Carmen 2 1963 radio from Romania - Restored
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- My friend sent this radio over to me from Germany, it was built in Romania in the 60s when Romania was under communist rule. It has some unusual quirks that make it dangerous to the unwary. It's cheap but nicely made, I'll see if I can make it work again.
Buy me a coffee ☕:
www.buymeacoff... (Only if you want)
Link to Vern The Radio Mechanic:
/ @theradiomechanic9625
Link to English Version of Blitz Roehre's video of this radio:
• The dangers of radios ...
RetrObright:
en.wikipedia.o...
My Digital Signal Generator:
The Signal Generator is a project kit from a local electronics magazine called Silicon Chip, there is a sister publication in the UK called Practical Electronics, it was featured in the April 2018 edition but mine has a oscilloscope function as well which I don't use. There may be a later edition in PE with that feature.
Here are the links:
Aus: www.siliconchi...
UK: www.electronpu...
Music: www.bensound.com - www.epidemicsound.com - Наука та технологія
Oh wow Dave, my kitten rescuing colleague ;-) I would never have thought that Carmen would turn out so nicely again, I am amazed. You gave it the best treatment imaginable, fantastic job!
Hi Blitz, thank you and thank you again for sending the radio over. The case responded so well, I was amazed to see what was underneath all that muck and it looks fantastic on display. I have just received word that a kitten is stuck in a tree, to the Kittenmobile! 🦸♂️🐈
Hello from Romania! Thank you for restoring a part of my country history. Most of the components were built in Romania, it was a reason for pride for us and also a way to give the Romanians access to a radio. They were very expensive (around 2...3 months salary) and quite hard to find. After the WW2 Romania, like GDR, Hungary felt into USSR influence, but never was part of USSR.
Hi Petronius in beautiful Romania. You should be proud of this little beauty, it was much better built than a lot of radios I've worked on and it works so well. Thanks Petronius, I remembered later they were part of the Warsaw Pact 🙂
Can I say sorry on David's behalf for probably replacing some items with non-Romanian ones, I am sure if they were still made there and sourceable David would like some in the future. Romania also built some Railway Locomotives for Great Britain, but the works there didnt realise just how small was the british loading guage so had difficulties doing the wiring inside the power units and so on , so had to be re-worked in England before they could go into service, so a cheap built became quite expensive for British Railways. I am sure if the company in Romania had more experience and understanding of English and the sizes they could have designed things better, I think the locomotives they did for their own railways were good and reliable.
The large "restuffed" cap tends to contradict you. The valves were mostly made by "Tesla" in what was Czechoslovakia. There was little build in Romania around that time of the century in terms of electronics, apart form wires and the metal for the frame and transformers.
@@highpath4776 "they did for their own railways were good and reliable" not sure about that. The mindset then was do it fast to align with the west, no matter what. Quality last.
@@ciprianpopa1503 Not quite so. After WW2 Romania placed an order for six locos with Sulzer in Switzerland with the agreement that they would be assimilated in domestic production. The first six were delivered in the early sixties and a run of over 2000 locos domestically produced followed with the last one made in 1981. The project was so successful some of the locos are still running today and a number were sold s/h back to western Europe. No discernible quality difference is noted anywhere between the original six Swiss made units and the following run. During its production, about half of the romanian DA production was exported to a number of countries all over the world so I would say it was not too shabby.
Another similar project was run in the seventies with ASEA of Sweden and that resulted in the electric EA060 which was so good, Norway immediately took interest in it. They wanted to use it on the Ofot line where trains carried iron ore from Sweden to Norway. The EA was coded EL15 and replaced Norwegian built EL13 locos, which needed to be banked to deal with the heavy trains and steep gradients. One EA (EL15) was enough to do the job. Norway built six of them and made minor modifications to the Romanian design to comply with domestic regulations. As far as I know all six EL15 are still in use today. The romanian EA is also a cheap s/h buy today for a whole host of small private railway transport companies in the west. Reliability was not a problem so we can assume the quality of the loco was on par with other offerings from European manufacturers. At the time of production the EA was exported pretty much all over the Eastern block (and some are still in service today over there) so one would think it was good at its job.
Back to electronics, Electronica did its best to produce good quality. I would not say it measured up to the giants of Western Europe, but it was fit for purpose. They manufactured both componentry and appliances, measuring instruments, etc. Vertically integrating production I guess made sense in a centralised economy.
With love from Romania!
Very nice!
Well done sir!
I am from Romania!
Hi oltean27 from Romania. Nice of you to drop in, I hope your liked the radio from your country 👍🙂
Yes!very much!
It was too extensive to my parents to buy it!
Even now is not chep.....
Sorry for my english....
@@oltean27 Your English is great, thanks oltean27 🙂
thanks David for this video, i am from România my name is Cristian when i was a child my parents had this radio.
Hi Cristian, thank you. That's wonderful, it would have been a big purchase and much loved in your home in those days 😀
In romanian "a umbla" means "to walk around" but it also means "tinker inside stuff/ on stuff" google can't quite catch subleties yet :) thanks for the great content and cheers from Romania!
Hi Cristian in Romania, I took it to mean 'don't work in the radio' I guess tinker covers it. Thanks Cristian, cheers from Australia 🦘🙂
@@DavidTipton101 I suppose related English . Slang. To Take a Gander, (for looking), Tinker I guess does cover the best meaning. I presume from Umbra (Latin?) For the shadow that is cast by the sun giving the area 'around'.
