General Electric 106



 

Brand: General Electric Co.   Date of Manufacture: 1946   Frequency Range: 550 - 1600Kc
Tube Lineup: 35Z5 GT Rectifier, 50L6 GT Output, 12SQ7 Det/Audio Amp, 12SG7 I.F. Amp, 12SA7 Osc/Converter
Schematic: Available here, courtesy of Nostalgia Air. Riders 15-9



    This radio was found, in a now closed, local flea market sometime in 2002. With very limited finances at the time, this radio was cheap and in bad shape, so it fit my budget. I do not have any photos of it's original state, since work began shortly purchase. It was one of my earlier attempts at a restoration, and not my best by any means. The record player was in pieces when originally purchased, so it sat in a box in storage for several years. The original finish was badly damaged, so I ignorantly applied some clear Poly over the cabinet (Don't shoot!). The grill cloth was very ragged, so I found some old burlap type material and glued it on (Ok, you can shoot me now!) The only thing I did get right was replacing the capacitors, which were done quite well.

   Now it's time for restoration attempt number two in October 2006. The chassis only needed a little bit of cleaning, and an alignment to have it working. The only challenge was re-installing the record arm and motor. The motor only required a little bit of cleaning and some lubricant. According to the schematic, and arm and needle used two conductors inside of a shielded cable. Since the original cable was gone, a new one had to be made from scratch. Some copper braid from All Electronics, ( Cat # GS-16 ), was used to make my cable, and two 20 AWG stranded wires were chased through it.

    The cabinet was the easy part. All of the work from the first refinish was removed. Citri Strip was used to remove the poly. A new finish was applied using Mowhawk brand toners, and semi gloss lacquer. A small piece of the original grill cloth was used to match it up to a reproduction,Cat. # GRC61 from Radiodaze. A new decal was also purchased along with the grill cloth.




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