@wilocaust An on/off / volume control will have five lugs -- two of which are the voltage supply "toggle" (i.e. on/off) and three of which that are the actual volume control pot. You will use two lugs of the volume control pot - probably lugs B and C. Check the polarity of the volume control lugs and be sure to match them to your input.
I have no attachments to anything, I'm just going to remove the radio components put in a jack and put in a jack where the speaker used to be, make a new housing and Ill have a tube amp head! Any suggestions?
@Ynehc You don't need to remove the radio components. Although if you don't care about the antenna etc. that does free up some real estate. Wire up the input jack to the volume control potentiometer and "piggy back" an output cut-off jack on the speaker - then you'd have the best of both worlds.
How exactly do you do this safely so it doesnt fry your keyboard nor shock you. I'd like to get one of these with a strong amp and a really good sounding speaker and make a tube amp for my iPod.
@coondogtheman1234 it's still a radio... but for some reason when you plug something in, it gets overridden. I don't really know why or how, and as a hacker I kind of don't need to know, just that it doesn't smell like burning, right? Anyways, stick to the volume potentiometer and leave everything else alone - that's what I did.
I've done that on basically every electronic device with an analog volume control and speaker. I usually tap the ground and then put the + side of the input to one of the volume control leads. I tapped the raw line out from the digital PLL tuner of a headset radio before it reached the main amp and it sounds really good. I made it for time shifting of radio programmes and music. Now I have a modern 80's retro boombox that does the same thing.
It wold have been nice to put the jack in the back panel -- except the back panel is completely covered with a spiral of wire that serves as the radio's antenna. There simply was no way to mount the jack in the back without critically damaging the unit.
Man, I've been wanting to tap into the amp section of old radios for a while- I tried a while back and shocked pretty well, and I've been avoiding it since. How did you go about investigating the amp section?
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HCtrain 5 months ago
my volume knob is also the on swich. how do i do it...
wilocaust 7 months ago
@wilocaust An on/off / volume control will have five lugs -- two of which are the voltage supply "toggle" (i.e. on/off) and three of which that are the actual volume control pot. You will use two lugs of the volume control pot - probably lugs B and C. Check the polarity of the volume control lugs and be sure to match them to your input.
RothMobot 7 months ago
I have no attachments to anything, I'm just going to remove the radio components put in a jack and put in a jack where the speaker used to be, make a new housing and Ill have a tube amp head! Any suggestions?
Ynehc 8 months ago
@Ynehc You don't need to remove the radio components. Although if you don't care about the antenna etc. that does free up some real estate. Wire up the input jack to the volume control potentiometer and "piggy back" an output cut-off jack on the speaker - then you'd have the best of both worlds.
RothMobot 8 months ago
@RothMobot That is actually really helpful thanks for the info, I hope it sounds creamy!
Ynehc 8 months ago
How exactly do you do this safely so it doesnt fry your keyboard nor shock you. I'd like to get one of these with a strong amp and a really good sounding speaker and make a tube amp for my iPod.
coondogtheman1234 8 months ago
@coondogtheman1234 it's still a radio... but for some reason when you plug something in, it gets overridden. I don't really know why or how, and as a hacker I kind of don't need to know, just that it doesn't smell like burning, right? Anyways, stick to the volume potentiometer and leave everything else alone - that's what I did.
RothMobot 8 months ago
@RothMobot
I've done that on basically every electronic device with an analog volume control and speaker. I usually tap the ground and then put the + side of the input to one of the volume control leads. I tapped the raw line out from the digital PLL tuner of a headset radio before it reached the main amp and it sounds really good. I made it for time shifting of radio programmes and music. Now I have a modern 80's retro boombox that does the same thing.
coondogtheman1234 8 months ago
It wold have been nice to put the jack in the back panel -- except the back panel is completely covered with a spiral of wire that serves as the radio's antenna. There simply was no way to mount the jack in the back without critically damaging the unit.
RothMobot 1 year ago
Its nice that the radio can still be used but I would hove put the jack on the back and not damage the Bakelite case as this may affect value.
I would like to have a "aux in" added to mine as there is no music on am anymore
force311999 1 year ago
I don't recommend this hack to anyone. Yes, tubes pack a wallop!
RothMobot 1 year ago
Man, I've been wanting to tap into the amp section of old radios for a while- I tried a while back and shocked pretty well, and I've been avoiding it since. How did you go about investigating the amp section?
michaeluna 2 years ago
@michaeluna I stuck to the volume control potentiometer and avoided the amp and tubes altogether.
RothMobot 8 months ago