Trying to FIX a RARE 1963 Globe Six Transistor Radio from eBay

Hi, in this video I attempt to fix an unusual transistor radio made in Japan in 1963. It is a Globe Six Transistor Radio NTR-6G Japan 508. I purchased it faulty from eBay.
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@charleskay1663]

i was born in 1963 and both me and the radio are just still barley functional but not as pretty as we once were . a great find vince another little gem saved

[@oscamosca_5804]

the cleaning montage is the most therapeutic sequence ive seen this year, Oscar worthy performance

[@lorenzokirkland8040]

I watched the Truman Show last night and he was using this radio. Great find Vince!

[@skonkfactory]

"I wish I could explain what these things do"- that's an air-dielectric tuning capacitor. The capacitance varies as the degree of overlap between the pairs of plates changes. The long rod thingy is a ferrite rod antenna. The combination of the tuning capacitor and the ferrite rod antenna (which is an inductor) forms a tuned circuit to pick up one particular station.

[@kawawete]

Thanks for bringing this knowledge here man 😉

[@Mobin92]

That's also how the acceleration sensors in your phone work. Tiny silicon structures that overlap in similar way when you move your phone, and change capacitance.

[@scotshabalam2432]

Quite common in old radios and TVs. I think Mouser and Digikey still stock them. Most electronics use a much smaller version for volume knobs. RF tuning has been taken over by chips and smaller swipes. The smaller swipes have more sensitive electronics that don't need a massive capacitance to change station. The chip solution relies on arrays of capacitors added and subtracted together to tune. I don't have any experience in testing but I suspect these large swipe tuning capacitors have a stronger ability to tune than chips and modern small swipe capacitors.

[@skonkfactory]

Volume knobs are almost always potentiometers, not variable capacitors. Silicon tuners far outperform analogue ones.

[@imfamiliar.]

NeRd

[@WolfgangMahringer]

+9 volts on the headphone jack: it is a 60's radio, which means they used germanium transistors, which were almost all PNPs. That means the positive 9 volts is actually like ground for the circuit!

[@dogsbody49]

I left my germaniums out last winter & they got killed by the frost Lol!

[@philtowle4683]

@@dogsbody49 Wasn't he one of the Jackson 5?

[@djblackarrow]

I think the reason why you were confused of the Speaker/Headphone jack connection to the positiv of the battery is, because in most cases the Speaker and headphone jack-negative are connected to the negative Battery terminal while the positive comes from the Transistor Amp. You can build these simple Amps for using with positive or negative connections. When using Amplifier ICs sometimes you can choose where you want to connect the Speaker. It makes no difference as long as you take care of the polarity of the Speaker. But in any case it requires a decoupling capacitor at the Amplifier Output to block DC to the Speaker and headphone. These capacitors also helps to generate the needed AC Output Signal to drive a Speaker in the right way (push-pull) without using a symmetrical Voltage Source.

[@vegoutwithvegge]

It looks like a Holy hand grenade.

[@lemming9984]

.....of Antioch?

[@fluffyblue4006]

Nice radio. Nice restauration. Good work. I would just test the radio circuit first, before spending time in cleaning it. ...although, in this case, I'd clean it anyway and if the circuit would be a total loss, I'd probably gut another battery transistor radio and transplant its circuit board in this cute little radio globe. This radio has the positive battery terminal connected to ground and the negative terminal is basically the supply voltage. This is because the germanium PNP transistors of that time worked better than the NPN ones. So they used PNP instead of NPN. In that case, a negative supply voltage and positive ground would be more practical. Nowadays, silicon NPN is the more common transistor so now virtually everything uses a positive supply voltage and a negative ground. You're lucky that this radio worked the first time trying, after that big cleaning effort. Transistors of that era were not very reliable. You should search for a suitable screw to help hold on that brittle bottom plate. If that thing ever breaks again, then I would replace it by a cut-to-size piece of plastic board, or 3D-print something suitable, and attach two 3xAA battery holders onto it. Those are available from Ebay/Aliexpress/Banggood. And of course, I would keep all of the original parts of the bottom plate. And what's with that antenna? Is it even connected? MW and LW stations are easy to pick up with just the internal bar antenna.

[@alext8828]

That is one gorgeous radio. That style actually looks older than '63. Could be retro. Fantastic.

[@kevin46942]

Hi well done on fixing the globe radio. you inspire us all not to throw away things when they can be fixed.

[@MisterBv82]

Hi Vince. Love the channel and your Trying to Fix series. This is my favorite "fix" so far of yours. I love the care you put into making things work and whole again. Thanks for the hours of entertainment and information!