Amazing result; especially if you know he does it upside down and on the wrong side of the road.
That's the worst part 1959Berre, if I drop a small nut or something I spend ages crawling on the ceiling looking for it 😠
A place that, I believe, is interesting to study old European radios would be the site of the Museum of RTP (Rádio e Televisão Portuguesa) where they have a huge collection of pieces that go from 1900 to the 1980s.
In portuguese: Museu da RTP.
If I get to Portugal I will look it up, thanks Carlos 👍🙂
Lovely, very interesting, Dave, ceaucescu was a monster! He and his wife met a very gruesome end at the hands of a firing squad! It was not very pleasant to watch!
Thank you Michael. I remember he was in the news a lot back then, I should have done a bit of research. Thanks for the information Michael 👍🙂
He was quite good in 60s, he started some modernization in Romania. But as he gets older, he became true dictator. But unlike Kim or Putin, he was never thread for nearby countries.
Îmi pare bine ca vad un radio romanesc ca funcționează și ca mulți sunt mulțumiți de el!
Este un radio romanesc fabulos si functioneaza foarte bine. Mulțumesc Martin 🙂
_Od staroga radioprijemnika stvorite savršeno lijepi radio. Davide vi ste savršeni čovjek._
Hvala puno Domenico 🙂
Hilarious translation Dave!😂 I really like your sense of humor and your quiet style of narration. As always a joy to listen to. Best regards from Germany.
Haha... thanks Henning Sea. I thought I nailed the translation but maybe I need more lessons 😉 Thank you Henning Sea and best regards to you in germany 🙂
Hi David..The radio looks better than new. Good job, and thanks for the shout-out 😮........cheers, Buzz
Thanks Buzz, no problem, I love your channel... Cheers! 👍🙂
It never ceases to amaze me at the generosity of people on You tube. I took a year of conversational German in college. I remember enough to get my Face slapped. Had three years of Spanish and of course English is my first language so I can get my face slapped in 3 languages. Very interesting radio close to the Grundig made in Germany and I have a Kapsch German radio has the same push buttons down bellow and shows places like Luxemburg, Spandau and others on the dial.That is a nicely made radio especially like the cat eye valve for tuning.
That's quite an achievement being abused in three languages LUCKYLARRY. Most European radios followed the same style, this one is a bit smaller and more basic but similar in layout. The eye looks great. Thanks LUCKYLARRY 🙂
Very nice, Dave. It's interesting, I've been restoring radios since the late 80s and no one has ever gifted me anything, ever. The only thing I've ever received is some grief, but it's reassuring that good folks still inhabit this planet. Much credit to those generous folks who have contributed. I can't think of a better home for donations than to you. Sending good vibes and well wishes across the globe from NYC.
Hi Tim, I am honored to receive these gifts, this is indeed an amazing group of people. If you start a UA-cam channel I'll send you something 👍🙂
Hi David, when I was restoring my Stromberg Carlson 515 I had a grill cloth that was in good shape but exceptionally dirty covered with tobacco residue, after talking to my wife she told me to dip it in Oxyclean solution, before the dip my wife stitched the edges to keep them from fraying. wow, no scrubbing and the water turned brown instantly. I let it set in it and just dipped a few times then dipped in some clean water. what a transformation!! it was made from silk. I then stretched the fabric and stapled to a temporary backing board with a dry towel to dry. the fabric looks like it just left the factory in 1939.
Rich
Hi Rich, I can only get Oxiclean from Costco in Australia but I used a stain remover which worked much the same. I am going to my brothers in Sydney next week, he is a Costco member so if we go there I'll see if I can get some. Thanks for the tip Rich 👍🙂
Unlike most of the antique electronics restorers, you go the extra mile to make everything look just as great as it functions David. That makes you my favorite!
Thank you Adventures In Modern Recording, you are very kind 👍🙂
Romanian here, thank you so much for this blast from the past. I had some flashbacks seeing various typical Romanian tech part inside this radio. Or maybe typical Soviet parts, not sure, because at that time we were heavily influenced by Soviets in everything, (in a friendly manner, of course...ahem). Ceausescu came to power in 65 and it took some time for him to eliminate the Soviet influence, but yes, he was still bad.
Would be interesting if you can find also a Soviet radio from that era, to restore.
Fortunatly those eastern block electronics from Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary or GDR were more influenced by Grundig and Philips than soviet constructions. They all used standard european tubes or semiconducters, just the whole construction was obsoleted in comparition to the western products.
@@xsc1000 What you say actually makes sense. I expected our radios to be much different that the ones Dave usually restores here, yet they are eerily similar in many points. That makes me even more curious to see a Soviet radio from that era restored.
Indeed, our tech was behind. I remember in the 80's a news bulletin proudly showing off a "combine", basically a wooden case regular radio with a cassette player slapped on its side, and touting it as a big thing.
Not only the tech was behind the West, but other Eastern countries had better tech, like the one made in GDR, or even better by Unitra in Poland. Unitra products in particular were quite good and sought after. And to not forget, (which I did) there was also Tesla, another series of awesome products, so yeah, us being an East-European country wasn't much of an excuse.
