1939 GE H-87 Console

[vortalexfan]

Hello Everyone, the other day I went to a local antique mall and I found there a 1939 vintage General Electric Model H-87 AM and 2 Shortwave Band radio with a phono input that could be used an iPod hookup.

The radio is in really good shape but the working condition of the radio is unknown and the booth owner wants $75 for the radio.

I was kind of curious as to what would be a good price to give for this radio and if the $75 the booth owner is asking for the radio is reasonable or if its too high. I tried to look up ending prices on ebay for similar radios but couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated in this matter.

Pictures of the radio in question posted below, is taken from the internet to show an example of the unit I'm looking at.

[Electronic M]

The Collectors Guide to Antique Radios 7th ed (10 years old now) says it is $110-145 and has 8 tubes.....Granted it is old and only a GUIDE book.

I have seen 15 tube Philcos (a better and more desirable/valueable set) go for $30 at radio collector club swapmeets....And I've had lower tube count consoles in nice shape that I've had to donate to the club to get rid of (no one would pay money to have one).

$75 ain't unreasonable for a real nice one, and someplaces in the USA it might be a deal, but other places you can do better for cheaper and never sell it for that price.
Ultimately what matters is if you like it enough to spend $75 on it.

Aunty-Q shoppes tend to be a ripoff for buying radios...When I visit those places I usually only buy if the price is in line with or cheaper than what I see them selling for at meets, or if the set in question is something especially rare that I happen to have been speciffically looking for and the rarity balances out the premium.

Also a phono input to hook an MP3 player into ain't all that special...Many sets had them (all you need to do is adapt the factory connector to a 1/8" plug), and adding an audio input is easy on the vast majority of sets*. You just have to find an audio line before the volume pot and after the (2nd) detector, cut it, add a SPDT switch, connect the switch wiper the amp end, one of the fixed switch contacts to the radio det side of the cut, and the other to your MP3 player audio hot leads** and ground the audio ground to the chassis. Check if there is no DC voltage on the audio line in (if there is ask how to fix it). There are a handful of small tricks for doing it best in some cases, but that is a "cross that bridge when you come to it" deal.

Any hot chassis (ie transformerless) set even if it has factory phono input is dangerous to connect to any audio source that is plugged into the wall or grounded...Unless you power the radio (and only the radio) through a line isolation transformer, or connect the audio through an isolation transformer.

*(20's and a portion of sets mid 30's and earlier had RF stage volume controls that make adding phono inputs a pain)

**If you have 2 audio hot leads get 2 1K ohm resistors, connect a lead of one resistor to one audio lead and a lead of the other resistor to the other lead, connect the remaining unconnected resistor ends to eachother then connect the junction of the 2 resistors to the audio input on your radio.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Hello Everyone, the other day I went to a local antique mall and I found there a 1939 vintage General Electric Model H-87 AM and 2 Shortwave Band radio with a phono input that could be used an iPod hookup.

The radio is in really good shape but the working condition of the radio is unknown and the booth owner wants $75 for the radio.

I was kind of curious as to what would be a good price to give for this radio and if the $75 the booth owner is asking for the radio is reasonable or if its too high. I tried to look up ending prices on ebay for similar radios but couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated in this matter.

Pictures of the radio in question posted below, is taken from the internet to show an example of the unit I'm looking at.

If that radio is anything like the picture posted, then it's probably worth the asking price!
It's not a bad model, but lacks interest in the collectors community. It is one of the first radios at that time to use a PM speaker.

[Titan1a]

The bezel is made of tenite and known to shrink. Finding a spare maybe difficult. No RF amp so the "beamscope" antenna is necessary and reception would be good for local metro areas during the daytime only. The large speaker and brawny push/pull amplifier provide room-filling sound. This radio is good for looks and large city listening: it's no DX champ. The price offered looks pretty good. The phono/TV input is an added pleasure!

[vortalexfan]

Thanks for the input, when I looked at the set the bezel looked like it was in good shape yet and not shrunken, so that's a plus, it also had its original knobs as well and it also has push-buttons for presets as well as for power and for the phono input.

I wonder if Philco used that Tenite that you guys were talking about on their bezels as well because I've seen quite a few old Philco radios from the same period that had pretty badly shrunken bezels as well.

I think I'll go for it.

So is that Beamoscope antenna that is in this radio some sort of proprietary built in antenna technology? If so how do I know if its still intact on the radio or not?

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Thanks for the input, when I looked at the set the bezel looked like it was in good shape yet and not shrunken, so that's a plus, it also had its original knobs as well and it also has push-buttons for presets as well as for power and for the phono input.

I wonder if Philco used that Tenite that you guys were talking about on their bezels as well because I've seen quite a few old Philco radios from the same period that had pretty badly shrunken bezels as well.

I think I'll go for it.

So is that Beamoscope antenna that is in this radio some sort of proprietary built in antenna technology? If so how do I know if its still intact on the radio or not?

