Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Old Time RCA Playback
Youtube ^ | 5/28/2018 | Wally_Bert

Posted on 05/28/2018 7:58:35 AM PDT by wally_bert

I was able to pull this vintage RCA record player and some vinyl. There were a few packs of needles too.

The previous owner(s) seemed to take care of it. It needs some maintenance and some fresh grease. I found a lot of technical advice for this model.

It was missing a crank handle. There is a fellow out there that makes reproduction handles.

I rolled the footage over the weekend and slapped this edit together earlier this morning. When I get a macro lens and some maintenance pulled, I'll do another.


TOPICS: History; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: antique; music; phonograph; rca
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last
To: DiogenesLamp

It belonged most likely to my wife’s grandparents.

There were some needle packs from the Columbia Music Company. Those packs had 5 digit phone numbers.


21 posted on 05/28/2018 10:28:29 AM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

I didn’t know those were a real thing.

The only ones I saw were on episodes of Hogan’s Heroes.


22 posted on 05/28/2018 10:29:23 AM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: wally_bert
Ours had some spare needles in the little holder up in the corner, but we didn't have any packs.

5 digit phone numbers? Wow.

I would like to get an Edison phonograph one of these days. It would be a novelty.

23 posted on 05/28/2018 10:30:46 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

I have a Sony BVW-75 Betacam SP videotape machine and an edit controller sitting around.

A few people get a laugh from it.

I had the player out yesterday and a couple of the down the street neighbors got to hear it play.


24 posted on 05/28/2018 10:35:00 AM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: wally_bert
I didn’t know those were a real thing.

No, they're real. I think mine was made by Sears, and I think they only made them for two or three years. Wire recorders were problematic. The wire would break, and there was no easy way to splice them.

Germans invented "tape" recording, and it was so much better than wire recording, everyone went to that.

Mine came with one intact spool of recording wire. I've never tried to load it because I don't want to damage it. The record player and the radio work though, and I assume the wire recorder and playback works, but I haven't tried it.

I also have a "portable" television set from the 1950s sitting in my office, and I would like to get an even older one from the 1940s. Ever so often I cruise Ebay looking at them, but I really don't have time to devote to this sort of novelty stuff right now.

But I just thought I would say I share your interest in old things.

The only ones I saw were on episodes of Hogan’s Heroes.

Must have been American. The Germans were using tape at that time. :)

25 posted on 05/28/2018 10:37:07 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: wally_bert
I have a Sony BVW-75 Betacam SP videotape machine and an edit controller sitting around.

A few people get a laugh from it.

My sons and I have been watching episodes of "Fringe." We are on the fifth season and the episodes revolve around finding these missing betamax tapes on which Walter recorded his brilliant plan for stopping the "Observers". I get a kick out of it every time they show him loading a tape into his betamax player. I think they thought it was a pretty good joke at the time they made it.

I had the player out yesterday and a couple of the down the street neighbors got to hear it play.

Those old Victrolas have a distinctive sound. Sort of tinny, and easily identifiable. Anyone who has ever heard one can recognize them instantly.

I remember when I was growing up I used to love to watch "Dark Shadows", and I was especially haunted by "Quentin's theme" which they used quite a lot once it debuted.

https://youtu.be/upMGuszcHOM

26 posted on 05/28/2018 10:45:37 AM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp
You should look for a Pilot TV-37, a cheap 3 inch tv from 1949. Even restored, they don't work very well, but they are great for display, and great conversation pieces. If you're not careful, they can give you one helluva shock.


27 posted on 05/28/2018 11:48:36 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 trillion dollars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

Believe it or not, the wire recorder was invented in 1898 by Valdemar Poulsen. He called it the “telegraphone”.


28 posted on 05/28/2018 11:53:50 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 trillion dollars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: bigbob

Thank you, I bookmarked that for later.

A little while ago, I got a notice from Youtube about a video I shot a long time ago. It was a fair cable car ride that I ran the speed up and used stock music.

It never did much so I deleted it.