Thanks airspeedmph and thank you both for your conversation on Romanian and Eastern Bloc radios. A Russian radio would be different to work on, maybe one day 🙂
Good advice to unplug before walking around inside the radio! My first engineering job I had an old laser with a huge control cabinet you could easily climb in and with several thousand volts unplugging before walking around inside would have been very good advice.
Yes, I agree, good advice Yisrael S, those Romanians think of everything 😀
Hi, Dave! Great to see it working and looking like factory new! About the resistors, I was telling you they're rubbish. You had only few of them made in Romania. The most of them were Tesla, from Czechoslovakia. Also the one that fell apart (glad it was not a romanian one 😁). Carmen 3 is full of the crappie resistors I was telling you. Keep up the good work! Noroc!
Hi Dorel, thanks and thank you for the schematics you sent. The resistors checked out OK, you say they changed them to inferior ones in the Carmen 3, good thing I had the Carmen 2. Thanks Noroc! 🙂
One more time I enjoy looking your videos. I hope your health be still well. Thanks for all and greetings from Spain.
Hi Ricardo, thank you I'm glad you enjoy them. Thank you Ricardo, I am in good health. Greetings from Australia 😀
Another Home Run Dave...Thanks! It appears that we radio guys all watch the same channels...Mr. Carlson, Buzz1151, Shango006...it's a great life and a great time...Thank You!
Thanks James, I guess we do and I couldn't agree more 🙂
These radios are a treat to see. It is so reassuring to see the fellowship through radio hobby.
The therapeutic quality of your creative work AND video production is just great! Thank you Dave
Thank you Craig, I love my hobby and the people I talk to... like you, it makes retirement very enjoyable 👍🙂
First of all Vern ,The Radio Mechanic is a great guy and we all appreciate his generosity in gifting the fine vintage
test equipment to you . They will be useful in radio restoration projects much like this "hot" chassis Carmen Mark 2.
Excellent troubleshooting done by you David. Great e- cap restuffing. Have to remember how it's done. Meticulous
restoring techniques by you have brought this radio back to life. Now that you mentioned it the second lamp that was
missing probably should have been put in. It does look great my friend!
Hi Steve, many thanks to Vern, it will take me awhile to set it up though. The cap came out great, I haven't tried that before. I should have fitted the second lamp but went to so much trouble to keep it original I left it out, it's a bit weird having it at one end. Thanks Steve 🙂
Hi Dave that was super interesting! Vern is a national treasure he's forgotten more about radios than most of us know! Cheers mate stay well!
Thanks James, yes he astounds me with his knowledge of radio and a super nice guy. Thanks James, keep safe 🙂
That was very kind of Blitz Roehre to send that and I’ve subbed to him. Once again what a great job you made of that. I really didn’t think it would come up that well. That wax worked really well on the case. Well done finding all its inherent faults and the restuffed cap worked out very well. Could be something from me coming your way soon 😉. Cheers Graham.
Hi Graham, Blitz has been most generous and put an enormous amount of effort into getting it over to me. I was as surprised as anyone when the case started to appear from under the muck, I left the nicks and slight crazing and it has retained a beautiful patina. Thanks Graham, I look forward to your something, see you for tomorrow's show hopefully 👍🙂
And another fantastic job and restoration done !! Good job on re stuffing the main filter capacitors, most technicians would have have 'tacked' the replacement capacitors any were they would have fitted. Not our Dave !! no !! he does a proper job and how we should all try and meet his standard. Well done Dave and i take my hat off to you.
Thank you Stephen, I was very happy with the capacitor, I didn't expect it to go so well. I like to try new things but others should do what they are happy with. Thanks again Stephen 👍😀
Thanks for the interesting story. I have never met Romanian radios, although it is a neighboring country. I was even there last year and I am happy that the Soviet government did not bring them as much grief as we did if they became part of USSR. It is a beautiful country and wonderful people.
My pleasure Vlad. Having done a bit of reading about Romania since I did the video it sounds like a very nice place to visit. Thanks Vlad 🙂
Great work as usual Dave. The hot chassis reminded me of working in a TV repair shop in the 70's where all the proper engineers worked single handed to avoid any chance of a shock across the chest. Evil things hot chassis TVs and EHT...
Yes, not the best idea from a servicing point of view, there is enough high voltage in TVs without making the chassis hot as well. Thanks owwcam 🙂
Wow,nice to see that a radio built here made it all the way to Australia!To me,that's amazing!
Those radios were mass produced from 1961 till 1968.
The Carmen 3 and 4 were the most common.Carmen 1 and 2 became quite rare ones even here so nice find.
The guy that told you about the resistors knew something but not exactly.The early models used import parts from Hungary(MM capacitors/Remix resistors)and Czechoslovakia(Tesla).Very,very good parts.In 1963 the IPRS(Intreprinderea de Piese Radio si Semiconductoare or in english Semiconductors and Radio Parts Factory) plant started the production of parts needed for the radios and televisions made at Electronica plant(sadly,now both factories are now history thanks to corrupt politicians and big interests).
Later models used IPRS resistors wich were often bad so...That cover from the bottom is the original one!
I also want to mention that this model did employed a second dial bulb so you can install it.
Some models were fitted with cloth covered cords,personaly I like them more than the plastic ones...
Ceausescu ruled from 1965 to 1989 when he was murdered on Christmas day.For our country,compared to what came after him he was a good leader,even today most people mention him and even if he did some bad things he was a true patriot.
This radio was made under Gheorghe Gheorghiu regime.
Again,very nice restore project,I enjoyed it!
Cheers from Romania!
Hi Ion, it is quite possibly the only one like it in Australia. I didn't know there was a Carmen 4 model and the guy that told me about the resisters also told me later it only applied to the Carmen 3 (and 4) I will fit a second dila light, it looks odd with only one. Thank you for your story, it is very interesting. Thank you again for watching and take care in Romania 👍😀
Another great restoration video David.That is a nice radio. 👌. Perfect restoration as usual 👌. Keep well my friend. Best wishes Terry uk 🇬🇧 ❤.
Hi Terry, thank you. A very nice little radio indeed. Thanks Terry, keep well yourself 👍🙂
I knew people rolled aluminum sheeting, but I've not seen it done so well. This makes me want to revisit all the cans I've restuffed with wrinkled and ugly ends. Well done!
Hi Fibber's Closet, I was a bit surprised it rolled so easily, I expected it to crimp a bit. Haha, don't bother with the old caps, they are fine 😄 Thanks FC
Top lesson for me from this video at 26:28 : how you closed that filter cap again with a piece of hard wood 💡 Priceless.
Love the community spirit David, just fab..All you guys bring something special to UA-cam and it's all free..! So much knowledge and information I have gleaned from you guys over the years is priceless. Great job, and so much info on that Carmen. Lovely finish, and a testament to your skills..keep them coming, stay well..Ed..uk..😀
Hi Ed, with so much negativity on social media this is a great group of people willing to help each other. The Carmen was good under all the grime, I just cleaned it up. Thanks Ed 🙂
David, thanks for humanizing the hobby, which makes it all the more pleasurable to watch.
Thank you Moshe 🙂
Another very nice restoration project, and it came out very well indeed - the case looks new. And what great gifts from Vern and Blitz! The monster magnet on the speaker was a surprise, as was the "shocking" chassis...
Errrm, your German is quite creative, mein Herr ;-)
Thank you alpcns, it is a nice little radio and maybe the only one in Australia. That magnet is huge! I trust you are not suggesting I skewed the translation ever so slightly 🤣
Hi , Ciacheski was a very very strict and crule person and his wife was also the same ,communist yes and did what ever Russia wanted , They both had a very miserable ending .The good news is Romania is FREE and long may it be that way , The radio looks fantastic seen a few of your projects . Take care .
Thanks John, I've learned a lot about Ceausescu since. I will put Romania on my bucket list 🙂
Wonderful job Dave !!! Even Nadia Comaneci is proud the work you did !! Well done.. love that cap restuff.. great job as always !
I wonder if Nadia had one back in the day? Yes, the cap came up good, I'll use that method again. Thanks Ron
I don't recall anyone having mentioned your predilection for "clocking" the screws, but >I< appreciate seeing it.
Hi Harvey, it's an old habit of mine, taught to my by my woodwork teacher at school, thanks Harvey 👍🙂
Hi Dave. Great job as usual. Thank you and your good lady for your hospitality on Saturday. And the wine of course . Take care.
Hi Phillip thank you. You are most welcome, feel free to drop in again, take care 👍🙂
@@DavidTipton101 Thanks Dave. See what the future brings
Interesting as always thanks David. That’s a great gift of the scope and sweep generator very generous, but a lot of our community is made of great guys that help each other.
Hi Chris, thank you. I know, I couldn't believe it when it arrived, I hope I can do it justice. Cheers Chris 🙂
A beautiful piece of restoration, Dave. I can imagine that radio sitting in a little Romanian café for 40 years collecting kitchen grease and tobacco tar. The Romanian regime was always strapped for cash so they probably recycled those layers of grime as armour for the home built T55 tanks. From the way the Russian armour is standing up in the Ukraine, I reckon Putin's mob are still doing the same.
This little beauty was a simple domestic AM set but it really shows how in the 60s these valve sets were still superior to germanium transistor ones. Lovely to see the international friendship and community spirit in our hobby. My cats send their best wishes too and thanks for all your bonzer work with their cousins - they're rescue cats from Spain who now 'miiaow' in broad Scots.
Thank you EuroScot, that could explain the muck on it all right. The uptake of mantle transistor radios was pretty slow in Australia, people still preferred valves. The international support is amazing, not a competition but support between UA-camrs. Your cats are very welcome... and multilingual too 😀
This is so great....I get your video Friday morning and the I get Buzz's video this afternoon and Shango Saturday morning ! Wow what a great weekend ☺️ Thanks again David !
Haha... we work as a team, thanks William 😄
Nice Job ! Hello from Romania ! I am a big fan of your videos !
Hello from Australia Muscai in Romania. I hope I did your countries radio justice 🙂
DAVID Tipton the radio cabinet is in good shape I like the color of the radio cabinet is cool
The cabinet come up very nicely, thanks Greg 🙂
Thanks for he shout out by the way. Much appreciated!
My please Don, you deserve it 👍🙂
Amazing generosity there from around the world. I would have used a high speed steel tool to turn the rolled edge of the filter capacitor off as these can be made very sharp. A very risky move in any case. I don’t recall what the issue with the doggy transformer connection was? Nice work as always.
