Brunswick Radiola model BR-260

[phonophan79]

[Silvertone]

There is a fairly comprehensive article on this Brunswick model in the March 2009 issue of the Sound Box.

[Lenoirstreetguy]

The only drawback is the Radiola. They are ungodly difficult to service because most of the circuitry is sealed in a can which was then filled with a melted resin. RCA called it a Catacomb and it really is a case of "abandon hope all ye who enter here" They can be repaired but melting the resin without cooking the interstage transformers is kind of a task. I helped my radio collecting cousin do a couple over the years and when they work they work amazingly well. One of the greatest obstacles in the process was convincing his wife to let us use the oven to melt the resin. I am still amazed at how sensitive that circuit is. It has its drawbacks: the oscillator circuit in particular is fussy and even when operating correctly causes a hiss. And of course the radio uses enough batteries to light downtown Toronto, but I can certainly see why the Radiola Superheterodyne made such a splash when it hit the market in 1924.
Jim

[Kirkwood]

This topic comes up at the right time for me. I was just looking at the Radiola chassis in a BR160 I'm working on, and was on the fence about what to do: (a) restore it to full functionality or (b) just leave it alone as a neat piece historic radio technology. I decided on (b). Other web sites discussing this chassis come with the admonition "not a project for the first-timer" and "do you have any schematics or service notes?" led me to believe that this would be a project easily put off until much much later on. In the end, listening to modern AM radio via the Brunswick, while kinda neat for a couple of minutes, isn't something I'd likely ever do except to show it off to others. Onto the next project....

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Speaking of repairs, RCA felt that the repair person if they ran into real trouble would just send the Catacomb back to the factory. Easy for the repairman of 1925-30 and impossible thereafter! I have service notes for the Radiola Superheterodyne and they do give the schematic and the tests you can do to find out what is wrong, but they give no suggestions as to how one is to go about repairing it ..again short of melting the resin and opening the "cat".
Jim