Posted 8 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
I'm dating it by the plug type. I've not found a very good source for dating RCA Victor transistor radios, but today at a thrift store I found this model RGC42s Pecan-finished radio for under $10.
It works well, albeit I cannot get in any station under 91 FM (sadly, I listen to 88.9 HEY Radio North Muskegon), which makes me assume it needs some adjustment I'm not familiar with.
It gets AM and FM, along with something called AFC (from what I understand, it stabilises a signal?) and has tonal control.
While it's not quite a 1930s Cathedral radio like I was hoping for, it's still a nice vintage radio for me to enjoy. I get two stations on it that I like, albeit, again, my favourite one does not come in (it's a hard station to catch, anyway. Not all modern radios even pick it up as it's a small, volunteer-run Christian Rock station).
While not a rare or ornate radio, it was still an exciting find. The "Solid State" name on the front is kind of funny, as my favourite Record company is Solid State Records.
For some reason it decided it will now pick up stations under 91, which, after some careful tuning, I was able to get it to separate 88.9 from one next to it (one I didn't even know existed, so who knows where that signal is coming from) and have locked it on there for my very happy listening pleasure.
Thank you, Brunswick.
Hi what a find enjoy tunning huh!
Thank you, Tobias.
AFC means automatic frequency control and stops an fm station from drifting of its frequency
Thank you, michaeln544, for the info.
The "Solid State" on its front simply refers to the fact that it is 'transistorized', or in other words does NOT have user-replaceable vacuum tubes inside. This lends credence to your (early) 1960's guesstimate of its age -- transistors instead of tubes were all the HI-TECH rage right abouts then, having been first developed by Bell (Telephone) Labs in the 1950's and finally starting to make it into the consumer market by then. (and thus, LOTS of electronic things were labeled as such, at the time) michaeln544 is correct with his clue about AFC -- that too was a 'hi-tech' thing then, made possible by the new transistors-instead-of-tubes engineering.
Anything Obscure, thank you. I knew it was only on transistor radios and wasn't from my favourite recording company, but found it ironic that the company has the same name (I'm guessing that was not a coincidence).
Sadly the AFC doesn't work well on my radio. It works better leaving that part off.
SpiritBear, you might experiment with moving the radio's power cord around to improve (or stabilize) its reception -- radios of this vintage often also had circuitry included which electrically kinda 'borrowed' the power cord wire to also serve as the 'antenna'. When tuning stations at the ends of the dial range especially, this can sometimes help...?
Anything Obscure, thank you. I had long ago noted a slotted metal plate on the cord and two screws on a plate on the back. When I had put the plate's slot into a screw, it improved reception. Then, when I tried the other screw a few days later, it worked even better. Since, I hung a metal hanger on the same plate and have it next to a steel pole, which allowed me to clearly receive my favourite station. I'm listening to it even now. :)
And, yes, this is pretty much the lowest FM station I can get. LOL.