August 2024
The Superflex
A Publication of the Alabama Historical Radio Society August 2024
NOTE FROM PRESIDENT WAG
Members,
Mark your calendars!
These are the dates and link for upcoming AHRS Business meetings for the remainder of 2024. All are on Mondays at 7:00 PM. Details of the December meeting (which is in-person at the Shop and is also our annual holiday social) will be sent prior to the event.
DATES: September 23, October 23, November 25
LINKS:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86330579924?pwd=ckZLWEJMb0V2ajhBUzh0S2liQnlmZz09
Meeting ID: 863 3057 9924
Passcode: 631140
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Boyd Bailey’selectronics class will be held at the Shop and via web on Saturday, September 7th. This is a continuation of the series designed to take us into solid state electronics, projects, and breadboarding. Note:
The following link should work for future classes in perpetuity (or until otherwise notified):
Topic: AHRS Radio Restoration Class
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88180351990?pwd=N2lucjB3WVhtR05nTSs5S0xGcURadz09
An email to the “regulars” from Boyd and to the membership at large will be sent closer to the event.
Our next auction is not yet scheduled, but we are restocking! Perhaps, we can squeeze one in for October. Give us some feedbackabout the types of items you would like to see listed, for example, test equipment? Items that are working or are restoration projects or a mixture of types?
August was a busy month indeed! We exhibited again at the Huntsville Hamfest, on Saturday, the 17th:
·Let me personally thank Dee Haynes and John Herndon who took the lead, restoring a Johnson Viking II transmitter that was cranking out about 100w CW. It sold early for our asking price to a “seasoned” ham.
· Also, thanks to the members here in Birmingham who loaded our wagon train on Friday afternoon for the trip and drivers, Steven Westbrook and Grady Shook. As always, Ray Giles helped set up and take down (with much less stuff than we came with!). Additional members helped man our 5 tables during the day.
· We made new contacts and renewed old friendships.
· I personally sneaked (snuck?) into a couple of forums, including one (thankfully, not calculus-based) on the unusual topic of quantum entanglement….
On August 8, the Society was honored to exhibit at the Alabama Broadcasters Assocation annual Conference, held at the Ross Bridge Resort, in Birmingham. The Society’s booth was used as the backdrop for a live podcast presented by This Week in Radio Tech, broadcaster, Kirk Harnick. Along with other guests from the conference, Steven Westbook provided a brief segment about the Society. Mr. Harrnick expressed an interest in broadcasting an entire podcast from the AHRS Shop. Stay Tuned!
The Board of Directors and Officers met Tuesday, August 13th. We are starting to think about our year-end business meeting and annual Holiday party. John Outland will chair the nominating CMTE with Ray Giles volunteering as a Board member. We need another Director and a couple of members to populate the CMTE. All officers (Pres, VP, Secy, Treas) serve 1-year terms and are eligible for re-election at this event; we will have three Board members rotating off who are also eligible for re-election to another 3-year term. Details will follow but if anyone wishes to be considered for a leadership position, let us know or contact John directly.
The ”usual” date for the event is the Thursday between Christmas and New Years (Thu Dec 26th) but we are looking at dates earlier (Wed Dec 18th) or later (Wed Jan 8th) that do not conflict with the Holidays or meetings of our cousin society BARC (BHM Amateur Radio Club). If you have a preference, let us know.
One concern raised at the Board meeting was the potential societal liability when we assist with, or perform, repair of antique radios, especially “hot chassis” (AC/DC, AA5) models for people unfamiliar with their idiosyncrasies. We plan to have our experts make recommendations, so we are all “on the same page” in this regard.
On Saturday the 24th, local Scouting USA, Vulcan District hosted the 2024 Advance-O-Rama in several locations across the Birmingham area. The purpose of the event was to provide training for multiple Merit Badges on one day. We hosted a training section for the Radio merit badge, We had three Scouts (and one mom) at the AHRS shop attending the educational session. Dee Haynes took the lead and invited several of our members to participate, Skip Leslie (demonstrated the operation of the Joe Dentice DJ Booth), John Herndon (amateur radio and magnetism demos), and Boyd Bailey (radio theory and the All American Five radio). We hope they all earn the badge soon and look forward to future interactions with the Scouts.
This month, Society members participated in the annual show of the Birmingham Record Collectors, held at the Gardendale Civic Center in Gardendale, Alabama.
The cataloging of our equipment holdings is set to begin, in anticipation for uploading to the museum management software PastPerfect. A grant request to CAWACO RC&D was made several months ago by VP Steven Westbrook on behalf of AHRS to support this effort. A grant for the expenses incurred was received a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to everyone involved.
We have an upcoming radio history exhibit scheduled at the Homewood Public Library during November. Likely, we will ask for volunteers to help setup; details will be forthcoming.
