Just How Terrible Is A NEW Portable Radio???

[@MeowdL]

It's a shame I'm only just discovering you. I absolutely love how I can hear the passion in your voice as you talk about things.

[@tracypanavia4634]

I just discovered Fran too! But its not a shame! Its awesome!👍🏼🤓

[@jibojibo254]

I'm going on 78 years old, and still have my very first JC Penny transistor radio that I received as a Christmas gift when I was in 10th grade. I found the hiding spot and had my own batteries that I substituted so I could play it pre-Christmas.

[@jonathannelson209]

I bet there is no better memory for you

[@rc3291]

I recently found my first GE transistor radio. From the mid sixties.

[@charlesrichards5389]

My great-granddad used to order them by the case directly from Japan, and meet the boat at the dock in Miami. He gave them out as Christmas presents to all us kids. I sure miss PaPa.

[@canundrumsixnine6830]

I wish I still had my old Windsor Pocket Transistor Radio. That little radio made me feel special when I was a kid. the only kid on the block that had one.

[@Ndlanding]

@Swilly Billy That's one of the reasons I didn't want children. Oh, and I used to do similar things myself!

[@Dingomush]

You seem to have a bit more of a delicate touch with the items on your bench than the other channels I’ve been watching ( BigClive, AVE, ElectroBOOM). Kind of soothing not having the explosions, fires, and general mayhem. 🤠

[@every1665]

Yes - I've seen other techies obviously break things while dis-assembling them and conveniently never show them being re-assembled!

[@godfreypoon5148]

The "rotary" dials are to deceive people into thinking there are fully variable controls (eg the tone).

[@user-ut9ln4vd5m]

Maybe they'd trick some non-english readers with the tone knob... kudos for printing the dots at least, that highlights the binary choices like high/low and AM/FM. Probably some factory had a surplus of those rotary-to-switch adapters and thought it would make a different looking (aka "new") design they could unload for a couple... bucks? yen? yuan? renminbi?

[@sugarpacketchad]

They're always trying to "put one over on us!"

[@MrJest2]

I don't know that it's "deception" so much as a design decision to give it a "retro appearance". Some 20-something kid fresh out of design school probably drew it up.

[@grumpy_ken]

the enginerds never get the industrial designers and ux people

[@totallyfrozen]

@@MrJest2 I think it is deception when you put in context. This radio is cosmetically extremely similar to the old GE Superadio. Some unfamiliar person might think, “oh, my dad had one of these and it was great. I’ll buy this one.” Marketers consider those things. They make things as cheaply as possible and try to convey the image of vintage quality.

[@phs125]

What a coincidence, youtube recommends me this 2 hours after I open up my own radio. I have a Tecsun PL310ET one of the buttons was not very responsive, so I opened it up. Very simple circuit, (but the performance is worth it) It has one board for all the important circuits, a main chip, and everything, Another board for the buttons, display, and tuning controls. They probably split the board just to make the radio smaller. Everything is arranged so efficiently inside, like a smartphone, (not THAT compact, but still) I don't see much of wasted space. I just blew Air on everything, cleaned the buttons with some alcohol, and closed it right back up. Interestingly, it has a tiny button cell inside, which is specifically there to keep the radio alive even if you remove the AA batteries. So you don't lose all the EPROM stuff...

[@krapart]

Great tip on first turning the screwdriver in reverse when refastening

[@charleshutchings5853]

I have one of these and I am pleased with it, it tunes in well and I leave the tone on low. Plenty of volume for me.

[@l3nny47]

Fran nice thumbnail, very nice picture and you look well. Always superb content - long live Fran Lab

[@mrrecluse7002]

I love your weirdness Fran. It is of a beautiful kind. Thanks again.

[@glenbirbeck4098]

Thank you Fran. Yes, the evolution of these products is interesting. The early transistor radios were very packed, a challenge to the designers to fit all in a palm sized case. Keep up the good work!

[@johnl5444]

I purchased a Retekess V115 with mega bass and I am very impressed with it. It's only 41/2 inches by 21/2 inches by 1 inch deep but the overall quality and sound is unbelievable . This thing has AM/FM/SW and has a headphone jack, sd card slot, usb port for charging, line in and a voice recorder. For $25.00 you can't go wrong.

[@spleeeen4it]

watching you work those knobs was a joy to behold

[@jonathanpope81]

You are so nice and so clever. I like that. And the "Outro" was fab Fran. Thanks baby!

[@ramirobenvidez9107]

I CAN REMEMBER IN 1967 SAN ANTONIO TEXAS. WERE I HADS A VERY SMALL RADIO AM.THATS ITS WORKS WITH NO BATTERY.HADS A WIRE THAT YOU CLIP TO A METAL FENCE TO MAKE IT WORK. ITS WAS ONLYS 2×2 INCHES. WAS HEARINGS THE NEW MOVIE OF BONNIE AND CYCLE WAS JUST OUTS IN THEATERS..

[@TexCaliber]

being someone who also takes things apart my first though was to disconnect the speaker connector from the board, I've had to re solder many.

[@tahoma6889]

I have a Panasonic 8. Was a gift from my grandmother. I also have a 1928 Atwater Kent. Completely restored. Pristine tubes. I was hoping you would compare it to the vintage audio. :)

[@THE_DOC_RAD]

Nicely done Fran. The idea of “converting” a PCB mounted slide switch into a rotary control switch is a very old idea. General Electric started doing that back in the 1960s. Sadly, today’s radios are just an afterthought. If they can receive a few “flamethrower” local stations, it’s good enough. Back in the day, even when outsourcing, a company still wanted the build quality of radio to reflect their corporate reputation.

[@hadireg]

"...to reflect their corporate reputation." so true that competition effort back then to set a brand image through their products!

[@gerardcarriera7052]

When thinking cheap..Think of GE.

[@bill392]

@@gerardcarriera7052 Certainly now, that's very true. But there was a time, many decades ago, when their stuff was considerably better quality. GE products are garbage now. Same with Samsung. Total junk, from exploding phones to exploding washing machines. I'll never buy anything with that name on it again.

