What's New at Retro Electronics!

by Chad Hauris

3/24/08: We have been working on a Firestone Air Chief model 4-A-22 and have all capacitors replaced. I began the Firestone page and we have a video of its repair and performance. Also we now have the Lafayette Amplifier repaired and are testing it. I replaced all of the capacitors in an RCA MX-7 stereo receiver and we now have it operating.
Also have been working on a homemade AM radio. You can visit our youtube pages as seen below for more information. I'll certainly keep posting photos here, but the Youtube interface is so easy to upload videos that I can get more information out quicker that way. I got the Wurlitzer Electrostatic Reed organ all home and will be beginning its restoration.

2/18/08: Updated Seeburg M100C repair journal with more photos, also updated Dodge Van page.

2/5/08: Updated Seeburg M100C Repair Journal with new Youtube video of final completed unit.

2/2/08: Began page for Seeburg M100C Repair Journal. This page features built-in YouTube videos. I got a Video-to-USB convertor at WalMart that now allows me to import video and post it to YouTube. I found an RCA VHS camera I had got at Goodwill and we took some video of the M100C which is now on that page. I am working on getting some more videos uploaded. See the YouTube pages http://www.youtube.com/user/retrochad  and http://www.youtube.com/user/southjk  for all of our YouTube videos.
The M100C is now completely re-assembled and ready to go back to its owner.

We worked on a Wurlitzer 2900 jukebox yesterday in Odessa. The amp had all new capacitors installed, plus new fluorescent ballasts and lighting cord. It turns out that the cables from the selector ring to the junction box were plugged into the wrong sockets plus the back stop pawls needed adjusting. This fixed the problem of incorrect selections. This one just needs finished up with some cleaning to the keyboard.

Sunday we checked out a Rockola 440. This unit is being prepared for sale by its owner and we just needed to re-seat a connection to restore the audio.

We are also working on a Firestone Air Chief radio and a Lafayette tube amplifier. Also, cleaned a circuit board on a Bally "Flash Gordon" pinball machine which was corroded by bad batteries. We will likely need a rebuild kit to replace corroded components.

1/12/08: Continued work on the Seeburg M100C. The contacts above the selection coils which activate when a selection is made were corroded and cleaning with a lint-free cloth and some Deoxit restored good performance. Sometimes some selections would fail to activate when the keyboard keys were pressed.
Updated 1978 Grand Marquis diary on the 1978 Grand Marquis page. Added YouTube video tour of the front part of the Retro Electronics Shop.

12/25/07: Updated Volvo 544 Page with new YouTube Video.

12/9/07: Sorry I haven't put in an update for a while! We are working on a Motorola console which had its components shipped to us. Also we repaired a Leslie 122A (Hammond-Suzuki) which had a blown fuse for Stonegate Fellowship. It is used with a B-3 which will get new capacitors soon. We are working on the Wurlitzer 2900 components, replacing capacitors in the amp and installing new ballasts. I went to Texas Recycles day and we got a good amount of equipment though a smaller amount than years past. We are continuing to work on the Seeburg M100C. The new ballast was installed and it sounds great but there is a problem with the pinbank we are working with. We are also working on a Magnavox record changer.
I got a new room at the West Building for equipment and hope to move in some of the round tube color TV's which are stored in the barn. I'll try and get some more web pages made up soon! But until I get all the pages built, you can view new pictures by browsing the directory http://www.retroaudiolab.com/pictures/equip/

10/6/07: Made repair journal for David Bogen HO-125 high powered 807 PA amps.
Went on service call for Wurlitzer 2900 jukebox and removed components for repair.

9/23/07: Updated 1972 Seeburg SPS-160 Repair Journal. Continued to test Leslie 147 speaker and combo preamp. Changed 12AX7 tube which someone had put in the amp to the proper 12AU7 tube. The higher-gain 12AX7 was causing distortion and excessive amplification of hum.

9/18/07: Updated 1972 Seeburg SPS-160 Repair Journal.

9/17/07: Began 1972 Seeburg SPS-160 Repair Journal.

9/13/07: Updated Dynaco Solid State 120 Amp page. Continued working on Leslie Guitar preamp, adding new power cord. We also have repaired the search function on our site as the old search service has gone defunct.

9/11/07: Began Dynaco Solid State 120 Amp repair journal. We picked up a Seeburg M100C jukebox for repair this weekend and took the repaired Hammond-Suzuki Leslie 122A back to the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ.
Are continuing to work on Leslie Guitar Preamp and Leslie 147.

