When you see transistors marked with paint and no manufacturer type #'s or other info, the transistors are either floor sweepings or QC failure units sold for scrap. Then someone tests and grades the transistors to gain and frequency so the could be placed in the proper stage (hence the colored paint) and sells them cheap to 4th tier radio manufacturers in Hong Kong where quality ruled. The one exception was Zenith. They had some of their pocket radios made in Hong Kong that were assembled well , made of first quality parts and performed well. It can be done if you give a darn.
It is intriguing to think that in the era when this radio was made, the wages in Pacific rim countries were low enough that it made sense to pay technicians to salvage these unwanted transistors by plugging them into manual test equipment. On the upside, these radios are very likely designed such that they are not finicky about the parametrics of the transistors, so finding substitutes is easy.
Christmas in July 2-fer best day ever. I was going to comment on the wooden TV episode that the image clarity on some of the close-ups was very nice for the lighting inside a cabinet. Appreciate the effort you put in to the recording of these videos
Living in small town South Dakota as a youth, and later as a cop, we used to shop at the Gambles store. It was a cool place for a small town, I purchased a living room suite, a new Color TV which served me very well, An H%R Revolver in .22 LR Cal. Also things like lawn sprinkler, an little red Radio Flyer wagon for my kids to play with and a muffler for my car. Sort of an all around pre K-Mart place to shop. That store is now long gone and the building which had been a Piggly Wiggly grocer at one time before Gambles moved in is now a bar/bowling alley and a very popular place for the younger folk.
I visited So Dakota in the mid fifties to a town called Parkston. I still have cousins living there who still own the farm I visited back then when I was 10 yrs old. I plan to revisit them sometime soon before I tip over. Folks seem a lot nicer & grounded once your get over the Rockies heading eastward. I’m a native Californian born & raised in SoCal, transplanted to NorCal in the mid eighties.
@@wickerbill7793 South Dakota is a wonderful place to grow up, a great place to raise kids as well. Most folks in the State have some sort of tie to farming or ranching, many of us grew up on farms then moved to town for school and such. If you come back for a visit, be sure to take in the Black Hills and The Badlands of South Dakota, Both areas now have large bison herds roaming about the area. We are seeing more and more cars with California plates on them come through our little town, many are seeking a new place to live.
Forget 5 mins.... I am in it for the long haul. Love your videos and I will always watch the whole thing. Too much valuable information to pass up! Thanx.
The video and audio quality is good enough for a cheap Gamble-Skogmo pocket transistor radio repair. Fixed with a good explanation of what failed and why and the repair done cheaply with excess component supply. Excellent stuff Shango!
Finding a transistor off an old scrap board and it working is experience and masterful. Like the old song goes..."if you wanna play the blues...you gotta pay the dues" and shango apparently has.
I'm glad you fixed it at a minimum and stopped . Knowing when to stop adding parts to small projects is something I need to work on . Being a hobby for me , I try to keep it affordable . Good video .
Good audio with new mic despite a slight hum in the audio. Colour is good and everything is in focus. Frame rate looking good too. Watching in the UK on a 32inch TV via a firestick 4K at 720p, Resolution was good enough to see circuits and meters. Your voice comes through really clearly. In short the new setup works well. When you go to the transistor checker at 13:50 the buzzing goes away. Not anything to worry about ... Nice video
The mo’ skog the better! It’s sad that nowadays a name like Skogmo just wouldn’t be used. Gamble and Skogmo founded the company. Skogmo is also a town in Norway, so to Scandinavians in Minnesota it might not have sounded too odd.
Now we have cookie cutter translation names like yeaabon farseer bespow, etc... I made all those up but they could just as well be some random import brands pulled from Amazon.
When I was in high school, I read that the AM band was being expanded to 1700 kHz. I re-aligned the front ends of all my radios to cover up to about 1710 kHz in anticipation of stations moving there. Although this messed up the dial calibration at the high end of the dial (say, at 1500 kHz and higher), the error was inconsequential on radios with imprecise dials (those where the tuning knob directly drives the tuning capacitor).
I've found that that the green corrosion comes off if soaked in spirit/white vinegar for a short time (distilled vinegar in the US?). I've had success with this on glass valve/tube pins anyway but I don't think that you'd want to leave anything in white vinegar for too long (I wash them in water afterwards and dry on a radiator). Thanks for another informative video.
Another GREAT 👍 vintage transistor radio 📻. I’m glad 🙂 ya saved it from certain death 💀. It looks like 👍 the plastic has turned yellow from sitting 🪑 in the sun ☀️, but it’s still a good 😊 radio 📻. I’m not sure 🤔 if this has a dial cord, but if it does, it would be a simple one ☝️ to replace if needed. The transistors and capacitors would be out of tolerance, since this is a 1970’s radio 📻. The speaker 🔊 is permanent magnet 🧲. Your friend, Jeff.
