Old radio with 4 pin sockets, info?

[2litre]

Hi all,

I've recently seen an old Magnavox console radio for sale that has 5, 4 pin sockets on it with a monster 4 gang(?) air gap variable capacitor dominating the center section of it.

Inside the casing there is a large portion of a final inspection tag that is hand dated with 11/16/28 along with what looks to be a factory "DYNAMIC-7" stamp on the line below the date. I don't recall what number the tuning dial ends at but it begins at 0 (zero). There is no tube diagram or other information that I can find.

Can anyone give me a general idea what it is and whether one could find parts to resurect it? It's kind of neat and has been sitting in a local charity shop for on two months now. It's price has dropped from $189 to $98 (still to high) and I bet it will be going to the dumps soon.

Any help or links would be appeciated.

R/
Jim

[Netlist]

Sockets could be from missing tubes or coils. A few picture would be nice, if possible.
Something like this?

/Hugo

[2litre]

Hugo,

It looks much older that the pic you linked. More like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Atwater-Kent-192...QQcmdZViewItem

and the sockets look more like the lower left one in this link
http://cgi.ebay.com/UV-199-UV-299-BA...QQcmdZViewItem

and the dial (only one) is similar to these
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ORIGINAL...QQcmdZViewItem

I'll see about getting a picture or two next time I swing through the store but by using the e-Bay links you kind of get the idea of its age and layout. I'm just looking for general info now since I don't own it but am thinking about it.

R/
Jim

[Netlist]

It looks like you spotted a fairly nice piece of antique.
I'd keep a close watch...
Finding spare parts will be tougher for sure.

-=Hugo=-

[frank754]

Well here's where I can maybe help. Try this site, it's a huge archive of old radios, the best I've found, with pictures of 1000's of them:

http://radioatticarchives.com/

Then once you find something close, you can go to this site and if you're lucky they may have a free schematic.
This second site also has a forum where you can get advice on refurbishing it. Sounds like a sweet deal, and all parts are available for most of this stuff too. There are a few specialty sites with specific items for these old radios.

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Resources/

[refference]

Hi Jim ,

Try the adress below , too . You will find there A BIG LOT of links to every kind of antique radios web sites .

http://www.antiqueradio.org/radweb.htm

Good luck ,

Carlos

[2litre]

Frank754, Carlos,

I have Nostalgiaair on my favorites and that's where I checked for info first. I didn't have the other two links. Thanks.

By looking at the gallery on radioatticarchives I believe it really is from the late 20's. All the spindley legged consoles in that gallery, with their tiny little central dial, look very similar to the one I'm talking about.

Thanks for the help so far.

R/

Jim

[frank754]

Another thing to consider, if there are no tubes in the unit or no tube diagram, would be to look at how many tube sockets it has, for example 3 or 5.
The 4 pin sockets narrow it down to an age range, the number of tubes can perhaps narrow it down to a design, for example regenerative or superhet. The superhets also have IF-coupling coil units (sort of like interstage transformers), so that's another giveaway.
Many of the designs if not the circuits themselves are similar in the time period, so perhaps by narrowing it down you could at least come up with a close design from another manufacturer, and use the same tube sockets, just rewire the board a bit.

[tubelab.com]

If it does have a 4 gang variable cap, it is likely a TRF radio. That also dates it in the '20s.

I was at a flea market two years ago. I spotted a large metal box lying in the dirt. It had obviously been there a while (the vendor has a permanent space). It had 5 globe type tubes in it and a faded paper tag that said that all the tubes were replaced in 1929! I bought it for $20. It was a Sparton radio of unknown origins. The output tubes were National Union NX-483's. I have not found a tube dealer who has ever heard of them. I put them into a TubelabSE and they sound real nice and produce about 1.5 watts. Like a 45 with a 5 volt filament. Not bad for $10 each.

[anatech]

Hey tubelab,
Nice score! Too bad the radio was in poor shape.

-Chris