Looking for a tube only radio or radio kit

Radiation hardened?

--
Adrian C

Things useful to know:

a) where are you? b) what is your budget? c) are you in any way handy with tube stuff? d) is portability an issue? Or will this be a mains-driven radio? e) is vintage acceptable? Or do you want something "NEW"?

The links take you to a mixed bag of radio kits - but keep in mind that mos t of them are toys and 'because they can' devices, not meant for serious (o r reliable) listening. If you want that, I suggest you look for a decent ex isting radio within your budget that meets your needs. I keep several Zenit h TransOceanic portable tube radios that receive well up into SW (but have no FM) that might fill the bill. They may be had for as little as US$40 in restorable condition, or as much as $1,500 for certain military models in e xcellent condition - and the range between.

If you want FM as well, you are in a difficult position - you may have to l ook at some of the very few tabletop tuner devices made by the likes of Zen ith, Heath, and a number of Euro makers (Grundig, Telefunken and Philips co me to mind as well as many lesser names) that also include FM. Some of thes e are tabletop radios with speakers, some even stereo. Others are merely mu lti-band tuners and require separate amplification and speakers. With the E uro radios, keep in mind that they never used one part where three-or-more would do better, so they are complicated, persnickety, and touchy. When the y work well, they are excellent. And when they do not, they are a significa nt PITA to service, if even possible.

Pick your poison.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

What does it matter. No transmitters will be on.

At least two will be - assuming our survival. And I know of dozens around the world that would survive - again, assuming they are far enough from Ground 0 that the 'wetware' survives.

Not that a great deal of good would come of it. It *IS* the thought that counts.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

The R-390 is a pretty nice receiver, all frequencies from near zero to 30 MHz. They are snapped up by hams and collectors, so they get quite expensive. The R-392 has the same range, but is much simpler. It runs off

28 V DC, as both the filament and plate supply.

Jon

If you live near a city, there is probably an antique radio club in it. The one in Baltimore has, iirc, monthly meetings and

RADIOACTIVITY 2016 and the TUBE COLLECTOR's ASSOCIATION Annual Meet

06/23/2016 | RadioActivity 2016 Location: Timonium, MD; Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club Website: Swap Meet 8AM, Saturday Learn More

At RadioActivity there are people selling restored radios with wooden cabinets and simple tube radios from the 60's. I went one year and I think I paid $10 for one, hoping it would get a DC station maybe 35 miles away. I can never tell in advance which radios will get it. Brand name doesn't seem to matter.

RadioActivity 2016

HAMFEST/CONVENTION

06/23/2016

Start Date: 06/23/2016 End Date: 06/25/2016 Location: Holiday Inn

9615 Deereco Road Timonium, MD Website: Sponsor: Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club Type: ARRL Hamfest Talk-In: None Public Contact: Bruce , KA3EIE 10 Route 99 Woodstock, MD 21163 Phone: 410-461- Email: snipped-for-privacy@netzero.net

You can build a single-tube regenerative set that, if designed and constructed carefully, will have much better performance over the AM and AM shortwave bands than many commercially available superhets.

Any kits available these days will probably be expensive.

There's plenty of simple circuits online and tubes can be salvaged from gear that turns up at flea markets.

I tried finding one that used transistors and no all-in-one radio chip, and turned up nothing.

Ebay has some AM transistor radio kits, i.e., unbuilt

as well as a variety of tube radios (AM, AM-FM. & AM-FM-SW), all built

and some AM tube kits

one of which - a 7 tube AM radio - for $9 features:

two in the discharge standard circuit; Modulated at 465KHz Plastic shell for the new material, and never go back to feeding. Each test port circuit Ic levels. Schematics, assembly drawings, and the other parts list, technical documents are complete.

Despite the description, it uses transistors, not tubes.

Probably something lost in the translation. Just as in England instead of tubes they would be called valves.

Could be the instructions are also in Chineese.

Parts list and notes on the schematic are in Chinese (though parts within the schematic are Roman, C1, R5, etc. Transistors are labeled V1, V2, etc.)

Since the plastic case never needs feeding there is some slight likelihood of a translation problem.

You got a laugh out of me.

I noticed that, but that's good. It means I can go out of town without worrying who is feeding my case.

It also says Power: 3V (5 batteries)

That seems interesting.