Calling the Retrotechnologist! Help!
So winter is coming. I need some help on some projects. I call upon the seriously wicked smart RobertaX to help me stay busy this winter. I have this old radio. Oh and this one too. Oh wait, a another one. I want to jack an iPod into into a transmitter so the radios can receive the broadcast. I want to build the transmitter. It must be tubes. Oh, I have one of these too. It is in pretty rough shape, but the cabinet is sweetness and light!
Atwater Kent Model 55. So to be compatible across all platforms I need an AM transmitter. I also need help with the Bakelite buttons and bezel around them on the Firestone. I have the bezel that is broken and some of the push buttons.
Help! My soldering iron is feeling neglected these days!
Awesome A-K!
ReplyDelete...Okay, you need an AM transmitter. First question: Tubes or solid-state? Second question: kit or scratch-built? (Don't build the AC/DC version in the second link, unless you live in a DC neighborhood; it's not safe.)
Thanks Bobbie!
DeleteLooks like something out of a 1950's sic-fi flick!
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteAh, the old Atwater Kent models.
ReplyDeleteWhen AK folded, the manufacturing facility in Philadelphia was acquired by Philco, where my Dad worked for a number of years.
Those were the days!
Really? Cool!
DeleteThat looks like a fun project - I hope you find the time & resources to get 'er done. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Shepard!
DeleteThe only advice I can offer is don't soak bakelite in water to get it clean; it will become soft, rubbery, and start to loose pigments. The upstairs kitchen cupboard handles in our old house used to be bakelite. Decided to replace them when pulling a drawer open resulted in a broken handle in hand and the drawer remaining motionless.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder about the legality of rebroadcasting copyrighted songs without permission. Hopefully, the transmitter is not so strong that it gets you in trouble.
Thanks Mrs. S. I have already been schooled on the care of Bakelite.
DeleteAs far as the rebroadcasting thing, I think this transmitter will be lucky to get across the street.
Look online for a schematic for the Knight-Kit AM broadcaster.
ReplyDeleteIt has tubes, and can probably be tweaked for better fidelity.
This should help get you started:
http://www.knightkit.com/
Thanks drjim!
DeleteHere's some alternative circuits for a tube-based broadcaster.
ReplyDeletehttp://franitzasab.webs.com/thetubefiles.htm
I am sooo jealous. I love old radios. I have just one, but the problem is (other than the fact that the cord is an accident waiting to happen) that Jack Benny and Charlie McCarthy an Glenn Miller don't play on it when I turn it on.
ReplyDeletePH- LOL! Yeah, my radios are defective too. I keep getting something on them that sounds like a pair of boots in the dryer.
DeleteNo 60-cycle hum? There is a lot of RF from computers (phones, etc) around these days -- an outside antenna helps.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOh, I get that 60 Hz thing. I also have a REAL AM transmitter across the street. I can see the towers from my front porch. Its broadcast came in to the landline here until I installed filters.
DeleteI have a landline for a couple of reasons. First for the alarm, second to have enough ringer voltage to run the old phones. The VOIP modem seems to be lacking in that regard.
Oh, real AM transmitter is here.
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