9/6/07: We finished the Dynaco Solid State 120 amp, also finished the Bogen Amps. We completely disassembled a Seeburg LS-2 jukebox and took it to the West building and re-assembled it. Continued working on a Leslie 147 speaker which has a preamp for guitar. Repaired a Seeburg SPS-160 jukebox and a Wurlitzer 2410. Will have more photos soon!

7/29/07: Almost finished with Dynaco Solid State 120 amplifier. Found bad capacitors and thermally intermittent diodes. Currently testing it and it is working well.
Have been working on Magnavox Tuner/Amp chassis...replaced all capacitors and is working well. Need to do some more rewiring and John is repairing Magnavox record changer. We moved some console phonos to the West Building and covered over the old hydraulic lift in the garage bay with plywood for a new service area to accomodate more jukebox/organ repair jobs. Have repaired two Bogen HO-125 high power 807 tube PA power amplifiers. (photos to come).
Created repair journal page for Hammond B-3 Organ and PR-20 tone cabinet.

7/7/07: Created new page for Hammond-Suzuki Leslie 122A speaker repairs.
Added new literature to Chad's retro-technology archive page: Mid 1950's International Harvester R-series 6 Wheel Truck brochure.

7/1/07: Continued working on Leslie 122 speaker. John has repaired a Soundesign receiver and turntable. We gave the Rockola Starlet back to its owner. I got a new scanner at home and have begun scanning some historical brochures. They are available at Chad's Retro Technology Archive site. Some of the information includes a 1956 Ford School bus brochure plus a 12 Oaks Motel postcard from Odessa. Also there are some old pictures of Chad with retro electronic equipment.

7/1/07: Added page for V-M Model 730 "Tape-O-Matic" Reel to Reel machine.

6/30/07: Got additional home computer with Windows XP from Teksale.com so I could download the camera memory card at home. I was having trouble reading the card with Linux. Although I could mount the card, the filesystem type did not agree with Slackware. Also, this will allow me to more easily scan other brochures and photos of historical interest. Downloaded more photos off the camera of the Permian Building and Gihls Tower demolition and updated the Permian Building/Gihls Tower Demolition Page.

6/29/07: Updated Links page with new Internet Archive Radio Programs link. Removed KMMZ Memories links as station has changed format.

6/27/07: The Rockola Starlet is now finished and ready to go back to its owner. Continued to update Organ and Piano page to give new pages for Hammond and other electronic organs. We are finishing up working on a Hammond-Suzuki 122 Leslie speaker which had burned out motors and bad triacs. Also we are working on a Dynaco Stereo 120 solid state amp which appears to have bad capacitors and a bad zener diode. We repaired a Voice of Music reel-to-reel machine and used it to dub some historical reel tapes to CD for a customer.
The truck is now in the shop getting its air conditioning repaired. We will soon be getting started working on a Leslie 147 speaker with Combo Pre-amp plus a Magnavox console tuner and amp. Chad found an E.H. Scott 800-B console radio at an estate sale so that will be getting repaired soon.

5/26/07: Added more photos to Rockola Starlet page. Updated 1978 Grand Marquis page. We have been working on a Zenith Transoceanic model B600 and a Dynaco solid state amp. Added some more audio clips to our Radio Station Historical Audio Clips page.

5/11/07: Added some more photos to the Rockola Ultra page. We got a large amount of RCA tube type sound reinforcement equipment and have begun to work on repairing it. We repainted the Rockola Starlet and it is almost ready to go back to its owners. Also we have repaired several turntables and have begun evaluating a Dynaco solid state amp, preamp, and tuner.
I have created a new website using SDF Public Access Unix for additional archival information such as radio station historical audio clips, it is nipper.freeshell.org

4/15/07: Good news for AM radio and classic country lovers....KRIL 1410 AM Odessa, TX. is now broadcasting classic country music, playing ABC's "Real Country" network. KRIL most recently was a Sports format station from about 2004-2007 simulcast with KMND 1510 Midland which still airs that format. This marks the first time an Odessa-Midland area AM station has played music since 2000 when KRIL changed to a talk format and KJBC changed to religious.
On our radio station historical audio page is an audio clip from KRIL from around 1986.
We have no connection to KRIL but wanted to inform you that there is something new to listen to on the old radios like the ones we work on.

4/12/07: Began Rockola Ultra page.

3/27/07: Updated Rockola Starlet page. Began additional Permian Building demolition page. Updated West Building page.
 
3/11/07: Updated Permian Building page. Began re-organizing Organ Page into separate pages by make, beginning with Hammond. Added Faith Temple C3 page to Hammond Organ Page. Began page on new West Building office. 

