OUR STORY
Jacksonville Vintage Radio Club (JVRC) - (Formerly JARS - Jacksonville Antique Radio Society)
2024 Vintage Radio
The history of our Radio Club in Jacksonville, Florida. The radios that we deal with are vintage. We were on the cutting edge nearly 2 decades ago in 2001, well before the time of Alexa and before the impact of social media. What did we have at that time? Our Radio Club had a presence on the web. One gateway to the Internet was WebTV. While still in its infancy, the World Wide Web (Information Highway), was made available using a WebTV computer system and a "picture tube" television set (flat screens were also still in their infancy too).
Fast forward from the old Information Highway to the present-day world of Mobile Devices, our club has a new name. Gone are the days of Jacksonville Antique Radio Society (JARS). We feel that 'vintage", better reflects the tone of having a tube radio. It's like owning a bit of history. Having a tube radio in its original polished wood cabinet is not unlike the feeling of owning a bottle of fine wine.
Now, on to the world of radios. We deal with vintage radios that are mostly of the AM type (Amplitude Modulation). In the early days, AM Radios worked on the radio wave frequency known as the Broadcast Band. Radios for the Broadcast Band operated in a low region of the frequency spectrum. The word, "frequency" in the early days, meant essentially, what the word "channel" means today (it was your choice of what station to listen to). AM Radio was subject to a great deal interference in the environment (electrical noise). Interference manifest itself as audio noise (static). Electrical interference made some distant and weak radio stations, difficult to hear. AM Radio advanced from the earliest days of Crystal Sets to Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) radios, to Superheterodyne radios. The early radios used vacuum tubes (electrical elements sealed inside of a glass container). Later, the radios advanced to having Bakelite and plastic cabinets. Along the way, "printed circuits" replaced "wired" radios. Then transistors replaced tube radios. Still further along the way, "solid state" (integrated circuits) replaced transistor radios. American made radios were manufactured in brand names ranging from A to Z; Admiral, Belmont, Crosley, Delco, Detrola, Emerson, Firestone, GE, Hallicrafters, Imperial, Jackson Bell, Kennedy, Lafayette, Olympia, Motorola, Philco, RCA, Searchlight, Silvertone, Sylvania, Universal, Viking, Westinghouse, Zenith, just to name a few. [You can learn more about any of these brand names by doing a keyword search]. For example, search on keywords like: "Searchlight antique radio" or "Motorola antique radio", etc.
A very much sought-after visual component in vintage radios is the "Magic Eye" tube. The Magic Eye tube was used as a Tuning Indicator and produced a wonderful green glow. The tube was often integrated as part of the tuning dial. Another very much sought-after visual component on AM radio are 2 CD markers. The CD markers may appear as letters or as arrows on the tuning dial. CD stood for Civil Defense. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits are also desirable. HealthKit, Knight-Kit, EICO, and EMC are the names of just a few kit makers.
In time, electronic engineers solved the issues of sensitivity and selectivity for distant transmitter stations. Jumping back to the "electrical noise" problem (while still in the days of tube radios), a "new" system was invented called FM (Frequency Modulation). FM was immune to interference and radio reception became free of audio noise. Along with FM came High Fidelity (Hi Fi). High Fidelity used improved circuits and provided superior sound. Of course, the advances did not stop there, next was stereo and surround sound. Improvements never stopped.
Constantly along the way, "good" was never good enough. Around the time of the Space Race, miniaturization became all the rage. With the miniaturization came Novelty radios in shapes that were used to advertise soft drinks, cartoon characters, and various commercial products. The story is not finished here. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The story of wireless communication is as fascinating as it is long.
In the pioneer days, radio bands (meaning the range of channels) included: long-wave (LW), medium-wave (MW), and short-wave (SW). Tuning in a station was free of charge and listening was virtually commercial free (in the beginning). Compare that to the cost of listening to satellite radio. So far there has been only a passing club interest, in the former XM satellite radio and current Sirus's satellite radio, except to acknowledge its digital presence. All of the radios we deal with are powered by AC, DC, or battery, except for Crystal Radio Sets.
We collectors of these precious radio treasures from the past, can't help but stand in awe and wonder, as technology brings us even greater marvels and innovations. Questions about Vintage Radio can be directed to Alexa, Siri, or Google. Radio Questions can alternatively be directed to club members at our monthly meetings.
Our Club:
Jacksonville Antique Radio Society - Old Name
Jacksonville Vintage Radio Club (JVRC) - New Name
Invitation:
If you are interested in Modern, Vintage, Rare, or Collectible Radios, please join us. Many radios in personal collections are now considered as vintage and important to the history of communication, entertainment, and radio technology. Please except our invitation to become involved, by joining us at each monthly meeting, as we explore this interesting hobby and pastime. If you are not on our email list, drop us a note with a request for your name to be added.
