To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
Paul, on youtube channel "Adrian's Digital Basement", he has some videos in which he shows how to remove the yellowing from old white and biege cabinets, with an available cleaner.
I love following these old tube radios with Paul. I think I'm fairly well versed on them however it is the fine points I always seem to pick up every time. Really like the speaker repair on this restoration . Excellent job Paul , as always.
Mr Carlson when I was kid my mom and dad had oli tube radio the brand was GE am fm band slet it had afc for fm and had ton on the nobe my mom and dad are ded now for a long time
Thanks for the memories. I worked on a ton of these American 5/6 radios at age 15-16 at a local radio/TV repair shop in Brooklyn NY. It was a lot of fun. I'm now 76 and I can't remember when I last saw one of these.
I'm not an electronics guy, but that does not mean that I can't enjoy a craftsman like you, who knows his stuff. Very interesting and informative restoration. Thanks for taking the time.
Yeah. It's all "Greek" to me .. my interest is in model railroading, structures, CAD .. but . .DANG IT!! .. yes .. I can readily appreciate a craftsman and someone who knows what they are doing.
They don't have any Spanish stations in the Pacific Northwest? Shango066 gets a lot of them. There was no FM so we couldn't hear any rap stations. Love to see a DXing video sometime though.
@@Art7220 I think he might be in Alberta Canada? If he is, he is about 700 miles from Vancouver, or about 800 from Seattle. Not many Spanish stations in Canada that I am aware of.
@@Art7220 Oh, you could very well be right! I had never heard of him until this video. I Googled his name and saw a picture he had posted of his house in the winter. I thought it was Calgary or something. I was just assuming.
May have sat in a beauty parlor for 30 years. I'm pretty sure my grandparents had that same radio back in the sixties, always tuned to AM 750 WSB Atlanta. My heart skipped a beat when I saw this one. Thanks, as always!
When Mr. Carlson first mentioned the PERFUMEY SMELL, my first thought was "Did a mouse crawl up in there and die (looks a little hard to do the way this unit is put together) and someone used Perfume to help Mask the Odor? Personally, I believe I would prefer the "Smell of Death" because I am pretty Sensitive to many Perfumes.
Thanks so much for this one, Paul. What can I say, yet another restoration of the highest quality. I think it's so important to keep the history alive of just how electronics have evolved. It's so easy for all this to get lost and forgotten in the mists of time.
I did this with trash pick radios when I was a kid. I later became a bench tech for Lafayette radio and have always loved electronics currently I’m an e bike technician and still use my skills.
At 55:00 in, they actually put a clock there. The cabinet was a universal one. They also later made an AM/FM version with and without a clock in solid state using the same cabinet! I did notice a nasty brown stain inside the cabinet above where the 35W4 and 50C5 was giving off quite a bit of heat. I like the fixes for the speakers Paul. She is a real station puller now after all that adjustment and repair. Thanks for showing how to correctly restore a radio of this vintage.
@@jamesplotkin4674 They make an narrow roll of adhesive aluminum tape and I have used it successfully. But don't ask me where I got it or who makes it. Does keep the outside cool to the touch!
Came across one of your videos a few days ago and immediately subscribed. Just watched your long range am receiver restoration video and it took me back to the early 1950s, watching my dad fixing radios, seeing the warm glow of the tubes, smelling hot solder and giggling when he accidentally touched something he shouldn’t have. Fast forward to the mid 1970s, when I earned my novice amateur radio license and ultimately my extra class license about ten years later and all because of the love of electronics so many years before. Thanks for the journey down memory lane. Don Galaway NV5X
I changed tubes back in the 1960s, but I had little understanding of what I was doing. If radios back then stopped working, there was always another one out in the garage or barn. Your video gave me a great understanding of how a radio is set up and works. Thanks for a very educational 90 minutes!
It really pulls in the stations. There are fewer AM stations still operating these days but it is pulling them in, one right after another. Fun restoration!
Ah that's made my weekend. I will be watching on the big screen tomorrow when my wife out in the morning. So great to see a new restoration Paul. Have a great weekend Ian M5AXA.