Hi Bob, I agree completely about generous people. My capacitor turning effort was doomed from the start even with a sharp tool, I will improve it next time. The intermittent fault was an unsoldered wire on the speaker 18:51 🙂
@@DavidTipton101 I wonder if putting the cap in a drilled out block of wood would help
As I watch the videos on your channel I am impressed by what a good hobby you (and others have found). I particularly enjoy that you are prepared to work on very utilitarian and actually quite plebeian artifacts. I visited the maritime museum in Auckland some years ago and one display that really impressed me was a recreation of a 60's holiday home kitchen with all the common items of the day. Your work truly contributes to preserving and remembering our history.
Hi Peter, I agree, I stumbled upon a great hobby and found a lot of friends at the same time, good when you leave your work friends behind. I can imagine a 60s kitchen display, I still remember our 60s kitchen. There is a video I think on YT made in Brisbane in the 60s following a typical Brisbane family, made specifically as a time stamp of life back then. Thanks Peter 🙂
What a jewel you managed to restore from what looked like a disaster. Inspiring.
Thank you Edward 😀
It's interesting to see the different construction techniques used between various countries, European sets dominated by companies such as Phillips, the English EKso, The Australian sets as well as the American radios of the tube era. I really admire your ability to keep the sets as original as practical. Thanks Dave for another great adventure.
Hi Mack, I thought when I started it would be only local sets I would work on but working on sets from different countries has been very interesting. I try to keep them original if possible, this one looks great with the muck cleaned off. Thanks Mack 🙂
@@DavidTipton101 Of course post WW2 the British went on export drives for overseas earnings, the colonies were ideal places to sell, a common language helped too.
Awesome work there David! you always go above and beyond the typical restorer.
Thank you Burnt Out Electronics 👍🙂
Beautiful job David! I was surprised at how nice the piano keys cleaned up.
John
Yes, me too, they looked dismal to start with. Thanks John 🙂
Thank you Dave, wonderful restoration, as always! When you showed the schematics, I immediately remembered my absolutely brand new USSR-made 6Ф3П (a valve analogous to the one used in Carmen's sound amplifier), which is waiting to be employed in a custom-designed amplifier ;)
Just one little correction: at 16:41 you say it's a reflex set, while in fact it is not: it is a normal superheterodyne receiver with separate stages for IF and audio.
Looking forward to your next videos, stay healthy and take care!
Hi ymz5, thank you. Good luck with your amp. You are absolutely correct, there is no reflex at all, where did I get that idea from? Thanks for alerting me to that 👍😀
How very generous that someone should send such great kit. Interesting to see something a bit obscure from a country most would probably not associate with radio production. Again, as always another very enjoyable upload and I hope we find you in good health.
Hi Gary, it was very generous indeed and an interesting radio. I hope I did it justice. I'm in pretty good health, thanks Gary 😀
Vern is a great guy! I’ve been watching his channel for many years. Another good channel is Buddy at The Radio Shop, another guy who knows his stuff very well. Love his thick Louisiana accent (I think). Vern is a big fan of your cabinet work and has mentioned quite a few times. Vern does a nice job himself. Vern plans on moving a bit closer to your part of the world to Thailand I believe. He was set to move when the pandemic hit and had to put that on hold. At the moment he is about 6 hours from me driving time.
Hi SIXSTRING63, Vern has been greta and super helpful to me. I haven't heard of Buddy, I will check him out. I convinced Vern to show us his cabinet work in what turned out to be a number of entertaining videos, he did a fantastic job of the two radios he did. Yes he said about returning to Thailand a number of times, I didn't know Covid had thwarted his plans. Thanks SIXSTRING63 👍🙂
Super dave great radio 📻 👍. Your right I have a some radios and guys like Radiocruncher very kind helpfull. Genuinely great people 👏
I couldn't agree more, thanks Andy 🙂
Great job as usual. I was most impressed with your electrolytic restuffing. I just finished restuffing a couple of cans for a 1949 Philco, and I can only wish that they came out as nicely as the one you did for this radio. It was great of Verne to send you the sweep generator and o'scope. I enjoy his channel.
Thanks Rick, the capacitor come out good, I'll do that again in future. Vern was amazing sending that to me, I hope I can use them like he wanted 🙂
A long-lived, ever dodgy radio ! A lovely piece of history indeed. Delighted that you recovered and repaired it . :-)
Hi Beaky Twitch, all it needed was a little TLC, I'm glad I was able to do it 😀
@@DavidTipton101 A Romanian engineer friend who has got two of these particular radios says you need to connect ant to a long wire, and gnd to ground.
He also says to use vintage repair methods to repair vintage equipment .
That means to orient your mains connection so that the chassis is at 'cool side' when switched on. And then beware because if you then switch the radio receiver off, the chassis and it's gnd connection may go 'hot'. (They use a spst power switch).
Isolation transformers are very expensive and few people who service radios have got them. I service and line up old radios and I have a Variac/dim ulb but no isolation tranny.
@@beakytwitch7905 OK Beaky Twitch, lets see how I have it:
I have it connected to a Miniwhip and ground 👍
I have the active wire into the on/off switch and the neutral connected to chassis 👍
Haha... sorry, I thought you had a longer list there, I should have read it better first. The isolation transformers are expensive but I always use one, better than being dead or blowing up test equipment. Thanks Beaky Twitch 👍🙂
Really nice work Dave. Love the German translation, now I know who to call when the neighbours cat gets stuck up my tree. Bloody big tree though, bring your chain saw but please be careful, a 3 legged cat wouldn't go down well.