Let me poll the membership about the need for an easily accessible and current calendar to keep everyone abreast of events. Send your thoughts (ahrs2000@gmail.com) about how you think this might best be accomplished. We are currently in beta testing of one approach on the opening page of the Society’s website.
My good friend of over 40 years, a retired family doctor who also loves tech (not Dr. Boyd Bailey although what follows could easily apply to him), requested an AI program to write a poem about me, as a physician and one who likes to (mostly aspires to) repair antique radios. Apparently, this “spooky” version, in anticipation of Halloween, survived the AHRS editorial board and its poetry subCMTE:
In the depths of twilight, where shadows softly creep, lives Dr. Wag, who keeps secrets dark and deep. By day, he's a healer, tending to the living with care, but as night descends, he reveals a different layer.
With the moon casting eerie light, he retreats to his chamber of old, where radios rest in spectral silence, their stories untold. He pries open their haunted hearts, breathing life into their ghostly parts.
His hands, skilled in the art of resurrection, twist and turn with chilling perfection. He awakens voices from beyond the grave, their whispers filling the night air with an otherworldly wave.
In his dual existence, Wag walks the line between life and the spectral scene, mending bodies by day, and reviving echoes of the unseen. His work, a blend of science and spectral art, makes him a master of both the living and the departed's heart.
This took a few seconds on his phone. I leave the literary critique to others, along with the debates as to where AI may take us. That said, one of my all-time favorite sci-fi works is the 1947 novelette With Folded Hands by Jack Williamson.
(Comment by the AHRS Poetry Sub-committee) You wish to hang on to your day Job!
A wonderful Labor Day weekend to all and let us welcome back college football, albeit with a season promising many changes and challenges: Coach Saban not at UA, a 12-team playoff season, NIL and the transfer portal, plus a massive SEC without divisions and many rivalry games no longer played annually (my LSU Tigers don’t play Auburn this year!)
Respectfully submitted,
Wag
President, AHRS
Long Island CW Club, Teachers of Morse Code
One of the exhibitors at the Huntsville Hamfest was the Long Island CW Club, Teachers of Morse Code. He demonstrated a unique approach to teaching Morse code.
Our Passion for Morse Code
The Long Island CW Club had been started in 2018 to promote and expand the use of Morse Code- CW amongst amateur radio operators, initially in our geographic area. Today there is no longer a FCC requirement to learn CW to obtain an amateur radio license. Yet we find there is still a pent up demand to learn the code, become more proficient at it and to take part in activities centered around this interesting skill. To help fill this void, we have put together a group of dedicated teachers of Morse Code – CW. We conduct CW training classes via internet video conference classes at various skill levels. We have grown quickly, branching out with members nationwide and overseas. Please see our Calendar for CW class times. Besides Morse Code classes, we are very active with regular ‘brick and mortar’ activities worldwide such as QRP outings, portable operations, museum and hamfest visits and luncheons. We also hold regular presentations on a variety of ham radio and Morse Code – CW related topics, also by internet video conference.
What to Do With That Old Antique Radio
Don’t let an old beauty sit gathering dust
By James Careless
Published: October 10, 2023
Maybe it’s a hand-me-down from an elderly relative. Maybe you found it at a flea market, or it has been hidden in the attic for far too long.
It could be an anonymous-looking black box with big dials and horn speaker from the 1920s, or an iconic Zenith floor console with big lighted dial and multiple wood veneers from the 1930s, or a multi-colored tabletop model cased in Bakelite plastic from the 1940s.
At some point an antique radio may come into your life; or someone will ask you to help them with that antique they just inherited. What should they do with it?
Radio World spoke with several restoration experts. Here’s what they told us about the right and wrong ways to handle these artifacts, because doing this the wrong way can turn a valuable antique into a destroyed “blue smoke generator.”
What’s antique?
“In similar fields of collecting such as in furniture, it’s widely accepted that anything over 100 years is ‘antique,’” said Lisa Edwardson, owner of the online Retro Radio Shop, which sells and restores old radios (and can even add Bluetooth and aux inputs to them).
“Fifty to 100 years is ‘vintage,’ and less than 50 years old is ‘retro,’ which is somewhat of a sub-category of vintage. Just where the bottom threshold of retro lies is quite a gray area.”
Chris Deneau is the owner of Renovated Radios in Macomb, Mich., which specializes in making reproduction parts for old radios. “In my opinion, an antique radio is any radio powered with vacuum tubes, which should only be powered up with a variac after a careful electronic inspection,” he said.
For the sake of this article, we will refer to them all, including vintage/retro transistor radios, as antique radios.
Determining value
Several qualities determine market value of an antique radio including its general availability, its specific brand/model and its condition.
