Flea market Finds

[RJBowman]

Sorry about the blurry cell-phone photo, but you should be able to make it  out:

From an estate that my business purchased to get a large action figure collection. The guy worked for CSX railroad, and brought outmoded equipment home, and he also owned a sailboat, so I thought that it was railroad or nautical, but someone told me that he thought they were early automobile running lights. Valuable if they are car lamps, but still pretty cool if they aren't.

I believe railway marker lights would have red, green and white lenses; that the globe would rotate underneath the arm to select which colour is visible; and that the end of the arm would be shaped to fit into a T-slot bracket while the cable plugs into a nearby socket. Does that sound like what you have?

The lights look like they fit into brackets. Whatever plugs that they might have had are gone.

[Endeavour Cull]

Can anyone tell me what they used to glue paper to glass in the 1940s?

Probably Hide Glue.

Or bone glue

[RJBowman]

Can anyone tell me what they used to glue paper to glass in the 1940s?

Probably Hide Glue.

Or bone glue

Short answer: Some kind of glue.

[Hurricane Annie]

 I must say, trolling the net for inspiration, that English and French folk have the best markets. These events are a bit slack in the Antipodes. Both in appearance and substance

[RJBowman]

I must say, trolling the net for inspiration, that English and French folk have the best markets. These events are a bit slack in the Antipodes. Both in appearance and substance

The countries are too new to have very much cool old stuff.

[Rory B Esq BSc]

At the last flea market / collectors fair I went to I found a miniature rangefinder for a camera, basically a scaled down version of the ones the artillery use. It's aluminium rather than brass but will give me rangefinder on the dirigible destroyer I'm planning to build over the winter, cost 50p

[Sulla]

Picked up this old radio for free.  It is filthy and I bet no longer in working condition, but it's cool and full of fun stuff.  And based on what I see under that torn covering on the front cover, I may be able to strip it to a wood base and finish up the wood nicely, or even re-cover it.  Assuming I don;t gut it for more artistic purposes.

The guy had found it in his basement hiding in a corner that had been blocked off for about 40 years by a wood burning furnace he just had removed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[RJBowman]

I love this giant dry cell battery that says "for hearing aid and radionic uses".

I can't make out the print on all of the the tuning indicators. Does it have short-wave capability?

[Sulla]

I love this giant dry cell battery that says "for hearing aid and radionic uses".

I can't make out the print on all of the the tuning indicators. Does it have short-wave capability?

Yeah, I noticed that too    I know it was an AM only radio.  I haven't had the time to really research it.

[RJBowman]

What's the era of this radio? The giant dry cell doesn't look like it belongs with the perforated red plastic strap.

[von Corax]

I love this giant dry cell battery that says "for hearing aid and radionic uses".

I can't make out the print on all of the the tuning indicators. Does it have short-wave capability?

Yeah, I noticed that too    I know it was an AM only radio.  I haven't had the time to really research it.

I'd venture to guess that it does. The band selectors appear to be marked for the 31-, 25-, 19- and 16-metre bands, as well as 2-4 megacycles (MHz) and 4-8 MHz; all of which are in the short-wave spectrum (according to TSOATAK.) The last button, marked "BC," would be for the commercial AM broadcast band from 530 kHz to 1610 kHz.

[Drew P]

^agreed^

Almost any time one sees multiple(and not 3) lines of bands it's a shortwave receiver. I bet all that will buff out and a little work will have you listening to far away places at night time.

[Prof Marvel]

My Good Msr Sulla -

Congrats!
You have stumbled upon the tube-based version of  the famous Zenith Trans-Oceanic Short and Medium Wave Radio, probably model Y600:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Oceanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Transoceanic.jpg

1946 Zenith Trans-Oceanic Shortwave Portable Radio Model 8G005

Vintage Zenith Y600 Transoceanic SW Shortwave Tube Radio Cowhide

to some of us the Trans-Oceanic is the grail of antique portable radios.

The covering could be leather or leatherette - please consider restoration over removal. Tubes (oddly enough) are available from several vendors out of Eastern Europe (often via ebay) . Batteries can be replace by modern dc-to-dc voltage devices.

hope this helps
yhs
prof marvel

[Sulla]

My Good Msr Sulla -

Congrats!
You have stumbled upon the tube-based version of  the famous Zenith Trans-Oceanic Short and Medium Wave Radio, probably model Y600:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Oceanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Transoceanic.jpg
1946 Zenith Trans-Oceanic Shortwave Portable Radio Model 8G005
Vintage Zenith Y600 Transoceanic SW Shortwave Tube Radio Cowhide

to some of us the Trans-Oceanic is the grail of antique portable radios.

The covering could be leather or leatherette - please consider restoration over removal. Tubes (oddly enough) are available from several vendors out of Eastern Europe (often via ebay) . Batteries can be replace by modern dc-to-dc voltage devices.

hope this helps
yhs
prof marvel

Wow, thanks!  That does help a lot!  I have no idea what this thing has been through so I hope it still works.  It has a plug in the side that can be reeled out of it, but I am glad to know current power supplies can be used.  I feel confident that I could refurbish the outer wrapping, but if the mechanism inside is toast, well, that would be most unfortunate.