Thank you Graham. The phone translate feature works very well, better than when I last tried it years ago. I just cut the tree down, cats land on all four legs... well, most times 😠🙂
Hi Dave,
Blitz certainly comes across as being a decent good hearted fellow. I saw the video he uploaded where he’d briefly checked the Carman 2 radio. Man! Have you done one brilliant transformation on that radio! It now looks, and sounds so good (or certainly as good as it was designed to perform and sound - it was introduced during the height of the postwar Soviet era LOL) I can easily imagine how it was when it was close on to being new. I’m convinced Blitz will be exceptionally happy with what you achieved here.
As always my friend, another entertainingly informative video.
All the best from Phil
Hi Phil, Blitz is amazing, he went well beyond what was expected to send me the radio and wanted nothing in return. It works very well and is surprisingly sensitive for a 4 valve set, I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened it up but it was fairly normal construction and of reasonable quality. Blitz was happy with the result, he left a comment as well. Thanks Phil, take care 🙂
Yet another beautiful job David! I need to research that "pseudo signal tracing" business you did with the coil of wire and the oscilloscope for testing the oscillators... lots to learn!
Pretty easy to check with a scope. You might see the oscillator waveform by just placing the probe near the osc grid 👍🙂
We have a similar one... the size of a TV... It's in the house since I can remember and I'm over 50 now.
The back panel inscriptions read like this:
The left one: Warning (attention) Strictly forbidden to connect the device to the grounding (priza = socket and pamant = earth)
The right one: Warning Unplug before servicing. (a se umbla in interiorul aparatului = doing stuff inside the device)
Thanks for the video. Brings back memories! :)
Hi Johnny Blue, thank you for the translation, Google translate didn't do a bad job then that is pretty much what I thought it said. Your big radio would be in perfect condition I bet. Thank you for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂
@@DavidTipton101 It reminded me of my dad always swapping parts in a very old black and white TV set. He managed to keep that thing functioning for a long time. The radio was in perfect condition a while ago, but it has nod been used in a long time. The lack of FM is a deal breaker these days. Watching you restoring yours made me think of trying to see if ours still functions. I'll do that first time I'll go back to my parent's house. Thanks for the video!
@@johnnyblue4799 Yes, FM is the thing these days. I hope your radio still works.
And again a piece o perfect work Dave! BTW nice to see again capacitor built in Poland. Just one year older than me 😁
Hi Mirek, thank you. The Polish capacitor lives to see a few more years 😀
Hi Dave, I was looking forward to the restoration of this radio.
I think Ceausescu would have presented you with a medal for this restoration :D
In terms of good or bad, you can imagine Ceausescu at the same level with Kim Il Sung, or at least that's what he expected from the Romanian people...
Hi Daniel, I was looking forward to it too, it was a good project. The only medal I ever got was for running third in a school sports day, it was only a ribbon actually 😟 From what i've read Ceausescu tried to do the right thing for Romania but it didn't work as planned 🙄
I got into restoring old radios around forty years ago, when I was a schoolkid and the capacitors were still mostly OK. It's a great hobby, I was good at it, and I thought it'd be something I could really dig into as I got older and work eased off. Didn't work out that way and I can't work on sets now, but I can still be part of the community through UA-cam channels like this. It means a lot. Thank you.
I'm sorry you can no longer work on radios but we are more than happy to share our adventures with you. I hope you continue to get something from these videos. Take care proudsnowtiger 🙂
It looks and sounds really good David! Fantastic job with the restuff on the electrolytic, looks SO ORIGINAL! Very nice restoration David!
Thanks Gregg, yep, not a bad little radio all up. The capacitor process worked better than I expected. Cheers! 🙂
Hi David.Hope you are keeping well. Another great restoration. My initial impression of the radio was of an average German imitation especially with the push buttons and nobs and magic eye. The nice cabinet came up really well, and the end result looks and sounds very good. Again thoroughly enjoyed watching. Cheers Chris.
Hi Chris, I'm very well thank you. The Carmen was typical of European radios of the time but it worked well considering what it is and I like to look of it, the golden cabinet sets it off. Thanks Chris 🙂
Nice of you to give shout outs to your fellow YT electronics content provider's channels. I follow shango066 as well. His extremely dry humorous wit and subtle allusions to his 'philosophical' viewpoint as he works distinguishes him from 'the pack'. As you do for yours, David!
Thanks Orion, I'm happy to acknowledge other Tubers, even though it's the same subject most have a different approach to presenting it which is pretty amazing. I like Shango too, he certainly knows what he is doing and he shows what he is doing 🙂
Another nice resto with entertainment along the way. People often say they have much more to do in retirement than they ever did. If I ever get there, I will pay a visit to Dave's ever expanding radio museum, probably in your neighbours barn or like me, your loft space - shh, dont tell the wife. BR mark
Hi Mark, thank you. I am flat out, I think I replaced work with other work at home. I don't have a barn or loft, it's all scattered about the house so the wife doesn't notice 😈😉
Wow David I am impressed with that capacitor you stuffed it looks great !
Thank you Richard, it did work out well 🙂
Again you've whacked that ball right out of the park! I always enjoy a video from Mr Dave at breakfast. Will you have any follow up videos for the rescued kittens? A 'Where are they now' style production. That may not seem a good idea once I have taken my medication!!! All the best mate.
