Got my Paraset working. After a bit of troubleshooting I got mine working. Turned out I missed one wire from the reaction pot to V2 and I had an intermittent short in the cable from the power supply to the set (from 6.3V to ground). Fortunately the thing is quite robust and I didn't smoke anything.
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I picked up these three pre-war German Bakelite radios at a hamfest today. They are very interesting pieces of history. In German the large one is known as a Volksempfänger (Peoples Receiver) VE301. The 301 stood for the 30th of January, the date Hitler came to power.
Just as the Volkswagen (the People's car) was intended to be for the common person, the Volksempfänger's purpose was to make radio reception technology affordable to the general public as well. Of course we all can guess why that was important to a dictatorship! The two smaller radios are known as the Deutscher Kleinempfänger (German small receiver) or the DKE38. 38 stood for the year it was released (1938). These were affectionately known as “Goebbels' Snout”! The VE301 and DKE38 were designed to be produced as cheaply as possible, and they are remarkable simple, but well made. Sensitivity to receive weak signals was limited, to reduce production costs further; so long as the set could receive German stations, it was considered sensitive enough. However, foreign stations could be received after dark with an external antenna, particularly as stations such as the BBC European service increased their transmission power over the course of the war. Listening to foreign stations became a criminal offence in Nazi Germany after the war began. Made up a replacement knob for the RCA Victor control head I bought. This was kind of tricky since I have no idea what the original looked like (there are no pictures online), and the shaft had to fit into a square spline.
In 2010 I picked up a 1936 RCA Victor 5M automobile radio for $10. Unfortunately it did not come with a control head. A few weeks ago I came across one for sale on eBay, and was able to convince the owner to sell it separately from the radio. At some point, I would like to put this radio in my Model-A. It is missing a central knob, but I should be able to make up something suitable to match.
My Grebe Mu-1 cabinet after stripping the old finish off. The images don't show the lovely red from the mahogany.
My Grebe Mu-1 (from 1926) is coming together nicely. I had to replace the wooden breadboard as the original was water damaged. There are a few more things I need to do and then I should be ready for some testing.
Recapped capacitor from my Grebe Mu-1. The hardest part was painting the blooming thing. I had to strip the paint 3 times before I got it to work correctly. The spray paint these days seems to really suck. Got some strange bubbling. Ended up switching to another brand.
After that it looked just like new. Just picked up this A-C Dayton Flewelling Short-Wave Adapter. I love these little boxes. I believe this one is from 1928 or 1929. Unfortunately I am missing the #1 coil. Any winding data on that would be appreciated.
Picked up this gorgeous British radio today. Made in 1955, it is a PYE P131MBQ Jewel Case radio. Needs some recapping and I need to make up a HT and LT battery for it, or install a 240V receptacle in the house or shop.
Some cool German Tubes I just got. These are unique in that they have side connectors (sort of like acorn tubes). On the bottom, you screen in a knob to insert and remove them. The one on the right is shown with such a knob inserted in the bottom.
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AuthorCharles Baetsen holds a Bachelor and a Master's degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Archives
February 2024
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