Radiola

 

A friend asked me to look at their radio. The radio was a present from their father for doing well at high school exams, but it no longer worked.

The radio is an AWA Radiola model B24Z first made in 1964. The original power supply was an Eveready 9 volt battery (type 2362), and is no longer available. I tested the radio with a modern 9 volt alkaline battery (6LR61) and it worked very well. So I replaced the battery connectors with new 9 volt snap connectors, I added a cardboard holder for the new battery as it was considerably smaller than the original and I installed the new battery.

These radios have great reception with a five inch ferrite rod antenna internal shielding and an all metal front face. They are a great collectable radio.

So the radio from 1964 - 57 years ago - works very well. I wonder if anything else that man purchased in 1964 is still in working order.

Great Radio

 

My favourite radio. 

Accurate digital tuning.

Sensitive reception - from Brisbane I can receive all the Australian 50kW AM transmitters. Some I have to wait till late at night.

Good sound - from the 100mm speaker.

Extended battery life - from 4x D cells.

I used this radio when travelling as I can remove it from the RF interference in the caravan power systems.

Gargett in the Pioneer Valley

Once in the school holidays I took the train from Mackay to Gargett to stay with my cousins.

It's a small town with a free camp site.

There is also a great second-hand shop. The shop has good collection of old radios and sells electronic valves.

Transistor hoard

Locked down in my home I have cleaned my workshop and cleaned my study.
I thought that I had never taken an inventory of my radios -
I found thirteen - all sorts from pocket sized to the AWA model for the outback (see photo).

In testing there was one that has poor AM reception but good FM reception - so my next project is to fix it.

Radio Fix

My emergency AM/FM radio went silent, it was only 20 years old. It was a Sanyo which I thought was a good brand. It runs on three D cells and so lasts a long long time on battery power.

I opened it up. I did not find any leaking capacitors or burnt tracks. When I plugged in an ear phone it worked.

I guessed that the speaker was faulty. I found a replacement speaker at Jaycar for $4.95. After installing a new speaker it was working again.