Where I live 1230 am is 24/7 Christmas music! And we have at least 2 more am music stations, one that plays classic rock and one that plays a mix of music.
I watch on a tablet, I don't see any difference in video quality. Audio seems good, no problems. I didn't know moisture could get into a Transistor like that but I'm a prairie guy, humidity isn't usually a problem.
Nice Cadmium yellow, at least that's what I think it was. And except for a few moments the image quality was good enough to watch, the sound was different but well understandable. Fun watch after getting back from ham swap meet at "De K.A.R." (Kempische Amateur Radio NL).
It's always frustrating when that cheap tuning capacitor is sort of the show stopper for otherwise working radio. You did get that quite a bit better tho.
"Gamble-Skogmo"" was bought out by Wickes (surprisingly Wickes), and went bankrupt shorty after. Gamble-Skogmo had it hands in many types of stores. Hardware, drug stores, grocery stores and clothing. They also had a store called Tempo that was similar to Target. They even sold life insurance.
I am surprised that Coronado is still around in the 60s, though this radio was a Hong Kong made radio. I have a Coronado radio chassis, everything is there but speaker and audio output transformer. I did purchase the replacement transformer.
very informative, sir~ shared with my Bro-in-law KEN *master of the Gaussian world~ (still asking him for a *day the earth stood still) Gaussian field to turn all weapons RED HOT with invisible fields)
And with a good radio you may pick up the blowtorch out of Toronto on 740 kHz and if you go 25 miles to the south you will find a little 1 kw station on 1310 kHz that beams most of it’s signal to the South
I am watching this on my Sony Tv the colour is good the sound is a bit muffled and the 3D is ok. Yes I was of the people who got a 3D Tv when they were all the fashion luckily it was on a Clearance deal we don’t watch 3-D anymore because after one movie gives you a headache but the standard picture is fantastic
At 9:50 would you short Base-Emitter junction and look for a drop in your B+Battery supply current draw? If it dropped you could conclude the transistor is likely in conduction because of bias not being correct? Or do you conclude the likelihood is heavily leaning towards a defective transistor with leaking or shorted junction? Thanks in advance! I'm just trying to firm up my knowledge and skills. At this point I've read and probably watched more repair videos than repairs I've actually completed myself! I need to get at it and get 'em done!
22:10 That is probably a 540 kHz to 1630 kHz radio, so you don't get the full modern band (525 kHz to 1700 kHz). Plus the frequency tuner is bargain bin. It's one of those radios where if you can get it to tune in your favorite station, it's worth it, I guess....
I always watch till the end for the usual one laugh out loud moment at least. You're wasted in America. Come to UK where sarcasm and cynicism are valued highly👍
Nah, we love our fellow countryman and his sincerity and sarcasm as well as his technical skills, experience, and willingness and ability to share it with us all.
26:02 Not a single word on the government failure at every level. 19 cops stood outside while all those kids were mowed down. They heard it. They heard the screams. They chose not to act. He passed background investigations. The schools doors were propped open against policy. etc etc etc.
A teacher who was shot and died had a husband who was law enforcement and he responded. He was deterred by the police there. By the books maybe the right thing, but by natural law absolutely horrible and evil to have stopped the man with the skills and authority. Total BS! And how frequently is it reported that, "The FBI had been monitoring the suspect...." Always and why didn't they manage to stop the criminal? New York's laws didn't stop the Scumbag from his crimes at the supermarket. And there is supposedly a leaker in the FBI saying a retired FBI agent was in regular contact online and apparently wasn't discouraging this idiot who shot up the supermarket with racist statements in his writings. He was also an idiot more than anything. He needed help and did not get it. Anyway....
Audio had a little hum in it in the beginning. Not your typical 60Hz but something much higher. Later on it disappeared. Video was okay. I only noticed that the towel looked different than usual. The radio... well... Despite of the fact that this is just a generic 13 in a dozen run off the mill el cheapo 'city radio', it still provides for an entertaining resurrection video. Another issue seemed to be the pretty much non-existent AGC. But okay. Indeed. Just put it on the shelf. Or in the trash. Not worth to spend a lot of time on fixing all of its issues.
Like so many businesses I read about, Gamble-Skogmo purchased in the 80's through a leveraged buyout and then went bankrupt. I wonder how much money was made in the 80's on destroying businesses.
What is that station: This is only a test? I have heard at many times in your videos. What is the name and frequency of that? Nice video like always Shango066!
I try to let my long distsnce ghana son to listen to this ...he is very inteligent and is very eager to learn ...his mom teach him mom.stuff ..but when i am around i teach him.man stuff ike this ..or fishing or things to survive in the woods ..wich his mom didnt learn him
How do you flip/move a device so much without having wires break off? Or do they break and you dont show the repair cause it would make for boring spots in the vid?