[@JessicaFEREM]

I'm glad you opened a patreon, I know we all can't pay, but the few people that have the money should be thanked for their generous contribution. I'm glad you have the resources to make videos.

[@abhiram2916]

9:07 They are variable capacitors. They are used to tune to different radio station by changing the capacity along with an inductor( when the capacitance changes the resonance frequency changes). These capacitors change capacitance by inserting a set of semi circles inside to other set of hemi circles. One set of hemi circles are fixed and one lead of capacitor is that and other set of semi circles are movable and is the other lead of the capacitor. When we rotate the knobe the plate move inwards and the area of the two plates of capacitor increase and thus the capacitance increase ( capacitance is directionaly proportion to area of plate). Note : this is an air core capacitor aka the dielectric is air. This is as far as i know Thank you I am a great fan of your videos sir, all the best

[@TheSinfulFreak]

Yes! Perfect explanation! Hope Vince sees this.

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

@@TheSinfulFreak For a fuller explanation here are a few links. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_capacitor Also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_radio .. and of course.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_receiver The variable capacitor and the coil (inductor) form a tuned circuit, which resonates with or receives radio energy at one specific frequency. Changing the capacitor changes the resonance, and thus the frequency you receive.

[@TheSinfulFreak]

@@AndyHullMcPenguin Thanks for the references! Funny enough, I actually graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, so I have some background on these topics.

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

@@TheSinfulFreak "..so I have some background on these topics." I wont bore you with my CV, but I do have a "little" knowledge of the subject myself. :~) Another tip. if you want to "weld" black plastic with a soldering iron black tie-wraps (aka zip ties) make a good filler rod.

[@TheSinfulFreak]

@@AndyHullMcPenguin hahahaha, I decided to become a programmer after graduating (a bit late I know) so I'm rusty when it comes to electrical things. But I do enjoy working with microcontrollers and electronics every now and then.

[@nickrobinson2023]

Nostalgia... 😪 We had one of them in our home. We used to tune into Radio Luxemberg. I don't know if it still exists. Thanks for posting. Incredible channel you have. Just came by trying to fix the nozzle on my dirt blaster. 👍

[@PrawnCocktailBro]

Beautiful radio and a great video as always.

[@jimdocherty3454]

Such a joy to see these old electronics come back to life. Superb stuff yet again...

[@anthonyg001ag]

Absolutely brilliant Vince as always keep it up.

[@spidermcgavenport8767]

What a wonderful project Sir! Thank you so very much for finding something antique and giving it new life its greatly appreciated.

[@spidermcgavenport8767]

Not the same thing but I just tore into a Sharp MD-MT15 and found numerous fault codes, but ultimately i found what had failed. it was a tiny gear for the optical lens to move along its guide rails. I commented that I would have sent it to you or Chris at Gadget UK however there would be not much of a need to fix the device.

[@jamesdye4603]

Back in '63 tube(valve) radios were still in wide use. Great video. I'm glad you got it to work.

[@williamduncan5679]

Great stuff Vince I can't wait to see what you have next son, that little globe is beautiful I want one. ❤😅

[@UltimatelyEverything]

It's always satisfying to clean up something that's really dirty like this just seeing how clean it is after and seeing how nice it looks.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

It looks fantastic. I never saw one of these before and you brought it back to life. I also love the movie Christine and the car.

[@outbackchillin5628]

oooh .. made me wince when you wiped the speaker cone ! lol .. obliviously the video didn't show how hard you were pressing !

[@johnsellers4994]

lovely little radio and quite unique keep up the great work vince

[@gremblobeans5004]

Loving what you're doing with your channel vince!

[@MadManMcGirt]

well done....another fantastic video from the Man himself...keep them comming

[@chrisa6120]

Vince great video for sure keep them coming. Also for the rusted parts in the future you can soak them instead for 30-60 minutes in vinegar (Apple Vinegar) is what I use. Then use an old toothbrush to brush parts off, then wipe dry then clean again with alcohol. Works wonders. Great video once again.

[@ravenwolf3039]

That has to be one of my favorite things you have fixed. Beautiful piece I may have to look for something similar to fix

[@JasonSmith-tv2zw]

Really enjoyed that thanks Vince.

[@mark-andrews]

I typically avoid commuting on outcomes but this one was pleasing to see, great work, thank you, so much work to get there.

[@CH6P23]

Great piece , excellent work there Vince

[@aldo9923]

Really well done video Vince!

