1936 Lafayette PB-46 Transmitter

[W1UJR]

I said I was "just going to clean it", but here I go again.
Some day I'll learn my lesson. 

No refinishing on this one, the wonderful black crackle paint is in excellent shape, but
man does it need 73 years worth grime cleaned off.

Photos up at -->> http://gallery.me.com/brucehowes#100283&bgcolor=black

[N3DRB The Derb]

the wrinkle rules. Better than crack.

[KA8WTK]

It looks pretty darn good now for it's age.

[W2PFY]

Hi Bruce, now that you have it somewhat apart, is it grid modulation like you thought?

Inquiring minds need to know 

[W2XR]

Hi Bruce,

I just finshed perusing the photos of this rig that you had posted on your website. What an absolutely beautiful transmitter! I'm not much of an enthusiast for the pre-1940s vintage radio gear, but I certainly can appreciate that Lafayette of yours.

Talk about pride of ownership; whomever was the owner of that rig for all of these years (since 1936) must have really treasured that transmitter, based upon it's superlative condition. It was obviously someone's real pride and joy.

It is extremely rare to find a piece of equipment of this vintage, regardless of the commodity, maintained in such fine condition. Perhaps I'm generalizing here, but those members of the "greatest generation" who lived through the Great Depression, truly appreciated the value of something, since they had nothing. As a result, they tended to take great pains to maintain their possessions, be it a radio transmitter, an automobile, etc.

Enjoy that rig. I'm sure the owner of that transmitter would be thrilled knowing you are bringing it back to literally as-new condition.

73,

Bruce

[W1UJR]

Hi Bruce, now that you have it somewhat apart, is it grid modulation like you thought?

Inquiring minds need to know 

Hi Terry,

Since you're the one who turned me on to the rig, I owe you
a big thank you.

I attached the schematics below for the Mod and RF decks.
I can't vouch for the tube lineup, the rig had different tubes when
I picked it up, so this may be an early model and later manual.
Still the layout is the same.

Everyone else,

Have the RF deck apart now, cleaning and testing it.
Fired right up when first checked.
Did find one mod on the RF deck, someone had
padded out the neutralizing cap with another cap.
Thankfully no extra holes, they used a terminal strip
mounting screw.

I wondered why they did that, thinking perhaps
some difference in the original tubes and the "ST"
type currently installed? Could the inter-electrode capacitance
be different between the globe types and the later ST
series?

Did you see the small caps used in the antenna "tuner"?
Should give you an appreciation for the low power
of the rig, have seen regen Rex with larger caps/spacing!

Bruce 2XR,
Thanks for the kind comments, I sure feel very fortunate to have this wonderful of history.
I know you are quite a craftsman yourself, so that's so high praise coming from you.
Most interesting thing is the paint finish, almost an alligator type!
Thinking that some day I'll post a webpage with all of the various kinds of black wrinkle/crackle paint finishes.

Tnx,
Bruce

[K9PNP]

Nice job.  And many people think Lafayette was a late entry into the radio business.  I love the way they switched the metering.

[W2PFY]

Hi Terry,

Since you're the one who turned me on to the rig, I owe you
a big thank you.

No problem Bruce, Glad you were able to have it

With that 5 meg-ohm mic input, your already for the D-104. I can't wait to hear you on it

[W1UJR]

Hi Terry,

Since you're the one who turned me on to the rig, I owe you
a big thank you.

No problem Bruce, Glad you were able to have it

With that 5 meg-ohm mic input, your already for the D-104. I can't wait to hear you on it

Yes, its a nice speech amp design, should play well for a low power rig.
Its what I call a "Sunday Afternoon" transmitter, perfect for those Sunday afternoons when the band is quiet and QRM free, and the PW signals sound so good. Not a 75 meter evening rig by any means, unless CW.

Yesterday, when I cleaning and disassembling the RF deck on the bench, I was really quite surprised how well the unit was built. Art Collins would be proud, the leads were wrapped AND soldered, can't tell you how many National sets I've had apart where the lead was just stuck in the terminal and big drop of solder was put on. Gross seemed to have been a big offender in that regard, the build quality on the rigs and sets I've seen looked almost shabby.

On the other hand, Wholesale Radio Service, who built the set, used plenty of spaghetti tubing on the leads, even where there was no chance they would touch anything. Lead dress was excellent, everything was nicely routed. Even the front panel is made of very thick steel, and nicely finished off.

I think we all tend to think of Lafayette as making "cheap" sets, but the construction on this rig, and I imagine the other early Lafayette sets, is first rate. The metal tags were secured with through bolts, not wedge pins, the panel holes were painted through and through, and plenty of the proper hardware, lock washers, tooth washers and flat washers were used in mounting. About the only thing I need to replace is the metering wiring, the insulation on the plug in leads is very brittle, and since plate voltage is on those leads....

Only thing I need to find is the driver for those switch bezel nuts, I had a heck of a time getting them loose without damage, or resorting to needle nose pliers. Anyone have a source for that tool?