2/27/07: Updated Permian Building page. Demolition has begun on the Permian Building and Gihls Tower. Updated Rockola 440 Jukebox page.
Last week we repaired the Hammond B-3 Organ and PR-20 tone cabinet for Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church.

2/18/07: Updated Rockola 440 jukebox page. We took the 440 back to its owner.
Went to Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church to work on Hammond B-3 organ and PR-20 tone cabinet. Had bad wiring in cables to tone cabinet and power wiring plus problems with pedalboard. Got PR-20 back to shop and will begin working on new cable to tone cabinet and replacing old capacitors.
Installed voltmeter and water temperature gauge on 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis.
Got new fluorescent bulbs for Rockola Ultra 437 and installed new ballasts and wiring. Repaired tone arm wiring on Rockola Ultra.

2/16/07: Updated Rockola 440 jukebox page. Got 1978 Grand Marquis back from Carrillo's Automotive. They replaced the radiator and thermostat and installed a new oil pressure sending unit. They measured oil pressure with mechanical gauge and it was very good: 50 psi hot 70 psi cold. Would highly recommend them: very honest and competent. They are located at Wall Street and Missouri St. in Midland. Car is driving fine now except there is a tendency for it to not shift gears automatically when transmission fluid is extremely cold (less than 30 degrees), however once the fluid warms up it is fine for the rest of the day.

We got a wind-up Victrola in from an antique shop and found the needle was skating across the record. Replaced the needle and it was fine. Victrolas and other acoustic phonographs must have the needles replaced after every play....the one in there probably had a lot of wear on it.

Repaired Dodge Van: the smog pump had seized up. These silly things seem to be notorious for failure. The one in the van had been replaced in 2003 and had a lifetime warranty from AutoZone so I will be taking the bad one back!

2/11/07: Finished cleaning and putting all records back into Rockola 440. Updated Rockola 440 jukebox page. Bench tested Rockola 437 amp and performance seems better...reinstalled amp back into jukebox. Installed Rockola 437 credit unit and found there was a sticky reset switch on the keyboard which was deactivating the keyboard latch solenoid.
Pulled up on switch and got keyboard to work, Still need to repair switch.
Replaced ballast in top of Rockola 437...will need new starters and bulbs. Found that triple outlet strip for lamps was non-functional.

2/9/07: Updated Rockola 440 jukebox page. Carrillo's said that 1978 Grand Marquis needs new radiator and thermostat and they will order new radiator.

2/7/07: Replaced all capacitors in 1967 Rockola Ultra model 437 amp. Some of the old ones tested with no ESR and some had physical signs of bulging. Reinstalled amp in jukebox...good sound quality but maximum volume not as much as it should be. Will need some bench testing. Both tweeters are bad.
Got parts to repair headlights and horn on 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis. Filled gas tank and added fuel injector cleaner. Drove 1978 Grand Marquis and temperature warning light came on when I got to Midland, no coolant circulation apparent...took to Carrillo's shop for repairs. 1989 Dodge Van making grinding noise, needs new fan clutch and/or water pump.
Began 1969 Rockola "Psychedelic" Jukebox repair journal.
John has got the Hallicrafters S-20-R communications receiever almost totally restored.

2/3/07: Went to Lincoln Tower in Odessa today to look at some jukeboxes that need repair: there was a Rowe R-87 and a Wurlitzer 3000. Will be bringing them in for service sometime in the near future. Testing all selections on Rockola 440, working fine. Re-assembled Rockola Starlet mechanism. Some time ago I had totally disassembled and cleaned the gripper mechanism: this week I have degreased all the gear motors and turntable mechanism and re-assembled the complete mechanism.
Began working on Rockola Ultra Model 437. Removed all parts from case and degreased and relubricated mechanism. Repaired power supply with new silicon bridge rectifier and power cord. Reassembled mechanism and power supply in cabinet and the magazine motor would not spin. Eventually found that someone had mis-wired the microswitch which supplies power to the magazine motor relay. Rearranged the contacts according to the schematic and mech works fine. Needed to adjust the read-out arm to get it to pick up the record properly.
Tested ESR on capacitors in the amp and some are bad so will install new caps tomorrow.
Added more photos to Hammond B-2 Organ Page.
We will eventually get to all the photos we have...there are a lot more that still need to be put to web pages but I try to add a few more photos each day so eventually they will all be there.