[@JungleYT]

I have an *old Sears Am Transistor radio from the 1960s* when I was a kid... It took a *square cylindrical* 9V battery... Fired it up a couple of years ago using a modern 9V battery like we use today in smoke alarms, using alligator clips. It worked just Fine! *You BROKE IT! LOL - **5:13*

[@Narrowgaugefilms]

I work a lot with industrial grade electronics, I am also the Dad of a recent new adult. Old consumer electronics is built a lot like industrial grade electronics. New consumer electronics is built a lot like my sons old toys. (It was hard to take apart because it was never intended to be repaired!)

[@pauldionne2884]

7:27 There's a solder splatter across a couple traces. Not hurting anything but could've been removed while you had it apart.

[@mackfisher4487]

One of my complaints about modern electronics is the external power supplies often times switcher power supplies that cause interference , why not switch the primaries on and off with an ac fuse for safety. Surprisingly a large amount of current can be attributed to all of various cube type power supply found in the average home, I believe the term energy hog is well suited.

[@someoneelse7629]

I also collect old radios, both tube radios and early transistors, last power outage, I grabbed my emergency radio with solar panel and crank to hear the news, it was fully discharged although it was standing in the window getting solar every day. I cranked it up and barely got the local station in, with a crappy tinny sound and low volume. So I grabbed my next choise, a modern AM/FM/SSB multiband radio, it's LiPo battery was dead, because someone prioritzed an always on display with a clock and a thermometer. Then I grabbed some of my really old radios, 8 out of 10 still had batterys left, all of them had better reception and sound then the emergency radio. I guess I will stock batterys instead of emergency radios that barely work.

[@grandrapids57]

That looks like a TI-30... one of the best calculator designs.

[@charlesrichards5389]

Yes, I had one! I'd have a problem reading those tiny LEDs nowadays though. 🤓

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

If you love watching old radio repair videos (which I didn't realise I was going to like), then Mr Carlson's Lab is a great channel.

[@richardstoc]

Fran thanks for all the interesting video's enjoyed the one on the Wanamaker organ I'll have to watch it again have been following the progress of the Midmer Losh organ in Boardwalk hall they are making Amazing progress in its Restoration and the Kimball Organ is well Maybe when it Opens back up we will see you climbing around in it too, they don't seem to have much on the Kimball as far as its chambers etc. We used to have a electronic store in home town it had everything kits, components you name it like radio shack but 10x as big now everything is online just not the same, maybe better but not for us browsers. any who catch ya down the road.

[@s.guttmann6625]

Thank you. Please keep reviewing radios and letting us see what's inside. Few reviewers open them up.

[@pbjpbj1243]

Thank you! This gives me a lot to think about before my next portable radio purchase.

[@mimsnshine]

That vintage one you show is beautiful.

[@rb032682]

When small transistor radios became a craze among USA's youth, the higher the transistor count, the more one could brag about it. I remember finally getting a transistor radio, but it had so few transistors, I really had nothing to brag about.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Fran, another great video! It was fun to see the take down of this radio by someone who knows what the components do. Fun to watch too. Thanks!

[@yutubl]

Ok, this radio seems to be a very cheap one. My recommendation on your demontage: a) Removing ver fix sticky knobs & buttons more easier w/o hurting your fingers/hands using a (robust plastic scale /fishing) thread - loop it around the axis of the potentiometer or switch and then draw/pull it from the axis.

[@devonnewest7990]

Love this channel. You, Techmoan and VWestlife are YT treasures 😚

[@atticusyou]

Looks like , but is very different from, an old Radio Shack radio I still use to this day. AM/FM/SW/TV1/TV2 .

[@atticusyou]

Great for listening to the big game. I can still feel the wirewheel tuning ... Still tight and still gives me over a year of use on 5 c-cell batteries ! :)

[@jamesrichardson771]

You look better, and better with every video I see of you ! The pig tales are great ! 💥 🤗

[@TheOriginalFreak]

In short, this radio is a Commodity good as it is made with extremely cheap parts (including the case) which are cheap only because hundreds of other manufacturers use the same parts for their versions of the same radio. By changing from using the commodity version case to a "custom" toggle switch case, would be like McDonald's switching from using beef from a tube ($) to using custom fresh ground beef ($$ - $$$$). This would result in the increase in cost of manufacturing, reducing profits or if prices were raised, risking market share as I doubt they would sell more radios with toggle switches than with the current knobs as those are small switches and most people wouldn't be able to operate them as easily as the current knobs. A longer version.... The reason for the convoluted greased switch, it is most likely that the manufacturer can get be knob cases for $0.03/unit cheaper than if they had a toggle switch version made. You see the current knob version has been around for ever and thus is cheap to make, easy to come by, and the manufacturer already has accounted for all the peccadilloes associated with its use in the manufacturing process. To switch to a new toggle switch design would mean a great deal of costs for startup (design costs, mold creation costs, etc.), cost increase per unit as the new case is only used by 1 manufacturer while the current knob style is likely used by HUNDREDS of manufacturers and thus is cheap due to economies of scale and market demand/supply principles. In other words, it is cheaper to use a AAA battery in a device than to design it use a BBBB size battery which you have to special order, how the manufacturer can keep up demand (no mudslides that wipe out the village, etc.), the quality is consistent, etc. To be honest you could be looking at the current knob case costing (this is totally made up cost, so please, ok) $0.50/case, but after ALL the costs in getting a "new" toggle switch case up and running and available to use, the toggle case costs $7.50/case. For a radio that retails for less than $10, that is a hard NO on the case switch. The radio manufacturer will only switch to the toggle case when they can do so and still make the same or greater profit as with the knob case. Given I see no end user benefit to the toggle case design (switch is harder to grasp than knob, users already used to radios with knobs, etc), it would likely take the entire industry of cheap radio manufacturers to discover they could increase profits by switching to the toggle design thus allowing radio case manufacturers to all switch to the same New Toggle Case at the same time. Given this design change does not seem to create any cost saving, especially since you would still have to add in a cover for the switch to keep the physical switch away from the elements, make it big enough for the user to operate, etc. I do not see any cost savings, especially one large enough for such a costly market shift, to be in the cards. This is actually similar to a case study I did back in the 2000's which included the fact that, as you elluded to early in the video, it is and has been and will likely continue to be the norm for manufacturers of "cheap" goods, to knowingly retain the "vintage" designs in order to take advantage of the cost savings of using what already exists int he marketplace and simply making it a few pennies cheaper than the other guy to end up making a small profit in the end, but still a profit. Below is some more on the subject. Further, even if the manufacturer wanted to change the case to allow direct access to the toggle switch elliminating the knob altogether, the manufacturer would have to incur setup costs (new molds for the case, cost of the change over process itself, etc.) and may also be looking at higher per unit costs for the new case, especially if the new case is only used by that manufacturer. You see many products are built by various manufacturers using similar are identical parts but containing differences in options, internal components, etc. Think about 20th century car makers who would use the same frame for a Pontiac, a Chevy, and a Buick. The current knob case may be used by several, if not dozens or hundreds of manufacturers around the world. This allows the case builder to manufacture them at a lower unit cost per case than if each manufacturer had their own case design, aka economy of scale, the more of something you build, the cheaper it is per unit to built that thing. Unless there is a major market move encouraging enough radio manufacturers to demand a new toggle switch design radio case, the case manufacturers will likely not be able to supply the market with toggle switch design cases as a price the radio manufactures are willing or even able to pay and still keep the radios at competitive prices. This brings up the next issue. What is the incentive for the radio manufacturers to go through the costs of the switch? It is not likely there would be market pressure to switch as there is no inherent benefit to the end user regarding the toggle switch, in fact the know design is actually superior in that it is more ergonomic than the tiny toggle switch which would likely require a plastic enlarger button/cover to make usable by the average customer, thus adding even more cost. You maybe now saying, "well why change to the toggle switch in the first place?" This gets back to the same reason the case is still a know style. Cost. It is obvious that this style of case has been used for many years, so many years that it was first used on a radio with knob switches on the board. However at some point the cost of redesigning the board + the lower cost of changing to a toggle switch with a faux plastic knob dropped below the cost of continuing to buy the, now more expensive, know style switch component as the toggle switch component had grown cheaper to manufacture. However, the savings was only realizable if the radio manufacturer continued to use the same know style case for one or more of the afor mentioned reasons.