Hi Stephen, thank you. "Kitten Rescue - Where are they now?" has a certain ring to it. Haha... thanks Stephen 😂
Hello Sir David! Woke up to see this posting and as always, it has made my day much happier!
Gratitude to this and the other selfless contributors. Truly wonderful people.
I won't repeat the accolades below, but agree entirely! Just superb work that makes me feel guilty as a observer. Guilty pleasure certainly!
Have a fun day Sir David!
Hi John, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a great little vintage radio community certainly. Thanks again John, all the best for your day too 👍🙂
Always a Joy David. im sure you know, because of the time difference, when you upload your video I'm just about to wake up, perfect timing for a morning coffee, Trust me, your repairs are much more interesting than the morning news lol
@David Addition to the first comment, Fantastic job on re-stuffing the cap it came out great, your little coil for testing the oscillation reminded me of when I used to make Metal detector coils, which are basically AM radios just much lower down in the MHz wavelength, Long story short, I used a small to medium size modern round Choke coil which I stuffed into a 1/2 inch pvc tube, to look at the frequency with the scope much like you did, It could be an easier way for others to make themselves an oscillator probe.
Hi patprop74, thank you. I time the video release to coincide with your morning coffee, it's the least I can do 😉 I small coil in a plastic tube is all you need, I happend to have the coil I made before and it worked. I might do what you suggest and show it on a video in the future, Thanks patprop74 👍🙂
@@DavidTipton101 Very kind of you to time your videos with my coffee addition schedule David lol hope all is well there for you?
@@patprop74 All good here thanks, I hope it's the same with you. I try to time it with everybody's coffee 😄
Very nice radio,and another great job from you! Only thing I would have done,was added the extra bulb for the dial.
Thanks Robert, I am having second thoughts about the bulb too 🙂
As usual a beautiful restoration. I will try the loop trick to check the oscillator operation. Makes it lot easier to check rather than poking around the tube pins for the oscillator output. I learn something new from your every video. Thank you.
Thank you Nelson, my coil was much too big, a smaller insulated coil would do the trick 🙂
Dang that came out great. Really makes me want to tackle the couple radios I have but they have to wait until my shop is done sometime this summer/fall. Funny you mentioned some of the other radio restorers on YT because I got a notification while watching this that Buzz posted a new video and I think Manuel mentioned a few videos ago that he had ordered parts from the same supplier you use.
Thanks LtKernelPanic. I hope you get to your radios, a new shop sounds nice too. I'll have to talk to Buzz about releasing his videos on top of mine 😄 Yes, Manuel got some of Carl's capacitors, he has used a few in his repairs since. Thanks LtKernelPanic 🙂
That's a fine radio to add to your (quite large by now I would guess) collection. Expertly restored as usual. Both electrically and cosmetically. You are the reference standard in radio restoration. I'm glued to my laptop every time I see another one of your radio adventures pop up. No wonder people are willing to gift you radio's and test gear. Well deserved.
Hi Ian, thank you for your very nice comment. Cheers 👍🙂
It's been 25 years since I was in Germany and 30ish since my German classes in College and High School, and I just want to applaud that highly accurate translation. Idiom perfect and correct... :-)
Thanks Dennis, you sure know your German, I was starting to think I had made a few minor translation errors but you have reassured me 👍🙂😂
That shiny finish is beautiful!
Didn't it polish up beautifully, thanks Manny 👍😀
Hi Dave... another outstanding radio restoration. I'm running out of superlatives to describe your work. In answer to your Ceausescu comment he was a nasty piece of work... a dictator. Keep up the good restoration work,,, I am always looking forward to your next project.
Hi Kenneth, thank you. I well remember Ceausescu's name, he was in the news a lot so I guessed he was a bad egg but couldn't remember the details. He visited Australia at some point as well. Thanks Kenneth, I always look for your comment 🙂
I'm fluent in German too and I can confirm that that was a perfect translation. Ahem. Dave, I'll send you my invoice for this comment on Monday.
Thanks for posting!
Oh good I got it right, I was worried I may have transcribed it incorrectly. Thanks Jac, I will forward the cash as we agreed 😉 Thank you for watching 🙂
I just found your channel and really enjoyed this video. Very nice job. Subscribed !
Thank you and welcome Don 🙂
Hi David. Thanks for all your radio restoration videos. I've been watching your channel for many months and always enjoy your presentations and usually learn something new. I also make UA-cam videos of mostly vintage audio restorations with some old radios like you. You absolutely "nailed" it with your comments about the electronics restoration UA-cam community. There are lots of different personalities out there but everyone that I've been in contact with has been very nice, generous, and always willing to go out of their way to help.
Hi mguess, the community feel is fantastic especially for retired people like you and I can make a new set of friends after our working life. I checked your channel and subscribed, I'll have a look around a bit later, cheers 🙂
Nice looking set. Cabinet came out beautifully, as did the grill cloth- didn't expect it to get that bright. I know I've seen some Polish sets with a similar design as well, but from what I've heard is none of these were built as well as the West German models. RCA even sold a European looking set as the "RCA International" (they made a lot of sets for export to Europe).
It's a very nice set, nothing special but the colours suit it, not on a par with German sets though. That's interesting RCA exporting to Europe, you would think there were enough manufactures there already 🙂 Thanks Adam.
