I love old radios. Walking home from school in the early 1960's in Spring Valley, NY I would pass large wooden console radios that were on the curb, waiting for the garbageman. These relics from the 1930's and 40's were considered obsolete then. Now they are sought after by collectors who have the room for them.
As I grew older, I would frequently "rescue" old table top radios from the garbage heap, take them home, plug them in and they never worked. I would then dissect them and save the speaker and other parts.
Now I am trying to repay all those radios I destroyed trying to fix. Using the web, I found that most repairs were simple, that the tubes were usually not the problem, and I needed to use caution because there was electrical current that could kill me if I was careless. I learned, and got a thrill the first time I plugged in a restored radio...AND IT WORKED! I have tried to find all the radios we had in the house when I was growing up, repair them, surrounding myself reliving my childhood in comfort. My brother Anthony calls my house a "Family Museum". I guess he is right.
I found a relaxing hobby. I have an understanding wife.
Here are some of my radios. Sure wish I had more room for those consoles!
All of the radios were restored by me,. They all work. The replacement capacitors are polyester which should last much longer than the paper capacitors they replaced.