[@Peter-yg7ze]

Buying a radio in 1960 was more of an investment that certainly cost a considerable amount of money. A radio today with today's price of electronics is rather a simple thing that fewer and fewer people use! Comparing then with now is not always correct!

[@hardrock1826]

I have collected about a dozen old Transistor Radios from the 1960s, a few actually still work. The one my parents gave me for Christmas when I was fifteen is still in perfect condition and works fine. One thing about these old radios, NONE of them are made in China.

[@eggshellskullrule7971]

For $25, here in Hong Kong you can buy direct from the manufacturer Degen radios that have an fm and full sw scale. Sort of like a post apocalyptic necessity!

[@Taffeyboy]

I appreciate your appreciation for the art of design of electronics. Hilarious engineering on the $17.50 Cent radio.

[@sugarpacketchad]

I've seen new ones for sale that have a hand crank for when the power goes out.

[@hamhawk4027]

Fran you are an absolute treasure.

[@frenchcreekvalley]

I was hoping you'd check for frequency drift. I have 3 such radios in different shops and they ALL drift. I live at least 30 miles from the closest stations that I listen to. FM seems to be worse than AM.

[@williammathews1357]

True. Still have my 60's. Plus , my Sony of my ownee.

[@Visiorary]

The music at the beginning sounded pretty okay on my TV speakers. Kinda bright and vibrant. lol How does it get AM with that little stick?

[@SuperScottCrawford]

I like how you still plan on using it. Like, you can't hate it because it had bad parents. I like you, Fran. Just found your channel yesterday with your most intricately detailed, excellent F-1 engine overview. Since I just met you, let me start by subscribing and take it from there. PS Cute theme song.

[@ww8wv1]

With that conglomeration of a tone switch how hard would it have been to solder in a tone pot?

[@craigslistrro709]

I had an old GE radio that was the best am/fm radio I ever owned. Paid 7.00 at a thrift store for it. Should have never used it as a bathroom radio.

[@kyleb3754]

Pure Gold Channel. SUBSCRIBED.

[@Cornz38]

put a drop of tippex or white nail varnish on the chip, then rub it off with your finger. Dada- chip name revealed.

[@maryrafuse3851]

Kind of a sad radio. It will not last or be sensitive like my little Sony TR-1820 . Still going after all these years.

[@JohnNy-ni9np]

Could you compare the price of these radio as well ? To see thing in perspective.

[@TheWoodStroker]

The radios you were using as comparison were mostly made in Japan. Japan at that time were trying very hard to impress the world with quality products, and they succeeded. I had a couple of those for years and they were great. My bed side radio now is a logitech wireless internet radio, The boom. It is fabulous. Logitech is no longer in the internet radio business however.

[@Mrdibzahab]

They could save a few pennies by removing the internal connectors and instead solder the wires directly onto the PCB...

[@radellaf]

The new DSP designs aren't that bad, really. Maybe a bit less selective than the better analog sets with multiple IF stages. If you want a currently made high quality analog set with a nice sized speaker then check out the Tecsun 9700DX. Just don't put alkalines in it and then plug in the power adapter.

[@TheOnePhillip]

wow! I'm totally stunned. This lady looks like legendary singer Joni Mitchell

[@eddyyu7091]

It seems to use varicap for tuning stations, right ?

[@ahall1459]

Does the metal antenna work or is it for show?

[@toml.8210]

People don't seem to care about actual radios, because their "phone" has a radio receiver built-in, or they use their data connection to access Internet music systems. I prefer my radio!

[@nakayle]

These days all radios should have digital readouts instead of analog dials that are imprecise and never right.

[@elkabong6429]

I had a similar radio from Rat Shack back in the 1990s, Fran, and for some reason that I am not smart enough to figure out, when playing FM music, it often only played only one side of a stereo recording! On most songs, it wasn't that noticeable, but on certain ones (Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" comes to mind) it was very noticeable and it was SO ANNOYING! I eventually gave it away and replaced it with a GE SupeRadio.