I wonder if a little compressed air would be OK to get a lot of the dust and dry debris out of it without damaging it?

[RJBowman]

Everything inside is replaceable.

[Prof Marvel]

My Good Msr Sulla -
When working on antique tube equipment, I often find that a good careful cleaning can resolve ever-so-many problems.

Firstly I recommend googling the crap out of your model. You will find a plethora of useful info such as some happy websites and groups that may be of assistance; possible sources of tubes, battery-replacers, etc; but most of all schematics and diagrams of where which bits live inside the magic box!

Once you have that intelligence, carefully remove each tube, labeling where it came from (yours may not match the doco you obtained). Then you can judicously blow the cobwebs and etc out. A careful scrubbing with alcohol and a toothbrush, followed by drying is also helpful. Try not to dissolve any wax coatings or remove any labels or writings or colors on the cylinderical thingies or the bits that look like M&M's - those cryptic colors and squiggles will be required should you need replacement parts.

The things that are most likely to fail are (of course) tubes, followed by leaky capacitors, followed by overwrought resistors, then broken wires.

As a sprat, I became my neighborhood's Radio and TV fixit-fellow - I found that in most cases a good cleaning and replacement of perhaps one A-series tube resolved most issues.

hope this helps
yhs
prof marvel

[Drew P]

Also,let's not forget the sometimes lethal voltages that may be lurking in there!

Really,look it up.
 And if your not used to messing around with the stuff,you may want to do research-just sayin'.

[Prof Marvel]

Tube testers used to be ubiquitous, in every drug store and electrical emporium. If you can find one somewhere it will save you vast amounts of time and effort. Some Ham Radio clubs may have one, or Tube Stereo Affecianados.

A good multimeter will be a necessity, and always remember:
You Must keep the magic smoke inside the parts
Once the Magic Smoke is released from the part, it will no longer work....

yhs
prof marvel

[Sulla]

... always remember:
You Must keep the magic smoke inside the parts
Once the Magic Smoke is released from the part, it will no longer work....

yhs
prof marvel

Heh, I do technical product support for commercial door hardware and when I am trouble shooting a power supply or electric alarm lock with an installer I often trot that little adage out!  Thanks for the giggle this morning. 

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice too!

[Sulla]

Ah, and speaking of tube testers; I totally missed out on this gem back in 2010. 

[Siliconous Skumins]

Picked up this old radio for free.  It is filthy and I bet no longer in working condition, but it's cool and full of fun stuff.  <snip>

SAVE THAT BATTERY! If it isn't already too late...  The label, if it can be removed intact and run through a scanner, will be highly sought after by enthusiast radio collectors who make reproduction batteries for their sets!  Be sure to include the correct dimensions of the cell and position of the label.


Nice find.     Save the guts if bad, the valves will be usefull for working projects like an amplifier.

SS

[Sulla]

I have not done anything with this radio (or it's battery) since I got it; except to store it safely.  Thanks for the tip about the battery.

[Prof Marvel]

ahhh this brings back fond memories....   6AU6, 12AU7 .... if you might be so kind as to allow vicarious
participation in your endevour .....

apparently the 600 model ranged from the A600 thru the alphabet to the Y600.

monsieur google provided these gems :
http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6au6.html

why look! evil-bay still sells these little buggers:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/mullard-6au6

some complete radios and parts kits:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/zenith-transoceanic-600

and here are some sites that may be of assistance:
http://mikeyancey.com/TO-Y-600_refurb.php

https://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?394408-Restoring-a-Zenith-Y600-Transoceanic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Oceanic

manuals for fee
http://www.antiqueradioschematics.org/zenith-manuals-y600.htm

and some for free
http://www.nostalgiaair.org/References/Manuals/

and here is some advice from Ed
http://www.renovatedradios.com/

ooooohhhh and here is the step-by-step Badrestorer’s Illustrated Guide toRestoring the Zenith Trans-Oceanic H500
http://www.renovatedradios.com/downloads.html

and within we find some great fun if you can't find a tube ...
" Use a solid state tube…that’s right, solid state. It’s a tiny circuit board with solid state
components mounted inside a glass tube. I think it looks really cool, and wanted one for
this H-500. The seller claims that the tube can be installed in a Transoceanic without any
realignment required. Unfortunately, the cost is $43.00 plus $2.00 shipping."

and he even shows you how to make a 90 volt battery with common AA and D cells

meanwhile, I return control back to the flea market thread
yhs
prof marvel

[goobahead1]

its not a flea market but i found my first ever steampunk items at the uniqe thrift store in minneapolis.

an aviator hat with goggles
spats
shirt (vary steampunk like)
pants (vary steampunk like)
moustache
pistolet
monocle

[Hez]

Nice haul!