Challenge:
This is a labor of love. Finding tuning dials, knobs, grill cloth, resistors, capacitors, transformers, tubes, and so on, to replace missing or damaged parts, can be a challenge. Restoring laminations on a wood cabinet is more of a craft, art, and science. Restoring Bakelite, Catalin, and plastic cabinets comes with its own set of challenges. The successful restoration of a vintage radio falls into the category of craftsmanship. The completed restoration is art when the restored radio appears as it would have in its time of operation, gently used, like a valued piece, but not brand new. That particular look reflects art and craftsmanship.
Why:
The reward of refurbishing a radio comes after finding replacement parts and schematic diagrams for troubleshooting. The successful restoration of the radio is its own reward. Upon finding a radio that is in a state of disaster, the first thing required is to make a "fix or toss" decision. Second, it must be authenticated. Fortunately, there is not a big problem with forgeries. Poorly restored radios however, could be a problem. The novice collector should be on the lookout for modern and legitimate, "retro" reproductions. A common giveaway for a "retro repo", is when it looks brand new and there is the addition of something like a Compact Disk (CD) player. a third and very important consideration, is condition. In regard to vintage radios with wooden cabinets, look for lamination damage, mold damage, or insect damage. The cabinet surface may appear okay, but the damage may lie beneath the surface.
Once a radio is deemed authentic and the cost of repair is acceptable, then the task of restoration can begin. If a radio is declared unsuitable for repair due to either poor cabinet condition or a damaged chassis inside, it may still be retained for parts. If the case is sound, or the parts inside are salvageable, such as a loop antenna, variable tuning condenser, light bulb, tube sockets, or speaker, then consider keeping it for parts. Radio parts and supplies are required for the restoration and repair of antique radios. Members in the club can help find resources to fix old style vintage tube radios.
Share:
Let us know what facets of Radio Collecting you are interested in. What brand, year, cabinet style, tube, transistor, AM, FM, portable, Broadcast band, Shortwave band, etc. Thanks in Advance.
© 2024
Jacksonville Vintage Radio Club
All rights reserved.
Jacksonville Vintage Radio Club (JVRC) - (Formerly JARS - Jacksonville Antique Radio Society)
2024 Vintage Radio
The history of our Radio Club in Jacksonville, Florida. The radios that we deal with are vintage. We were on the cutting edge nearly 2 decades ago in 2001, well before the time of Alexa and before the impact of social media. What did we have at that time? Our Radio Club had a presence on the web. One gateway to the Internet was WebTV. While still in its infancy, the World Wide Web (Information Highway), was made available using a WebTV computer system and a "picture tube" television set (flat screens were also still in their infancy too).
Fast forward from the old Information Highway to the present-day world of Mobile Devices, our club has a new name. Gone are the days of Jacksonville Antique Radio Society (JARS). We feel that 'vintage", better reflects the tone of having a tube radio. It's like owning a bit of history. Having a tube radio in its original polished wood cabinet is not unlike the feeling of owning a bottle of fine wine.
Now, on to the world of radios. We deal with vintage radios that are mostly of the AM type (Amplitude Modulation). In the early days, AM Radios worked on the radio wave frequency known as the Broadcast Band. Radios for the Broadcast Band operated in a low region of the frequency spectrum. The word, "frequency" in the early days, meant essentially, what the word "channel" means today (it was your choice of what station to listen to). AM Radio was subject to a great deal interference in the environment (electrical noise). Interference manifest itself as audio noise (static). Electrical interference made some distant and weak radio stations, difficult to hear. AM Radio advanced from the earliest days of Crystal Sets to Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) radios, to Superheterodyne radios. The early radios used vacuum tubes (electrical elements sealed inside of a glass container). Later, the radios advanced to having Bakelite and plastic cabinets. Along the way, "printed circuits" replaced "wired" radios. Then transistors replaced tube radios. Still further along the way, "solid state" (integrated circuits) replaced transistor radios. American made radios were manufactured in brand names ranging from A to Z; Admiral, Belmont, Crosley, Delco, Detrola, Emerson, Firestone, GE, Hallicrafters, Imperial, Jackson Bell, Kennedy, Lafayette, Olympia, Motorola, Philco, RCA, Searchlight, Silvertone, Sylvania, Universal, Viking, Westinghouse, Zenith, just to name a few. [You can learn more about any of these brand names by doing a keyword search]. For example, search on keywords like: "Searchlight antique radio" or "Motorola antique radio", etc.
