1937 RCA 811K Console Radio Part 18 of 18 FINAL DEMO

[@countryside8122]

I used to get those radios all the time. I told the people I got them from that they just needed an antenna. I was a teenager at the time. Just took a piece of number 10 or 12 copper wire around the backside of the wood cabinet and it worked GREAT. Most were in excellent condition. Just had nobody interested in them. Junked a lot of them out for metal and usable parts. LOVED the EXCELLENT sound from them. Still have tubes for them.

[@rogertebow9923]

Do you happen to have the plastic frames that go around the window & station selectors?

[@danielsteele7544]

Excellent work,thanks for showing us your very good technique and care.Beuriful job on everthing.

[@jmaXHA1]

Thanks for the in depth dive on this radio. I bought one at a neighborhood estate sale for $50 and plan to start on it this week. I hope I don’t have all the electric tuning problems you had but I will sure be better off learning from your experience.

[@richardmcleod5967]

I'll bet those cats might enjoy that open grill cloth area for their scratching posts! I have had that problem and generally just have to keep a cover of some sort over the exposed grill cloth as they are just too tempting for any cat to use as a scratching post.

[@eh6463]

My parents had an 811K when I was a kid. (I'm turning 78 this year). I think they must have bought it when they got married. Some of my earliest memories are of hearing Lowell Thomas newscasts towards the end of WWII, while protected behind the dark green blackout shades covering our Brooklyn apartment's windows. As I grew older, I listened to radio serials in the afternoons, and at night the Lux Radio Theater, The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Molly, etc. I used to enjoy tuning through the short wave band to hear broadcasts from exotic lands. The radio eventually developed the habit of randomly blasting at high volume from time to time, but my parents never had it repaired. We just lunged for the volume control to reset it. By 1949 it lost pride-of-place to a 10" RCA TV. Sometime in the 1950s it was disposed of, perhaps due to a move--I don't recall exactly why or when. Of course I wish I had it still. Seeing the various KZbin videos showing this model kindles a nostalgia for days gone by.

[@thattubesound2214]

The 811K was one of my favorite radios to work on. It was well-made and had great sound. More than that, it really represented the state of the art for its time. I love the internet and all the things we can do to communicate today, but something was lost when shortwave fell out of fashion. There is something magical about listening to a station from the other side of the world, and knowing that the radio signal traveled all of that distance between the station and you. I still listen to a Radio New Zealand station in the early morning on one of my late-'30s Zenith consoles. I'm glad you watched. Thank you for sharing your comments and your memories. That's the real reason that I work with these old radios. Take care. Michael

[@waynethompson8416]

So many wonderful Old Time Radio programs! Your's Truly Johnny Dollar, Escape, Suspense, X-1, Halls of Ivy, Cape Cod Mystery Theater, Journey Into Space, Nero Wolfe, Phillip Marlowe, The Saint, The Whistler, and so many others! Would love to have those broadcast again!!!

[@lsrx101]

I'm late to the party here but I just found this series of videos. That 811K is a great radio. I have restored the chassis on 2 of them and their bigger brother the 813K. Great job on the restoration! I noticed a problem right away with the tuning knob assembly. I kept hoping that you discovered it, but you didn't mention it in the videos. The fine tuning shaft was missing. That assembly is a vernier drive and works just like a planetary gear set. The "mushroom" that held the 3 ball bearings in place was the broken tip of the fine tuning shaft. The hollow outer shaft is the coarse tuning and the small inner aluminum shaft is the fine tuning. The manual drive is supposed to disengage when the motorized tuning is running. What often happens is the drive doesnt disengage and the inner shaft spins like crazy. This wears the "mushroom' down and the entire shaft and knob pops out and shoots across the room due to the spring pressure. The knob, shaft, spring and balls are often missing. About 10 years ago, I had a friend make me 5 of those shafts. I may have 1 left...somewhere. It looks as though, instead, yours had bound up due to the petrified grease and the shaft broke at the groove where the balls would ride. In the last video the fine tuning knob was in place, so I hope you figured it out and were able to replace the missing shaft. When cleaned and lubed, that mechanism tunes like velvet and makes night time DXing a lot of fun. I look forward to watching the rest of your videos. Thanks for taking the time to share your work.

[@thattubesound2214]

Yep, you are 100% correct. The fine tuning shaft was missing. I mentioned it in the final video of the series. I showed it to the owner of the radio, and he felt that it tuned acceptably well for his needs, and we left it. I have since stumbled upon a chassis for an 813K and I have parts for my radios, should I need them. I love this series of radios, and I own an 811K, two 812Ks, an 816K, and an 810K. They are beautiful radios, and I love the way that they sound. The motorized tuning is very cool, and is easier to set up than some other sets (like the Scott 800B that I did). Thank you for the kind words and compliments. I am glad that you found some things of interest in the series. I sure had fun doing it! I look forward to your comments and suggestions in the future. They mean a lot to me! Cheers! Michael

[@lsrx101]

I didn't pay attention to RCA radios for many years. They just seemed plain and stodgy compared to the flashier Zenith, Philco and other sets. Someone gave me an 811K in a very nice cabinet, and after restoring the chassis, I began to appreciate the engineering, design and performance of the RCA sets. It sounds like you do too.

