1942 Philco 42-350 AM/FM/SW Radio
 

Greetings everyone, the other day I purchased from a local antique mall a 1942 Philco 42-350 AM/FM/SW Radio (the FM on this radio being the old 42-50 MHz FM Band), that the cabinet is in near mint condition and is an all loctal set and has push-button presets and a push-button for the power (which was common on the Philcos from that time period).

This Radio has the all too common "stuck power button" issue which I'm not sure how to go about repairing that, and the tuning dial needs to be restrung but I don't really have access to a very good tuning string diagram for this radio.

Also I was wondering if anyone has attempted to make a transmitter device for the old FM band that could be used to play an iPod or CD Player or Tape Player through any of the Frequencies of the old FM Band?

Thanks for your help!

Pics of the unit posted below.

It's possible to convert the modern FM band down to the old band with a TV tuner designed for 45MHZ TV IFs...poke around the antique radio forums for more info.

If using it as an actual FM radio is unappealing and you have a Blonder Tongue agile modulator for TV use that has IF output then you could probably tune the FM sound carrier by connecting the IF out of the modulator to the FM ant input....

If that radio uses a power transformer as I expected it to, personally I'd rather add an RCA jack and a switch tapped into the audio stage before the volume control than go through a Transmitter...

Ok, will take a look at that.

It's the "baby" version of my 42-390 console! There are converters for pre war to post war FM, but I'd just use an AM transmitter or inject audio at the volume pot. That's how I have my Pilot tuner hooked up anyways. The original chassis in my 42-390 was a basket case so I bought a 42-380 chassis and put it in the box. The 380 has an extra shortwave/police band instead of pre-war FM.

As a random thought do you happen to have any old 49mhz walkie talkies around? Might be good for a transmitter :scratch2:

Yes, this radio chassis seems to have some issues as well unfortunately, the Preset buttons are broken (the slider bar that the preset buttons ride on to make the preset buttons pop in and out is broken), and the power switch push button sticks for some reason.

Other than that and the fact that one of the original filter caps and the power cord was replaced the radio is pretty much unmolested, the wooden cabinet is in near mint condition and the original push buttons are still in minty condition with their original call letter tags still intact.

The only thing that's missing is the dial string and the springs for them, which I think I can get the springs at the hardware store or maybe at AES.

Nice find. Those are the type of radios I liked when I first started collecting them as a kid. Just a classic '40's set. Enjoy it!
As far as listening to these old sets, I pump whatever I want through my old sets with my AM transmitter. I either use my computer, or old cassette/CD portable player. Doing that I can listen to FM on a '20's set! I never do though. If I could start my collection over, I would definitely put an IPOD jack on every radio. The sound is a little too pure, but I could deal with that!

Thanks, I like it too, I was actually just about to buy a 1940s vintage Manning Bowman 12" 3 speed oscillating table fan but the price was a little steep for me, plus there wasn't any discounts on it, but then I saw this radio, which was in pristine condition cabinet wise and was $20 more than the fan but it had a 10% discount which made it a little more worth my money.

I had a Philco like that about 62 years ago! I got it from a neighbor. The dial glass was broken and it worked somewhat. I got something on the FM band, but it sounded like TV sound. I gave it to a friend.
The schematic shows more of Philco's oddball circuitry to get around Armstrongs design. :scratch2:

This unfortunately is in much worse shape than I was hoping it would be in, as the preset buttons are broken and are no longer functional because the phenolic wafer that helps engage and disengage the presets buttons is broken, and the power switch push button is sticking and not popping out like it should when pushed again to disengage the power switch (it engages the power switch just fine, but to disengage the power switch you have to jiggle it slightly in order for it to disengage the power switch.)

I recall some electronics mag in the 50's had a circuit that used a few coils and 1N34 to somehow make the modern FM band somewhat work on an old FM band set. Don't know how well it worked in real life.

Was like popular electronics or something to that effect...