[78-L] A blast from the past

[Royal Pemberton]

Fabulous that this 80+-year-old machine still works great!

My dad was from a small town called Keokuk, Iowa, and I well remember some
of the radios at my grandparents' house there that had '25 CYCLE' stamped on
their chasses.  They didn't change to 60 until 1948; at least one of those
radios still worked as late as 1983 when we sold their house and most of the
contents.  A radio/TV repairman told me a few years later that running such
things on a higher frequency is actually easier on the transformers than a
lower one.  The transformers in the 25 cycle items were considerably larger
than those for 60 cycle versions; I can't remember why....maybe they needed
more inductance or larger gauge magnet wire....

On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 4:06 PM, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:

>
> The thing is built like a tank, too. Another surprise: the speed control
> still worked. Stokowski sounds mighty fine on this thing. So does the Al
> Jolson Decca the repair guy used as a test.
>
>
>
> dl
>
>
>
> > From: smille1 at nycap.rr.com
> > Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:36:06 -0400
> > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] A blast from the past
> >
> > Excellent! I knew you'd be able to get it running!
> >
> > They do sound great, don't they?
> >
> > As far as the 25 cycle thing goes, I've heard of another of these motors
> in a Credenza on 25 cycle and it too worked fine on 60 cycle power. I wish I
> had a logical explanation, but the motors run on two sets of coils that
> create a magnetic field to revolve the turntable. As long as these are 110
> volt motors, which I believe they are, it shouldn't be a problem, the worst
> that can happen is the motor could overheat and the fuse should blow, but
> I've never heard of this happening.
> >
> > Congrats!
> > Sean
> >
> > On Jun 26, 2010, at 11:24 PM, David Lennick wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Something I never expected to see in working order..an RE-45 (Radio +
> Electrola) that sat unused in my parents' basement for overf 50 years.
> > >
> > > http://www.radiolaguy.com/Showcase/RCA%20RE-45.htm
> > >
> > > It doesn't look that clean but it plays beautifully! A fellow offered
> to get it running in return for another old radio I didn't have room for and
> didn't care about all that much, and this afternoon he brought it over to
> the house and set it up. Capacitors and tubes replaced where necessary, the
> whole thing cleaned up inside and out, the missing thumbscrew that holds the
> needles was replaced, and I'm amazed at the sound this thing produces, both
> on radio (AM only) and on records. Original speaker, too. Rather
> surrealistic to hear news reports about the rioting in Toronto on an
> 81-year-old radio. (Yeah, we got rioting..and we had an earthquake the other
> day..wanna make something of it?)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > dl
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > 78-L mailing list
> > > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> > > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 78-L mailing list
> > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>