1930’s Phonola Radio (T Eaton Co, Electrohome, Dominion Industries); Kitchener Ontario
Farmhouse AM / Short Wave Radio
1937 Phonola
This radio was particularly interesting because it was built to be completely battery operated. It requires three separate battery packs “A”, “B” and “C” configured with tapped voltages of -1.5V, -3V, high-current 1.5V (for the tube filaments), 45V and 90V. Yes, you read it right, 90V DC of battery power! Common at the time, but non-existent today.
The restoration was challenging because of the age and level of degradation the components sustained over time. All tubes needed replacing, both transformers were open-circuit, several tubes were completely shot and of course the numerous capacitors. After that was sorted out, as well as replacing rubber isolation mounts, frequency needle and glass… the question of how to power it in the long term needed to be addressed.
Fortunately, I did not need to re-invent the wheel and found a reference to a simple schematic for an isolated power supply. With some modifications to get the correct voltages, it worked like a charm. Still working after 80 years.
Here is a view of back of the cabinet, ready to go:
The final test on the bench:
All of the replaced components:
Some more detail on the power supply:
Schematic:
