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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.
It doesn't involve changing anything in the radio...it is an adapter for your stereo headphones to make them work with a mono output.
Passive loop antennas work pretty well. I would look for a tunable one. You can dial it in to the station and place it perpendicular to the radio's internal antenna right next to the radio. I've had good luck with the ones like this: Passive antenna
Hard to tell from the very limited info in that listing, but probably not - the radio's connection is meant more for something like this Kaito T-1 Radio Antenna.
Note that that one (and most others you'll find) have a 3.5mm plug, not a 2.5mm - there's not really any standard for that type of antenna, and in more recent times they've settled on using 3.5mm. You'll need a mono 3.5mm socket -> 2.5mm plug adaptor to use it.
But really, they're nothing more than a length of wire up to about 10m/30' connected to the tip connection of the plug. Easy enough to make yourself with a 2.5mm mono plug and a length scrap speaker wire. Or, even easier, something like this and a length of wire.
>phone connector
Cool, thanks! So searching based on that description, would something like this work with that socket: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Electronics-MAW40-Universal-Flexible/dp/B000O8SQNG
You could use these. 3-35v input, 5-45v output. Use a 9v battery to get 22.5v or 45v. Use 2 9v batteries to get 90v by putting two in series.
You could use 4 AA 18650 Li-Ion instead of a 9v battery, using a 4 AA battery holder.
Check here. Schematic and service manual available for download.
For any device that's 40 years old, assume that you will need to replace the electrolytic caps inside. That's the first step.
What kind of noise from the power supply? Clicking or buzzing? Not sure about clicking, but a buzzing could be from loose windings on the transformer. Local electronics shop (or online) has stuff like this. Brush it on the windings to lock them in place.
You could tap and switch the speaker lines and run a separate mini amp kinda like this, not sure if you can get mono out of this particular one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08G8JTDVC/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1
There are bluetooth mini amps all over amazon/ebay
I think that's great. Radio was pure magic in the 1920's and before, and while common in the 1950''s, it was a very important technology. Still kicking around now after 100 years.
If you are interested in reading about it, there's a great book called Empire of the Air, along with a [PBS documentary].("https://www.pbs.org/show/empire-air/).
There are bunch of key technical milestones and a whole lot of style variations that went along with such a long lived technology. My personal favorites are from the 1930's and are Art Deco / Machine Age styles. A few good manufacturers were Sparton (some really dramatic styles), Majestic (check out the Majestic Park Avenue console), Capehart, and E.F. Scott radios. Good examples of some of these sell for thousands of dollars.
The Capeharts sold for crazy prices in their day. Scotts were custom built to order, had chrome plated electronics, and signed off individually by E. F. Scott himself. By the 1950's, they were not as high quality, but in the 30's and 40's, wow.
Good luck. You can find all kinds of niches to explore with these things. And, unlike some other tech, it's not that hard to get your head around how they work and learn a lot about how to restore and recover them.
Beautiful work. As for the missing knob; my first thought was a piece of dowel, drilled out and painted flat black.OR how about "Toggle Switch Extensions" made for truckers and their control panel. Here is a very interesting example LINK.
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.