Modern Equivalent of "Vintage" Radio

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Could some of you radio enthusiasts let me know what a modern equivalent of the following radio would be?

When I turned 21 years of age I used some of my birthday money to buy the following radio... The one that is now considered to be a 'vintage' radio!!!!


Phillips D2603 (1982) | 4 Band Receiver | 2 Loudspeakers

I even found a youTube clip on the internet of the same radio that is part of an enthusiast's collection... accessed 18th of September 2023 from, PHILIPS D2603 (1982) | 4 Band Receiver | 2 Loudspeakers - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXxSzUuxJiI)

To make things a bit easier for you to base an informed decision off here are the radio's technical specifications.. available from the Radio 'Museum' of all places ... accessed 18th of September 2023 from, D2603 /00 /02 Radio Philips Hong Kong, build 1982 ?, 22 pictures | Radiomuseum (https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_d260300.html)

Unfortunately along the processes of getting married and having children it that meant the poor old radio got forgotten. When I did stumble across it I found that the batteries has leaked acid. Subsequently, the plastic base of the radio case was fused to a shelf in my old less than waterproof old shed. Prior to getting married that radio was my only link to the outside world when I lived in a caravan park at Queen Mary Falls in Queensland. I spent hours tuning into overseas broadcasts and I really enjoyed it.

My wife and I have been empty-nester's for some years now, and I finished my studies last year. This means that I have some of that stuff called 'spare time' on my hands. I would like to be able to tune in again to overseas broadcasts. My poor old Phillips D2603 radio stayed on the same shelf in the same less than waterproof shed that I broke it free from probably a couple of decades ago now. So, even without considering its lack of a base to its case, the whole radio's condition can only be described as 'very sad'. Not something another party I cohabit with might consider being suitable for being located inside the house.

One of the things I used to really enjoy about Phillips D2603 was it having dials that needed to be manually turned. So when you learned radio enthusiasts start making recommendations could you please consider radios with the now old fashioned dials that need to be physically turned. Not the modern digital tuner type of stuff. You know the supposedly 'smart' and more 'convenient' automatic tuning features.

Yes - I can be a demanding sort of sod - sometimes. By the way, at the time I discovered the state of the radio I played safe and did not hook the set up to 240 volts. Just out of interest, I am off to track down some D-Cell batteries to check to see if the old radio still works.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Tombie]

The modern equivalent is

Podcasts
Streaming


You can get plenty of international services streamed now

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

An update. I did put new batteries in and flicked the power switch to 'On'. The volume was turned to full and not even a squeak or a pop came out of the radio. I did probably test the radio when I first found that the batteries had leaked acid. I must have just kept hold of the radio as a memento due to what a significant role it had played in my younger life. I could not then bring myself to simply throwing the radio out. During today's check I found that the main tuning dial does not shift the indicator on the band width. There are no sounds being emitted that even suggest that the tuner is being moved when the dial is turned.

The photograph gives you some idea of what acid leaking from batteries can do to the plastic case of a radio over an unknown period of years. Will I be throwing the old radio out ... hmmm there are some things in life that one can inexplicably become attached to - even when their functionality left the item a long time ago.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

The modern equivalent is

Podcasts
Streaming


You can get plenty of international services streamed now

G'day Tombie,

Thank you for your suggestion Tombie. This option is no doubt far superior than my radio was even in its heyday. However, a computer version of a radio is like an ebook version of a hardcopy book. One has the ability for you to hold it in your hands and physically turn the pages over. Feel its weight and if it is an older book, smell its bouquet. See its foxed edges. You know the whole multi-sensory experience of a real book. All this stuff translates to the difference between a version of a streaming computer service and a radio with analogue features. Hmmm, you might know the answer already to what style of watch I wear and what style of clocks hang on different walls in my house.

Yep - call me 'old fashioned'. I can live with it Tombie. It might also just explain my interest in Series Land Rovers. My interest in Land Rovers in general finishes at the D1 Discovery and the 110 Defender. Being the opinionated sod that I am - these were the real Land Rovers. Oh I do include the Perenties as being real Land Rovers too. Yes, the Td5 in the D2 was a Land Rover developed motor. After these models the vehicles became too highly dependent upon electronics. They also suffered from other car manufacturer's - who became new owners - influences. Remember the bit about my being an opinionated sod ... :0) Ummm ... think ... think ... I can live with that too... :0)

Kind regards
Lionel

[austastar]

