Sunday, February 19, 2023

New Restoration Project - the "1/2 Mae West...." 1938 AM - Short Wave Radio

 


A recent gift - from a friend familiar with my interest in restoring old radios.

This is an Emerson model BW-231 - also known as the Half Mae West.


Emerson "1/2 Mae West"


What's the frequency Kenneth?


Emerson Logo Detail


A brush with some old-school Rock and Roll


Carl Griffin - Grammy Awards, Motown, a Jazz record label... and much more - 

bought this from Joey Dee - Peppermint Twist - in 1968.


He never played it, as it was in need of restoration. I hope to get it rocking' and rollin'!


It is a good candidate  for restoration - the circuit is a common 6 tube receiver design

that was popular for several decades - schematics and modern replacement electronic parts are available.



First Look Inside....


The primary parts to replace are the old wax, paper, and 'bumble bee' capacitors - the electrolyte

inside the originals disintegrates - turning the capacitor into something that may short,

act as a resistance, and ignite or explode, damaging other componentsthat are NOT

easy to find replacements for - e.g. transformers coils, etc.



Under the hood....


Component density isn't too annoying - this will be relatively easy to get to the parts that need replacement.



Wax caps - the four tubular tan bits....


Not sure what the two little red bits are... will need to figure that out before powering up.

Next step - I will draw diagrams and schematics, recording the values of each of the parts that are removed. There are about ten parts I will order and replace, followed by some more detailed detective work to identify any mysteries as I progress.


Stay tuned in, so to speak.


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