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Thread Number: 81581
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
1930 RCA Radiola Model 82 |
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Post# 1056063 12/31/2019 at 14:08 (1,577 days old) by Ultramatic  (New York City) |
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On my last trip to Beltsville, MD, I acquired from John (Combo52) (Thanks John!) this beautiful radio. It's a mid-range model. The lower model had no doors. The top of the line had a phonograph. Walnut veneers. These radios even came with an optional remote control. Ironically, at the time, RCA did not manufacture it's own radios, but farmed them out to various manufacturers. This particular model was made by General Electric. The General Electric equivalent is Model H-51.
The first batch of images is when it had just arrived to Brooklyn:
Second batch it was cleaned up a bit with Gojo. That stuff does wonders. I already have the schematic and ordered a variac. Currently sporting some Christmas cheer.
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Post# 1056064 , Reply# 1 12/31/2019 at 14:20 (1,577 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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What a beautiful radio Louie! Those vacuum tubes look like they are the originals.
I just love the warmth of the sound that these old vacuum tube radios produce. The way they warm up and the sound takes a few seconds to start to come out of the speaker. I gives meaning to the song, “Coming to You From Out of Nowhere”, and now I’ve just really dated myself for even knowing of this song. Does it actually work and pick up broadcasts? From the look of it, I’m betting that it does. Hope you are enjoying it. Happy New Year Louie! Eddie | ||
| Post# 1056069 , Reply# 2 12/31/2019 at 16:49 (1,577 days old) by rickr (.) | ||
Beautiful radio! I love antique electronics, I believe these were marketed by Victor, and that is the reason that the electronics were manufactured by other manufactures. A friend of mine has the model with the phonograph in it. Do not know what brand the radio is, but the phonograph is an acoustic Victor with an electric motor. The motor is really strange looking. It is an "open" motor, and looks like an electric meter disk, with a coil on one side.
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Post# 1056089 , Reply# 3 12/31/2019 at 19:21 (1,577 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1056090 , Reply# 4 12/31/2019 at 19:25 (1,577 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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| Post# 1056113 , Reply# 6 1/1/2020 at 02:13 (1,577 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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| Post# 1056114 , Reply# 7 1/1/2020 at 02:18 (1,577 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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Ironically, at the time, RCA did not manufacture it's own radios, but farmed them out to various manufacturers.
This particular model was made by General Electric
According to Wikipedia, RCA was owned by GE at the time. Quote:
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric (GE); however, in 1932, RCA became an independent company after GE was required to divest its ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit.
So it's not surprising that GE made RCA radios at one point.
This post was last edited 01/01/2020 at 07:49 | ||
| Post# 1056115 , Reply# 8 1/1/2020 at 02:33 (1,577 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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Those vacuum tubes look like they are the originals.
I think some must be replacements. If one looks at the maker names on the tube bases, one will see that there is a mix of names.
I played a bit with tube radios when I was younger. It was amusing seeing labels in the radio that always said to use tubes from the radio maker. And yet, there might be no single tube left that was branded with the radio maker name!
Tubes remain very popular in some audiophile circles. I think "warm sound" was one argument, although people with more experience than I have indicate that many tube amps have become more transistor like over the years. (Yes. There are still tube amps being made, although they are not exactly cheap.) Meanwhile, many transistor amps have become more tube like than was once the case.
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Post# 1056118 , Reply# 9 1/1/2020 at 03:47 (1,577 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1056119 , Reply# 10 1/1/2020 at 04:12 (1,577 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Thanks John. It's my understanding General Electric bought RCA back in 1986, that it was owned initially by General Electric is news to me. RCA Radiolas also had it's radios made by Brunswick, Westinghouse, Graybar and others until 1931. Indeed, most of the tubes have been replaced. It would be amazing if it had all it's original tubes. | ||
| Post# 1056124 , Reply# 11 1/1/2020 at 07:59 (1,576 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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The article on Wikipedia mentioned GE buying RCA in the 1980s. Coming round full circle for RCA, I guess...