1/30/07: Finished up Rockola 440 repairs. Began working on Rockola Starlet mechanism and Leslie speaker amp. Updated Hammond B-2 Organ Repair Journal.

1/28/07: Re-installed all covers and bolts on Rockola 440 Jukebox. Began Hammond B-2 Organ Repair Journal.

1/27/07: Installed new mid-range speaker and phono cartridge in Rockola 440. Working well, almost done. Added more photos to Ritz Theatre page.

1/26/07: Worked some more on Rockola 440 write-in system. Sprayed circuit board with Deoxit again and cleaned and polished with paper towel. Also inserted lint-free cloth under contact wipers several times to help remove oxidation and sprayed keyboard switches. Coils seem to be OK...it was just a very stubborn dirt/oxidation problem on contacts. This seems to now have the selection system working properly. Installed 2 more new fluorescent ballasts. Will need to work on phono cartridge leads...intermittent connections.
Picked up Rockola Ultra model 437 to begin repairs.
Added more photos to Ritz Theatre page.

1/25/07: Got Rockola 440 to write in selections by cleaning the contacts on the circuit board. Only one side of the write-in arm works though so there may be a bad write-in coil (common problem on Rockolas). Added more photos to Ritz Theatre page.

1/24/07: Re-assembled the Rockola 440 write-in motor, using some washers to space the motor out slightly from the gearbox to help ease binding of the rotor. Re-installed in machine and lubricated write-in arm and got it to turn properly. Write-in not activiating pins consistantly, may be dirty contacts. Added more photos to Ritz Theatre page.

1/23/07: Took some more photos of downtown Midland including Permian Building demolition. Added more photos to Ritz Theatre page.

1/22/07: Replaced one of the fluorescent ballasts in Rockola 440 jukebox. Found that write-in motor was binding when assembled but ran when bearings were loosened. Need to shim with washers. Began Ritz Theatre page.

1/21/07: Added more photos to the Pana, Illinois Photo Page. We got new woofers for the Rockola 440 jukebox, installed them, also sprayed all controls, checked all capacitors and installed new silicon diodes and power cord. Cleaned and lubricated write-in motor. Good sound quality and mechanism function, still need to work on write-in system. We are replacing capacitors in the Hallicrafters S-20.

1/20/07: Added more photos to Pana, Illinois Photo Page.

1/19/07: Wrote article about photo-resizing script for Linux. Added more photos to Pana, Illinois Photo Page.

1/17/07: Began Pana Illinois Photo Gallery Page.

1/9/07: We finished up the Wurlitzer 2800 Jukebox and took it back to its owner. Now working on a 1950's RCA portable phono and Rockola 444 Jukebox. We got a Hammond B-2 Organ and have begun replacing capacitors in the amp and console. Visited the historic Permian Building in Midland which is being demolished. Permian Building Page. Were able to take a tour inside the Ritz Theatre in Midland. Took 1978 Grand Marquis to transmission shop and will soon have it retrofitted with rebuilt C-6 transmission. John went to Illinois recently and got an RCA/Brenkert carbon arc lamphouse and pedestal from the Roseland Theatre along with an RCA field coil speaker.
Many more new photos to come.

11/30/06: Updated Silvertone Model 1904 Radio page with more photos. Added more photos to Roseland Theatre Page.

11/23/06: RCA Theatre Amp Restoration

11/21/06: Began repair journal for Mid 1930's Silvertone Model 1904 Radio. We moved our Player piano into the main service bay from a storage area, and removed all the keys and cleaned under the keyboard. Removed the player mechanism and are assessing what parts we will need to repair it. Have been working on the Rockola Starlet amp, now have almost all caps replaced. Testing Wurlitzer 2800, all selections working fine.
I replaced the power steering pump on the Dodge Van as the old one was really leaking. Participated in Texas Recyles Day Nov. 18 and got 1 Dodge van load of equipment such as TV's and phonographs. Preparing to work on the headlights of the 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis: put it on the battery charger as the battery was dead. The Retro Truck and Plymouth Savoy have had the radiators flushed and new belts and hoses installed.

11/12/06: Created Repair Journal for 1939 Stromberg-Carlson 450M Radio.
Updated the Roseland Theatre, Pana, Illinois page with new photos and better links.
We repaired a Wurlitzer 3600 jukebox by resetting the gripper on the gripper arm back into the gripper actuator. The carousel had been jammed due to the gripper not being retracted.
We have almost finished the Wurlitzer 2800, adding in a relay to replace burned keyboard switch contacts.
Have been restoring an old RCA theatre amp plus a Seeburg Jukebox amp using 2A3 tubes. We hauled 2 pianos in the Retro Truck including a mid-1800's upright from England which we got for $20.00.
Been working on an Onkyo cassette deck, replacing belts. Have started Rockola Starlet amp repairs.

