The SCORE Thread - (Old radio finally found and obtained)
- Thread starter Omega-TI
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mbott, is it this model?
USED VINTAGE EMERSON MODEL 657 AM TUBE PORTABLE RADIO, BATTERY & AC, TESTED GOOD | eBay
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Very close for sure. Mine was an all red plastic case but the controls are very similar to that model. I'm guessing that they are variants of each other.
Thanks!
I'm one happy old man today. I made another acquisition from my youth, although I paid more for it than I should have, it will be a welcome addition to my home. It was sold as untested, so it was a big gamble, but if it works, you'll not need a radio to hear me scream... "YESSSSSSSS!" Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for it to arrive.
I had quite literally hundreds of hours of fun with mine as a kid, hooked up to a dipole antenna. It was an anemic little radio, but old age and nostalgia are hard to fight. Radio Nederland, VOA, HCJB, Radio Australia, NHK, Deutsche Welle, RCI... good times remembered.
If it works when I get it, I'm going to make a video...
I had quite literally hundreds of hours of fun with mine as a kid, hooked up to a dipole antenna. It was an anemic little radio, but old age and nostalgia are hard to fight. Radio Nederland, VOA, HCJB, Radio Australia, NHK, Deutsche Welle, RCI... good times remembered.
If it works when I get it, I'm going to make a video...
mikethedruid
Member
I'm old. I began serious SWLing and BCB DXing in the 1960s when I was 12 years old at the same time I began to collect antique radios. The first shortwave receiver I used was an RCA 55Q5. Then, for Christmas I got a Knight Kit Star Roamer kit which I assembled and used for years. I foolishly lent it to a friend who was from England back during the Falklands War so he could listen to the BBC, and I never got it back. I have since replaced it in my collection. I now have many antique and vintage radios ranging from early crystal sets and an RCA Radiola Senior on. Some of my best receivers from the pre WW2 period are an RCA T8-18, and an RCA T9-4, both basically communications receivers in civilian dress. I have one receiver made during the war for use on merchant ships, specially designed and shielded so that it would not radiate RF which the U-boats could pick up and locate a convoy, a Scott SLRM. That is a VERY fine receiver, the equal of any of my Hammarlunds. (HQ-129-X, HQ-140-X, and HQ-145) I have more modern receivers too, a Radio Shack DX-160 and others. My most recent shortwave receiver is a Tecsun PL-6000 with which I am very pleased. I use it as a cross check to my signal generator when doing alignments. I still collect and restore antique radios. You may have seen me over at the Philco Phorum. My latest project has been the Hammarlund HQ-129-X. I'm done with the electronic work, and now am about to strip the steel cabinet and repaint it. This is what it looks like working on my workbench...
mikethedruid
Member
OOPS ! Should have said an ECA C9-4, not T9-4. It's a console, not a tabletop. RCA C9-4 demonstration video
mikethedruid
Member
R C A C9-4 My typing STINKS, I wish this site allowed one to edit posts like the Phorum does.
majoco
Stirrer
You have about an hour to edit your post - look for'edit' in the bottom left hand of your post.
a29zuk
Member
I too, built one of these when I was a teenager.
I had tons of fun with it, too. Mine was pretty sensitive, though.
Wish I still had it.
Good luck, hope it's in good working order, or a quick fix!
Jim
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Token
Member
When you say strip the cabinet and repaint, are you going to do the front panel also? The radio in your images is a red letter -129X, and those are bit less common than the standard white letter version (have both here, as well as a black letter). If you paint the front panel you may want to sample the paint color of that lettering and reproduce the color as close as possible. I notice the bezel has already been painted at some time in the past, it should not be white but rather should be dark grey or black.
T!
mikethedruid
Member
No way I am going to touch that front panel. I know it is rare., as is that original light blue bezel. They indicate that this is one of the fist production run of this model. The outer cabinet is covered in silver paint, badly chipped, and looks quite hideous. It is just the outer steel cabinet I am going to strip and re-paint.
Token
Member
Hmmmm, what makes you think the bezel is original paint? Do you have a reference that points to that? I have owned half a dozen red letter -129's, including a serial number that would probably (no one is exactly sure what the first SN is, but several 3 digit SNs are known) place one of them in the first batch of 200. I have never seen a bezel that light in color. I have seen several different shades of grey, from light'ish to dark. I have looked at images from the first magazines to review the radio in 1946, and every period piece I can find makes them some shade of grey. All the ones I can find with enough detail also show them as crinkle, but I have spoken with one guy (and looked at his radio) who purchased his brand new in 1946 that had a smooth finish (light grey) bezel.
I have seen a few of the light grey bezels referred to as "blue", but every one of those I have seen first hand were just slightly lighter than the face itself. I would call them grey, but the point is arguable.
The only blue bezels I have seen on Hammarlund receivers, that I could confirm were factory original, were a few specific batch SP-600's.
My point is, I have never seen one as light as the bezel on your radio. If you have anything that documents, describes, or indicates that as an original option I would certainly like to add that information to my references. Can you share your source?
T!
In case it does not work when it arrives, I obtained a manual, so I cleaned it up, updated it and printed it off. Unfortunately the PDF file is too large to share here.
mikethedruid
Member
The only thing I can rely on is my eyeballs and my experience. There is absolutely NO SIGN of repainting, and the lettering on the bezel is proper and also looks original. The color is DEFINITELY light blue, not light grey, or white. The lettering on the bezel is black. As for serial numbers, somebody modified the back of the chassis years ago, and put on a plate covering the original holes, drilled new holes, so they could change the antenna connector to an SO-239 and the speaker connection to a 1/4 inch phone jack. I removed the plate and have restored the connections back to screw terminals as best I can, but any serial number plate that may have been there is now long gone. There appears to have once been a label atop the box shielding the variable condensers, but it is also long gone.
I've been amazed over and over again when some basket case appearing old radio I've bought at garage sales or online fires right up. I bought an old Hallicrafters S53 on Ebay that looked pretty bad. I bought it for the front panel mostly, and the knobs to make one I already had, that sort of worked, look better. Of course, the "parts" S53 fired right up and the only thing wrong with it was the speaker was dried up and buzzing. It was even pretty much aligned, even though it appeared to be untouched after leaving the factory and stored under less than ideal conditions. I changed out the caps and eventually gave it to a friend's daughter, who later on got her ham license. She got tired of the local 2 meter morons hitting on her, so she dropped ham radio as a hobby. Now she does RC cars with her sons.
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