-Bruce

[W2XR]

Bruce,

If the switch dress nuts are of the knurled variety, GC/Waldron Electronics makes two sizes of these drivers for the two standard-sized nuts. It is a collet-type wrench; you tighten the collet fixture around the knurled dress nut and then rotate the wrench.

They are located in Rockford, IL as I recall. I purchased both drivers over the Internet from a distributor in Maryland. The total cost was about $45.00 delivered.

Hope that this helps!

73,

Bruce

[W1UJR]

Thanks Bruce, you're quite right!

Found both of them at the GC Website, ordered and should be here later this week.
Great tip, thanks!

[w1vtp]

Bruce

So you're the guy who was into Gross radio.  I have several ads from 1934 QST's if you are interested in a copy of them.  I'll take pictures of the ads but will not press the magazines to the class of a copier.  They should come out fine.

Al

[flintstone mop]

KEEP DERB away from that device.
He'll molest that poor transmitter.

Phred

[W1UJR]

Bruce

So you're the guy who was into Gross radio.  I have several ads from 1934 QST's if you are interested in a copy of them.  I'll take pictures of the ads but will not press the magazines to the class of a copier.  They should come out fine.

Al

Thanks Al, appreciate the offer.
I have all of the Gross ads from QST in digital form, no need to go to the trouble.

Gross ran so big ads back then, larger than National, so sales must have been good?

[N3DRB The Derb]

KEEP DERB away from that device.
He'll molest that poor transmitter.

I'm getting together my own ball of string to play with. 

That is a seriously nice rig. I would offer it candy to get in my ride. 

[k4kyv]

Now that's the kind of wrinkle finish I want to figure out how to duplicate.

It is very difficult to find a piece of amateur gear of that vintage that Hammy Hambone  hasn't managed to get his hands on and remuddle with extra holes in the front panel and/or other irreversible damage.

I like collecting and restoring pre-WW2 vintage stuff, but I aim mostly for what was top of the line in its day and probably too expensive for the average Joe Bloe Depression-era ham, or stuff that was made for commercial use.

[k4kyv]

Actually, the butchering of classic rigs was a Hammy Hambone tradition dating back long before the advent of CB or (amateur) slopbucket.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

The very first amateur transmitter ever built was modified or torn apart to build a bigger/better transmitter.

[WU2D]

Beautiful Bruce! And a Laughing Idiot!

That piece will keep your restoration tricks sharp. See you soon at Deerfield!

Mike WU2D

[W1UJR]

Beautiful Bruce! And a Laughing Idiot!

That piece will keep your restoration tricks sharp. See you soon at Deerfield!

Mike WU2D

Oh 'da man, did he insult me wit' 'de "Laughing Idiot" comment? 

Yes, see you at Deerfield Mike, Larry and I are coming down Friday afternoon,
so hope to see you at the AM dinner, if not sooner.

I've got some goodies that I might be selling, we'll see how the WX looks.

I made the "mistake" of cleaning the chassis with Noxon 7, http://housewares.hardwarestore.com/35-176-metal-polishes/noxon-7-metal-polish-145359.aspx, now I've got to do the whole
thing. Looks like a mirror, but requires lots of elbow grease.

[W1UJR]

Not to get too far off topic. but I was happy to see that both HP and Okidata have released drivers for my two printers.

Unfortunately the Oki color laser driver does not yet support the duplex or double sided printing feature. Still, better than nothing!

[W1UJR]

Yeah, the problem I always had was I'd find an old piece of gear, bring it home, and then take it apart. The problem is I would do that on just about everything I brought home then I’d wind up with about 10 unfinished projects sitting around.

I finished most of them before I moved, but there are 2 or 3 that are out in the garage in 3 or 4 different boxes because they are still in pieces

I know what you mean there OM, have been there myself before...way too many times.
You see some neat piece of gear at a radio meet, "rescue" it from certain destruction, and it sits around.
Or you get it home, tear into it with the best of intentions, and something else comes along...

May answer to that problem is now known as "Larry's House For Wayward Radios".
If I lose interest, or determine it does not fit into my collection, I'm always happy to donate it to Larry.
He'll either finish it or himself, or find a good home for it.

I'm still a sucker for anything homebrew, very unusual, or just plain cute, but I've learned to be a bit discerning, its a lot harder to get rid of this stuff that it is to bring it home!

I've also tried to go easy on the last few projects, and get away from the late night obsessive rebuilding process.
I'll work a few hours while listening to shortwave broadcasts, have some coffee or a nice cold German 807 and head into the house. The 8PM until 6AM thing got old, and I didn't enjoy the it anyway. Think the key is to enjoy the process as much as the result.

I've been cleaning and polishing the PB-46 RF deck this week, 15-30 minutes at a time, then I head into the house. Its actually much more enjoyable that way. With the digital camera and baggie system, I don't have to worry about forgetting where things go, even months later.

Of course, I now have something new at the house that gives me the incentive to stop work early.