Yes, it would be surprising if all the tubes were original. I'm far from a radio expert, but I've seen a number of old radios, and almost always there is a healthy mix of what are clearly replacement tubes. | ||
| Post# 1056135 , Reply# 12 1/1/2020 at 10:41 (1,576 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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I didn't know about the GE/RCA connection until reading this thread :) really cool old radio-I have a few from the same era. | ||
| Post# 1056149 , Reply# 13 1/1/2020 at 13:13 (1,576 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
really nice old RCA!
before you bring up on a variac might be good to replace any suspect capacitors (called condensers at that time) as at least some will probably be leaky unless John or someone else did that already. Radios of this time had potted transformers and interstage transformers, chokes, so were more complex/expensive in a way, later circuit designs eliminated them to save cost. The electro-dynamic speakers as seen here were typical; permanent magnets with enough power hadn't become affordable/available yet. Tubes in sets like these tend to be available and fairly reasonable. Looks great and fun to use and enjoy!
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| Post# 1056197 , Reply# 14 1/1/2020 at 19:29 (1,576 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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before you bring up on a variac might be good to replace any suspect capacitors (called condensers at that time) as at least some will probably be leaky unless John or someone else did that already.
Yes. This is possibly already known, but this is worth mentioning. It seems like most people into radios now just automatically replace any failure prone parts before doing anything else. The thinking is: if the part hasn't failed yet, it probably will fail soon. And doing this may just fix problems without having to actually diagnose them.
A link to some talk on this topic:
Radios of this time had potted transformers and interstage transformers, chokes, so were more complex/expensive in a way, later circuit designs eliminated them to save cost
Interesting, and something I'd suspected/been wondering about--if radios didn't have an evolution that allowed cost savings.
(Although I knew for sure of one cost saving approach that came along later: the AC/DC radios that eliminated power transformers.) | ||
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Post# 1056428 , Reply# 15 1/3/2020 at 21:09 (1,574 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Old Radio Yay Louie I am glad you are able to give this radio a good home.
My first partner Michael found it at an antique store almost 40 years ago, it was working when we got it and I used it many hours.
When Ken moved in two years ago we got rid of all the old Victorian furniture in the living room, its kind of funny when I was in my 20s I though it was kind of cool, but in reality it was never my style.
Before we moved it into storage a year ago I turned it on and it still worked, it only seemed to get 1 or 2 of the stronger AM stations however.
The tube that is missing is a rectifier tube, it has more than one and it has never had one since we owned it, If you need any tubes for this radio I still have boxes of them that were collected when I was a kid, I used to love collecting and fixing old radios and B&W TVs.
John L. | ||
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Post# 1056450 , Reply# 16 1/4/2020 at 02:26 (1,574 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Hi John. I'm glad the Radiola is here. It will be loved and cared for and get a full electronic restoration. Some more images after a wipe down:
Internal aerial. Notice the external aerial connectors on the bottom. Beautifully made.
Toggle (On/Off) switch
Tuning capacitor
Loose wire. Not sure where this would go.
Phonograph connection terminals
Heater supply terminals
Missing UX 245 rectifier vacuum tube
Capacitor Pack. Looks like it's burned out. A thick, tar like residue is surrounding the base.
Cone speaker assembly
Frayed power cord
External speaker jack?
Background: Power Transformer, Foreground: Filter Reactor
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Post# 1056455 , Reply# 17 1/4/2020 at 02:58 (1,574 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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| Post# 1056488 , Reply# 18 1/4/2020 at 16:40 (1,573 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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Interesting seeing all the new photos!
One point: from what I see, the missing tube is an an amplifer tube, not a recitifier.
I once had a console radio (not this old, and certainly not this interesting) that also had a design with two amplifier tubes, but only one still present when I got the radio. It worked--although the radio wasn't in peak condition. Then, that's not surprising for something that is decades old! | ||
| Post# 1056490 , Reply# 19 1/4/2020 at 16:47 (1,573 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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loose wire is for the dial lamp-looks like socket may need repair. | ||
| Post# 1056494 , Reply# 20 1/4/2020 at 17:21 (1,573 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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When Ken moved in two years ago we got rid of all the old Victorian furniture in the living room, its kind of funny when I was in my 20s I though it was kind of cool, but in reality it was never my style.
I feel that way, too, about Victorian. I can appreciate it at times, and once thought I liked it--but it's not my style. At least, not now.
I also have had the thought that I have liked Victorian better in imagination than reality (e.g., imagining Sherlock Holmes in a sitting room full of Victorian is more fun to imagine than to live with!).
