Two Tube Homebrew Radio

[Ed Kraushar]

I posted this to another forum but will post it here also to liven this forum up.

I picked up this two tube radio in a lot that I purchased and finally got it onto the bench for an examination. I think it is a homebrew but the construction is far better than most homebrews. Could it be a kit or an early manufactured radio. There is no name on it. The cabinet is very well built with latches and engraved lines on the bakelite. The cabinet has a radio licence on it for 1933, very late for a radio of this style to be operated in Montreal.

The parts are well laid out well assembled. For instance the wood chassis has the ends finished with a wood strips perpendicular to the base to hide the end grain.

These coils slide on brass rails.

These coils move on a brass gear.

Does anyone recognize the design?

Ed.

[Gerry O’Hara]

I have no idea Ed, but it is a nice design. Are there any manufacturers names on any of the components? Have you had it working?

[Ed Kraushar]

Gerry O’Hara wrote:

I have no idea Ed, but it is a nice design. Are there any manufacturers names on any of the components? Have you had it working?

I will power it up in the next couple days. The only worry may be a leaky phone condenser by Signal depending on its construction. Other parts are tube sockets by King, audio interstage by Amertran, rheostat by Klosner, Fil-Ko-Stat by DX Instruments and knobs by Accuratune. No markings on the variable caps.

It is probably a homebrew. The parts used are high quality, for instance the variable grid leak is mounted on a stamped brass bracket that is held in place by one of the connecting grid thumbnut on the tube base.

The surprise is the Eveready "C" battery. Handwritten on it is "cash, 36 cents, 16-3-1932" For fun I put a digital meter on it. The 4.5 volt section measures 4.2 volts and the 3 volt section 2.9 volts.

I will post further when I fire it up.

Ed.

[Ed Kraushar]

Gerry O’Hara wrote:

Have you had it working?

It is powered up and playing very well as found and using the 77 year old "C" battery. It is driving a speaker with good volume from only two 01A’s. It receives many US and Canadian stations and its performance makes many of my 20’s radios look poor.

I have the front panel, tuning caps and coils and the audios only from a Grimes Inverse Duplex. This radio is getting up my interest in homebrewing the rest of the Grimes.

Ed.

[radionut]

That is a nice looking piece Ed would love to hear it working. I live in Kingston and don’t get many stations here.
Bruce Ruttan

[Ed Kraushar]

radionut wrote:

I live in Kingston and don’t get many stations here.
Bruce Ruttan

I don’t get a lot of AM here neither unless the radio is a good performer. The one I usually listen to from Peteterborough went FM with a weak signal. I have built a few part 15 AM transmitters to use with the older radios as it allows a very short antenna, just a few feet behind the radios to get its signal. TV satellite music stations provide a good choice of music to broadcast.

Ed.

[Author]

Posts