Rechargable AM radio from 1946 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 12:23:52 am
content: Quote from: Homer J Simpson on August 17, 2016, 11:17:12 pmNeat. That's a surprisingly nicely designed piece of hardware. No signs of the race-to-the-bottom engineering ethos that was common in consumer-grade sets of the postwar era. "Mad Man Muntz" was clearly not allowed anywhere near this project.I wonder if there's any way to restore the 2V 25A lead-acid cell. It looks basically intact, but I assume the plates are hopelessly sulfated...? This set is a good candidate for keeping as original as possible.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 12:39:37 am
content: that's a nice piece of engineering. amazed that it still worked.

author: Assafl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 05:11:06 am
content: Very art deco. Wonderful sense of design.Love those choppers. They were everywhere.Also - not sure paper wax caps deteriorate - not as much as electrolytic for sure.

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 05:53:01 am
content: Quote from: Assafl on August 18, 2016, 05:11:06 amThey do, but mostly in AC-powered sets that (a) tended to see a lot more operating hours than battery sets; and (b) ran a lot hotter.In this set I'd leave the existing caps in place, as long as they're good. Someone else can replace them in 70 more years, if necessary. The only real risk is that a leaky interstage coupling cap will bias a tube into saturation and cook an IF or AF transformer. But this, again, was more of a problem in sets where they were running 6F6s with hundreds of volts on the plate from a hefty power supply.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 08:13:14 am
content: Awesome little tear down. I really enjoyed that. Thanks for posting.(Although I still don't know how Americans get "sodder" out of the wordSolder.)

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 09:17:12 am
content: Quote from: KE5FX on August 18, 2016, 12:23:52 amSome of that style were designed to be rebuilt (and there's still a few places/people around who rebuild them), but that one looks like it's welded or solvent-glued rather than designed to be repaired. It also looks cracked?Quote from: Halcyon on August 18, 2016, 08:13:14 amVia the French & Scots. The original latin word is "solidare", the "l" was dropped when it moved into Old French and became ""soudeur", which them made its way into the Middle English "souder", and the Scottish version of that - pronounced "sodder" - outlasted the 15th/16th century re-Latinisation of English (& some French) long enough to make its way to the US with the waves of Scottish emigration in the 17th & 18th centuries."Sodder" is not so much an Americanism as ~500 years out of date...

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 09:19:55 am
content: Quote from: Tac Eht Xilef on August 18, 2016, 09:17:12 amI did not know that. There you go!

author: nfmax
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 09:59:40 am
content: "Sodder" is what you say when you pick up a soldering iron by the wrong end

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 10:01:23 am
content: Quote from: nfmax on August 18, 2016, 09:59:40 amYou English have a far nicer way of swearing than us Aussies. ;-) We are a bunch of convicts after all.