[@marceibarra2140]

Ola que bueno conocerte, ver y escucharte auque no entiendo tu idioma yo tambien reparo a y ke linda eres, saludos desde uruguay.

[@theBodger]

Help I’ve got a solar powered Radio that stops working at 9pm every night.Can it be fixed?

[@ChrisLove713]

What about your transistor radio? I thought you were going to do a comparison between the two?

[@TheMischief9]

sheeesh ... turn it on already .

[@ZXRulezzz]

Aha! I know this radio chip! @ 7:19 you say that chip marking is washed off, but one can barely make out on the video that it's KT0936M, made by chinese company KTMicro. It's a completely digital tuner with internal VCO, clocked from a PLLed watch crystal, with digital signal processing, ADCs and DACs. Apart from markings, what immediately gave it away to me is that unpopulated 8-pin IC footprint near it, that's actually for I2C EEPROM so that internal CPU of the tuner could read configuration other than default from it on startup. Otherwise, without all the digital bells and whistles, it could be hooked up to a bunch of pots and switched resistors to make up any kind of simple AM/SW/FM radio. It doesn't have smooth tuning though, you can sorta hear it mutes while stepping through channels, that's because tuning resistor doesn't go into VCO, but rather into ADC which is read by internal CPU, which then, in turn, adjusts VCO, and most likely keeps audio muted while frequency is out of lock. Greets from Russia :)

[@johnstone7697]

So, can this even be considered a superheterodyne circuit? I guess not.

[@ZXRulezzz]

​@@johnstone7697 Well, it still has an analog RF frontend inside the chip that does frequency shifting with VCO and mixer, so it's technically a superheterodyne. However, what kind of IF it has is a different question for which I don't know the answer. Depends on the kind of IF filters they implemented on a chip, if any. It's just that whichever IF stages come after, that used to be analog, are now implemented digitally and hidden behind ADCs. Which is nice and cheap due to precision and repeatability of raw math and complete lack of any expensive manual alignments during production, as opposed to analog circuits with their limited component precision and reliability.

[@Spritetm]

Oooh, great find. That looks like an interesting chip indeed. Found the datasheet, looks like the chip is half-digital: the RF gets mixed down to IF, but rather than doing any more analog operations on that, the RF signal immediately is fed to two ADCs and the rest of the decoding is all done in the digital domain. It can do a fair bit more than the radio Fran has does: it's fully stereo and can do a limited amount of audio DSP, for instance.

[@kevincozens6837]

I can just make out the KT093 part of the part number. You probably have found the right part. FWIW, the second line starts with B9 A5.

[@eDoc2020]

@@Spritetm Do you know if the tone control done digitally inside the chip or outside in the analog world? Also, I started this comment before noticing who you were. I love looking at all the great projects on your website and didn't realize you were on KZbin.

[@georgenish]

I remember a tiny schematic was glued to the back cover on my transistor radio. As a matter of fact, every electronics equipment such as TV's, radio's, stereos, tape recorders, test equipment that I bought in the 60's and 70's came with the schematic. Even appliances like refrigerator came with a complete schematic.

[@JerryEricsson]

As I become an old man, having reached the top of the hill, that being 70 I am now coasting down the other side, hitting 71 last month. I have been going back to my old favorite things, one of them being radios. I purchased one of that brand radios, but with FM Stereo and MP3 as well as Bluetooth and Shortwave and found the set very nice and it sounds wonderful to my ancient damaged ears from years of listening to loud rock and roll as well as the sounds of battle in Vietnam back in 1970-71. Well that set got me into others, Back when I was in Nam, I had an Hitachi AM/FM/Cassette recorder that I used both for entertainment and communications making cassette tapes and sending home to my wonderful wife who was rather pregnant when I left her for the war, and gave birth when I was half way through my tour. I went home when she was to have the baby, and while I was gone some thief broke in and stole my radio. Man I was pissed and began looking for another. I found one on Ebay a couple months back and had to have it. When it arrived (as is not working) I hooked it to my power supply and gave her 6 volts, she came to life. All the switches and controls were very corroded but my cleaner took care of that, and by god she worked once again. Now back when I was over there, I was on tower guard one night up a 40 foot steel tower, I was manning the M-60 and spotlight while my partner was supposed to be sleeping. I had my radio tuned to AFVN listening to rock and roll, my partner got up and bumped the radio sending it over the side, she landed in the white sand that surrounded the tower and was left with some distinct dents. The one I got off Ebay had the exact same damage. Now I doubt it was the SAME set but it sure does look like it. Having the set again really brings back memories. Oh I did buy another small radio by your manufacturer, this one Mono but with duel speakers that give it a very nice sound, it has digital display as well as an MP3 player built in. Both of these sets take Nokia rechargeable cell phone batteries and seem to last a long time. To add to my collection I bought one of those one chip MW/LW/SW/USB/LSB all band radio in a nice solid aluminum case with a color touch screen display the 3.5 inch, then found a cheaper board only for under half price with a smaller screen in a kit form and built it up as well. Now if I could just get my outdoor antenna setup I would be ready to go. Oh but my very favorite set is the lattest purchase from Odesa Ukraine an OLD (USSR built) AM/SW set. It was sold as is but just needed one capacitor replaced and she is running again. MAN is that set sensitive, and while all the Newer sets have SW on them, the old russian one is the only one that really tunes in Shortwave at night!

[@TheLuizzon]

Great history, thanks for sharing greetings from à Brazilian radio fan , Luiz 64 years old

[@RetroTVCentral]

Thank you for your service.

[@mikemike7001]

Thank you for not allowing those horribly annoying mid-roll ads that the geniuses at KZbin insert at the worst possible places.

[@BDBD16]

What, you don't like watching a 5 minute youtube video with 5 ads, some that are like 20 mins long these days?

[@KostasAlbanidis]

I think KZbin made it clear that these ads will be included in ANY video bigger than 8 mins? Can you control this?

[@KostasAlbanidis]

@@evensgrey thank you for the info :)

[@TheSimonScowl]

All part of the gaslighting process!

[@boppin_bennie]

Didn't get any ads on this video myself but I have "adblock" don't really know if it blocks youtube ads but I know it does on plenty of sites ...