A very much sought-after visual component in vintage radios is the "Magic Eye" tube. The Magic Eye tube was used as a Tuning Indicator and produced a wonderful green glow. The tube was often integrated as part of the tuning dial. Another very much sought-after visual component on AM radio are 2 CD markers. The CD markers may appear as letters or as arrows on the tuning dial. CD stood for Civil Defense. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits are also desirable. HealthKit, Knight-Kit, EICO, and EMC are the names of just a few kit makers.
In time, electronic engineers solved the issues of sensitivity and selectivity for distant transmitter stations. Jumping back to the "electrical noise" problem (while still in the days of tube radios), a "new" system was invented called FM (Frequency Modulation). FM was immune to interference and radio reception became free of audio noise. Along with FM came High Fidelity (Hi Fi). High Fidelity used improved circuits and provided superior sound. Of course, the advances did not stop there, next was stereo and surround sound. Improvements never stopped.
Constantly along the way, "good" was never good enough. Around the time of the Space Race, miniaturization became all the rage. With the miniaturization came Novelty radios in shapes that were used to advertise soft drinks, cartoon characters, and various commercial products. The story is not finished here. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The story of wireless communication is as fascinating as it is long.
In the pioneer days, radio bands (meaning the range of channels) included: long-wave (LW), medium-wave (MW), and short-wave (SW). Tuning in a station was free of charge and listening was virtually commercial free (in the beginning). Compare that to the cost of listening to satellite radio. So far there has been only a passing club interest, in the former XM satellite radio and current Sirus's satellite radio, except to acknowledge its digital presence. All of the radios we deal with are powered by AC, DC, or battery, except for Crystal Radio Sets.
We collectors of these precious radio treasures from the past, can't help but stand in awe and wonder, as technology brings us even greater marvels and innovations. Questions about Vintage Radio can be directed to Alexa, Siri, or Google. Radio Questions can alternatively be directed to club members at our monthly meetings.
Our Club:
Jacksonville Antique Radio Society - Old Name
Jacksonville Vintage Radio Club (JVRC) - New Name
Invitation:
If you are interested in Modern, Vintage, Rare, or Collectible Radios, please join us. Many radios in personal collections are now considered as vintage and important to the history of communication, entertainment, and radio technology. Please except our invitation to become involved, by joining us at each monthly meeting, as we explore this interesting hobby and pastime. If you are not on our email list, drop us a note with a request for your name to be added.
Challenge:
This is a labor of love. Finding tuning dials, knobs, grill cloth, resistors, capacitors, transformers, tubes, and so on, to replace missing or damaged parts, can be a challenge. Restoring laminations on a wood cabinet is more of a craft, art, and science. Restoring Bakelite, Catalin, and plastic cabinets comes with its own set of challenges. The successful restoration of a vintage radio falls into the category of craftsmanship. The completed restoration is art when the restored radio appears as it would have in its time of operation, gently used, like a valued piece, but not brand new. That particular look reflects art and craftsmanship.
Why:
The reward of refurbishing a radio comes after finding replacement parts and schematic diagrams for troubleshooting. The successful restoration of the radio is its own reward. Upon finding a radio that is in a state of disaster, the first thing required is to make a "fix or toss" decision. Second, it must be authenticated. Fortunately, there is not a big problem with forgeries. Poorly restored radios however, could be a problem. The novice collector should be on the lookout for modern and legitimate, "retro" reproductions. A common giveaway for a "retro repo", is when it looks brand new and there is the addition of something like a Compact Disk (CD) player. a third and very important consideration, is condition. In regard to vintage radios with wooden cabinets, look for lamination damage, mold damage, or insect damage. The cabinet surface may appear okay, but the damage may lie beneath the surface.
Once a radio is deemed authentic and the cost of repair is acceptable, then the task of restoration can begin. If a radio is declared unsuitable for repair due to either poor cabinet condition or a damaged chassis inside, it may still be retained for parts. If the case is sound, or the parts inside are salvageable, such as a loop antenna, variable tuning condenser, light bulb, tube sockets, or speaker, then consider keeping it for parts. Radio parts and supplies are required for the restoration and repair of antique radios. Members in the club can help find resources to fix old style vintage tube radios.
Share:
Let us know what facets of Radio Collecting you are interested in. What brand, year, cabinet style, tube, transistor, AM, FM, portable, Broadcast band, Shortwave band, etc. Thanks in Advance.
© 2024
Jacksonville Vintage Radio Club
All rights reserved.