Mr Carlson your Barn find Long Rang Receiver is cool from the 1960s when I was a kid growing up my mom and dad when they were alive we had a GE radio Receiver AM FM it had tubes the same size as as yours the same year 1960s
@@mb-electricalservices It is not that we have to, it is that we want to watch a video without constant nattering in our ears ruining the experience.lol.
Excellent, Mr. Carlson! Thanks for including the restoration from A to Z. I enjoy the physical clean up as well as the electronics. I appreciate your attention to detail. That's a rarity today! 🙂
This video attracted some interest outside this platform, there is a Hackaday article in their website about this wonderful restoration adventure. Congratulations Mr. Carlson!
Thank you for posting this video. My parents had a radio in the 1950s that sat on top of the frig in the kitchen. It is complete, but stopped working so it was placed in the attic. I have the radio now and hope to restore it one day. I know very little about electronics. But i actually understood some of what you were doing in the above radio. Thank you so much for posting this, and taking the times to explain what you are doing. I know it takes time to make videos, edit them and and such. But your work is greatly appreciated. It gave me to confidence to learn more. Thank you again.
I had to chuckle when you were checking the phasing of the speakers. I do it exactly the same way! I've never been a fan of tube sockets soldered directly to a circuit board. With expansion and contraction as they heat and cool, it's fairly common to end up with bad solder connections over time.
It always amazes me how well the AVC circuits work in those old tube radios. There is a lot of dynamic range between the weak and strong stations yet the volume is very constant across all stations. Nice restoration!
A very nice radio indeed, and a beautiful restoration. I am often amazed how natural and accurate these old tube sets sound. The adjacent stations slightly out of sync playing the same signal at the end was amusing. Thanks for sharing, mr. Carlson!
There isn't much he could have done more than anyone else. You have to be careful to not strain the wire and do more damage, though unwrapping another cm or two if an accident happens wouldn't throw it off noticeably. You can delicately scrape the coating off the wire with a scalpel or sandpaper making sure you relieve the strain on the wire. You can support the transformer with plasticine or in a plastic jawed vice. If you are feeling brave a quick flash from a lighter and a brush with fine wet and dry. You are advised to then j connect to the new wire and give a light twist before soldering, I doubt he insulated the repaired wire, but he may have. Make sure you have a clean and tidy working area with good light and a magnifying lens. I may have been tempted to just repair it as it was, unwrapping half a turn, snip a bit off the broken lower part and be quick about it. - But that is why he is the best...
@@martinda7446 spot on and lovely description. Must be what it feels like reading those romantic sexy novels made for old ladies. But a manly version 🤷♂️😂
@@ZXLNT Interesting, and very likely considering the rest were spot on. More likely it was distorting /shifting the cap at the base of the coil when pulling it out and heating it etc - Very sharp of you to pick up on that.
Good to see this repair,back in 70's worked in electronics servicing. We had plenty of these GE radios. Most had circuit board issues, plus tube replacement. Sometimes had if coil issues,in those days we just replaced. Thanks Paul for great tips.
Paul, great that you have all these Medium wave stations available. I live in Ireland and all medium wave band is empty so I use my own low powered AM transmitters to have something to listen to. On the upside the advantage is that you can play music and news appropriate to the time period the radio is from.
Ireland, if you like the music they play, Radio Caroline is available on 648 KHz. (They are since a week on half power due to some technical issues, but they will be back full in a short while).
Sadly there isn't much worth listening to on AM anymore. These days the station licences are bought and sold cheaply, and it's mostly small-audience programming. Even news and sports have gone to FM in my area.
@@erikdenhouter Radio Caroline is transmitting on the east coast of England in Ipswich in Suffolk and only covers a small area in Suffolk (see Ofcom coverage map). I live in Dublin in Ireland, so also on the east coast but in a different country. Unfortunately radio Caroline cannot be received on Medium wave in Ireland (under normal atmospheric conditions).
@@rudie2902 Bummer, you're right, it is England's east coast. I live in Rotterdam (Holland) with good reception, and had a wrong view of these distances.
I have built a few full wave rectifier power supplies, a few half wave chargers and a few distortion pedals for my guitar, decades ago. Watching you brings back memories from my younger days. I wish I had just 1/4 of your knowledge. Electron flow, and the things it can accomplish, has always intrigued me. Watching you control that magic is amazing. Love your channel.
