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My library radio display

Mike Szadaj

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St. Clair Shores, Mi
My city library has a display case with a different display every month. After cars, my other big passion is radios and electronics. I volunteered to put some of my radios on display for November.
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Real radios glow in the dark:D

Nice collection. Thanks for sharing!
 
Thought this might be about old car radios! :D JK JK
My sister who was spoiled on a blue collar pay check got a new transistor portable (hand held?) radio. It was around 57 as I remember being 6 or 7 at the time and do remember hearing it cost 50 bucks! That's a lot of $$$ for that time. I ended up with it around 63 or so and mounted it on my bicycle :D Also remember the radio in our 56 Plymouth Belvedere and dad hitting the dash just below it whenever it went into 'screech' mode lol
 
Love the transoceanic.
I have every transoceanic except the very first year.
Thanks for the pictures.
 
Thought this might be about old car radios! :D JK JK
I have quite a few of those in the garage and basement.
My sister who was spoiled on a blue collar pay check got a new transistor portable (hand held?) radio. It was around 57 as I remember being 6 or 7 at the time and do remember hearing it cost 50 bucks! That's a lot of $$$ for that time.
The first commercially sold transistor radio was made by Texas Instruments in 1954 and retailed for $49.95.
Also remember the radio in our 56 Plymouth Belvedere and dad hitting the dash just below it whenever it went into 'screech' mode lol
That would have been a tube radio. Mopar was the first with an all transistor car radio in 1962. Some radios before then were hybrids - they had tubes and transistors.
 
It wasn't 54 as I was only 3 at the time and don't remember much from then lol.....iirc, the radio she got was a Zenith.
 
Oh the sound they must make if all powered at the same time. Nothing like the sound of tubes warming up.
 
...and the crackle and pop of old electrolytic capacitors warming up too fast:eek:
 
Sizzling sounds besides the pop, crackle, snap and it didn't sound like rice crispies!! Old guitar amps come to mind too.....
 
I have a TransOceanic radio too and a 1930's Cathedral radio and a few others. Haven't run any of them in some time but don't want to pop them . I guess I need one of those transformers to raise the voltage slowly to be kind to the components. What is the name of those,? The name of them escapes me. Nice collection by the way. Great to see.
 
I guess I need one of those transformers to raise the voltage slowly to be kind to the components. What is the name of those,? The name of them escapes me.
It's called a variac. Actually, more important than using one is to replace the electrolytic capacitors. The electrolyte in them dries up, and then problems can ensue. Most people in the hobby replace those automatically before any power up.
It wasn't 54 as I was only 3 at the time and don't remember much from then lol.....iirc, the radio she got was a Zenith.
If it was a Zenith from that era, it was probably a Royal 500, of which there were many iterations. They are commonly called "Owl Eyes" radios for obvious reasons. Do either of these jog your memory?
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If it was a Zenith from that era, it was probably a Royal 500, of which there were many iterations. They are commonly called "Owl Eyes" radios for obvious reasons. Do either of these jog your memory?
View attachment 859036[/QUOTE]Looks pretty dang close! What year did the side controls come out? Seems like hers had that or either the dials were close enough to the sides that they could be used as side controls if that makes sense. Makes me wish I had saved that thing!
 
Eico tube tester, very nice. My dad& I put together a Heathkit way back.
I put together a Heathkit shortwave radio back in the day. Economy model, you had to change out coils to change bands. Almost anything Heathkit goes for big bucks today. For the most part they made quality stuff.
 
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