[@Richard-bq3ni]

My mother still own a beautiful Grundig Yaughtboy from the 60's. It has a wooden front, a gigantic telescopic antenna and sounds better then anything that you can buy today.

[@ulrichbodscheller2013]

Hello Richard, I understand and appreciate your comment. These radios were made for eternity. What type of Yacht Boy is this exactly? They still outperform today's portable radios. Greetings from Germany and stay healthy.

[@Richard-bq3ni]

@@ulrichbodscheller2013 Hi Ullrich. I have to check the exact type. It's at my mother's house. But is is Grundig, and sounds like gründlich 😉

[@jodyguilbeaux8225]

My grandmother had an old wooden radio chassis ( in the early 1960s) with a beautiful stain and a soft green light that glowed in the dark. the sound was very clear and warm. the tuning of the stations was very easy and no drifting. It had 1 speaker and the sound was fantastic. i really believe it was the wooden chassis that gave the radio that beautiful sound. My brothers and i would gather around and listen to the magical sounds it would produce. I miss those days and my brothers.

[@Richard-bq3ni]

@@jodyguilbeaux8225 The wood is indeed good for the sound quality. I remember the big TV's in a wooden housing also produced a better sound. The plastics radios and TV's are a lot worse. Of course you still buy good sound quality today. Quality speakers are more affordable than ever, but lots of people that I know just don't seem to care. For them as long as it produces sound it's ok.

[@realcomsolucoes7403]

I repaired lots I was working at Grundig I miss those Radios

[@EEVblog]

In other news: You can still buy portable radios.

[@zyborg47]

You can in the UK, but most are FM and DAB, very few with AM. DAB is awful to be honest, even on a decent radio the quality of FM is better, so much for digital radio. Not that digital radio is the problem itself, the problem is DAB.

[@matthews4159]

any kind of radio,, The BBC used to review SW radios on the BBC world servics Shortwave Radios 124 videos kzbin.info/aero/PLdx4wjfRGJ8GJpbVN_tAWmrC4FqWHeM1g

[@stephenwabaxter]

Ive had a DAB radio for about 7 years. Its replaced everthing else.

[@MasticinaAkicta]

@@zyborg47 In the UK they used DAB, in other places that were slower to pick up they use DAB+ quite a difference in sound quality. But yes, DAB+ is decent, not perfect. DAB is not good. And yes, AM and LW have a lot of radio stations you can't pick up locally. The quality is of course questionable but, how longer the wave, how further it goes. On LW you might pick up a russian radio station with luck.

[@mchagnon7]

@batterymaker Depends on what you want to spend. It took me 30 seconds to find this. www.amazon.com/Sangean-WR-16SE-Anniversary-Bluetooth-Charging/dp/B07ZLCNXF8/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=portable+radio&qid=1598925351&refinements=p_36%3A1253506011&rnid=386442011&s=electronics&sr=1-20#customerReviews

[@robertashton8069]

Came for the UFO's. Stayed for the radio! Love ya, Fran!

[@ant7699]

Found the chain through the UFOs... Watched the radio on recomended

[@jamesc2327]

Same

[@naes6843]

Me to. Dave in Phoenix

[@milobasque5373]

Holy shit! That's my comment. She's fun!

[@videoinformer]

When the vintage radios appeared, I had an instant and realistic memory of the *smell* of those old radios: metal and plastic, strongly so, very distinctive. It was so realistic, I would call it a re-experience, like it was under my nose, up close, though it's been decades since I physically experienced that scent.

[@charlesrichards5389]

That reminds me of the distinct smell of old military electronics... different from civilian electronics.

[@Dick_Gozinya]

Our sense of smell is strongly connected to evoking old memories, sometimes quite vividly, but it is usually a case of a smell evoking a memory, not the other way around, as in your case.

[@Ndlanding]

A bit like the smell of a fud.

[@USNVA-yn6cp]

I know just what you mean! LOL I had a Radio shack flavor radio way back them they had different colors but all smelled the same

[@Ndlanding]

@@USNVA-yn6cp Did you sniff them all before choosing? (I bet you bought pink.)

[@jimk8520]

“Turn it in reverse before turning forward to prevent double threading plastic.” This is such a simple yet important thing to learn if you intend to fix stuff. As a technician, this is 2nd nature to me but I shared it with a friend once who happened to be an ER Nurse who went on to show it to the rest of the staff at a major local hospital. This simple thing ended up saving them somewhere between 50 and 100k a year for replacement optic assemblies on their microscopes. They’d change magnification lenses not knowing this and strip the aluminum housings out requiring replacements routinely.

[@andyhowlett2231]

Yup. I've always done this for as long as I can remember. It just helps the screw 'find the thread'. You feel the screw (or nut or whatever) drop into place and then you start turning the right way and it all goes nicely!

[@richardwright2461]

Yes, it is a good idea!

[@harrywernsman9045]

I believe that. Most people are idiots, especially the folks who think they are smart because they went to school longer.

[@ПозывнойВега]

@@andyhowlett2231 привет котик!

[@billietyree6139]

It seems so fundamental that I never thought to mention it to anyone.

[@vwestlife]

I recently reviewed this model (the Retekess TR604) and discovered that if you carefully position the tone control switch so that it rests on the contacts in the middle between the high and low settings, you can get a medium tone setting.

[@andygozzo72]

in that case they could have fitted a 3 positon switch 😉

[@eDoc2020]

Yup, it reminded me of your video but I thought it looked different. Turns out I was mistaken.

[@hadireg]

cool I'll go and watch this! thnx VWestlife!

[@macrumpton]

@@andygozzo72 and not even connected the middle terminal!

[@jdraven0890]

So, sounds they could have put a potentiometer in there.

[@beware_the_moose]

I bet someone though they were an absolute genius for making that rotating switch design.

[@larryscott3982]

And the two could’ve been identical knob and big rotating black levers. Why 1 knob, 1 lever, when you can double that AND complicate the assembly too!

[@kenhukushi1637]

probably told by the boss to use knobs to make it look vintage but couldn't source cheap 2 position rotary switch.

