Just picked up a 1930s Battery operated Coronado

[init4fun]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

That power cord hookup to the radio's antenna terminals almost certainly would destroy the radio (not to mention possibly starting a fire) in the blink of an eye, if the plug were to be inserted into an AC outlet. Why on earth would anyone do anything like that?

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Yeah, I checked the antenna coil and it still had continuity so I think it's fine yet. It does have AVC which is good.

Despite Jeff's dour predictions , capacitor C1 would save the antenna coil if AC was improperly applied to the antenna terminals .

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by init4fun

Despite Jeff's dour predictions , capacitor C1 would save the antenna coil if AC was improperly applied to the antenna terminals .

Indeed you are correct, when I tested C1 between the antenna terminal strip, and the antenna coil, C1 measured open.

I did some research and I figured out that this radio is a Coronado Model 650B which was a rebadged Arvin "Phantom" Series Farm Radio Model 628B.

I thought that was kind of interesting.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by init4fun

Despite Jeff's dour predictions , capacitor C1 would save the antenna coil if AC was improperly applied to the antenna terminals .

I didn't realize there was a capacitor in the antenna circuit to protect the coil in case the latter were inadvertently connected to 110v AC power. This will teach me not to say anything like what I said in my post without being sure of the facts.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I didn't realize there was a capacitor in the antenna circuit to protect the coil in case the latter were inadvertently connected to 110v AC power. This will teach me not to say anything like what I said in my post without being sure of the facts.

It's easy enough, unless you have the schematic in front of you!
A lot of sets don't have that capacitor, so it could've been detrimental.
They probably included it because of lightning strike is more common in rural areas.

[decojoe67]

Battery radios are the most underated old radios around. When I first started collecting I too didn't give them a second look with all those ragged wires and clips hanging out of the back. The truth is they're unique looking sets and perform very well once restored. You also don't get AC line interference, so the audio is clean. The only drawback with the wooden models is that there's usually no dial lamp, or, at best, a dim one.
Unfortunately, very often, either a surge or an attempt at hooking an AC line to them was not uncommon. Usually what happens is an instant blow-out of all the tubes. In my experience of dealing with portable battery radios, it's a 50/50 chance that the tubes are good. I've replaced the tubes on these many times.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Battery radios are the most underated old radios around. When I first started collecting I too didn't give them a second look with all those ragged wires and clips hanging out of the back. The truth is they're unique looking sets and perform very well once restored. You also don't get AC line interference, so the audio is clean. The only drawback with the wooden models is that there's usually no dial lamp, or, at best, a dim one.
Unfortunately, very often, either a surge or an attempt at hooking an AC line to them was not uncommon. Usually what happens is an instant blow-out of all the tubes. In my experience of dealing with portable battery radios, it's a 50/50 chance that the tubes are good. I've replaced the tubes on these many times.

I agree this is a very nice looking set and is also supposed to be based on one of the best designed sets Arvin made at the time, the Phantom Series.

And I think once I recap this set, and get some proper Rechargeable D cells and a good battery clip for this set I think I should be able to get this thing going.