10/20/06: Created repair journal for 1941 Crosley 02BA radio.

10/4/06: Created Repair Journal for 1937 Philco Model 37-610 radio and finished repair journal for late 1930's Silvertone. Updated 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis page. We have been working on a 1941 Crosley model 02BA console radio (photos soon).

9/14/06: Began repair joural for Silvertone Late 1930's radio. This week I have been working on a Philco 37-610 radio. Have begin replacing capacitors and have removed the output transformer from the severely damaged speaker and installed in on the chassis. Re-asssembled the Wurlitzer 2800 jukebox after rebuilding carousel support bearings and thoroughly degreasing the mechanism. Also installed extra tweeter for better high frequency response.

9/3/06: Created repair journal for 1939 Philco 39-35 radio. We have got the 1946 Philco model 46-1203-125 radio chassis working. We finished the Motorola Golden Voice phono back to the customer. Replaced carburetor and valve cover gasket on 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis. Got new bearing for lift arm mechanism on Wurlitzer 2800 jukebox. Still need new carousel bearings.

8/26/06: Updated the 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis Page.

8/18/06: Created Hammond L-102 Repair Journal page. Last weekend I disassembled the entire mechanism of the Wurlitzer 2800 to degrease it further and try and improve lift arm performance. We finished up electrical repairs of a 1936 Silvertone Radio which had been restored by a client but needed a few problems resolved. Still working on the 1938 Philco Radio. It needs almost all of its wiring replaced.
We found that there were some bad resistors in the Silvertone 3092 stereo radio/phono so we replaced these plus some old ceramic caps. Seems to be working fine now. Tested the Motorola Golden Voice and installed a new needle.


7/30/06: Updated Wurlitzer 2800 Repair Journal. We have continued working on the Wurlitzer plus we just finished up a Motorola Golden Voice console phono, plus a Silvertone Phono/Radio console. We got a 1962 RCA B/W TV/Radio/Phono console from Helping Hands and are checking it out. Also we are working on an RCA 45 RPM changer and will begin working on a Rockola 440 Jukebox soon.

7/10/06: Began repair journal page for Wurlitzer 2800 jukebox. Have been working on the control box and wiring.

7/4/06: Updated the Dodge Van page with new photos. Yesterday we were working on the Wurlitzer 2800 jukebox...removed, cleaned and installed the carousel rotor bearings, replaced the turntable motor mounts, adjusted the back stop pawl for the "A" sides, and worked on counterweighting the tone arm for the best performance with the new Pickering cartridge. I finished up a Hammond L-102 amplifier chassis, installing new capacitors and power cord, cleaning the tube sockets, and checking the tubes.

7/2/06: Created a new page for Motorola Radios and for the Motorola model 15KT24 Golden Voice Radio/Phono.
Created page for historical buildings in Colorado City, Texas as part of my photo essay of West Texas historical architecture. Coming soon: Decatur, Baird, and Weatherford, Texas. The Dodge Van pickup coil has been working fine with plenty of road testing this week. We received a gift of an RCA CTC-17 tube type color TV CRT and Chassis and a Sony Reel-to-Reel machine on Sat. After converting it to magnetic cartridges and re-aligning the mechanism we returned a Wurlitzer 1250 jukebox to its owner. We are also working on another Motorola Golden Voice phono and a Hammond L-102 organ amp chassis.

6/25/06: Updated the Dodge Van page. Replaced Dodge pick-up coil and got it to start up and run. Re-organized the Organ and Piano page to make it a little easier to find desired models. Removed carousel and upper mechanism from Wurlitzer 2800 and found roller bearings for carousel were frozen...treated with LPS-2 and CD-80. John brought in Leslie 22 and Hammond M-143 from Pana IL. to shop: these are in working condition but have kind of a weak and distorted sound and will need a refurbishing. 

6/24/06: I have been working on the Philco 39-315 radio today. There is a lot of bad wiring in there...have repaired power transformer wiring with heat shrink tubing and replaced bad wiring in chassis. Last week replaced capacitors and some tubes in Wurlitzer 2800 amp and also replaced phono cartridge with Pickering magnetic. Replaced ballasts tonight. I have downloaded the next batch of photos from the camera so should have more photos in next few days. Updated the Dodge Van page (trying to fix intermittent in ignition circuit.)
And, John got back from going on a trip and got a Hammond M-143 organ plus a Leslie 22 speaker, plus an RCA theatre amp and an Atwater Kent radio (pictures to come.)