[@SeanBZA]

@@kenhukushi1637 Likely that switch adaptor was a part they had a mould for, so used it here as well, and yes likely the original reason was to replace an expensive rotary switch with a slide version. No other reason to use 2 different mould versions of the same switch, with the 2 different knob variants otherwise unless those are recycling existing parts. They would spend money on the front and rear case moulds, but even then the rear is likely a part common to a range, with only a different insert model plate. Moulds are not cheap, so you try to get as much out of them as possible. Even that battery cover is likely to be an existing product mould.

[@knarFkcalB]

The market for this radio is mostly the older generation, who expect a radio to have knobs.

[@Digital-Dan]

Unless you talked to their human factors types and learned how much thought and user preference research went into those decisions, I don't think you can conclude these were bad choices.

[@rarbiart]

PCB bearing for turn knob switches: I can not unsee this!

[@chrisg6597]

Cheap digital multimeters use exactly the same method for the main selector knob.

[@andygozzo72]

thats nothing, you should see the complicated reduction drive 'hack' used in a Bush vintage style 'reproduction' they did in the late 90s of their late 50's TR82 portable radio!!

[@Chris_the_Muso]

It's not that silly - mostly those knobs will be set to the required position and hardly ever moved again. I agree with Fran though - the tone control should have been a pot. I bet she modifies the resistor/cap in one of the positions to give a better sound (I would). Next video maybe?

[@andrewakrause]

It's actually genius from a VAVE perspective. Neither of these settings are going to get used very much, so there will be negligible wear and stress on the PCB. This is a consumer radio, so the choice of knobs was aesthetic, not practical. This is a $30 radio meant to steal customers from a higher quality radio like the Panasonic RF2400D.

[@klafong1]

@@andrewakrause At first, I thought that using real rotary switches would have made more sense, but for most settings, these knobs will be, "set it and forget it."

[@eqlzr2]

Radio has played a profound and amazing role in my life. As a little kid, I had an uncle who was a real serious antique radio collector. His basement was full of them, and he knew most everything about how they worked and how to repair them. This influenced me considerably, and I ended up building my own crystal sets and staying up late at night and getting up early in the morning with a long piece of wire running out my bedroom window to listen to "mysterious" signals from around the world. As fate would have it, at age 14 I ended up working at the local radio station doing a teen show once a week for high school kids in the middle of Iowa. Within a year of my starting this, the program director of the station took ill and had to quit, leaving them short-handed. I had progressed enough by then to largely fill the gap created when the guy left, and by age 15, I was working full-time during the summers and part-time during the school year at the radio station. This continued until I graduated from college. I had been contacted by WHO, the biggest radio and TV station in the state, to be hired on as their weather man, but by then had decided on a science career and headed off to graduate school at the University of Iowa. While there, I studied and obtained an Extra Class Amateur Radio license, and this was a hugely gratifying hobby and added immensely to my electronics knowledge, enough so I eventually went into the biomedical electronics field which I recently retired from. It's funny what can influence a little kid and ultimately determine his destiny. Radio started me on my path, but frankly, given the way things are these days, I never listen to the radio or watch TV anymore. I guess I've seen and heard too much and have bigger frish to fy. Many thanks.

[@TotalHealthTurnAround]

I have great memories of holding a very small sized radio in my hand listening to "I wanna hold your hand' or Washington Senators baseball games. It was magical back in the early 60's.

[@fiendishthingy1630]

Yes!!!!!! My older sister and I got tiny colored transistor radios (card deck size) for Christmas pre-Beatles, and by the time I Want To Hold Your Hand was all over the radio the next Christmas (1963), they were almost permanently attached to our ears. My sister even nicknamed me Transistor Sister, which she called me up until she died in 2002 at age 53. I wish I still had my little memory-making radio, but eventually the volume and tuning dials froze and it was trashed.

[@MrEd-qg8td]

I love the old vacuum tube AM/FM radios. Such a mellow sound to them.

[@matthewwilson3202]

I second that emotion

[@michaelreece458]

Yes, so true.

[@ww8wv1]

Absolutely

[@Ndlanding]

My mum used to waken us for scholl by playing the news on the radio in the downstairs kitchen, in the opposite side of the house. Everything vibrated!

[@Fotosaurus56]

I have an old tube Motorola AM/FM with a mono phono input. Completely refurbished electronics with an RCA 45 record turntable plugged in. Warm? Oh yeah! My teenagers yell at me!

[@klif_n]

Glad you are back!! Somewhat unrelated, but this reminded me of an old "pen radio" I got as a kid from the back of a comic book. I waited weeks for that thing to arrive and it was an old passive crystal radio. For some reason I remember clipping it to things that were grounded like water pipes. I have no idea how they worked but it was fun for a few days. Cheers.

[@Charonupthekuiper]

I had one, in the shape of a rocket. The earpiece was really uncomfortable, but it worked well when set up.

[@wadebarnett2542]

@S P Clark Gable died in November of 1960.

[@denverwalker9655]

Thanks for the self-tapping screw tip! Never heard that one before but makes total sense.

[@ThorstenWieking]

I learned that trick when I started collecting flashlight. The relatively soft aluminum can be doubled threaded by accident, even more easily when an aluminum head gets screwed onto a plastic body (Surefire G2 series e.g.)

[@stevenemert837]

I was impressed to see that tip. I'd somehow learned to do it years ago. Once when someone was watching me reassemble some device, they chided me, "righty tighty" when I started turning it CCW to drop the screw into the threads. I was able to teach him that small tip that day.

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

Slam dunk when fitting steel bolts with fine[r) threads into alumin[i]um. Had a jerk cross-thread one into a caliper mount on my bike and was a fiddly b#@%h when trying to thread back in later, kept trying to follow the wrong (imprinted) ones and needed to be lined up perfectly to fit the correct ones, takes many tries. Even encountered tire studs installed by air[head) tools[!?) 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 threading the lug nuts on 1st.

[@TerryLawrence001]

Diode gone wild shows that tip quite often during his tear down and repair videos :-)

[@pauljs75]

Back-thread so you don't cross-thread.