IIRC, GE was already into plastics engineering. When GE made a good product, it was outstanding! Ask the people that own their 80YO refrigerators.
If the Beam-O-Scope is missing, it's not worth the asking price.

[Titan1a]

Beamoscope inside the cabinet. Long oval shaped container that pivots to get a good signal.

[vortalexfan]

OK, well I think I'll go back there at some point in time and see if I can get the shop owner (who also happens to be the person selling the item) to pull the radio out for me to look at so I can inspect it carefully and see if the antenna is still intact or not and also see if I can plug it in to test it out (more than likely its going to have the common 60 hz hum coming out the speaker when I turn it on) and test a few other aspects about it.

[mr_rye89]

I think $75 would be okay if it was complete and the cabinet was in good shape. Be careful plugging in the radio though, it could blow up. Capacitors in it dry up and short out or absorb moisture and short out. I did a Motorola battery radio last year and ALL the coupler capacitors were dead shorted. I would bring it up on a variac or use a dim bulb tester (or both) if possible.

I picked up a '36 Philco farm radio, and I did a full recap before I applied power (and still burned a resistor)

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by mr_rye89

I think $75 would be okay if it was complete and the cabinet was in good shape. Be careful plugging in the radio though, it could blow up. Capacitors in it dry up and short out or absorb moisture and short out. I did a Motorola battery radio last year and ALL the coupler capacitors were dead shorted. I would bring it up on a variac or use a dim bulb tester (or both) if possible.

I picked up a '36 Philco farm radio, and I did a full recap before I applied power (and still burned a resistor)

Well then I probably wont plug it in then, I'll probably just do an overall inspection of the unit (see what condition the chasis is in, see whether the antenna is intact or not see what condition the cabinet is in etc. as I don't have access to a functioning variac or a functioning dimbulb tester to bring with me.)

But from what I rember from looking at the unit when I saw it initially at the antique mall it looked like the cabinet was still in good shape yet and didn't have any damage to the woodwork and the plastic bezel and knobs and push buttons looked like they were in excellent shape yet, I just wasn't sure what the actual chassis itself looked like or whether or not the antenna was intact or not because the unit was burried behind some other furniture in the booth and I couldn't pull it out very easily without risking breaking stuff.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Well then I probably wont plug it in then, I'll probably just do an overall inspection of the unit (see what condition the chasis is in, see whether the antenna is intact or not see what condition the cabinet is in etc. as I don't have access to a functioning variac or a functioning dimbulb tester to bring with me.)

But from what I rember from looking at the unit when I saw it initially at the antique mall it looked like the cabinet was still in good shape yet and didn't have any damage to the woodwork and the plastic bezel and knobs and push buttons looked like they were in excellent shape yet, I just wasn't sure what the actual chassis itself looked like or whether or not the antenna was intact or not because the unit was burried behind some other furniture in the booth and I couldn't pull it out very easily without risking breaking stuff.

If the seller wants to sell the thing, he/she wont mind moving it so you can inspect it before buying. Especially, if they wont bargain the price.
At the time you're looking at it, just remove the two 5Y3's and plug it in to see if the dial lights and the two output tubes are lighting. For that, you don't need a dimbulb or a variac.
Removing the rectifier tubes minimizes damage to the transformer if a B+ short is present.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

If the seller wants to sell the thing, he/she wont mind moving it so you can inspect it before buying. Especially, if they wont bargain the price.
At the time you're looking at it, just remove the two 5Y3's and plug it in to see if the dial lights and the two output tubes are lighting. For that, you don't need a dimbulb or a variac.
Removing the rectifier tubes minimizes damage to the transformer if a B+ short is present.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when I go to look at it and try it out.

[Electronic M]

Assuming you can source incandescent lightbulbs of various wattages; a dim bulb tester is the simplest piece of test gear to make...All you need is an extension cord you don't care about and a lamp socket and some incandescent bulbs that is it. The extension cord has 2 wire that run from end to end. Cut one of the two wires and connect the ends on either side of the cut to the 2 terminals of the lamp socket and add your light bulb.....So easy a cave-infant could do it!

[7"estatdef]

Had one many yrs ago. As mentioned the tenite escutcheon can be a problem. Missing beamOscope is a problem too. If either are missing or badly misshapen I would pass.
If you are concerned abt sensitivity replace the 6SA7 w/a 6SB7. May have rubber wire I don't remember. Pretty straight forward set it has a large long chassis which simplifies servicing and large PM spkr so no field coil to be worried abt. The coils for the push button tuning are somewhat fragile(slugs get stuck in the form) so it's easy to twist/ break the wires.

GL

Terry

[bgadow]

I had a very similar model (cabinet a little different). I bought it at an antique mall in the mid-90's for $125. I was more of a big spender then! I never did get the radio to work right (open coil?) and eventually parted it out: somebody wanted the guts, and the bezel (which was still nice when I got it) went to pieces over time. I'm guessing the summer heat in my radio room finally killed it. Smelled like bad milk, too. Shame, because I think they're beautiful cabinets.