6/20/06: Added picture page for Wurlitzer 1015 Jukebox to the Wurlitzer page. Updated and made a few corrections to some of the Wurlitzer pages.

6/18/06: Added Big Sky Drive-In Theatre, Midland, TX. Snack Bar Menu to the Movies Page. Added Audio Quick Links to the Links Page. These are links at the top of the page directly to some of my favorite audio streams which will appear in new windows for convenience.

6/18/06: Created Test Equipment Repair Journals/Photos page and page for Knight RF Sweep Generator.
Coming Soon pages for Hammond B-3000 organ and Leslie 722 speaker, Wurlitzer 1015 jukebox, Wurlitzer 2800 Jukebox, Silvertone 1930's Radio, Silvertone Model 3092 Console Stereo from 1963, Heathkit FM Stereo generator,
2 more 1930's Philco Radios, Wurlitzer 1250 Jukebox Magnetic Cartridge retrofit, 1946 Philco Radio/Phono. We've been real busy recently!

6/3/06: Created 1938 Philco 38-7 console radio illustrated repair journal.
Updated journal to reflect that the radio is likely actually a 38-7 and not a 38-5 as I had thought.

5/28/06: Updated Hammond C-3 and Leslie 147 Speaker repair journal and began page for 1964 Plymouth Savoy.

5/24/06: We have been working on several radios recently...a 1938 Philco 38-5 and a late 30's Silvertone, also a 1963 Silvertone console stereo. Last weekend I also worked on downloading a lot of pictures from the camera of the radios plus more pictures of the Hammond C-3 and Leslie. We delivered the Hammond and Leslie back to its church home. More pictures to come soon, should have the new web pages for these new pieces of equipment this weekend.

5/6/06: Updated 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis Repair Journal. Updated 1989 Dodge Van page. We will soon have a 1964 Plymouth Savoy page too.

5/3/06: Added links to Antiqueradios.com Classic Radio Dramas Online Audio and KMMZ Memories 101.3 FM, Crane Texas to the Links Page.

4/30/06: Updated the Organ Page with the C-3 Hammond Organ and Leslie Speaker repair journal.

4/26/06: Updated the Rockola Page with the Rockola Starlet repair journal. The Starlet jukebox is getting a complete disassembly and restoration. We are also working on a C-3 Hammond organ and Leslie speaker and will have photos soon. Other projects at the shop include 1938 Philco and Silvertone radios.

4/2/06: Updated the Wurlitzer 3300 Americana III jukebox repair page and the Decca 45 RPM phono with built-in amp page.

3/17/06: Updated the Arborphone Radio Page with information and photos of the new power supply we built for this 1920's radio. If you are in the West Texas or New Mexico area you might want to listen to a new "easy listening/popular standards" station, KMMZ 101.3 FM, a 100,000 watt station from Crane, TX. It also has a translator station at 98.3 in Hobbs, NM.

3/2/06: Updated photo essay of West Texas with story of International Loadstar 1600 truck. Began page for Decca 45 RPM changer repair. Updated 1978 Grand Marquis Journal. Added link for "Vintage Jukes" site (has animations and movies of jukeboxes) to Links page.

2/21/06: Began photo essay and feature article of historical sights and architecture of West and North Texas. (It is on the Special Features Page).

2/20/06: Updated the Links Page with information on how to get the KAAM Legends 77 audio stream to work on Linux.
You've got to check out this stream, it has very good stereo audio quality.

2/16/06: Updated Wurlitzer 2600 Jukebox Repair Journal with more photos. Began Wurlitzer 3300 Americana III Jukebox Repair Journal. Updated links page with links to KAAM AM 770 (Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX) online audio stream.
2/6/06: Updated B Street Studios page with Goldrush radio playlist for 2/12/06. Updated 1978 Grand Marquis Restoration Journal at the 1978 Grand Marquis Page.
2/4/06: Began Wurlitzer 2600 Jukebox repair journal at the Wurlitzer Jukebox Page.

2/3/06: Updated the Wurlitzer 1100 Jukebox Page 1 with links on the photos so that clicking on the photo brings up a larger view.

2/2/06: Added page with photo of Bill Myrick at B Street and audio recording of Bill from a 78 rpm record to the
B Street Feature Articles Page.

1/31/06: Added new B Street Features page to the B Street Studios page. Added story of Internet on a Stick to B Street Features Page.