Hi,
Ahh, the dials. They had station names too. 7HT, 7HO, 7ZL and I could even pick up New Zealand on a fine night from the top of Mt. Wellington.
Mum had a battery portable that used a 90V battery with a life of about 1 hour.
Cat used to sleep on top of the kitchen radio for the warmth from the valves.
A friend had a similar one with a couple of spring pin connectors on the back for headphones.
Having headphones, I tried to tap into the same wires with pins soldered on the end of the headphone wires.
A BANG and some smoke later, I picked my self up from the floor, some what singed and decided to cancel the endeavour.
Cheers

[Lionelgee]

Hi,
Ahh, the dials. They had station names too. 7HT, 7HO, 7ZL and I could even pick up New Zealand on a fine night from the top of Mt. Wellington.
Mum had a battery portable that used a 90V battery with a life of about 1 hour.
Cat used to sleep on top of the kitchen radio for the warmth from the valves.
A friend had a similar one with a couple of spring pin connectors on the back for headphones.
Having headphones, I tried to tap into the same wires with pins soldered on the end of the headphone wires.
A BANG and some smoke later, I picked my self up from the floor, some what singed and decided to cancel the endeavour.
Cheers

Hello Austastar,

Yes, I can relate to what you are saying. I still have my mum and dad's AWA valve radio that was located in the kitchen too. Admittedly I have not turned it on since I inherited it. Would I be showing my age if I mentioned my playing with crystal radio sets in my youth? Umm ... how about my listening to the Woody Wood Pecker show on the radio!

Oh well, having failed to sort out Snowy - my 110 Defender's clutch I will grab some tools and remove the clutch master cylinder from one of my wide-light 2A's. Big gorilla hands and stuff all access space - sounds like such fun. Wish me luck! I currently work two-days a week with 14 hours per week to use at my discretion. I figured today was go and play with Land Rovers day. Apparently, I simply do not have enough frustration in my life. Go and play with some Land Rovers....

Kind regards
Lionel

[austastar]

Hi,
Or (dare I mention) The Argonauts! Row you blighters.

The Argonauts Theme - YouTube (https://youtu.be/rIar06GNva4'si=8Pf4lLCc_y0pmXgz)

Cheers

[JDNSW]

Row! Row! Row!

I appreciate where you are coming from. When I started work in 1962, I spent a fair bit of my first paycheck on a dual waveband 10 transistor Nivico radio. Cost me £70 from memory. I replaced it in 1969 with a Zenith Transoceanic. Both of these I still have, and I think both still work.

A year or two ago I found the four transistor radio that me and my brother built while we were at school in 1957-8. Pretty sure it does not work, seems to have had a few parts removed.

[Graeme]

Beware of exploding electrolytic capacitors in old radios when powered, especially any in the power supply circuit of 240V equipment.

[Lionelgee]

Row! Row! Row!

I appreciate where you are coming from. When I started work in 1962, I spent a fair bit of my first paycheck on a dual waveband 10 transistor Nivico radio. Cost me £70 from memory. I replaced it in 1969 with a Zenith Transoceanic. Both of these I still have, and I think both still work.

A year or two ago I found the four transistor radio that me and my brother built while we were at school in 1957-8. Pretty sure it does not work, seems to have had a few parts removed.

Hello John,

1962 was a damn fine vintage, John. Especially during the last work day in the first week of December in that year.

I also seem to remember that there was a very suspenseful detective show on as a radio play that was broadcast in the 1960s. I cannot remember what it was. It might have had a magician as one of the central characters. Gee it has been a long time since I even thought of that show - or listening Woody Wood Pecker, come to think of it ...

Hang on wooo wooo some brain cells are sparking I am hearing the name 'Mandrake'? woo woo.

Or was that a serialised cartoon in the now long defunct local newspaper? The Goulburn Evening Ghost ... woopsie that was because it started to become so thin before it closed... Goulburn Evening Post was the correct title. From memory - in my youth the paper was published 6 days a week - excluding Sunday. Then it became a three day a week publication. Then it became a weekly publication ... then it just went.

I left school and eventually found my niche in horticulture working in parks and gardens departments of rural councils. When I had to retrain because of my eyes, I studied and later worked as a Journalist in local newspaper and radio. I studied a Bachelor of Communications Journalism and Cultural Studies. My Honours year was devoted to rural journalism. I had a big fight with some professors to change my proposed PhD major from rural journalism to disability studies. Being born in Temora, growing up in Goulburn and then choosing to follow my various careers in rural and regional areas; I know that when a town loses its local newspaper it is a very very sad thing. Especially, because so much of the town's identity is lost when the newspaper is lost. I will not comment about how access to local updates about natural disasters such as floods or bushfires are lost when the local radio station closes. From that point in time the only news channel available to that local area is broadcast from a capital city that may not be located within that same state or territory as that local town.