“If the radio in question checks off just one of these, it can increase its value,” Edwardson said. “If you have a trifecta, you’ve hit the jackpot.”
Quality antique radios that were made in smaller production numbers are much sought after. “As well, if they were made from a fragile material such as glass, or even Catalin —1930s colored phenol formaldehyde resins — fewer of them have survived the years,” said Edwardson.
“The Sparton Model 1186 Nocturne is a great example of this, as it was partially made of glass. Any Catalin set is also typically worth more as fewer of these sets have survived due to this material being relatively fragile when compared to Bakelite or wood.”
This beautiful Model 1186 Nocturne by Sparton Corp. once sat in the lobby of the Park Central Hotel in Miami Beach. Today it is in the Wolfsonian-FIU Museum in Florida. “In 1936, this radio cost $350, nearly as much as a new Ford car,” states its website states. “With its shiny exterior and sleek design, this very large floor-model radio is the epitome of design of the time. At its center are knobs and a display console with hands telling you what station you are on. All of the radio components and features are hidden in a cabinet behind the cobalt blue mirrored disk.” (Credit: The Wolfsonian–FIU)
Like a vintage car, a radio’s brand and model affects its value as a collectible or resale item. Certain radios, thanks to their unique designs, features and/or superior build quality, can fetch more.
“Catalin radios, which are typically swirled and colorful, are highly sought after,” Deneau said. “Radios with mid-century or Art Deco looks, chrome fronts and large beautiful dials can also be highly desirable. There are so many variables, it’s best to consult someone familiar with values or research exact model numbers.”
Those variables explain why antique radio prices vary so widely.
“You can look on eBay anytime and find radios for sale for $50 because they don’t work, but priced at $1,000 to $2,000 when they’re working,” said Zach Mumford, general manager of Mumford Restoration in Raleigh, N.C., which restores furniture, clocks, pianos, guns and other items.
“Certain types get a lot more money because they are known for their brand name, such as Zenith. A lot of Zeniths were made in the 1930s, and they have an iconic face plate to them that people really like. They were also known as a ‘rich man’s radio’ back in the day. So collectors will pay a lot more for a restored Zenith floor console than for your average Philco radio, which was more of a ‘working man’s’ radio.”
This beautifully restored Philco Transitone “flying wedge” radio was originally brown and its center wedge was unpainted. Chris Deneau of Renovated Radios customized it after fixing a cracked case.
Consulting engineer and RW contributor Charles “Buc” Fitch also cites the beauty of the construction.
“Many radios were replacements for the fireplace in America, as the new center of the living room where families would gather,” he said. “The cabinetry could be craftsman-grade. That’s a separate restoration in itself.”
Plug it in?
Once you have taken possession of an antique radio, your temptation may be to plug it in, turn it on and see if it works. Many people reading this article are qualified to assess the condition of an old radio; but if you aren’t one of them, don’t just plug the thing in. The aged components and wires in old high-voltage sets can fail and burn — hence the nickname blue-smoke generator.
“It is not advisable to go ahead and plug it in,” Chris Deneau says. “There are many things that could cause an 80-year-old piece of history to have some kind of failure.”
Chris Deneau of Renovated Radios has been collecting and selling radios for 15 years. He’s shown with a collection of Catalin, bakelite and plastic radios.
Said Zach Mumford, “If it doesn’t turn on as you’d hoped, the best-case scenario is that your circuit breaker would trip while the radio’s internals get damaged. Worst-case scenario, it could start a fire because of short circuits within the radio itself.”
“Chances are that your house won’t immediately burst into flames or you will not get thrown across the room by a high-voltage electric shock,” Edwardson concluded. “But there’s a better and safer approach than just plugging it in to test.”
Old battery-powered transistor radios are not prone to this level of failure, but caution never hurts.
Buc Fitch adds, “AC-powered classic radios should be rewired for three-wire power cords such that exposed or accessible metal parts are at ground potential. Many years ago I had an all-metal cabinet shortwave receiver with two-wire cord; it tingled whenever you touched the cabinet. It turned out to be leakage from the primary winding in the power transformer. Three-wire and a new transformer corrected the issue. Some early AC/DC radios also have hot chasses, hence the ‘plastic’ cabinets.”
Find an expert
Instead of rolling the dice on your antique radio’s fate by plugging it in, leave it alone and find a respected radio restoration expert to check it out. Many of them will also do complete cabinet restorations, along with finding original/accurate reproductions of missing/aged buttons, dials and knobs, as well as the glass with the right tuning markings.
A Google search will reveal lots of people offering to restore your antique radio. Be sure to check out reviews and references. There are people ranging from hobbyists to dedicated radio restoration companies offering these services, and some are better than others.
As for the experts’ advice on finding trustworthy radio restoration shops?