1/30/06: Added Goldrush Radio Program page to the B Street Studios page.

1/29/06: Added Repair Journal Page for RCA 45 RPM record changer to the Phonograph Page. Also I will begin adding a tiny photo of the piece of equipment to directory pages for easier selection of desired topics.

1/28/06: Added B Street Gates turntable repair photos. See What's New At B Street

1/27/06: Added more photos from B Street, please see "What's New At B Street" page.

1/21/06 Sorry it's been a little while since our last update! We have been working on some new projects and will have photos of them soon. We now have new photos of the Wurlitzer 1900 Jukebox completed with owner Spud Curfew. We have completed a new power supply for the Arborphone radio and have repaired an Admiral 50's clock radio. We are working on a Wurlitzer 2600 jukebox. Also we have been working on an internet connection for the B street studios we call "Internet On a Stick". It uses a wireless USB adapter attached to a mast to receive a wi-fi signal from John's house. It is still undergoing some troubleshooting but we have proved the concept to work.

12/31/05: Created page for Silvertone Syntronic Turntable repairs. Updated Wurlitzer Repair Journals and Photos with story of Wurlitzer 3000 jukebox repairs. Added page for Bell Tube-type Amp to the Stereo Page.
I converted all of the Radio Station Audio Clips to mp3 files as the 22,050 khz wav files appeared to have trouble playing on Windows Media Player. The mp3's should be the most compatible among all types of audio players.

12/27/05: Added some more audio clips to the radio station historical audio clips page, including KJBC sign-off, KCRS Met Opera, and KGEE Weather. Added some more clips of KRIL from 1986, more KJBC jingles, and KYXX from 1978.

12.26.05: I have made a new home page on our site for B Street Studios and updated it with sections on the B Street Construction and the Grand Opening party.

12/24/05: We have now got the B Street Studios completely functional with the Ampex Tape Recorder, microphone, and both turntables. We moved the Rowe MM-6 jukebox into the studios, and the sign is now up. The bar top has been finished. We now have some more photos of the Wurlitzer 1900 Jukebox electrical and lighting repairs and I wrote a review of the Vivitar Vivicam 35, an inexpensive digital camera.
I also have updated the page about Barstow, Texas including some new photos I found on the internet.
Also, I updated the 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis page and the 1989 Dodge Van page.
I updated the B Street Studios Construction Page with more information on the Control Room Electronics Installation.
 
12/15/05 Things have been so busy recently! We have almost finished the Wurlitzer 1900 jukebox repairs and will have more photos shortly. We have been working on finishing the B Street Studio for its grand opening soon...we have repaired the KJBC turntables and installed the audio board and speaker box! We have the DVD player hooked up to the RCA CTC-30 TV, and John is working on installing the retro-formica on the bar top. I'll try to add photos as soon as I can but sometimes the photos come in faster than I can post them, there is so much going on! I have added some more photos of B Street Studio General Construction and B Street Studio lighting to the B Street Construction Page.

Back at the Retro lab, John has been working on several turntables including a phono motor replacement on a late 1960's Zenith plus a KLH mini-stereo system with Garrard turntable and FM tuner from the 60's.
We were able to install a new drive wheel on a Firestone 78 rpm phono motor unit.
I made up a mobile electric heater cart system with a Modine 230 volt unit heater and fuse box, with an extra-long 8 gauge power cord. Also, we had a new Reznor gas fired garage heater installed in the garage area to replace the Janitrol which had a cracked heat exchanger.

12/3/05: Added photo essay on B Street Studio Construction to the Special Features page.  Added photo essay of new progress in Linux computer audio playback and recording and serial terminal installation.

12/1/05: From now on this website will be created exclusively with Linux. I had been using Linux on all my computers at home but one, which had Windows 98 installed. I liked being able to do FTP'ing with a graphical program rather than having to put and get each file, etc.

Well, Win 98 crapped out, couldn't boot it up even in safe mode after trying to install a scanner I got from Goodwill...so I said goodbye to Windows...got the Slackware CD out and installed Slackware Linux on the machine exclusively. Linux really can do graphical applications in addition to the command line I was used to working with..Am now using the "gftp" graphical FTP client, NVU HTML editor, The GIMP photo editor and Mozilla web browser, and am installing Audacity audio software.

At the B street studio, the window is going in for the control room and the bar is finished...pretty much all there is left to do is paint, and install the equipment. I was working on a page for the B street photos on the Windoze machine when it crashed so that page got lost but I will be re-constructing it in Linux.