Kind regards
Lionel

[BradC]

Beware of exploding electrolytic capacitors in old radios when powered, especially any in the power supply circuit of 240V equipment.

I had an old valve tech give me this trick for bringing an old device back into service.

Remove all valves except the rectifier (if it has one). Put a ~40W bulb in series with the mains cord to form a non-ohmic current limiter. Switch on.
If the electros are duff the bulb will light brightly, then over a couple of hours as they "reform" it'll gradually dim until it's effectively out. There may be a detectable glow from the heater current of the rectifier valve (if it has one). At that point you can power down, wait for the HV capacitors to discharge (or discharge them gently) and put the valves back in.

That generally prevents them from exploding in a (usually) spectacular fashion.

[JDNSW]

Hello John,
........
Hang on wooo wooo some brain cells are sparking I am hearing the name 'Mandrake'? woo woo.

Or was that a serialised cartoon in the now long defunct local newspaper? .........


Kind regards
Lionel

I am pretty certain it was both - but that was a long time ago.....

[Lionelgee]

I am pretty certain it was both - but that was a long time ago.....

G'day John,

Thank you for your post. I went on a bit of a hunt online. I found this link Australian radio series (1930s–1970s) - National Film and Sound Archive accessed 18th of September 2023 from
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/11-2016/nfsa_radio_series_collection_amended.pdf

It amounts to 244 pages of goodness. No I could not find Mandrake in this Australian publication. However, I did find it here though accessed from Mandrake the Magician | Old Time Radio (https://www.otrcat.com/p/mandrake-the-magician). Plus here ... Mandrake The Magician 401111 001 First Episode, Old Time Radio - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SBq06ke38g)

Perhaps it was not Mandrake on the radio that I did hear back then. I will have a closer look at the contents of the 244 pages later on to see if I can narrow it down a bit. Perhaps it was a Raymond Chandler or similar detective? It was a fair while ago that I sat down and listened to it.

Some time later .....

There are 15 results for the word 'detective' within the Australian National Film and Sound Archive publication. With a brief check one of these results is no less than 'Philip Marlowe'.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Tombie]

G'day Tombie,

Thank you for your suggestion Tombie. This option is no doubt far superior than my radio was even in its heyday. However, a computer version of a radio is like an ebook version of a hardcopy book. One has the ability for you to hold it in your hands and physically turn the pages over. Feel its weight and if it is an older book, smell its bouquet. See its foxed edges. You know the whole multi-sensory experience of a real book. All this stuff translates to the difference between a version of a streaming computer service and a radio with analogue features. Hmmm, you might know the answer already to what style of watch I wear and what style of clocks hang on different walls in my house.

Yep - call me 'old fashioned'. I can live with it Tombie. It might also just explain my interest in Series Land Rovers. My interest in Land Rovers in general finishes at the D1 Discovery and the 110 Defender. Being the opinionated sod that I am - these were the real Land Rovers. Oh I do include the Perenties as being real Land Rovers too. Yes, the Td5 in the D2 was a Land Rover developed motor. After these models the vehicles became too highly dependent upon electronics. They also suffered from other car manufacturer's - who became new owners - influences. Remember the bit about my being an opinionated sod ... :0) Ummm ... think ... think ... I can live with that too... :0)

Kind regards
Lionel

All good Lionel [emoji41]

I run an analogue face on my Apple Watch,
I have analogue clocks on my walls and digital Amazon screens throughout the house.
I prefer paper workshop manuals to online ones where practicable.
I like high tech vehicles and enjoy simple machinery as well.
I do all my own mechanical, electrical and electronic repairs.

I don’t own vinyl, cds, dvds or video cassettes anymore,
I don’t have a tv antenna on my home,
I don’t play online games,
I stream everything, Audio and Visual
I use a laptop for shopping, work and CAD only,

And my Mountain bike has a computer and motor assist….

I prefer live music to all other options

I’m struck between both… [emoji41]

Take care, hope you can find a suitable replacement for your receiver.

[Arapiles]

Hello All,

Could some of you radio enthusiasts let me know what a modern equivalent of the following radio would be?

......

One of the things I used to really enjoy about Phillips D2603 was it having dials that needed to be manually turned. So when you learned radio enthusiasts start making recommendations could you please consider radios with the now old fashioned dials that need to be physically turned. Not the modern digital tuner type of stuff. You know the supposedly 'smart' and more 'convenient' automatic tuning features.