Excellent!!! I really enjoyed seeing the additional, non-electronic steps and little things like touching the speaker cone with a q-tip to check for buzzing ... PERFECT! Thank you, Paul!!!
Great restoration, it's about time you show you working on a barn find radio like most of us have to deal with. Barn, attic or basement found radios or TVs are worth the time and give you that hero factor when one can bring them back to life.
I started learning electronics when I was 8 years old in the early 60's but I always gain something from watching your videos. There was one thing you forgot to mention when tuning the variable cap is to always use a non-metallic tool to make the adjustment because using a regular screwdriver may affect the tuning. Working on tube equipment always brings back great memories of my early years. From the smell of the components and tubes warming up to the little tinkle of the tubes as they cool down after being turned off, it's all good memories. I still like working on and building tube equipment but getting parts is getting more difficult and expensive. Luckily I have a pretty good supply of old NOS tubes stored away. Thanks again for what you do.
You are a master at your craft Mr.Carlson. Really i rarely see anyone who is as highly detail oriented in this end of the sticks anymore. Nicely done. I would love to find one of these radio's and enjoy some AM goodness!
Merci Paul pour cette démonstration de sauvegarde d'un récepteur Grandes Ondes des années 60 ! J'en apprends chaque fois avec vous !!!! 👍 Merci . Thank you Paul for this backup demonstration of a 1960s Longwave receiver! I learn every time with you!!!! 👍 Thank you .
Hey Paul. Another beautifully put together video. Sure hope the new lab will allow you to bring us many more electric adventures like this one. I think you're great. Thanks for all the time you spend creating content for us to enjoy. Cheers
Thanks a lot for your very interesting discription for these old memorial of golden ages of electron tube Radios. I'm 62 and these old sets are my childhood memories. They are really fantastic and full of life.
Great video! I love these restorations. My grandfather was a big General Electric fan and left me an AA5 radio similar to this one. I am inspired to give it a nice tune up and alignment now.
Mr. Carlson, thank you so much for taking the time to show us the restoration of this beautiful piece of history. In an era in which we tend to throw away and replace failed technology rather than repair it (due to cost and complexity to repair usually) it warms my heart to see something get the love and attention it needs to be made functional once again. I'm sure that if treated right that this could last for a long long time still to come. Please keep doing what you do so well.
Mr Carlson - my wife has caught the electronic restoration bug, I think. While I was taking my nap she turned this on for herself and the grandkids. I woke up toward the end. We were both disappointed you tuned right past the "Daily UFO Report"
Thanx for the knowledge Paul just wondering how you got all your know how and information on all the older radio manufacturing I'm thinking just years of experience 😀 great channel 👍 I can learn so much thank you
I made a poor man's Variac. I used two 40 Watt bulbs in series. I actually saw the capicitors warming up and bulbs got dimmer and stabilized. I switched two only one 40w bulb and run a bit. It was stable. I put full 120v. And my Ocilloscope ran perfectly. I owe some of this to your show explaining current flow. Thanks 👍
Wonderful job. I like the noiseless way you did the alignment!! I'm surprised the cabinet did not crack with tge rework. Usually the tube heat makes them brittle. That one speaker sounds like my dads old Remington shaver when i was a kid, LOL. That center hole in the cabinet was probably for an optional clock. The oval slots on either side are a clue. One would be for the ON-OFF-AUTO control, the other would be the SLEEP timer.
I can confirm that it's for a clock. I have a similar-looking model with this cabinet, the same tweed over the dual speakers, and an alarm clock front and center. I haven't gotten started on it yet, but interestingly it says "Solid State" on the badge. I can clearly see at least one tube inside through the vent holes, so I'm excited to see what's going on in there.
@@Thegonagle Didn't GE make some hybrid versions of these? The long-range and AM/FM versions of the AA5 design usually involved using a 35C5 instead of a 50C5 so the extra 15V could go to the extra tubes, thus there was less output power. But, the hybrid sets used transistors for the added features so they could stick to the full-output-power AA5 design for the rest of it.
I know next to nothing about electronics I barely know how to turn on my computer! Lol! I still enjoy watching your channel! Your knowledge of electronics is amazing!! You do a good job of explaining what you are doing restoring various devices even if I don't completely understand it all! It's still entertaining and really fascinating!!
