The Northland Antique Radio Club

Sunday February 12, 2023

NARC Workshop Review

Last year we reported that it was wonderful to be back at the Pavek Museum again for a NARC workshop after the two year Covid-19 break, never imagining that it was our final workshop at the museum and was also the last (and the 34th) workshop expertly organized by Steve Raymer. But, I am glad to report now that the February 12, 2023 workshop at the Comfort Inn in Plymouth was very enjoyable and really wasn't all that different from past workshops.

Most of us are very familiar with the Comfort Inn, so the venue was familiar and it worked out very well. The swap meet was held in the same area of the parking lot as during Radio Daze, and a good number of sellers were set up, probably due to nice weather that day. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, including the same members that I mentioned last year who again traveled from Wisconsin and South Dakota to this event! I saw quite a few things change hands, with the best deal probably being a large quantity of used tubes that someone was giving away.

Everyone was inside by noon when the workshop started in the hotel's main ballroom. Bill Fanum had his sound system set up and they also used the new digital projector that the club recently purchased. Phillip Drexler introduced Jim Thompson who provided a brief Radio Daze update and mentioned that the Pavek Museum is not participating in Radio Daze this year and will be charging their usual admission fee.

A number of attendees brought radios to show.
Gary Ball had a difficult-to-find 1970's Zenith 'Circle of Sound' transistor radio, model B416W, in the original box that he picked up on eBay.

Someone brought his Grundig Satellite 500 multi-band portable programmable radio from the early 1990s and had questions about the lithium battery in it. This battery powers the radios memory while the radio is turned off, so if the battery is dead the memory will clear, but the original battery is discontinued and the replacement requires a modification to the radio's charging circuit.

The group of presenters that Gary Ball organized for the workshop provided a very interesting variety of topics and made good use of the club's new projector.

First, Gary showed quite a few slides and spoke about some unique early transistor radios, including the Regency TR-1 that was introduced in November 1954 just in time for the holiday season, the first General Electric transistor set that came out in January 1955, the Zenith Royal 500, the rare Regency XR-2 with three batteries that came out in 1956 and the model XR-2A that followed in 1958 with two batteries, the Bulova 670 from 1959, the Toshiba TR-193, better known as the Toshiba Lace radio, that appeared in 1958, the Zenith Royal 20 Micro radio offered from 1966 to 1968, the Viscount 1130, and the Global GFM-93. He also told us about the many unique sets offered by Panasonic, including the model R-111, the Panapet ball and chain radio, the Toot-a-Loop, a Mug radio, the RF7D tiny AM/FM set, and the Mr. Thin radio.

Larry Tell provided an update to his last year's presentation about the surface-mount solid-state 01-A tube he had been working on. He found that it didn't pass the transconductance test in a Hickok tube tester, so he has re-designed it. The new version passes and he has also made a WD-11 version of it that can operate from a 1.5 volt cell. The challenge with the WD-11 is making bases with three small pins and one large pin. Larry demonstrated the solid-state 01A tubes operating in his Plant's Long Distance 3-Dial TRF set that was made here in the Twin Cities during the 1920s. The AM signal to the radio antenna came from an AM Modulator that he also recently designed.

Phillip Drexler gave an interesting presentation about setting up a turntable for best performance and the hows and whys of aligning a phonograph cartridge. He used the alignment procedure for a Dual 1219 turntable as an example and explained that there are two points along the arc that the stylus tip follows as the tonearm pivots, where the stylus can be perfectly tangential to the record groove if the cartridge is properly aligned. So adjusting the cartridge to be as perfectly aligned as possible at both of those points will allow it to sound its best throughout the record and also prevent unnecessary wear to both the recording and the stylus. Phillip suggested using a Stereo Test Record to verify the alignment is correct.

Matt Hyman demonstrated how lighter fluid does an excellent job of removing labels from boxes. He said that Ronsonal lighter fluid seems to work the best and leave no residue. You just pour some fluid on the label, let it soak in, and pull the label off. If it doesn't come off easily, add more fluid until it comes off. It also removes clear tape.

Bill Fanum explained how carbon microphones work and was prepared to test any that were brought to the workshop. He had with him a carbon microphone tester that Steve Raymer had recently finished building. There were six vintage carbon microphones available to test, but unfortunately none of them actually worked!

Thanks to everyone who helped with this event!