[@jonsymmonds1120]

Thanks Fran. I have followed you for years. I will keep my old transistor radios. Most are 60-80's vintage and they all still work fine. My favorite radios are still old tube radios. They can be a challenge, because of capacitor issues in the units in the HV supply.

[@deped-cebucityrolandoarane5913]

I can't believe how things have changed in the last 20 plus years. When I opened my granny's radio, I had sweats of anxiety thinking I won't be able to fix it because of the complex things inside.

[@thrillscience]

When I was a kid (born in 62), we could do so many things with old radios. We could modify them for shortwave, or modify the FM tuner to receive the aircraft band (by removing the AM rejection circuitry and taking a few turns off a couple of coils or pulling a rotor or stator off an air-gapped variable cap. You could learn a lot about electronics back then by tinkering. Now you open a radio and there's one chip. How are kids supposed to learn anything?

[@kenzingzong6704]

Thrift shop, old electronics, let them borrow any tools, and encourage them while reminding them what is dangerous and what wires not to touch after letting them rip apart old junk just for tomfoolery, but if they do touch the wrong wire they will probably live like I have after all these years (mid 30s guy here). Biggest issue is getting them away from their phone though, it's going to take a lot of mentoring to get them to even care these days, but if the spark is in them.. they will. Our society wouldn't have engineers anymore if it were true that people no longer enjoy tinkering with things.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

Theirs still a lot to learn tbh

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

taking modern electronics apart got me into this hobby

[@singhpk99]

You still - needs a new config eeprom

[@1pcfred]

Kids could get on the intertubes to learn stuff. If they've a mind to.

[@tonyrandazzoe8210]

What I love Fran is hearing you sing "In my lab ....is where I work ....!" Its hilarious and cute !

[@TheNeonRabbit]

I had to laugh when you turned it on and your own music was playing

[@capnzilog]

I appreciate the extent they went to make it feel like a classic analog radio (aside from the tone control.) It could have been a pocket calculator kinda thing with LCD display and rubber keyboard-type PCB buttons and no rotary knobs to speak of.

[@tedhaubrich]

I really do prefer knobs. Toggle switches with an actual lever are fine too. I really dislike small, (physically) non latching momentary buttons used to control things that are not momentary. I especially hate buttons used to control analog things like timers or volumes or tuners or brightness. Microwaves are the worst offenders. I love my cheap early 80's microwave. It has two knobs. One turns it on and sets a mechanical clock type timer. The other knob is the power setting. A handle to open the door and that's it. The control panel section takes up less space than typical microwave and you could use it just fine wearing a blindfold and oven mitts.

[@Gassit]

@@tedhaubrich I think in general most people expect radios to have knobs so that's why they did it this way. It definitely would have been easier, cheaper and more reliable to just have the switches poking through the front of the case but quite often form is more important than function.

[@hadireg]

@@Gassit In the 90's when digital display radios emerged, I was dreaming to own one of those I see in catalogs, thinking of the precision in tuning the frequency and later on getting older, I do appreciate knobs classical feel for volumes and tuning, then came the era of those receivers have the best of both worlds, 5 ways to tune a station lol, a know, a keypad a +/- buttons and a full scan button thing... grundig, sangean made great radios like that

[@klafong1]

The tuning control on these radios has a very annoying "stutter" behavior that does not feel like a real analog tuner. The video doesn't expound on this, though.

[@Georgew2777]

Yeah, its not really analogue. When you turn the dial it tells a chip to tune to the frequency

[@JohnBerthoty]

That tip on self tapping screws was worth the price of admission!

[@bushmaster777]

Till now I thought I was the one who invented this trick.

[@totallyfrozen]

@@bushmaster777 LOL! I thought I was a mechanical genius until she revealed my secret in this video.

[@WideWorldofTrains]

Probably as bad as the radios i used to make on radioshack breadboard kits LOL With a copper coil over PVC pipe tuner!

[@poglong]

Imagine the meeting. The engineer and the marketing peep. Marketer: "We want knobs - it'll look cool". Engineer: "OK".

[@blueyonder1233]

To accompany that analogue scale. You can never have too many knobs!

[@annaplojharova1400]

Actually although it adds some complexity to the radio chip, it is still cheaper for the final radio maker to make the knobs and a few plastic pieces than deal with a display, some buttons and encoders and program the microcontroller.

[@mychevysparkevdidntcatchfi1489]

@@annaplojharova1400 Software is the enemy.

[@moopet8036]

This is honestly how most websites are coded too.

[@RijuChatterjee]

lol spot on pretty much

[@TinkerbatTech]

I collect and restore late 50's and early 60's transistor radios. Back then they sold for several days worth of salary, and were built accordingly. Many of these still sound great after 60+ years! Were I work now, we use SDR radio chips (Software-defined radio?) which work great, but have even fewer parts then that radio, and are very boring to look at! I like the big caps, IF cans, discrete transistors, transformers, all that stuff. (And a few of the hybrid radios, with submini tubes for the RF circuits, and transistors for the audio!) This radio actually sounded ok for a modern cheapie. Most are far worse. Tho they often don't handle strong/many signals well. (Tuned circuit? What's that?) I like my oldies...:) Thanks, Fran! stay safe! Stu

[@volvo09]

Yeah this one has more than a 1" speaker, so at least it'd be bearable to listen to. I like the classic look too. But nothing beats a real, old portable radio. It just sucks that broadcast radio is dying.

[@tinecrinec4769]

@@glasslinger please upload

[@andygozzo72]

@@glasslinger radio in the uk certainly isnt dying, they've recently announced they've put back any decision on scrapping analogue radio for at least a few more years, dab is in many areas here , rubbish, and lots of compression on some meaning worse than fm quality ,

[@hadireg]

I guess most of us found their motivation to learn electronics from those discrete components on a radio circuit board. and yeahhh those huge great air gap moving capacitors and complex threadings to have a wide moving range tuner panel :D... just awesome!!!

[@MoraFermi]

These old radios were built that way because there was, literally, no other way. If these engineers had access to our technology, they'd be cranking out two-chip radios within a month too. On that note, software defined radio is mind blowing. A fast analog-to-digital converter with an antenna hooked up to it and nothing but a bit of math to filter out the frequency. Yes, they look boring, but their applications are almost limitless.

