VOLUME 12                NOVEMBER 1995                NUMBER 11

RADIO MISCELLANEA -- November 1995

From Antique Radio Classified for November 1995
(Copyright 1995 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

Sprucing Up Plastic Sets

Dear Editor:

Here are a few home hints on sprucing up plastic sets which may be of interest to your readers. I've had good results with these shortcuts using household materials and tools.

• Minor scuffs are easily polished away with toothpaste on a paper towel. It also works for removing plastic dial window and watch crystal scratches.
  
• For minor abrasions use Barkeeper's Friend until you reach a patina; then polish with toothpaste.
  
• For deeper scratches use scouring powder or an emery board to smooth the surface before working up the line with Barkeeper's Friend and toothpaste.
  
• Emery boards are handy for reshaping dinged corners before grinding and polishing the damage away.
  
• Brass hardware and trim can be brightened by soaking it in full-strength Top Job until the tarnish loosens; then remove it with a toothbrush. Top Job tends to etch brass after it is clean, so do not overdo soaking.
  
• Deteriorated lacquer on metal parts can often be stripped away with nail polish remover. Take care, for it will damage plastics.
  
• Clear nail polish is handy for protecting bright metal hardware after stripping.
  
• A little vinegar in wash water will help rid water spots caused by lime in tap water.

If you must remove a headphone jack with slotted ring nut and you don't have a wrench, cut off a paper clip end loop, form the wires to span and fit the slots, grip the loop end near the tips with pliers, and use the combination as a wrench.

--Serge L. Krauss, Elkhart, IN

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More on Doerle/Binneweg

Dear Editor:

Recovering from a prolonged synaptic lapse, I remembered the name A. Binneweg, Jr. as mentioned in your March1995 article on the Doerle receiver. Hastening to the garage, I leafed through a box of old radio magazines and found an article by A. Binneweg, Jr. in the April 1928 Radio News. It seems that Binneweg, Jr. was around and producing articles well before the Doerle articles in Radio Craft in the 1930s.

A search through the magazine produced no further information on who A. Binneweg, Jr. was. I had hoped that he might be listed either as a contributing author or as an official with the magazine.

This does little to answer the questions posed by Robert Merriam in the March issue. However, this information does show that A. Binneweg, Jr. was writing some years before the Short Wave Craft offerings.

Hopefully someone else will be able to shed another ray of light on this most interesting writer who was more prolific perhaps than the Short Wave Craft articles indicate.

--Dale Davenport, Fort Smith, AR

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Kokomo, Kingston & The Internet

Dear Editor:

I need some help. I have a battery eliminator made by the Kokomo Electric Company, Kokomo, Indiana. The only thing I know about it is that the front panel reads "Kingston" and "Type 2." I can find no literature on it. It needs to be restored, and I need any info you might be able to provide.

P.S. Please keep the format as is. I prefer to read the magazine over and over again rather than boot up the PC and check out the items.

Thanks. Keep up the good work.

--Dave Stott, Hartford, CT

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The Internet

Dear Editor:

As I type this letter on the old word processor, I wonder if I should jump on the Internet band wagon for submitting information. I do not subscribe to any "On-Line" services, but that may need to change as more and more services and data become available through modems. Keeping up with old technology through new technology is certainly not a new concept, only more convenient. I look forward to the day that I can order that Amrad crystal set easily by simply clicking the mouse. Well, maybe not that easily!

Still, a lot of the thrill for me, and I know for other collectors comes from driving up to a run-down looking building with a weathered sign hanging in front announcing "Antiques and Oddities," walking inside as a cloud of dust hits you, and then spotting the elusive Philco 90 over in a dark (hopefully dry) corner. In this cooler weather, we collectors feel the "go out and look around" fever rising again. Who knows what may turn up - on line or off.

--Sam Wrenn, Arlington, TX

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Heathkit IT-12 Article

Dear Editor:

I want to thank everyone who wrote to me about my A.R.C. article "The Heathkit IT-12 Visual-Aural Signal Tracer "(August 1995). The response was almost overwhelming and tells us two things: first, that a lot of Heathkit equipment is still floating around out there, and second, a lot of people are interested in repairing those old radios.

I'm still sending out packets, so if you haven't received yours yet, you should receive it shortly. If not, please contact me again.

A special thanks also to A.R.C. for providing this means of communication for collectors and restorers.

--Dwane Stevens, Ardmore, OK

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You Get What You Pay For!

Dear Editor:

Love the format! As to the price of A.R.C. - you get what you pay for!! Keep up the good work.

--Greg Nelson, Cameron, NC