. Pains-ville! Nice job!
Ah yes Bushwick Georgia...I know that area pretty well..my aunt lived in wadley and augusta is not far away....Im from Savannah Ga... then you have Meter GA too...my dad lives in Richmond hill...and just now moved from Swainsboro ga...I like them kind of radio's the all black look...very nice....I have an Emerson that is all black...Model 652
It seems most radio collector's always want that first radio they ever had simply because it was the first radio in which they were associated with or owned.
The first radio I remember hearing on a regular basis (before we got a television) was at my Grandmother's house where we listened to the various local Alabama Country music and radio shows from the early 1950's and always to the original "Gunsmoke" series with William Conrad.
The radio was a 1950 RCA Victor Model 9X 531 Radio (named by collector's today as the "Bullhorn"-why I don't know as it doesn't look like a bullhorn to me). If anyone knows how it got that name, please note it on this blog.
It was the first radio I had restored and has very good sound and tonal quality with good volume from a fairly large speaker. To me it is not a bad looking radio, although I've read some people don't like the long slide station dial on the bottom of the front of the radio and think it is ugly.
Several months ago I saw another one at a Thrift Store which had a crack on one side, but a crack that appears it can be re-glued and not be readily noticed. They didn't want much and I just couldn't leave it sitting there. The large rounded gold fins on the front of the radio were in great shape with its' still golden shine which can be rare on these radios as the plastic fins tend to get broken or dull with age.
The radio has an RCA Jack on the backside for one of the 45 RPM changers which RCA had introduced on March 31, 1949.
It seems to me that radios with the printed chassis boards were the beginnings of the throw-away radios just as the transistors were becoming popular..
my mom had a radio like that. I wish I still had it.
Nice demo of alignment of an AM receiver.
I don't have anything from my childhood but you do fifty years later.
Great job...looks and works like a new radio...
Great restoration,good radio tech.,cabinet looks factory fresh,have a great day!
WOW Cabinet came out fantastic. Good for you. Merry christmas
Thanks. Merry Christmas!
This radio looks very modern,its a timeless design.
….in spite of Motorola's cutting corners, sound and presentation still very impressive...…..
Thanks!
Full cardiac arrest! Too funny. I must admit, I didn't really even understand until this video what people were talking about when they mentioned aligning a radio. Thank you for the video and why exactly is it suppose to be bad to use a metal screwdriver? Shorting hazard I suspect? I have a decent grasp of tube audio amp circuits, but the radio stuff is still pretty foreign to me. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! So a signal generator at 455 kilohertz is the ticket? I assume in sine wave form? Ah, Ozzy No more tears! Yep, gotta watch those ASCAP fees, lol. I remember listening to WLS from Chicago in the early seventies when I lived in Tulsa, I was like 11 years old, lol It only came in at night and then only on certain days....or actually nights. Great channel! This radio came out looking amazing! Thanks for sharing!!
Using a metal screwdriver adds an additional core to the transformer type winding on the devices, and throws off the alignment. You can now get some nice ceramic screwdrivers that are much stronger then the plastic of years gone by. I grew up in the 50's, we lived on a farm so far in the sticks that there was no power available, so we had a battery pack radio. Funds were real tight, so there was a limit on how much radio we could hear, but some programs were must hear, Fibber McGee and Molly, Lone Ranger, Suspicion and many others, and during the morning, mom had her soap operas, as well as RADIO BINGO! You got the bingo cards (printed news type paper) and they would call the bingo numbers, if you hit, a bingo, take the card into the store and get your prize! I can still remember sitting with my dad by the light of the kerosene lamp in the living room listening to the fights on that old battery pack radio. Radio was more a part of our lives then TV ever became. I still listen to some of the old radio stuff on the WWW from time to time.
Nothing has any style anymore.
Nice looking radio.
That's a cute little radio.
My cousin had one of those in his room, we called it his BATMAN radio, as that M looked like the bat sign on the TV show Batman!
Seems like it's picking up stations across the dial. Once you do the final alignment, it will be good for a long time. Nice looking set.
That radio came out amazing
Did you clean the speaker contacts both on the speaker and the PC board? Also, at the end it appeared that you had cleaned up the case, but you didn't say one way or the other if you actually did or not. If you did, what did you do to clean it up?
The media today is a bunch of crap, filled with double digit IQ. Glad you got your childhood radio back, hope you listen to the Lone Ranger on it.
Thanks Rich! I think I'll do that!
The media is the only place left where their are consequences for lying unlike politics.
I like Rick's way of doing things. Build up an AM transmitter and continuously play decent music (40's thru '60s) from a long playing mp3 player.
AllAmericanFiveRadio i
The media today does nothing but over-hype everything and try to make anybody (especially President Trump) they don't like look bad.@@BrokebackBob
Frequency adjustment....yeah WSM should come in @ 650 AM, but your dial was at about 700 khrtz,
Wow great job especially on the casing itself. Big difference, looks fairly new now. I'm a new sub and I have a question that I'm curious about. Can this tube radio or any tube radio be converted to a small guitar amp? Thanks.
Thank You. Welcome to the channel. You could modify a" line in" to the input of the audio amplifier. But the output wouldn't be as robust as a guitar amp.But maybe on a nice console with a push pull output.
Aa5 series strung radio isnt the best candidate for guitar use. No isolation from the line and most of the tubes arent for audio frequency amplification. Better off looking for a pa or projector amp for a conversion.
Radio Rescue thanks for the reply. Do you by any chance have a video on how to add a line in input? If not, do you plan on doing one when you find the perfect candidate to do so? Thanks again.
Christopher Johnson thanks for your reply as well. I'm just curious and mostly since I run into many different old tube radios. Plus the only one I've purchased is an old Motorola that the inside looks similar to the one in this video. BTW I by no means now how to repair any electronics but I'm very interested in learning how to do so. Especially with the amount of old tube guitar amps I have, I figure there will come a time when one of them will need service and it will be awesome if I can repair it myself. But that's a completely different conversation. But thanks again for taking out the time and replying to someone with my curiosity. 👍🏻
Go check out Uncle Dougs channel he does that sort of thing all the time.
Id love to find a tube radio in goodwill
Seems like a great little radio,and a good looker, too.
In all of Jacksonville,not one music station on am .😐
Where do you get all the schematics... for all the radios that you work on.
EBay has ceramic screw driver for about five bucks for you alignment work
I tried them. They shatter like glass on these old radios
Nice radio!!
I grew up not far from Brunswick GA in Savannah Ga...
I used to clear coat everything when I was a teenager. It could have been me I clear coated a lot of things. I thought it would keep it like new.
That was a really good vid and related to a project of mine. The alignment and tube testing is appreciated. Does anyone know where I can find a schematic for a Motorola 5C25NW ? I've looked all over and cannot find anything !!
The couplate that sits next to the volume pot could eventually go bad. Bandersentv has some videos on how to build new replacements.
I'm very well aware. i have videos about that as well.
My Grandmother bought me my first Radio.
Is it possible to lubricate the IF coils, or is this a NO-NO????
No-no.
Never seen a black cabinet moto.
You could get a small camera tripod.
Good Job nice radio, I agree with you on the political thing. Even here in Canada all you hear is nonsense on the news. So sick of hearing about Russia, Trump and other such BS.
Oh Yeah. I know you guys hear it up there. I use to live 60 miles from the Manitoba border. I heard the CBC quite often.
You must've been in North Dakota or Minnesota. I'm in southern Ontario, we border Michigan and New York. We still have a few AM stations on the dial here.
I agree I quit listening to the news a few years back and I haven't missed it one bit.