My Deal of the Day. RCA VICTOR MODEL 124
 

Correction! It is a model 128........

While I was at work yesterday, a fellow co-worker called me and said "I found this really neat old radio at GOODWILL for 25 bucks..... do you want it?"

I asked what it looked like and he said "it looks like one of those old Tombstone radios, but I don't know what it is." "It is heavier than heck."

I said, "ok, I guess".

I figured it was one of those reproduction models, but I figured that 25 dollars was an acceptable amount to gamble with.

I went and picked it up today, and to my surprise it was a RCA VICTOR MODEL 128.

The cabinet has some problems, as you can see in the picture. The veneer on the front is chipped, and the inner brace on the top is broken (from lifting it up one handed from the top I presume).

It has one knob that is clearly a replacement.

All in all, it looks pretty good. I can't wait to recap it and see what it does. It will need a speaker, I can see the speaker is trashed. It has the original cord (which is rotted and shot). All the tubes are in place.

I was surprised on the potential value listed in the Collectors Guide to Antique Radios.

Thanks for looking,

Matt K

Nice find and cant beat the price!
-Tony

$25?????????

("Hello? 9-1-1? I want to report a robbery...")

Very cool!!!

Get her going n listen to the ballgame.........

Ooooooh....Dat's PURTY !!

Yeah, that is a screaming bargain.

Thanks,
Yeah I am excited to get it going. I can only imagine what was broadcast / listened to over this radio.

MK

Excellent find for $25! The RCA Victor 128 and its bigger brother the 143 are excellent performers and beautiful sets. I have one of each. Congratulations and keep us posted as you get the set restored. I also often think of what was listened to on all the radios in my collection. Everything from the depression days through WW II, to the post war years and thereafter.

Gilbert

Does anyone have a clean scan/copy of the schematic and cap list for this radio that I could buy/have/copy?

I'm not having much luck on the web.

MK

Here tiz: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByM...7/M0014737.pdf

Hi, Thanks,

yes i did find that already, however I can't read the values on all the caps.... and there is no "list" of the caps like on other schematics....

Thanks,

MK

Wow! Beautiful radio, and at a great price! :thmbsp:

Just make sure you don't turn on that heater it is resting upon! :yikes: :no: :D

Thanks,
Yeah, I feel compelled to set my new radios on top of the radiator in the dining room to take pictures of them..... I don't know why....

No worries, the radio is now in pieces on my work bench.

Thanks,

MK

Can you post a real good picture of the speaker? I may have one here in the salvage loft.

Also, you may be better off just having it reconed, if that's the only problem. Original speakers are getting harder to come by as more and more people substitute PM speakers in their place.

Hello,

Well my cap and stuff order came in the mail today. I ordered caps for this radio, and some parts I thought I needed for a Stewart Warner television that I have been having a difficult time with....

At any rate, I decided to replace a burned resistor in the TV. I thought I resolved the problem that caused the burned resistor in the first place, but no dice.... still messed up. Oh well, that'll be for another rainy day.


So, I decided that since I was in the shop, I would replace the electrolytic caps in the RCA radio. I have never powered this set up, so I didn't know the condition of the tubes, transformer, or anything. I replaced the filter caps, and the power cord. I plugged the set in and....

Nothing...

Ahh crap, the tubes didn't light, no sound, nothing. Well, I was going to give it up for the night, but noticed that the switch on the power strip was off.. Dang. Never had power in the first place. Ok. take two. This time I turned the strip on, plugged it in, watched closely for any smoke, watched the tubes light up and.....

Nothing.....

I grabbed my volt meter and measured AC voltage between the chassis and ground to make sure that the chassis wasn't live and turned the volume pot. It was all the way down. Immediately the RCA roared to life and was playing a song in a language I didn't immediately recognize. The song ended just then and a man speaking German came over the speaker. I was in the shortwave band and picking up a station from....somewhere!

Man, how cool is that! I fiddled with it for a while and was picking up hundreds of stations all over the three different bands. Absolutely no hum, and after a quick cleaning of the pots, no static or crackle at all.

Tomorrow I'll finish the recap, and clean up the case a little bit. I'm going to leave the case alone until I have the time to practice patching some veneer on a different piece.

It sure was cool to hear that old radio sing.

I don't know what it is, but I have this reaction every time I hear an old radio play.

This is now the oldest radio in my collection.

Thanks for reading my ramble.

Matt K.

Sorry i didn't get back to you sooner. I took the speaker out of the cabinet and noticed a tear (the same tear that is in the grille cloth).

I superglued the tear in the cone, and it actually sounds really good. I'll probably leave it this way until I get it reconed (or may just leave it this way forever.....)

Thanks for your help!

matt k

Well,

It's done.... for the most part. I've finished the restore of the RCA 128.

I replaced all the Caps and Bad resistors.

This is my FIRST attempt at cabinet work. You can still see the chip in the veneer on the front, top. I still need to find one knob, and yes, the grille cloth is not correct.... but it is correct enough for me!

The flash made the finish look "rough" but I can assure you it's as smooth as glass!

Thanks,

MK

Well, since I've put the radio back together, I've had it running for about 6 hours off and on.

Just the other day, it developed a problem. After I would turn it on, and it would warm up, the volume would slowly start to fade to nothing....

I metered, and messed with things for a while, and started to get frustrated.

The next morning, I went back at it and noticed I missed a cap that is on the front of the chassis, next to the volume pot.

I replaced that cap, and voila! Good as new!

w00t! She's a beauty!

Congrats!

You didn't by any chance take any chassis pics did you? I'd love to see some, but I certainly don't want you to take it back out of the cabinet just for me.

You know, I didn;t.... I don't know why I didn't.

But I have correct grill cloth ordered, and will take pics when I replace it!

MK

Cool! As long as you're gonna open it back up anyway. Look forward to seeing them.

My first youtube video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXKHRNvlRm8