The best Antique & Collectible Radios & Televisions books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

This book seems really good. With hot chassis radios, you want to unplug it before you service it (sounds basic, but I forgot to do that once and got lucky). Also, get the right components. You want to closely match the capacitor values (especially the voltages). Always refer to the schematic if you are uncertain.

Not surprising - there's a lot of things to learn so a lot of things to remember to tell someone. Cabinet restoration, for example (I'm assuming it's shellac but who knows what's happened to it over the years). It's a shame this is out of print or I would recommend it to everyone that asks.

I think pointing them to the antique radio forum is one of the best things one could do. While some of them are kind of crotchety, they're overall pretty cool if you don't go in acting like an expert while asking for advice.

I love looking through the mass produced paperbacks that have the most random covers for classic novels. Like this one of Sense and Sensibility...which is apparently set in the desert? With a little boy?

This is the Bible of Hallis, for anyone interested. https://www.amazon.com/Radios-Hallicrafters-Schiffer-Designers-Collectors/dp/0764308076/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=hallicrafters+shortwave+radio&qid=1608093744&s=books&sr=1-1 I think their Diversity receiver was the coolest.

That's a neat looking radio. I like it. What does the tag on the chassis look like?

It looks like someone replaced the grill cloth but aside from that it seems pretty original. I wouldn't plug it in again. There are capacitors used to filter out the 60Hz hum from the AC that dry out (electrolytic) and leak (wax) which can cause them to blow open or start on fire. Until those are replaced, applying power to it is a risky proposition. If you ever feel like taking on a project, Antique Radio Repair and Restoration is a good book if you can find it. I can't really tell from the pictures whether it still has the original shellac finish, but if it does the refinish job can be fairly easy. You can find out if it's shellac by applying a small amount of alcohol - preferably denatured alcohol from the hardware store - to an inconspicuous spot. It will dissolve the shellac and get sticky. Polyurethane won't and is also a pain to get off.

Well... radio communication systems are fairly complex and it's not like an Arduino kind of deal where you could bread board things and make it work. There are many system level, modulations type, hardware, and software considerations that need to be worked out. Modern RF transceivers are designed by a group of engineers each with a different specialty. For example one designs the oscillators, one designs the amplifier, another one does the system integration, a somebody is doing the digital interface and software work. Here is a decent book on receiver architecture. Here is a more circuit design related text. You can also search for a communications systems text books for a more thorough treatment.

Now if you just want to make something work like RC toys (for the lack of a better word), there are RF TX/RX IC's readily available that have the whole system integrated with a digital interface. I suggest searching for "RF Transceivers" on Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, MAXIM, Microchip, and Cypress. They typically have a demo board that has everything you need on a board to start.

I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have more questions. I do RF and microwave circuit design for living.