Kind regards
Lionel


There's any number of specifically retro-styled radios:

Explore Our Range | Roberts Radio (https://www.robertsradio.com/en-gb/shop)

Roberts Rambler Range | Retro Radios | Roberts Radio (https://www.robertsradio.com/en-gb/rambler)

CP-100 AM / FM / Bluetooth / AUX│SANGEAN Electronics (https://www.sangean.com/en/product/cp-100-dark-gray)


Radios with dials:

Shop All – Tivoli Audio AU (https://tivoliaudio.com.au/collections/all?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyurS9Ku2gQMVFg-tBh0ovQm3EAAYASAAEgJuJfD_BwE)

In my experience these electronic dials work better than one radio I had as a kid where the knob was connected to the actual tuner by an elastic band ...


Modern multi-wave radios:

ATS-909X2 FM/SW/MW/LW/Air Receiver│SANGEAN Electronics (https://www.sangean.com/en/product/ats-909x2-graphite)

https://www.aussiestormshop.com.au/products/pll-world-band-radio-am-fm-sw-lw-and-also-aircraft-channels

There's still a wide range of this kind of radio sold in Japan.

[4bee]

Hello All,

Could some of you radio enthusiasts let me know what a modern equivalent of the following radio would be?

When I turned 21 years of age I used some of my birthday money to buy the following radio... The one that is now considered to be a 'vintage' radio!!!!


Phillips D2603 (1982) | 4 Band Receiver | 2 Loudspeakers

I even found a youTube clip on the internet of the same radio that is part of an enthusiast's collection... accessed 18th of September 2023 from, PHILIPS D2603 (1982) | 4 Band Receiver | 2 Loudspeakers - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXxSzUuxJiI)

To make things a bit easier for you to base an informed decision off here are the radio's technical specifications.. available from the Radio 'Museum' of all places ... accessed 18th of September 2023 from, D2603 /00 /02 Radio Philips Hong Kong, build 1982 ?, 22 pictures | Radiomuseum (https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_d260300.html)

Unfortunately along the processes of getting married and having children it that meant the poor old radio got forgotten. When I did stumble across it I found that the batteries has leaked acid. Subsequently, the plastic base of the radio case was fused to a shelf in my old less than waterproof old shed. Prior to getting married that radio was my only link to the outside world when I lived in a caravan park at Queen Mary Falls in Queensland. I spent hours tuning into overseas broadcasts and I really enjoyed it.

My wife and I have been empty-nester's for some years now, and I finished my studies last year. This means that I have some of that stuff called 'spare time' on my hands. I would like to be able to tune in again to overseas broadcasts. My poor old Phillips D2603 radio stayed on the same shelf in the same less than waterproof shed that I broke it free from probably a couple of decades ago now. So, even without considering its lack of a base to its case, the whole radio's condition can only be described as 'very sad'. Not something another party I cohabit with might consider being suitable for being located inside the house.

One of the things I used to really enjoy about Phillips D2603 was it having dials that needed to be manually turned. So when you learned radio enthusiasts start making recommendations could you please consider radios with the now old fashioned dials that need to be physically turned. Not the modern digital tuner type of stuff. You know the supposedly 'smart' and more 'convenient' automatic tuning features.

Yes - I can be a demanding sort of sod - sometimes. By the way, at the time I discovered the state of the radio I played safe and did not hook the set up to 240 volts. Just out of interest, I am off to track down some D-Cell batteries to check to see if the old radio still works.

Kind regards
Lionel

Re the Station Selector, I recall that in my experience the Tuner was attached to the knob via an Elastic BAND "type" of belt & that in turn rotated the Tuner. You may have already checked this but worth looking at.
All those years on it would be a miracle if said belt if fitted it wouldn't be be in one piece or even capable of gripping it's "pullies"

Good luck with getting it mobile again Lionel, it doesn't deserve the misc junk skip yet.

Hope this helps.

[JDNSW]

Also relevant to this thread, I was at an auction on Sunday. One of the lots sold, which I did not bid on, included amongst a lot of other stuff, a cardboard box containing the remains of a home made crystal set, built on a wooden baseboard with a front panel cut from a plywood butterbox - as shown by the printing on it. It was similar to the one me and my brother built in the 1940s.

[Lionelgee]

Also relevant to this thread, I was at an auction on Sunday. One of the lots sold, which I did not bid on, included amongst a lot of other stuff, a cardboard box containing the remains of a home made crystal set, built on a wooden baseboard with a front panel cut from a plywood butterbox - as shown by the printing on it. It was similar to the one me and my brother built in the 1940s.

