[TVARC] Radio Restoration Projects

[mike regan]

One of my projects for 2023 is to rebuild2 antique battery-operated AM radios I own and to restore them to be fullyoperational.

My radios are an Atwater Kentmodel 20C and an RCA Radiola III.

I have owned these radios sincethe mid 1970’s when Karen and I operated an antique shop in NorthernIllinois.  We purchased several radiosfrom a man who was liquidating his collection, but these two radios are theonly ones we have left.

Both of these radios date from themid-to-late 1920’s, and they were both designed to be powered by a and 6-volt “A”lead-acid hour storage battery , as well as  “B” and “C” dry cell batteries. Many of youare familiar with these types of “farm radios” which were intended to be usedin homes before there was widespread household electrification.

Fortunately, both radios werepopular models, and there is a fair amount of information available outliningthe necessary steps for restoring them to their original operating condition.

Unfortunately, I have neverrestored a radio of this type, and I will have to be learning while I go.

My reasons for writing to you allare that there are numerous aspects to these projects, and I am seeking adviceand assistance from all of you in the club.

Firstly, if any of you haveexperience in restoring radios like these, I would be very grateful for anyassistance you can provide to me.  Iwould also be interested in learning about any resources you may know of regardingthe restoration of radios like these.
I need to replace all the tubes ineach radio.  The Atwater Kent uses 5 ‘01Aor UX201A tubes, and the Radiola III uses 2 WD-11 tubes.  Sometimes the WD-11 tubes are replaced by UX199 tubes, using some sort of tube socket adaptors. If any of you have any new old stock (NOS)tubes of these types, I would be interested in purchasing them from you.  I would also be grateful if any of you hasany information or experience in sourcing tubes such as these.
My intention is to power theradios using a modern day “battery eliminator”. There are commercially made battery eliminators available.  KD8BUV operates a company called AntiqueRadios Inc. in Jackson, MI, and he sells the model ARBE-III battery eliminatorfor $160 plus s&h.  I have never seenone of these, but I have heard through people in the AWA that it is a reliableunit.   The AWA offers a printed circuitboard for making your own solid state battery eliminator.  I have purchased one of these, and Ken KaplanKB2ART, and Rich Antolick W4RJA, have been helping me to source many of thecomponents required for this project. Again, if anyone has advice or experience with battery eliminators likethis I would be grateful for you advice and assistance.

I have two further challenges as Imove forward with these projects:  

First is that I do not have thematching horn speaker for the Atwater Kent radio.  It was originally paired with the AtwaterKent Model H, which was a matching metal horn speaker.  If any of you have leads or ideas on sourcingan AK Model H speaker, I would love to hear from you.  

Second is that the RCA Radiola IIIwas intended to be operated using headphones rather than a speaker, but I wantto drive a speaker rather than headphones. At the time, RCA marketed a “Radiola Balanced Amplifier” which was aseparate 2-tube amplifier to be paired with Radiola III like I have for usedriving a speaker rather than headphones. Additionally, RCA offered a Radiola IIIA radio which was a 4-tube radiothat integrated the separate Radiola III and the Radiola Balanced Amplifierinto one unit.  If any of you haveinformation or experience with either of these other units in the Radiola IIIFamily, I would be grateful for any information or assistance you may be ableto offer me.

These are my antique radio restorationprojects for 2023.  Many thanks to KenKB2ART, Rich W4RJA, and George K2DM for the frequent assistance and advice theyhave already provided to me on this project and on many other projects that Ihave undertaken.  I look forward tohearing from you in regard to this project.

Thanks,
Mike Regan KM4ZTE

mikeeregan at yahoo.com

816-678-5086

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