[Ed Kraushar]

I picked up a partial Plio-6 at an auction some time ago and decided to see if I could make a playing radio out of it. All that was there was the front panel with rheostat, variable capacitors, coils (the antenna one had wire removed) and a tube board with sockets, grid resistors and a couple of caps.

A lot of time was spent looking for information and schematics. There was not a lot of information available and none of the schematics matched the actual panel and coils. Some data was obtained from advertisments and 1922 and 23 books. It is possible that this was a kit radio also. The radio was rebuilt using the remaining parts on the chassis with time period ones added attempting to copy the appearance of the radio shown in the few photos.

The front panel.

The antenna coil was rewound, several times, trying to get one that the radio was happy with. It is a single coil with three taps. Several versions of the radio were found in the search and some used plug in coils and a second chassis board with the audio transformers on it. It is posssible that my chassis was a combination of r/c coupling and transformer coupled audio. The rear board with the jacks was my addition, the tube board was not that sturdy and I was worried that the audio transformers would be too heavy. One of the original photos showed two small boards, one on each side of the back for the jacks. The replacement back panel was made from reverse painted 1/4 inch Lexan.

Chassis top view.

Chassis underside.

The chassis came without the audio transformers. I was able locate several that were very close in appearance to ones used on one of the chassis photos. The white "blobs" are rebuilt wax covered capacitors and grid resistors that came with the original remains. The rebuilt radio plays but performance is not great and there is not much in AM available in my area. I suspect that may be the reason that the same radio had different schematics and very different coils but the same model number.

An early Plio-6 photo borrowed from the Radio Museum.

Ed.

[btse1]

Whatever its problems, it’s a heckuva nice-looking radio after all your efforts.

Tom

[Radio Nut]

Hi Ed
Another nice job. I have seen a lot of you radio jobs and they are always showroom pieces.I would love to able to do that. I am attempting my first cabinet Majestic Type 2511somebody painted green.I am just cleaning the last bite around grill area and then to get stain and black stuff. Somebody said the stain was most likely Austrilian Walnut .Some day I would like to meet you Ed as we are not that far apart and I go to my daughters in Toronto a lot.My dad had a friend in Campbellford we went to visit once and I had a cold .He said smell this and it was ammonia so never forgot Campbellford. I think I was about 15 at the time.
Bruce Ruttan

[Ed Kraushar]

Radio Nut wrote:

Hi Ed
Some day I would like to meet you Ed as we are not that far apart and I go to my daughters in Toronto a lot.My dad had a friend in Campbellford we went to visit once and I had a cold .He said smell this and it was ammonia so never forgot Campbellford. I think I was about 15 at the time.
Bruce Ruttan

Hi Bruce,

Give me a call if you are in the area. I am located about 10 minutes north of Campbellford. I have not been travelling much lately but I should try to get to Kingston. It is years since I have been there.

Ed.

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