“You can find professional radio service shops through numerous sources,” said Edwardson. “And yes, it can be made new again with original parts. It may take some time and effort but it can be done. You can post on http://www.antiqueradios.com and request someone near you. Also consider reaching out to your local antique radio club, as they can certainly point you in the right direction as well.”
Deneau of parts specialist Renovated Radios said, “We have a number of people we can recommend to do restoration work on your radio depending what part of the country you are in. Once again, if you are looking for someone very local, it may be smart to join some of the radio groups on Facebook and ask if there is anyone in your area that would be willing to do the work.”
“Radio restoration is pretty much what we do,” said Mumford. “We restore them using original parts, because they’re just not producing new parts that would fit into antique radios. So it comes out looking pretty much like it would’ve when it rolled off the factory floor in the 1930s, 1940s or whenever it was made.”
Use it
A restored antique radio is like a restored antique car. It needs to be used (carefully) and maintained to keep it in top condition. So once you’ve had your antique radio restored, be sure to listen to it every now and then. You’ll be astounded just how good even today’s AM radio sounds on a receiver designed to do it justice.
“Once restored, use it!” Edwardson told Radio World. “It’s not recommended to leave it playing unattended for any significant period, but if it has been serviced or restored, use it as often as you like. Keep it dust free and clean, and you’ll get many, many hours out of your old gem.”
Deneau agreed: “Once a radio is properly restored it should be good to use with little to no maintenance. Just keep it clean, dust off the back and enjoy.”
Said Mumford, “Usually, once an antique radio has been properly restored, the only problems that occur to it — at least for the next five to 10 years — are just tubes going out, which can be replaced. You just have to have a source to find the right tube that fits with your radio, and the people who restored your radio can likely help you with that.”
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James Careless
James Careless is an award-winning freelance journalist with experience in radio/TV broadcasting as well as A/V equipment, system design and integration. He has written for Radio World, TV Tech, Systems Contractor News and AV Technology among others. Broadcast credits include CBC Radio, NPR and NBC News. He co-produces/co-hosts the “CDR Radio podcast” and is a two-time winner of the PBI Media Award for Excellence.
Quotes of the Month
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education
- Mark Twain
We meet every Saturday (unless a Holiday weekend) at 8:30 A.M. until around 11:30 A.M., at the one-story AHRS Shop at the corner of 8th Avenue North and 18th Street, (1801 8th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203). Please use the rear (Southeast) entrance.
The Shop is open on Tuesdays at 8:30 A.M. until around 11:30 A.M. Note that parking can be a problem on Tuesdays, so you may have to find street parking occasionally.
Regular monthly members meetings are on the fourth Monday night starting at 7:00 PM with the Executive Meeting starting at 6:30 PM
Please come join us!
The electronics classes are generally on “Zoom” and “in-person” at the AHRS Shop, typically the first Saturday of each month (except when something special is taking place, then we agree on an alternative Saturday)
Check your emails for the schedule and how to participate.
We start from the beginning Ohms Law, inductors, resistor and Capacitors color codes, as well as what each component does within the radio circuits. We also teach how to use test equipment used in the repairing of radios. We teach troubleshooting radio troubles, as well as how to read a radio diagram.
Currently the class is studying advance topics relating to troubleshooting and project radio repair. We are retooling our website in hopes of archiving prior classes for those who may have missed a prior class. Email will provide timely details on date, topics & links.
There are coil winding classes, and one-on-one repair help. Come join these classes!
Membership dues are $25.00 a year, payable beginning in January. If you have questions about your dues, you can contact Treasurer Mike Woodruff at 205-823-7204. Dues can be mailed to AHRS at P.O. Box 131418, Birmingham, Alabama 35213 or paid on-line at https://alhrs.org
Be sure and check out our website at https://alhrs.org, which has copies of all newsletters from 2006 to the present (click on News), videos, photo galleries, museum, Old Time Radio columns, Projects, Reading Rooms, Archives, and Contact Information. Within the next few months we hope to update our website and add additional content and new capabilities
President – Richard “Wag” Waguespack
(205) 531-9528
drminims@aol.com
Vice President – Steven Westbrook
(205) 305-0679
spwestbro@bellsouth.net
Recording Secretary – Grady Shook
(205) 281-3007
gshook@bellsouth.net
Treasurer – Mike Woodruff
(205) 823-7204
woodruff_michael@hotmail.com
Boyd Bailey, Member and Instructor
(334) 412-6996
boyd.bailey@charter.net
Newsletter Editor/Webmaster – Steven Westbrook
(205) 305-0679
spwestbro@bellsouth.net
Web Address:
https://alhrs.org
E-mail Address:
ahrs2000@gmail.com
Youtube Channel: Alabama Historical Radio Society - YouTube