[@HuckBowlt]

I've noticed that for what is unknown to me that it seems almost impossible to by a basic AM. FM that even functions adequately.

[@donned4260]

There is an old standby AM FM Portable radio, made in the same basic box and configuration for 30 years, with some mods along the way. A very good workhorse..decent all arounder..not a super performer but good price..there are better radios for more money..but nothing close to it for the price..FRAN PLEASE TAKE NOTICE..this Hershey bar of the radio world is the PANASONIC Model RF 2400D..(2400 is the key ID historically) Sold throughout the world for $25 to 35. Everyone from Walmart to Mom and Pop stores sell it. Uses 4 AA batteries. It ain't no classic Grundig. Never will be nor pretends to be. Comes with AC wall plug in cord..internal AC adaptor. Made in Indonesia. Mucho better build, knob, manual tuner, speaker quality than that black cheap piece of China junk. Nice carry handle. Yup..the VW beetle of the portable radio world. I use it 4 hours a day. Gets 15 to 20 days on a set of AA alkaline batteries that way. And that's dollar store batteries. Fancy Bunny rabbit or Dura batteries do not last that much longer in this radio. The AC cord works 100%. Panasonic did not fix what was not broken. Idiot proof operation. Had mine 2 years bought at a big box store in CA.

[@rimckd825]

I bought a "High End" Teac and it was a piece of shit, not mincing words... and I'm not apologizing either. The AM band was totally useless. I consider Teac to be a fraudulent organization.

[@donned4260]

Please try the Panasonic RF 2400D...Made for many years ans still sold throughout the the world. The AM is decent and very usable. I live 150 150 south of San Francisco and Sacramento and and can pull in AM station from this towns. About $30,,Walmart, Target etc all carry them. Google it. @@rimckd825

[@stuwylam342]

I don't know if its just me getting older or the entertainment quality of radiostations have turned to crap. I had a Pioneer Centrex portable that I just loved in the very early 80's.The reception,tuning,quality feel,and good sound was great. I don't think radio entertainments is worth a quality investment now. I purchased a very low end Sony portable and thats as much as I care to invest. I was in thrift store and ogling the home receivers /amps from the 70's and 80' and remembering how I adored the sound from my Sansui. Now its digital music with ear buds.😒

[@michaelwilson2340]

I remember plastic was heavier and sturdier when I was a teenager in the 80's. That radio looks like it would shatter if you drop it.

[@Totalinternalreflection]

Michael Wilson it’s because it’s cheap af

[@mil-fpv4931]

@Captain Brandon Punk & Horror Lover When Soviet Union was destroyed capitalists just didn't care anymore.

[@Wildeheart79]

You might actually be mistaking bakelite resin for plastic which was prevalent on appliances in the 70's and early 80's. Remeber the classic rotary telephones? These were often bakelite and weighed about as much as a brick and were stronger than said brick too.

[@michaelwilson2340]

@@Wildeheart79 I've noticed that the toys I had as a child in the 80's and even basic tools such as screwdrivers (the plastic grips) seemed to have a certain hardness to them. It seems like those particular items today have that lighter, less resistant to damage feel. Remember the good old days of the Sears Craftsman Tools? Guaranteed for life. Things you could pass down to the next generation?

[@TexasCat99]

Might break if you look at it too long.

[@MyDailyUpload]

Looks like they tried to make it resemble a GE “Super Radio”. I bought one of those about 20 years ago. While they weren’t hand crafted like sets of years gone by, they were supposed to be some of the last radios with the sensitivity and sound quality that the discerning listener would value.

[@BCThunderthud]

I was thinking the same thing, my "Superadio III" has gotten quieter over time though so I've retired it. If I decide I really need a radio in the bathroom again I guess I'll go vintage.

[@rocketcab]

@ MyDailyUpload.... still have mine.... still in mint condition.... only use it when the neighborhood power goes out.... sound quality is still superb....

[@Fotosaurus56]

I've owned two SuperRadios, both lost. I found one on eBay, still great sounding.

[@74HC138]

I have one I bought in 1995. Unfortunately since then I've moved continents, and it's 110v only (now live in 240v land) and I've never got round to changing the transformer, so I've not used it for years.

[@stevesmith3890]

I have two of them. The older one has a single large speaker, the other has a separate tweeter. The case designed changed as well. Both still work great.

[@norman102745]

She is the sweetest most delightful eccentric genius you could ever hope to encounter..

[@osseo9947]

I refer to these as "City Radios" because after just a few miles from the radio transmitter they are useless.

[@eminusipi]

Still they work better than my dental fillings on close stations!

[@alvinfreeman8838]

Old radios was garbage so many stupid parts. Why people don't like a simple excellent radio. They was big and heavy. Simply you forgot TECSUN PL-880 extremely powerful radio. With smaller chips we can make better radios if we want.

[@_Vinayak18]

@@alvinfreeman8838 For me, a radio is excellent only when it can receive long distance station on MW band and for that it must have long internal antenna which is not possible in small radios.

[@alvinfreeman8838]

@@_Vinayak18 You can make it even better. Make it more bigger and heavier like a radio telescopes then you can hear even more distance. But I am sure it can receive MW band very well.

[@Stephen2846]

@@eminusipi Very few people anymore realize this was a real thing back in the day.

[@ghimmy47]

The offset knob to linear switch thing does have an advantage in keeping mortal enemy dust out of the switches. I like it.

[@Mike_Hughes]

Fran! - I thought it was just me that loved and appreciated the masterpieces that were the old transistor stuff!, thank you. I collect all that stuff too... 'Super Hetrodyne', etc, still excites me... As for that steaming pile of horse manure you stripped down... BIN. Thanks again, Mike Hughes, MKH Engineering

[@eljeffo2871]

You put your own music? Ain't you awesome! :)

[@deniswauchope3788]

That was most enjoyable, since I spent some 40 years repairing all types of transistor (and tube!) radios, as well as hi-fi & stereo gear. I still remember being delighted when I found a "cheap" set that was well-designed and well made (which made them so much easier to troubleshoot & repair.) Thanks for the blast from the past!