Dave, the black tarry stuff you pulled off the case could be coal soot. Before the wall came down, you could smell the soft coal that the East Germans burned to keep warm in the winter. It covered the cars on the west side of Berlin and when you blew your nose the tissue would have black spots on it.
You might get more brightness from the "magic eye" if you lower the resistor value on the high voltage section of the tube. (If there is one.)
Love your channel, best of luck with your future videos!
That's exactly what it looked like 15743 Hertz, I wondered if it had been used in a factory, it must have been good for everyone's health 😲 The magic eye worked pretty good, I think it was fairly new. Thanks 15743 Hertz 👍🙂
A beautiful and unusual radio which puts me in mind of some European Philips radios, the grill cloth, knobs and piano keys. Clearly Blitz is a good judge of character saying all those complimentary things about you 🤣🤣
Hi Ken, a very European radio style although somewhat basic in design. I don't know how Blitz knew all those things about me 😂
Hello from a fellow retro electronics geek from Poland :)
These Elwa can caps are pretty good unless they're dried out, which happens when the rubber plug on the top part of the can is missing or cracked. Test with a capacitance meter; leakage test and some reforming is also advisable.
Hello fellow retro geek from Poland. The rubber cap was in place but after seeing the overheated return wire I was suspicious of it. I always replace the filter caps anyway because I have had them fail after running for a while even after measuring OK and reforming. Thanks Keri 👍🙂
so happy to see your video nice work dive thank you so much for sharing this amazing video
Thank you Amaraltimimi, my pleasure 👍🙂
You did it! Just as promised. And as usual in your very special way. Amazing work!
I finally got to do it, I had other projects I needed to finish but I really wanted to do this one. Thanks Caius 🙂
Great job as usual, especially the finish. Loved the Get Smart reference :-)
Thank you Percy, I loved Max and 99 when I was growing up 😂
Dave - Another job well done! Love your videos, I was watching Shango066 the other day and he put in a plug for a fellow in Ukraine who is selling used Russian radios on Ebay. The fellow is in Odesa, a city that has a bit of history with my sister's husband's family. They came to the US from that City as Germans from Russia. So I took a look at a cupule of sellers from that city which is, as you know in the war with Russia and to support them I picked up a radio from one, and a Telegraph key from another. I like the way those Russian (well USSR) radios are built, after watching Shango fixing them and wanted to add one to my collection anyhow, and the way things are going over there, I also wanted to support the free Ukrainians. I used to have a good friend who was Ukrainian, he made the best Sausages and Ukrainian foods for we deer hunters. He is gone now, being a VERY heavy man (A retired Sergeant Major who was a cook in the US Army for 30 Years.) the weight was a contributor to his death, having breast cancer, unusual for a man I think. Shipping from there cost more then the item but if I can help them in any little way, considering my low income, I feel a bit better about the way our world is up in arms once more.
Yeah, I checked out that guy's listings too, he has a lot more than just old radios. Some really cool stuff there.
Thanks Jerry, I'll have a look. Good luck with your radios 🙂
What a beautiful restoration! The before and after is incredible it looks like a new radio again! I really enjoyed this video!
Thank you Jammerk40, I'm glad you enjoyed it 👍🙂
Not sure I entirely believe the bit about the kittens but you are certainly a top bloke 😁
Haha... Blitz may have embellished a bit there or my German isn't as good as I thought. Thanks John 😄
You have definitely found your second calling. Superb job as usual. 73 de KB7ICI....Bill
Thank you Bill 🙂
Awesome work again Dave! I can't believe how well that case came up! 👏 I have a lost kitten here somewhere who needs a couple of coats of Carnauba polish - any tips? 😉🤣
Hi Chris, thanks, yes the case was in good nick it was just covered in muck. Tips... yes, apply liberally, allow to dry and machine buff to a high gloss. I suggest Kitten brand polish 😉
Well done, as always, David! Cheers!
Thank you Otto, cheers! 🙂
A massive difference!, i'm always gob smacked by your restorations dave.
Reminds me of the Grundig radios as they look very similar.
I'm sure you are a hobby dentist, those keys look super white lol.
Didn't the re-stuffing work well, the end rolling looked perfect.
I thought you had found new grill cloth, it looks new.
I also looked at those oscillator coils, hmm no!.
I've ignored my internal warnings and wished i didn't.
Sorry too much woffle.
Hi zx8401ztv, compared to how it looked at the start it is a massive difference and it followed the European radio stylings to the letter. The keys came up like new thankfully and the end roll on the cap surprised me too, who'da thought. I removed the cloth and soaked it for 24 hours in a prewash soaker. Those coils were best left alone 😄
Thanks zx8401ztv 🙂
Bravo ! Nici nou nu a arătat așa ,
Sorin - Romania
Multumesc Sorin. Ai grijă în România 😀
Great job as always. I am always amazed watching you bring these old radios back to life. I am looking forward to your next video. Take care.
Thank you Chris, take care 👍🙂
Nice job again Dave, especially the finish on the wood. That case makes it look a much better radio than it is in terms of the speaker and number of bands, but it still performs well. Interesting to watch it being restored.
Thanks Radio-Ged. It work remarkably well all things considered 🙂
DAVID Tipton your Carman 2 1963 radio Receiver from Rommaina brocast dand lw SW 3 bands the year of the radio 1963 i was born in 1963
Thanks Greg, 1963 was a good year 😀