[@thomaspoole1429]

This video got a thumbs up before I watched it, just for the amazing find. I’ve never seen a radio like it, keep it up 👍

[@LoveToGameOfCourse]

Loved this fix, so interesting. 👍🏻

[@mrjaggers9424]

Brilliant, Really enjoyed watching

[@MyRetroWatches]

That was ace Vince. What a cool item . A whole load of ASMR going on too! Well done

[@codebeat4192]

I want to give a massive thumbs up however I can't (only a single mouse press)! That was a nice fix dude, actually a full featured restoration! All the effort you put into this, really amazing and it is pleasure to see the clean up (in detail) shows its value, works and shines as it should. Hopefully people understand this message that it is great to fix and restore things to preserve rare 'gems' from the past. Just wondering, there was no light to illuminate the globe from the inside? It seems to have transparent sections that represent water. Maybe it is a cool idea to add some leds on the inside that turns on when the unit is turned on. Warm white leds of course because it fits the 'warm' gold brownish design.

[@TobiEstosWorld]

Grandpa would be proud of you ^^

[@tonebonebgky2]

This was a good one vince, enjoyed it allot!

[@Dave64track]

This was a really good retro fix even though it was just the battery compartment it's just a beautiful piece of history brought back to life it's a real talking piece that not many people will have. Great find Vince

[@travisash8180]

It's a tatty, old, novelty radio !

[@kevinnielsen9318]

I enjoyed that very much! It's great to see restorations and rags to riches kind of videos!

[@endadalton]

Fantastic. Wonderful video.

[@karenharvey7197]

Love this. A real find.

[@brenmacneil1827]

great video, we had that globe radio when I was a kid in 70s/80s, my dad was an electronics engineer for Marconi Marine and travelled the world with the Merchant Navy all through the 60s and 70s great to see one being cleaned up brought back to life, awesome :-)

[@amaiorano]

Curious, was the color more silver, as Vince suggests?

[@mikelife0269]

Amazing video. The cleaning part was cool

[@qbmodels4394]

A great find and really interesting to watch. Keep up the great work.

[@roiberadcnoic5862]

That's totally brilliant great video 😀

[@CheeringOwls]

Very nice bit of kit, really unusual radio. Great video.

[@rogue1874]

Wow, you do find some amazing things to fix. Great video.

[@kennethbarker852]

great video to watch thanks

[@Zachrzan]

I love these retro episodes!

[@TheCod3r]

Great vid mate 👍 😁

[@TC-tn9tb]

please make more of these 50's 60's tech videos, i find them more interesting than the modern stuff. great video.

[@kjellrni]

Yes, trying to fix a nuclear automobile next please!

[@maniatore2006]

Great work, thank you for that video :)

[@TheRabit11]

Love the cleaning it's like odd tinkering 👍

[@christophersales9458]

Great video love it

[@brutlern]

Great balls of radio, Batman!

[@mrlejones]

Vince, Next time you repair plastic, take a piece of 12 or 14 gauge stranded wire and cut the coating off at about 1/2 inch and cut the bare wires. Take the copper wire and put across the crack and take your soldering iron and heat the copper wire.. it will get hot and melt into the plastic creating a very strong bond across the crack.

[@Jdbye]

Congrats on another successful repair. That is a super neat radio, I can see why it would be sought after. And I love how the antenna is invisible until you pull it out and it extends so far, it's just satisfying. To me, it kind of looks like the moon. Also, I see you've got a lot of patrons already, I guess that means there will be even more trying to fix videos :)

[@DanielMosey]

A very good job!

[@epexlinux]

Great Video Vince. I am a Telecoms/Data Engineer by trade but really enjoy your videos keep up the good work :)

[@ianparry4448]

that radio station was gold radio for London that's why it picks up nice and loud great video keep them going .

[@DjIch1]

What a nice relaxing video

[@maddogrunning5589]

Bloody brilliant 👏👏👏👏👏

[@StezStixFix]

Very nice restoration, Vince! So satisfying, I've watched it twice 😉

[@peterjensen3162]

Did you watch it together with Dave ?

[@TheDarkospartan]

I want this! Great vid.

[@JuicyJakeRepairs]

that cleaned up so nicely

[@zer0b0t]

Nice one I enjoyed it, for the terminals you could use vinegar or electrolysis and then plate them back, sanding exposes the copper and the scratches makes it prone to more oxidization. Retrobrite would probably work but keep it away from the painted bottom part.

[@ei96byod]

Awesome! 👍

[@ladymunch0]

that radio sounds lovely! I think I saw another video on here with a similar product and I think it would've been classed as a novelty item. course, I know nothing about old radios. I just like watching KZbin videos and learning about them etc.

