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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Restoration of a 1937 Emerson Mod. 149 Two Band Radio

This project was started December 2015.  It was evident from the start that this would be a challenging restoration.  The radio was completely dead, the chassis pretty rusty, and lots of deterioration evident in the wiring.

The 3 piece case is bakelite and was originally unpainted dark brown.  This model came in two styles: brown, like this one, and a black model with a cream colored plaskon center. Although the paint job looks good in the picture, it's not that great...just a spray can job with no attempt to rub it out or otherwise make it look nice.  Also, I don't like that it is a 'fantasy' color, never available on this radio. Also, the celluloid dial face is broken and the foil number plate wrinkled.  I have a new dial cover so the only issue will be repair of the dial face.

One of the decision to be made is to strip the case and return it to its original single color, or, using period appropriate colors, paint it to emulate the fancier black and cream model.  I'll let the radio decide as we proceed with bringing life to it.






December 10, 2015

Examination of the chassis has been done. The tubes have been tested showing the rectifier to be dead and the power tube weak.  I replaced the rectifier and the tubes now all light and there is some sound in the speaker but no reception. Some significant oscillation indicate shielding issues.  The next step will be to test the various stages.  There is a schematic available in my Rider Troubleshooting Manual Vol VIII. These are harder to work with than the Sam's Photofacts because the author assumes the reader knows what he's doing. For me, that means I'll have to create my own circuit diagrams to figure out the resistances and pin voltages. Oh well...I'll eat some brain food and give it a go....

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