OldRadios

A  large number of sets I get to repair have little, if anything, wrong with them. This car radio only needed the dial cord re-stringing (A time-consuming job – always.) and although there were no other signs of anything amiss, I replaced the high voltage capacitor in the vibrator circuit – since not doing so spells disaster. Most unusually, the vibrator power supply seemed to work fine.

This radio was unusual, in that it conformed to an “Automatic X50” - except in one respect – it had a Short-Wave band. In other respects it was standard issue. There was no model number visible on the chassis.

The X50 is a single conversion superhet receiver having the following valves: 6BE6 (RF/Mixer/Oscillator);6BA6 (I.F.); 6AT6 (Det/1st Audio); 6AS5 (Output); 6X4 (Rectifier). I think the owner had substituted another valve for AF output (6AR5 ?).

Car radios almost always look horrible when brought in – BUT – one has to remember that most of the chassis is hidden, and so long as it looks OK from the front, nobody will mind. Its also really nice to have a car radio of the correct vintage and type in a vintage motor car. Nothing makes a Corniche more corny than the latest CD/Stereo where a 4-track tape (or something) should be.