[@legion6546]

wicked video loved it

[@andersmmvfc.8376]

Thank you

[@philsinclair]

Nice find that Vince! I can imagine that sitting in some 60’s gangsters bachelor pad!

[@travisash8180]

Ronnie had one ! He was given it by Jack "The Hat" McVitie ! Ronnie invited Barbara Windsor up to his bachelor pad to see it ! Barbara said "But Ronnie, it's a cheap, plastic, Japanese radio with a fake telescopic antenna. It's horrible and it smells funny" ! So Ronnie killed Jack "The Hat" !!!

[@streetkaaccord344]

Looks like a sputnik satellite!

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

Can you find a replacement for the missing dial screw, it's really irritating.😱 Lovely looking radio, I would have repurposed that earphone jack socket into an external power input, I hate the expense of batteries. I can't remember there being AA batteries back in 63, I do remember their former name "Penlight Battery" and that must have been sometime in the early 70's. A fascinating learning curve... 👍

[@leath25]

Good job,nice retro radio

[@mrjsv4935]

Very cool retro space age looking radio :) Very nice video!

[@robertpawlicki-po9zp]

LOVE this VIDEO LOVE THIS VIDEO

[@adampoll4977]

That is a thing of beauty!

[@noelj62]

it's a germanium transistor-based radio. So circuit reference is not the battery negative but battery positive. That's why you've got the positive going to speaker jack. That's a good cleaning job you've done here.

[@Vermilicious]

Now that's vintage. 1960's space age stuff. Love it.

[@BlazingMediic]

I'd love to see you do more old radios like this

[@UltimatelyEverything]

To be honest me to i would as well

[@Retro_andy_1977]

Hi Vince that set of numbers you mentioned “421060” could very well be a date code = 42nd week of the year/October 1960

[@nameless5413]

VINTAGE electronics! now thats some amazing fix idea.

[@roberthead127]

Well done that man n just luv da tunes xx

[@_to_dream_or_not_to_dream]

Now that looks cool.

[@BowsettesFury]

Oh wow that was enjoyable 😊

[@ThePink6684]

That is a really cool radio!

[@Retro_andy_1977]

Love the idea it’s possessed Vince 👻

[@dr_ned_flanders]

The multiple metal plate connected to the tuner dial is a variable capacitor.

[@sebxiou-lifestyle4465]

Thank you! I knew that but had forgotten its name - I used to play with radios in the 1960s-70s and they all had those. Really pleased to be reminded of its name - had forgotten and just called it "tuner" but the proper name actually explains what it does. Cheers.

[@reacey]

Condenser tuning capacitor as shango066 says

[@buroughs]

Really good vid.

[@mdamaged]

7:32, I think so, it would be week 42 of 1960 which would be October 17 to October 23, 1960.

[@johnchitwood3328]

That great Job

[@michaelturner4457]

The Christine movie reference: I'm sure in the UK now, the only music stations on Medium Wave / AM are oldies stations. And Long Wave is just Radio 4 I believe.

[@sebxiou-lifestyle4465]

Agreed.

[@simontay4851]

Absolute radio is on MW. I heard matt berry and he does the announcements between music.

[@samuelfellows6923]

✝️ - Premier Christian radio is on AM - MW, DAB, their online/app versions unfortunately uses a low bitrate - that it sounds awful 😣 (the DAB one is the best sounding)

[@VeyronBD]

A few BBC stations are on MW too so you'll get the usual rap dross on there as well

[@kyrengorkian]

@@StevenShaw It's still on the air rebranded as RTE since 2004. It is intended to serve the "Irish diaspora" living and working in Britain. The transmitter underwent 6 weeks of upgrade work in October 2019. The service is threatened with closure every couple of years and a UK based DAB replacement was proposed but still it clings on despite RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster, being severely strapped for cash.

[@nasty_niff]

Pleased for you pal,well done

[@kstarler]

Vince, I normally really enjoy the music in your videos, but I have to say, not having music during the cleaning montage was a really great choice. It was far more soothing to watch with the (I'm assuming) natural sounds.

[@whoisme678]

They found sputnik ? Its picking up all those old signals floating about space 😂. Well done

[@solidsnake6405]

Love this intro music.dont ever get rid of it.

[@adiposerex5150]

You certainly have an eye for vintage.

[@vintagevantics]

These are my favourites. The trying to fix where we don’t know the outcome. Real drama and interest. Not sure if these get the most views or the much drier “How to” voiceover format.

[@gower1973]

At 9.00 mins Vince, that is a variable air gap capacitor, that is what changes the tuning frequency.