Also on the computer front I have installed a VT-320 terminal in the kitchen at home to one of the Linux machines. Now that's retro, web browsing on that old fashioned amber screen!


11/26/05: There's been a lot going on at Retro. John has been working on installing new lights in the B street studio and he has hired a construction crew too. They have removed old carpet and painted the floors in the lab area and the restrooms, and have been constructing the control room furniture for the audio production studio. They have also been installing acoustical tiles in the control room. John has moved in most of his geoscience equipment into the geological office.

Last weekend we went to an estate sale and came back with TV's, electronics books, TRS-80 computer equipment, and more.

We returned the Wurlitzer 3000 components which we refurbished to the cabinet and got that jukebox working in time for the owners to enjoy it for Thanksgiving. I replaced the ballasts on the Wurlitzer 1900 jukebox.

I got the Hammond RT-3 organ working and re-assembled in time for Gregory to play it when he came home for thanksgiving. I had to ground the amp chassis as I was getting some kind of weird feedback. 

John sent back a Silvertone record changer he repaired to its owners in Florida and they report it works great.

I have been working some more on the recycled computers at home and found that "The GIMP" open source photo editor works great. I have it on my linux machines but it can also be used on Windows.

I added the story of the Capehart 1950's B/W TV evaluation to the TV page.

I've got photos of most of these other projects too and willl be adding them in the near future.
 
11/18/05: Added story of Texas Recycles Day 2005 to Special Features Page. Added another page to Wurlitzer 1100 Repair Journal at the Wurlitzer Jukebox Page.

11/15/05: This weekend we participated for the 3rd time in Texas Recycles Day. We collected a lot of equipment for historical preservation, re-use, and salvage. Got some tube type TV's, radios, computers, and more. I've been working on installing Slackware Linux on a Pentium-3 computer from the T.R.D. and it is working great. I am producing the Goldrush program and this web site exclusively on salvaged computers. Have been unloading recyclables from the trucks over the past couple of days, will have pictures soon.

This weekend we were working on the Kimball Aquarius organ and John got it all re-capped. Almost finished with Wurlitzer 2800 juke amp, just waiting on parts. Continuing to work on Wurlitzer 1900.

11/10/05: Updated story of Wurlitzer 1900 repairs with mechanism and phono cartridge details.

11/6/05: Added illlustrated story of Wurlitzer 1900 restoration to the Wurlitzer page.

11/5/05: Last night I went to the Big Sky Drive-in in the Retro truck. That place was packed! Almost any place you could park there was a car. I had to wait 40 minutes to get my taste-treats, there was such a line at the snack bar. An inconvenience, maybe, but it sure goes to show that the drive-in theatre is making a real comeback.

Today I was working on the Wurlitzer 1900 and got the amp finshed and reinstalled. Working on a problem of the carousel not rotating...it does not appear to be engaged on the pin properly from the crank arm. Waiting on CD-80 penetrating oil do do it's thing so I can remove the top part of the mech and re-orient the carousel. 

I worked on re-capping the Wurlitzer 2800 transistorized amp.

At home I am working on improving performance with old recycled computers and Linux. I got an old Pentium 200 mhz working as a great audio file playback device and you can read here about the details.

I added some more details to the Wurlitzer 1100 repair journal.

11/2/05: Added illustrated story of RCA CTC-30 1968 Color TV to the TV page. Added complete illustrated story of Big Sky Drive-In Grand Opening to the Movies Page.

11/1/05:  Uploaded new illustrated article detailing Wurlitzer 1100 Jukebox repairs to the Wurlitzer page.

This article is still a work in progress, so more details will be added.

This weekend we worked on lights at the B Street Studio. We installed a new industrial-style fixture outside the front door and put a new fluorescent lamp inside the lab area. Work continues on the Wurlitzer 1900 amp, with a new silicon rectifier installed. We are working on a 1979 Kimball "Aquarius" organ, replacing capacitors and cleaning contacts.


10/29/05: We archived the old "What's New" page in this archive page. It was getting pretty long!

Recently I re-aligned my Net West wireless ethernet antenna for better signal strength. I was having trouble uploading files from home but now have very good upload speed. I'm working on re-doing the Wurlitzer 1100 page to add more descriptive text and include pictures.

We delivered the Wurlitzer 1100 jukebox to the client and it is working quite well. We are now working on a Wurlitzer 2800 amp and control center and a Wurlitzer 1900 jukebox restoration.

The Big Sky Drive-in opened on Wed.Oct 19 and we all turned out for the grand opening. 

Look for new photos in the next few days.

Retro Electronics Home Page