Great video! I'm getting old as I remember "Top 40" radio and all of the AM rock hits from my young adult years. I grew up with tubes and learned new technologies as they evolved. I was in a record store in the mid 60's. remember them? When a local DJ was asked about FM and responded that it would never become popular! Your videos often take me back to simpler times. I spent over five decades working on devices from tubes to microprocessors.
At first glance I thought this was the same radio I have, however mine is a T-1240A that is AM/FM with a transistor tuner and tube amplifier. I actually have a pair of them, and they look similar but are inside wooden cabinets. Nice radios!
Just wanted to say that I have watched other RU-vid videos on TV radio repair for you got me interested in what you do. I must say your RU-vid channel is the greatest of interest due to he way you teach and instruct on what you are doing. One day I may not sure but may try to do a repair but do not have the test equipment like you. But if I do and manage to get a radio and make the repair my I call upon you if it will only pick up 1930’s radio stations. Love your channel for do model railroading and deep into the electronics world of model railroading and have learned so much from you. Thank you for your time your knowledge you share with us. Be safe!!!
I just picked up an old JC Penny Model 500 that is very similar to this layout. Same circuit board style but 5 tubes. Thanks for the Tube color overview. I needed that refresher.
Very nice thorough restore Paul. I didn't mind the tweed fabric and the 'wood' front panel, it is fit for the time period. Nice job fixing the IF transformer too.
Paul, When I was about 13 years old, having saved my money from my Brantford Expositor paper route. I wanted to buy my super great parents, a new radio for Christmas. I went with my Aunt Lucy to Parson's GE store, on Colborne Street in Brantford and purchase this exact radio (although mine did not have cloth over the speaker grilles, just a plastic grille) .Mom and Dad loved it. As you noted the 2 speakers were of different sizes from the factory (an attempt at High Fidelity, I assume). It wasn't a particularly a great radio and it eventually stopped working, also as the plastic case gassed out and literally fell apart some years later. Sixty odd years later what shows up on your channel, bringing back many great memories. Paul W. Aitchison Love your channel, very educational!
Thank you for the excellent video demonstration and thorough explanation. It brought back fond memories of me replacing a tube in our old (late 1950's) kitchen 5 tube radio in the early 70's as a young teenager to get it going again ( I wanted a radio for my room ).
Awesome vid. Love the speaker tips. I been a ham 40 years. I'm still sitting on about 40 OLD radios. Some going back to the 30s, one (missing it's case) the 20s. Got a ton of NOS tubes from the same source. I'm going to join your Patreon soon when I start on them. Way overdue.
Made in 🇨🇦 💪 - Thank you for sharing this repair. I find it interesting that the speaker cutouts are only 40 ish percent yet the middle cutout is 70 ish percent but not used. Also on the front design, the middle verticals bar really should of been removed in the design allowing the tweed to be one consistent piece. I guess it was done to emphasize two separate speakers. Just my thoughts. 😃
Yeah, it looks like the case was used in a number of different models. I think originally it had a single center speaker (being the most open) and this double speaker version being almost an afterthought - perhaps a later version? The supports for the front grill are positioned in the middle of where the 2 outer speakers have been added, but they didn't bother revising that, so it blocks a lot of the speaker cone. The plastic support frame behind the grill cloth has about 30% openings, so that detracts from the audio too! There are also weird rectangular slots on the right side above the tuning dial which look like they were for something else completely.
Silly question, but why not look for the open filament with the meter set to continuity and the board not connected to the mains? Surely much safer. Or even pop each tube in turn and measure across pins 3&4 directly?
There are lots of ways you could have done this. For example, you could have connected the ohm meter across the power cord and shorted out the heater pins in each tube in turn until you got a reading in the meter.
As usual you have out done yourself. That radio is drop dead gorgeous and sounds wonderful ! I love the pride you have in your work, I sure hope some day I can get your talent and restore these old radios . I really enjoyed this!
Always enjoy your restoration videos! I'm very surprised the dial cords seldom need attention after many years of use! Must have used high quality materials back in the day!
My grandpa did radio and TV repair and when I was a teen he had me restringing dial cords for him I was pretty good at it. He also had me R&R car radios for him. Lots of the car radios had vibrators in them.
