[Denver Ditdat]

Ham Radio Ping List

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[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Atwater Kent made some of the best radios in those days.
He paid his people very well, a union moved in on his company so he locked his factory doors and retired.

[redhead]

Look here for an interesting browse through broadcasting history. My married name is Pavek, but I don't think we are related.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

I fooled around with radio and radio repair when I was growing up (b: 1954) and enjoyed it quite a bit. I especially enjoyed the "Sherlock Holmes" aspect of researching electronic faults that stumped me. I also accumulated many dozens of old radios and TVs (found in the trash) that I had either repaired or given up on; all of which formed a large wall in my folk's basement back in NJ. Yes, I had a "radiowall" LOL. Plus boxes and boxes of tubes and parts. I have to confess a soft spot for those old radios and the way they look, but to accumulate them now seems totally absurd, other than a rambling hankering for "the way things used to be". "Enjoy at a distance."

[PCBMan]

It's sad that they don't make them like they used to. Cheapness has taken the place of quality construction and good RF engineering.

[radiohead]

Sounds like a great show. When I get a job and a place with a family room, I want to fill it with old radios. It would be great to listen to classic radio (see http://www.radiospirits.com) on an old wooden radio like my grandmother had.

For those who like radio entertainment, BBC 7 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/) offers dramas, sci fi, comedy and children's shows. I enjoy listening to Sherlock Holmes or radio versions of the Outer Limits over the computer. It's too bad that, as far as I know, American radio no longer puts out this type of entertainment.

[76834]

Thanks for the post.
After reading I went up to the attic and pulled out an old Zenith Trans Oceanic probly 1952
Plugged it in to see if it still works, it does

I have tons and tons of 50's and 60's stuff up there.
Collins KWM, a Gates 1000W Broadcast transmitter, at least 5 Hallicrafters receivers, thousands of tubes most in their original boxes.

A friend asked me why do I collect and hang on to this?
Answer:
It might be worth something someday.

[martin_fierro]

Used to have a neighbor who was *really* into collecting Art Deco-style radios. He had a TON of 'em.

[NCjim]

Some of the old floor radios were beautiful pieces of furniture. My Dad was an antique radio collector and I can remember quite a few of them.

Several had a "magic eye" that was a tube whose top was visible on the front of the set above the tuning dial. As you approached a station it would close its "eye" to let you know when you'd reached the best reception possible.

As a young boy I learned how to take the tubes out and test them on a tube tester my Dad had and how to read the schematics from Howard W. Sams. And we'd order parts from Allied, Burstein-Applebee, and Lafayette.

I used to go to sleep at night listening to a crystal radio I'd built - with unbelievably heavy headphones.

Part of the lore was knowing not only the station call letters but that many had meanings -

WLS, Chicago, Illinois - Sears Roebuck (World's largest store)
WOWO, Fort Wayne, Indiana - Westinghouse (Think of a W with a circle around it)
WPTF, Raleigh, North Carolina - Durham Life (We protect the family)

Even Asheville, North Carolina, (the Land of the Sky) where I grew up, had a few stations that reflected the region - WWNC (wonderful western North Carolina), WLOS (wonderful land of sky), and WSKY (wonderful sky).

It was amazing that from Asheville I could hear as far away as KDKA Pittsburgh and WWL New Orleans on a radio powered only by a germanium diode!

[xcamel]

This is an Atwater-Kent model 20C that I rebuilt in 1975, and sold to a collector for the Toronto science center. It is now owned by UTA (Texas).

I found it in it's original box with a model 4F speaker, both covered in pigeon poop, in a garage attic. The restoration took 2 years.

I just wish I had kept all of them, the best (the most rare) was a Spiltdorf model 3Z with hand wound spider coils.

[raccoonradio]

Visited this place in Dover, OH, run by a former TV repairman,
IIRC. He collects old radios, TVs, equipment, and memorabilia. You have to contact him to see the place and I think he charges $5, but a fun little visit down memory lane.

http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity/set/1930/

[Moonmad27]

Saw a booth with old radios at today's Rose Bowl Flea Market. They were beautiful - even if they didn't work, they'd be great art deco items to display.