Tuska Superdyne AM radio

[W7TFO]

Does anyone have a spec sheet/schematic for this old girl?  This one has 4 tubes, two main dials.  Ca 1924.

I bought a very clean & complete example at the regional ARRL fest in Yuma last month.

Muchly appreciated in advance!

73DG

[KA2DZT]

Pictures please!!

I can't work without pictures.

Fred

[W7TFO]

Garsh, I had no idea there were so many ass-piring clowns out of work!

I hope the circus comes thru your towns and gives you employment.

I'll gladly give my red nose & big shoes for postage if you need them...



Here is the radio in question, as found.  All it needs is the missing tubes, a cabinet & cleaning, the iron checks good.

73DG

[The Slab Bacon]

Dennis,
          It looks like your typical TRF/battery set. If the transformers are good, check the cartrige type grid leak resistor (they're usually open) stuff it with '01As and let her rip. there isn't much to go wrong with them. I have several of that style (not that brand) radios, they usually will play with little work. All of the tubes should be '01As except the outpoot, sometimes they are '12As, but an 01A will work there too as well. Battery inpoot voltages are

+5 to 6v for the fils
+22.5v for the detector plate
+67.5 for the first amplifier plate
+90v for the outpoot plate with 01A or +135v if using a 12A
and if using 135v and a 12A   -7.5v for the "C" inpoot (biass)

If the grid leak is open use anything between 1.5 to 3.3 meg and it will work OK-Fine. Although you usually find that the plate winding on 1 or both of the audio transfomas is open, check them very carefully. Also the supply voltages aren't critical, anything even remotely close will work fine.

[W7TFO]

From what I can see, it is a regen rather than a traditional TRF set. 

Supposed to have an 00A detector.  The leak & cap are OK.  Iron OK.

Voltages are marked on the battery terminal board.

It came with the 00A and two O1A's in a box.

I just wanted to be sure on the tube lineup.

Thanks!

73DG

[The Slab Bacon]

Dennis,
          '00A and '01A are pretty much interchangeable as a detector. 00A was what they used to call a "soft detector" it had some type of gas in it to supposedly make it perform better as a detector. I never noticed much difference between the two. All of my battery sets have a full boat of 01A globe style tubes in them.

Doing a little experimenting, I found that a 71 sometimes works well in them, and sometimes in odd places like the first RF or detector. Rather odd for an outpoot tube in the detector, but sometimes they will work and sometimes work better.

Also if you are running the lower voltages (I have run the whole sets on 35-45v) be sure go tie the C- battery lead to the common return.

Also if you are short on 01As you can substitute 30s as long as you reduce the filament supply to 1.5-2v and change all of the tubes out. 30s were pretty much the same charactoristics, but designed for dry-cell filament batteries, where the 01A radios were designed to run the fils off of a 6v storage battery.

[Carl WA1KPD]

Also most books of the day tell you to swap the different 01s around to find the best one for the detector. Apparently consistency was not there even among new tubes. I have noticed a difference among the tubes I use in those sets.
Carl

My Crosley 51 single tube regen tunes up to 160 using the longwire. It is fun to listen to 1885 on a set of that vintage

/KPD

[W3RSW]

I believe it is a "1v2" that is one rf stage, a regen det stage and two stages of audio.  The most expensive fix may be the audio coupling transformers; they're often found open.  The brown grid resistor is the giveaway of second stage being regen.  You can also see a direct wire connection to the first stage rf amp from the stator of the variable tuning cap. 

Looks also like a full length base board is missing as well as the case. What fun you'll have getting it up and running.  Be careful, you might get hooked  !

It may have been a kit or home built. Look carefully for some manufacturer label. The supply post board seems to be commercially lettered, so may be the guts of a known series.
AWA anyone?