1939 Silvertone 6439

I purchased this radio a number of years ago, in non-working condition. It had been sitting in someone's pool room (finished basement), so the cabinet was still in decent shape. It's an 11-tube radio, with a tuning eye.

This past winter I finally got to it. Initially, it would turn on, light up, and not receive any stations. After changing one tube, with a long aerial I managed to get one station, weakly. I replaced almost all of the paper capacitors, as well as the filter capacitor cans. Now, it works well, receiving all stations well and with strong volume. The speaker is a smaller one (8 or 10"), and therefore the tone is not quite as deep as other consoles (Zeniths, for example). Also only has 2 tone buttons, with 4 possible combinations.

I listen to this radio daily, and it's never failed. The presets are still current local stations. The buzzing in the background is due to interference from the TV in the other room.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• silvertone
• radio
• antique radio
• vintage
• old radio
• console
• floor
• 6439
• tuning eye
• magic eye
• dial
• tubes
• speaker

[SUPERDAVIDLEVINE]

ALLWAYS BEEN INTERSED IN OLDRADIOS BUT BEING A SILVERTON I WONDER WH REALLY MADE IT I BEIVIEVE ZENITH AND RAC MADE THIGNS FOR SEARS I WONDER WO MANY TUBES IT HAS ID LIEKE TO SEE THE CHASSIE

[Highpoint211]

I have a radio that is very similar to yours . It is a "Silvertone Model 6438" same exact dial , probably the same exact chassis and the speaker that uses a "electro-magnet" instead of a "permanent magnet" . Do you know anything about the history of these radios ?

[hydrolisk1792]

I would have loved to see the insides of it :)

[td1238]

Regarding increasing capacitor values, try increasing those capacitors to .01 MFD first, and then perhaps to .02 or .05 MFD. Don't increase too much or you may have too much bass. In some cases you may hear no increases. You can also increase the values of the plate and grid resistors, but first I must study the schematic to see if this is possible without upsetting other voltages. In many amplifiers it is. In some it is not.

[td1238]

If it has drifted, replace it. The 'television' setting is really an 'aux' setting, and allows you to pipe in audio (such as your iPod) through the jack on the back of the receiver.

Here is the schematic once more: h t t p : / / w w w . n o s t a l g i a a i r . o r g / P a g e s B y M o d e l / 5 5 4 / M 0 0 1 7 5 5 4 . p d f

Remove all of the spaces.

[td1238]

Sorry. YouTube isn't allowing me to post the schematic. I'll try posting it again. Regarding the eye tube, to improve its response, be sure that C43 is brand new and/or has absolutely no leakage. If you test it (disconnected) on your most sensitive meter resistance setting, the needle should move up just a bit and then fall back to EXACTLY where it started. Leakage in the millions of ohms is enough to upset this circuit. Also, check resistor R7, in eye tube socket, to be sure it is 1 megohm

[td1238]

If you would like to increase the bass response of this radio, you can start by increasing the values of C29 and C34, as seen here:

There may be other modifications that will increase bass. The amplifier in this radio is a very nice one, with cathode follower push-pull triode output. Quite deluxe! Is capable of some very even and rich tone response.

[1938Silvertone]

Nice!

You can change the station preset buttons. The tuning eye works fine.