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I love that meter that says "tune for greatest swing." I bet the big band era sounded terrific on this set!

Henry wrote:I love that meter that says "tune for greatest swing." I bet the big band era sounded terrific on this set!

I was wondering what that meant. I still wonder if it might have some different technical meaning? This radio looks like a late 20's model to me, (pre-swing era)

Thanks for the comments and links to resources. Wish I knew more about fixing radios. I can just see me with a "Brady bunch- Dad hair-do" after getting zapped for messing where I don't belong!!

Steve

Your Stromberg 846 is a 1929 model. It is a TRF (tuned radio frequency) receiver with provision for phono input. The schematic for it can be found in the Rider's Perpetual Troubleshooting Manual, volume 1. The meter is a simple signal strength tuning meter - the needle swings to a maximum indication when you are tuned to the maximum signal strength for a particular station. Meters such as this were still rather uncommon on sets this early, but they or tuning eye tubes became much more common in later years. Yes, as discussed in other threads on this Forum, there are more radio collectors out there than phono collectors. You should have no problem finding someone to help you restore this. The Antique Radio Forum has many links and resources that you can pursue. Google "antique radio" and you'll get a bunch of other links.

Just to share... I bought this because it was an Edison... but I was way over my head and ended up giving it away last year at the Wayne MME. Edison R-5 Radio.

Also, just came across this early radio / phono combo unit... I've seen Victors and Brunnys... but I don't recall seeing a Columbia Viva-Tonal... and look at that tonearm! ... just thought I'd share.

I"ve seen pics of a few Columbia/Kolster units, don't remember seeing this one. Very cool. They don't turn up very often.

gregbogantz wrote:Your Stromberg 846 is a 1929 model. It is a TRF (tuned radio frequency) receiver with provision for phono input. The schematic for it can be found in the Rider's Perpetual Troubleshooting Manual, volume 1. ...

A free PDF version is also available here -- http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Resources/969/M0029969.htm

Hundreds more on this page: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/Resources/

I'm an antique radio/TV collector (and radio restorer) myself. That is a very nice radio you have there. Stromberg-Carlson was a very good radio manufacturer. These aren't terribly hard to fix, but I prefer 30's and early 40's sets. A lot of these 20's radios have capacitors (parts most likely to fail, causing damage when plugged in) that are encased in "tar cans" and it's just a real big mess when it comes to disassembly and restoring. 30's+ radios have wax capacitors dotted alongside the bottom of the radio, so, with those, it's just unclip both ends, and solder in a modern capacitor (can capacitors - 2-4 capacitors mounted in a vertical silver or cardboard can above the chassis) can be a bit trickier to bypass, but it's still not all that hard.



Congrats on the find!

I'm kind of radio-ish but not nearly as much as I used to be. In fact I have a dead 1934 RCA Magic Brain set in the living that has been silent for three years because I don't have the time or energy to rip the thing apart and fix whatever capacitor has died. The late 20's and early 30's stuff is easier to repair, but the superhets from 1934 to 1938 are my favourites for performance.

Jim