Hello John,

Very relevant John. I think it was a rite of passage for males to experiment with crystal radio sets in their youth. This included my first decade of life being the 1960s. I helped my older brother - okay looking back with the benefit of hindsight - I probably hinder my brother with his interest in crystal radios. My elder brother was born in the late 1950s. Years later at a time when I still had not found my vocational niche, I was working as a Trades Assistant and the local electronics electrical appliance repair shop. My shop manager was a radio nut. He mentioned that at the time - the mid-1980s, there were international competitions where different radio enthusiasts competed in building crystal radio sets. The winners produced sets that had the greatest range of reception and the best sound quality. All this had to be done within the guidelines of using components traditionally associated with building crystal radio set. No, I did not become one of these crystal radio enthusiasts.

Kind regards
Lionel

[TasD90]

Hi Lionel et. al.

When I think of my first crystal set I made 60+ years ago a diode with the number BC108 comes to mind. Am I correct?

Listening to the radio on Sunday nights in Hobart, the two detective shows I remember were "Spiral Ten" and "Hunt The Man Down", the latter having very scary theme music. Anyone else remember them?

Peter

[Lionelgee]

Hi Lionel et. al.

When I think of my first crystal set I made 60+ years ago a diode with the number BC108 comes to mind. Am I correct?

Listening to the radio on Sunday nights in Hobart, the two detective shows I remember were "Spiral Ten" and "Hunt The Man Down", the latter having very scary theme music. Anyone else remember them?

Peter

Hello Peter,

I cannot recall much of the components in the crystal radio set that I was hindering my elder bother with. I went online and found this link ... Accessed 20th September 2023 from, How to make a batteryless (crystal set) radio - BuildCircuit.COM (https://www.buildcircuit.com/how-to-make-a-batteryless-crystal-set-radio). It includes a parts list and circuit diagram. From memory the international crystal radio competitions required the competitor to build as much of the components by hand from things like a roll of copper wire. A core that they made themselves so they could wrap the wire around it. So not a case of buying a set of off the shelf components.

Kind regards
Lionel

[JDNSW]

From memory, one of the crystal sets we built, the only manufactured components were some copper wire and the headphones. Tuning was inductive, and the detector was a bit of fine wire contacting a small fragment of galena. It did not work well.

Best one used a manufactured coil former for the coil, a tuning variable capacitor, a bakelite panel, a proper reduction dial for tuning, and a proper holder for the galena. (later replaced at great expense by a germanium point contact diode)

Most parts were scrounged. Soldered joints improved when we saved up and bought a 4oz iron (heated on the stove) and some resin cored wire solder to replace Dad's 2lb iron and stick of solder used for guttering.

[V8Ian]

My experience with crystal radio was disappointingly unfulfilling.
Surreptitiously running the aerial through my bedroom window to connect with the garden tap, so I could listen to my own reciever after bedtime, the only civilized (term used loosely) sound was that of Caldwell and Holt, and their cronies, droning on and on and on. To a 9~10 year old boy, that becomes very dull, very quickly.
Fiddling with the tiny frequency dial, the only other sound I could pickup was that of a twin prop aircraft. I listened intently, for what seemed like hours, just waiting for the pilot to say something, anything!
In hindsight, why on earth would my perceived DC 3 be circling my modest weatherboard house in Redcliffe?
It wasn't until many years later, I found out I'd been riveted to static. [bigsad][bigrolf]

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I found this extract of a Wikipedia article about crystal radios really interesting in regards to people making the radios with what things they had on hand while they were in restrictive conditions. Okay - yes I am a researcher and Wikipedia does not have the greatest reputation for reliability or integrity... Anyway normal stuff ... accessed 20th September 2023 from Crystal radio - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio) ...

When Allied troops were halted near Anzio, Italy during the spring of 1944, powered personal radio receivers were strictly prohibited as the Germans had equipment that could detect the local oscillator signal of superheterodyne receivers. Crystal sets lack power driven local oscillators, hence they could not be detected. Some resourceful soldiers constructed "crystal" sets from discarded materials to listen to news and music. One type used a blue steel razor blade and a pencil lead for a detector. The lead point touching the semiconducting oxide coating (magnetite) on the blade formed a crude point-contact diode. By carefully adjusting the pencil lead on the surface of the blade, they could find spots capable of rectification. The sets were dubbed "foxhole radios" by the popular press, and they became part of the folklore of World War II.

It matches earlier comments about people making their own components for use in crystal radio sets.Kind regards
Lionel

[Tins]

Hooked my crystal set to the rotary dial of the old telephone. Highlight for me was listening to Lionel Rose against Fighting Harada in 1968. Yes, there were proper radios even then, but it was satisfying listening on the crystal set.