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Post# 1056495 , Reply# 21 1/4/2020 at 17:23 (1,573 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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| Post# 1056684 , Reply# 22 1/6/2020 at 09:08 (1,571 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
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missing tube...
45 tubes - UX-245 is an earlier "globe" version - have become cult objects among Japan and Hong Kong's single-ended audio fan-boys, hence prices have skyrocketed in the last 25 yrs. ST "shoulder" versions of the 45 were fairly commonly used in radio amplifier circuits of the '30s, and are now sought after by fanatics for low power boutique tube amplifiers
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Post# 1056688 , Reply# 23 1/6/2020 at 10:08 (1,571 days old) by kenwashesmonday (Carlstadt, NJ) |
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It will play with only one '45 output tube, but it won't get as loud or sound as full.
Bob Dobush at findatube.com has good prices for tubes. He as used 45 tubes for $18 and new ones for $41. CLICK HERE TO GO TO kenwashesmonday's LINK | ||
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Post# 1056710 , Reply# 24 1/6/2020 at 14:48 (1,571 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1056722 , Reply# 25 1/6/2020 at 18:23 (1,571 days old) by kenwashesmonday (Carlstadt, NJ) |
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The "2" in 245 only refers to the manufacturer of the tube. What you want / need is a "45" tube. A good used one should be fine. | ||
| Post# 1056724 , Reply# 26 1/6/2020 at 18:54 (1,571 days old) by IowaBear (Cedar Rapids, IA) | ||
 Really great pictures, enjoyed them.
This radio could be delivered to your home for $206.50 according to this ad from the Nov 28th, 1930 Madison Wisconsin State Journal. That's $3,238 and change in today's dollars.
View Full Size
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| Post# 1056758 , Reply# 27 1/7/2020 at 08:39 (1,570 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
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UX245...
the original globe style version is available tested/used on eBay, here's one pair available:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Globe-45-RCA-... The later ST "shoulder" configuration of the 45 is the same tube, it's not cheap either. Emission Lab has put a new version into production for the die-hard audiophools, , but you don't even want to know what those sell for: tubesusa.com/ELtubes.html... I'd just look for a good used ST type 45 tube, that radio amp probably wouldn't require a matched pair so you can just look for a single. I had one kicking around a couple years ago but not sure I still have it... will look. | ||
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Post# 1056760 , Reply# 28 1/7/2020 at 09:59 (1,570 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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UX 245 Tube | ||
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Post# 1056847 , Reply# 29 1/8/2020 at 08:27 (1,569 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1057235 , Reply# 30 1/11/2020 at 08:33 (1,566 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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#45 Tube It is a Ken-Rad tube, it was just tested and sold in Ft Wayne Indiana on 1-27-47, lol
Send me an address Louie and I will send it to you.
John L. | ||
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Post# 1057242 , Reply# 31 1/11/2020 at 09:12 (1,566 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1058058 , Reply# 32 1/18/2020 at 18:52 (1,559 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Who said Christmas is over? | ||
| Post# 1058061 , Reply# 33 1/18/2020 at 19:08 (1,559 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia) | ||
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Radiola What is the story of the brand name "Radiola"?
Here in Australia the name was associated with AWA - Amalgamated Wireless Australasia. we had an AWA Radiola record player when I was a kid. | ||
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Post# 1059016 , Reply# 34 1/27/2020 at 19:10 (1,550 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1059017 , Reply# 35 1/27/2020 at 19:16 (1,550 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Gizmo:
AWA established a joint venture (Amalgamated Wireless Valve Co. Pty Ltd) with Radio Corporation of America (RCA), to manufacture radio valves (vacuum tubes) at the Ashfield works under the AWV, RCA and Radiola brands. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Ultramatic's LINK | ||
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Post# 1059027 , Reply# 36 1/27/2020 at 21:55 (1,550 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Nice Power Cord Hi Louie, It looks like progress is being made.
Nice Variac , these are a good idea if you are powering up old electronic equipment that has not been turned on in a long time.
It might not make any difference with this radio as we turned it on and let it play for at least a 1/2 hour not that long before you got it after it sat for at least 10 years without being turned on.
Interesting that the new power cord looks like it is polarized so it is not an exact reproduction so you could lose points at the judging, LOL
Keep up the good progress, John L. | ||
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Post# 1059049 , Reply# 37 1/28/2020 at 11:54 (1,549 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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LOL John! | ||
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