Tube Radio Kit

[cuallito]

i know this is an amp forum, but are there any tube radio kits available?

[Eli Duttman]

AES (www.tubesandmore.com) has some battery powered stuff.

How sophisticated a circuit do wish to try? Kits for tube superhet circuits are a thing of the past.

[cuallito]

Just an AM/FM radio, as simple as possible i suppose

[dhaen]

I think it is very unlikely. An AM/FM radio would need more that 14 tuned circuits and transformers - lots of precision winding, which is a lost DIY art, and a commercial folly. Such a radio would have been an advanced project to build.
If you are determined and experienced, maybe you could do it. I think you would be best to start with a "donor" radio though.
There were some wonderful designs, and good RF valves are still cheap.

If, on the other hand, you just fancy a dabble, the simplest designs (just for AM) used TRF (Tuned Radio Frequency) designs. These sometimes only had 1 or 2 tuned circuits, so not much winding involved, and not precision. They used a system called "reaction" or "regeneration", (basically positive feedback) to increase Q, and so narrow bandwidth and increase gain.

[316a]

Originally posted by cuallito
i know this is an amp forum, but are there any tube radio kits available?

Hello ,
How about a radio based on those Philips chipsets with a valve output stage ? It may just be easier to buy an old mono valve tuner on the cheap , restore it , then add a stereo decoder and a valve output stage .

cheers

316a

[runeight]

Here is one source.

Vintage Components

There are no superhets here, but interesting projects nonetheless.

[Pjotr]

It may just be easier to buy an old mono valve tuner on the cheap , restore it , then add a stereo decoder and a valve output stage .

cheers

316a

That will not work. The mf bandwidth of an old tube mono FM receiver is simply too small to get a stereo decoder work.

Cheers

[cuallito]

thanks guys

[tricomp]

That will not work. The mf bandwidth of an old tube mono FM receiver is simply too small to get a stereo decoder work.

Don't entirely agree. If you can live with a lower channel separation you may actually be able to see the pilot tone survive the IF circuits strong enough to get a decoder to work. I've tried with an old Philips FM-tuner that looked a lot like a tube car-radio but ran off 220V on a built-in PSU. What ever it was meant for in the first place looking like a car-radio (left & right knobs with treads for mounting nuts and the usual for car-radios center scale) I just don't know. Tweaking the IF for a maximum pilot tone output sent the MC-1310 decoder off doing it's job. Don't even THINK Hi-Fi

/Torben

[dhaen]

I'm humbled ...