I love the fact you are using an analog meter to peak things up, vs an led bar graph type meter. I did all of my radio work with analog meters, and still prefer that when seeking a peak or null. Great job getting this old relic going. 73 - de Bill, K5WGA.
Absolutely gorgeous restoration! I love the old tube radio's. My grandpa had a Hammarlund communications receiver I had beside my bed. Nothing like the smell of tubes warming up. Brings back so many happy memories. Thanks for the great episode! VA7TTL
That's amazing to get such a good sound from a tube radio; I didn't know you could still buy tubes today! Some great ideas for recycling old equipment that still has good quality.
With the radio, I could see that the case is moulded to receive 3 speakers, so when you look into the case from the back, you can see a speaker to the left (the larger one) and to the right ( the smaller one), but the center also could hold a second smaller speaker. Could the radio of been branded as dual speaker meaning that the smaller speaker is a mid to high frequency speaker and having 2 of them and the larger one being a mid to low frequency speaker. I was just pondering if the case is also used for different models of the same radio? But again Mr Carlson (the doctor of electronics) waves his hands of magic and the radio comes alive and another beautiful old classic electronic device. Beautiful work and a enjoyment to watch.
It's true mr. Carlson. The very second you turn your back, the screwdrivers will literally walk across the table and hop right on to the magnets, stabbing through the speakers! :-)
Curiously, do you just solder those super fine wires together in the IF transformer? I've always feared they disintegrate creating a much bigger problem.
You can!! It takes care, precision and patience! I had to do the same repair in one of the IF transformers in a 1957 Graetz German table radio a few weeks ago. The LW/MW/SW wasn't _totally_ dead, but the local 50kW AM station was barely a whisper with the volume at full. The UKW which uses a different set of IF transformers was working well. It was interesting to find that even with the broken wire in the IF transformer, a tiny bit of signal coupled through at the intermediate frequency.
Cleaning the plastic brings to mind the way we used to polish our watch crystals. Years ago when I was a smoker, I would take ashes from the ash tray and put on the face of the watch, then take a dollar bill and polish it, this would take the scratches from the face and make the crystal look new again! I still have the SIKO Watch I purchased at the Gunfighter PX on Freedom Hill in Danang Vietnam, and it still runs fine after 53 years, a self winding 25 jewel model with a few scratches, after all I stopped smoking in 1995.
I have stuff to do and can't afford to spend an hour and a half watching somebody fix an old radio. So, I start watching, and I'm mesmerized for an hour and a half!! Carlson should be named a national treasure. I wonder what happens to this radio now. Does it go unused on a shelf? Is it displayed somewhere? Is it sold? If sold, does a buyer have any idea the gem he is buying? The time and professional labor that went into this restoration must rate in thousands of dollars. I can't imagine anyone would pay what it's actually worth. Just wondering.
I think they made a version of this radio with a clock in the middle. The case was probably used for both model thus the hole in the middle you suggested was for a third speaker.
I went through my radio collection and I found this radio in a plesent looking early American style wood cabinet. I always find it interesting on how they would use the same chassis in a multitude of different cabinets. And yes, these are good performers.
Carlson,I can say 1 thing, When comes to you or ,Mikes radio radio , or Gassinger., you Men are Amazing watching repairs, When you ask if it will work There's know doubt It will, God Bless
Paul, instead of testing for a broken filament in the "filament chain" with an AC voltmeter, wouldn't it have been easier or at least safer to use an ohm meter to test each tube between pins 3 & 4? Or am I overlooking a reason to use the voltmeter & a live circuit? I know _I_ can safely test a live circuit like you showed, but I'm curious about whether using an ohm meter like I mentioned is just as good of a test.
I really, really enjoyed that...I am an OLD am radio fella. I have learned a lot from you although I no longer play with them....That was absolutely wonderful. Most of the radios I played with were. Zenith , Admiral, Philco, Atwater Kent, etc. Thanks so much...
Love your channel a lot. You're a very bright electronics master. thank you for showing explaining all you do. Keep the videos coming. you really relax a person too with your calm way of explaining.
Im sitting here with my coffee "kenco americano grande" and thinking to myself damn, you are one clever man, you and shango are my 2 favourite youtubers, you have a very elegant and understandable way of doing things, I could watch your videos for hours on end Paul.