[@thattubesound2214]

Yes, I am the same as you. I didn't pay any attention to them as a favorite brand until I noticed that the build quality was superior to most other brands. This first became evident to me when I started getting interested in televisions. RCA TVs are first-rate in terms of quality and good design. Then I started getting into Radiolas (including the GE, Brunswick, and Westinghouse clones). From there, it was all downhill! Thank you for watching and for your excellent comments. I am glad that you have watched and I hope that I can keep the vids interesting to you! Cheers! Michael

[@THOMMGB]

That is one beautiful radio! You and Michael did a wonderful job on it. I've got an RCA 811K as well. From what I've heard 8 = 1938 model year, 11 = 11 tubes, and K = console. It makes sense to me that all the service literature would be dated 1937 because that's when the radio first came out. They did it back then just like we do new cars nowadays; the next years new car models come out in the Fall. I haven't watched the previous 17 videos yet, but when I get around to doing my 811K, I plan to follow right along, doing to mine what you did to yours. Regards, Tom

[@allanstec2601]

I have the same unit. can you tell me how to connect a indoor antenna to the back. It has one black and one red wire. Also, what do you use to clean up the chasis and parts? Thank you. Is there an owners manual available???

[@jeffreyhaynes5774]

Did i see the dial pointer go left when you turn the knob right?.Is that correct.

[@MrLeejan]

on the phono input.use a 50l6 output transformer. connect the hi impeadence side to radio and speaker side to solid state device. should work ok

[@Rebel9668]

Beautiful. I noticed that as you were turning the tone control that the speech/music lights went on and off, that's pretty cool! My K80 doesn't have the speaker baffle, but then there's no way they could have put one in because it has one of those directional antennas hanging back there like a zenith wave magnet. You should film the owner's reaction when he sees that beauty perform. Outstanding job, sir! Take care, Gary P.S. I couldn't resist looking up that Scott 800B on radio museum's site....Great Googa-Mooga, that thing really is a monster! I hope personally never to have to try to tackle something like that and I wish you the best of luck with the one you'll be working on. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[@thattubesound2214]

Gary, I really dig all the lights on the RCA, too. You should see the 813K. It has even more lights, and that beautiful curved dial window. The 800B that I'll be doing is in terrible condition. It's going to need a ton of work. Even the speaker and the record changer need everything! It will be my biggest radio challenge, so far. The only thing that I've worked on that was tougher than this will be, was an RCA television. We shall see... Cheers! Michael

[@Rebel9668]

I was just looking around on craigslist and up in Indianapolis a guy has a couple radios for sale and wants $100 for the pair. One is an RCA 811K and the other is an old Philco 511 TRF coffin box style radio from 1928! I hope they will be there after Christmas, lol.

[@thattubesound2214]

Hey, Gary. I hope that you get them. I am not familiar with the Philco. If you get the RCA, let me know and I will send you pdf files for all of the documents I have for it. They are a little easier to read than the free ones that are available. Watch for my Christmas greeting video, if you want a laugh. I'll upload it tomorrow or Friday. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[@zzzdogutube]

nice looker thanks

[@nikolabondzic8022]

are you still here on you tube?

[@markbranch1650]

My grandmother had one of these 811ks when I was a youngster and I spent many hours with it . The Finish-on hers was very similar in color to yours. I found one in Georgia last month with a dark walnut or mahogany finish and I plan on restoring it The colors on these varied from a dark finish to lighter finishes such as this one. Was it a lighter color to begin with? Do you know what Michael Ensign finishes used to refinish this beautiful radio. Wonderful restoration and a great video .Thank you for posting

[@AntiqueRadios]

Wow, that is really nice. There is one locally on craigslist that I'm thinking about getting. It appears in good shape but it's missing the 'speech' and 'music' tabs like yours. Can you make me those if I get this radio? I'll gladly pay you.

[@thattubesound2214]

There is nothing I'd like more than to help with those tabs, and I plan to do a video on making them, in the future. Sadly, my wife is seriously ill, and I spend a lot more time these days with her care than doing my radio work. Down the road a bit, I plan to pick up the pace on the radio stuff again. I can tell you that what making the tabs mainly involved is Microsoft Word, some clear sheet, and a bunch of time experimenting with fonts, size, and colors. I used "printable transparency" sheet because I had some around, but any old clear sheet would work, as long as it is flat (acetate, PETE, etc.). I also learned that you can change the color and perceived originality by adjusting the color of the background of the label. I used Word's text highlighting feature to create that background. I even used highlighter markers on the back side of the labels to adjust color. I hope this helps a little. Did you buy the 811K? I bought one for myself as well as others in the lineup (812K, 813K, 816K). I love them all. This series of RCA radios are among my favorites of all radios. They perform remarkably well and sound fantastic. I hope that you get the 811K. Thank you so much for watching and for commenting. I hope that I can keep things interesting for you and other folks. Cheers! Michael

[@AntiqueRadios]

Wow, I didn't know your wife is ill. I'll keep her in my prayers. I have an RCA 813K which is a great performer and will check out the 811K in the next day or two to see if it's worth getting. Thanks for the reply.

[@AntiqueRadios]

I passed on the 811K and I"m glad because I just found an 813K at the local antique shop, 1/2 off sale for $125.00 and jumping with joy. It does work, the tuning motor works, and the eye tube is about 75%, I'll be recapping shortly. It still has the original metal tubes except for the 6F5 audio outputs which are glass.

[@thattubesound2214]

The 813K is a nice set. I really like the tuning motor arrangement. Its big and bold looking, built strong, and unusual. They are not as tricky to work on as they look. I hope that you enjoy the set. Take it easy, my friend. Michael

[@jimrick6632]

INTERESTED IN SELLING THIS????