29 posted on 05/28/2018 1:17:07 PM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind
You should look for a Pilot TV-37, a cheap 3 inch tv from 1949. Even restored, they don't work very well, but they are great for display, and great conversation pieces. If you're not careful, they can give you one helluva shock.

That is a good choice, and sort of what I had in mind. It would be cool if I could make it work on a more or less permanent basis, but I suspect I would have to do some serious modifications to it to make that happen like changing out the CRT with a more modern tube of some sort. (possibly an oscilloscope tube.) Unless it uses some pretty common tubes, I would be afraid to operate it very long. I would be especially concerned about the CRT.

Electronics is my thing.

30 posted on 05/28/2018 2:01:20 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind
Believe it or not, the wire recorder was invented in 1898 by Valdemar Poulsen. He called it the “telegraphone”.

Didn't know that. I wonder how he recorded anything and played it back prior to the invention of tubes?

31 posted on 05/28/2018 2:02:32 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

The original WAS an oscilloscope tube, a 3KP4. They are nearly impossible to find these days, many people use a 3KP1, but that gives a green picture. Even they aren’t easy to find. All the other tubes are very common.

It might be an interesting project to fit a semi-modern solid state portable TV into the old cabinet (and leave the original chassis intact). There are plenty of those TVs (from Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc) around and they are cheap.

Another option would be a 7-inch TV using a 7JP4. There were many manufacturers and models of those, probably the best of them would be the Admiral 19A11, which had an actual power transformer (rather than an AC/DC set with series string filaments). Good 7JP4s are much easier to find than 3KP4s.


32 posted on 05/28/2018 2:33:01 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 trillion dollars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

In the ‘50s, my grandparents’ phone numbers were 927J2 and 903R1. (How do I even remember that?!) You picked up the receiver and told the lady, “927J2 please.” and she’d connect you.


33 posted on 05/28/2018 2:40:52 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (Have an A-1 day.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

More than you probably ever want to know is here:

https://www.princeton.edu/ssp/joseph-henry-project/wire-recorder/Telegraphone.pdf


34 posted on 05/28/2018 2:55:45 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 trillion dollars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind
(rather than an AC/DC set with series string filaments.)

I perceive you are familiar with old designs too. :)

Yes, the low end stuff used filaments in a series and the better stuff used actual power transformers.

The original WAS an oscilloscope tube, a 3KP4. They are nearly impossible to find these days, many people use a 3KP1, but that gives a green picture. Even they aren’t easy to find. All the other tubes are very common.

This was the first thing that popped into my mind. The picture would be green unless I could find a white phosphor tube. Most people wouldn't know that isn't correct, so I figured as a working prop, it would still get people's attention.

It might be an interesting project to fit a semi-modern solid state portable TV into the old cabinet (and leave the original chassis intact). There are plenty of those TVs (from Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc) around and they are cheap.

I was thinking it might be possible to find something like that with a tube that was close enough.

I've seen people make miniature Video Arcade systems (like Pac Man and such) with repurposed tubes and displays like that.

35 posted on 05/28/2018 3:34:16 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: MayflowerMadam
In the ‘50s, my grandparents’ phone numbers were 927J2 and 903R1. (How do I even remember that?!) You picked up the receiver and told the lady, “927J2 please.” and she’d connect you.

That is really old school! I've seen it on television, but i've never used an operator to place a call.

36 posted on 05/28/2018 3:35:24 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

The area is very rural western NY state. Until just a few years ago you couldn’t direct dial long distance. You could dial the 10 digits (new-fangled for there), but STILL an operator broke in and asked, “What number are you calling from?” Maybe that happens now; I don’t know.


37 posted on 05/28/2018 4:57:51 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (Have an A-1 day.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

I showed that video to some of the crowd at the mines.

Everyone liked it. One guy was impressed with the shape it was in considering the tin building it was parked in for decades.


38 posted on 05/30/2018 4:43:21 PM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: wally_bert
Everyone liked it. One guy was impressed with the shape it was in considering the tin building it was parked in for decades.

They built stuff tough back in those days. I guess they had to. The only plastic invented in that era I think, was "Bakelite." Brittle stuff that, so they generally made it pretty thick.

39 posted on 05/30/2018 4:47:12 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson