Those were the days when one didn’t need a subscription to listen to music.
Even though it was lo-fi, static ridden AM

 

Well, not my car, but my parents’ car. I was fascinated by the “programmable” pushbuttons.

 

I happen to be in my car and had to look at my dash to remind myself that my radio is NOT like the picture anymore. I know I've owned at least three cars with those.

 

Years ago my brother and I found a 1951 Chrysler that had a tube radio in it. One of those things you don't want to operate while the engine is [not] running. It'll drain that old 6 volt battery pretty quick. I guess it was OK though, because those cars were usually pretty easy to push start.

 

My first car had a radio like that, but I usually listened to the 8-track tape player.

 

My very first vehicle that I actually purchased, a battered and well worn 1968 VW Beetle, came with one of those: AM only.
The very first upgrade I made to the vehicle weren’t the tires, nor the brake pads, nor carburetor replacements to prevent flooding, nor the battery, which made me push-start it occasionally, but an 8-track Muntz tape player!

I mean, priorities were priorities!!

 

Years ago my brother and I found a 1951 Chrysler that had a tube radio in it.

The dad of an acquaintance of mine had been stationed in Germany and also brought back a 1956? Beetle over there. You know, with the tiny rear window, underpowered engine and a side flag as a turn signal. It also had a 6 volt system and a tube radio.
I remember when turning it on, one could listen to the buzzing of the mechanical vibrator first, used to step up the voltage.

 

Those were the days when one didn’t need a subscription to listen to music.
Even though it was lo-fi, static ridden AM

My new EV can still receive both AM & FM, which is interesting because I've heard that carmakers want to eliminate AM since it's supposedly hard to shield it from the high-power motor electronics interference, but apparently it can be done.
But I listen to neither since I can't stand the long and frequent commercials they both have.
So I pays the money for Pandora to listen to the music I like and avoid the commercials.
I have tried SiriusXM but it doesn't have the music selection I want (oldy moldy's).

 

The dad of an acquaintance of mine had been stationed in Germany and also brought back a 1956? Beetle over there. You know, with the tiny rear window, underpowered engine and a side flag as a turn signal. It also had a 6 volt system and a tube radio.
I remember when turning it on, one could listen to the buzzing of the mechanical vibrator first, used to step up the voltage.

You mean . . that there was a version of the beetle that didn't have an underpowered engine?

 

Let me rephrase it:
Waaaaay underpowered. Weed-eater level of power.

The speedometer’s maximum reading was 95 km/hr. Yes, kilometers. Which it could only achieve if going downhill on a 20% grade.

 

I have had two cars with AM tube radios, a 51 Chevy, and a 56 Chevy.
I replaced the mechanical vibrator in the 56 with a two-transistor power inverter circuit (two power transistors, a small audio transformer, a few resistors, I think from Popular Electronics), mostly to avoid the vibrator buzz.
I mounted the electronics on a small piece of thin copper plate for heatsinking, and put it in a gutted vibrator housing to plug into the radio.
Plugged it in and crossed my fingers when I turned on the radio. Had to wait a few agonizing (maybe 10) seconds for the filaments to warm up but miraculously it worked.

 

I had one of the few radios that did not use a valve HV rectifier tube.
For those that have not seen one, The vibrator switched the transformer primary & secondary in unison to create DC. !

 

Those were the days when one didn’t need a subscription to listen to music.
Even though it was lo-fi, static ridden AM

I was the neighborhood car radio installer for the local high schoolers.

 

Those were the days when one didn’t need a subscription to listen to music.
Even though it was lo-fi, static ridden AM

Never owned a car that had one of those that said, "POINTIAC" on it. But as far as an AM-only radio....

I'm trying to decide if I (or my family) have owned more cars that had that than something more modern. It's a tight race.

The family cars that I can remember:
'65 Ford Falcon
'69 Ford Galaxie 500
'71 Ford Country Squire (which I later bought and drove for years)
'76 Plymouth Valiant
'75 Ford Bronco (which was later given to me and I drove for decades)
'79 Ford Bronco
'75 Dodge Dart Hang Ten (which I later bought, but really never drove)
'65 Ford F150 (Company truck assigned to my dad)
'79 Ford F250 (Company truck assigned to my dad after prior truck got hit by a train)

Cars that I owned
'71 Ford Country Squire (the one from above)
'67 Ford F-110
'75 Ford Bronco (the one from above)
'75 Dodge Dart Hang Ten (the one from above)
'75 Ford Galaxie 500

Since then, I've owned 11 or 12 vehicles that had a more modern radio. So it's a very close race and may be a tie.

 

Well, not my car, but my parents’ car. I was fascinated by the “programmable” pushbuttons.

Yes, it was rather amazing how you could pull out the pushbutton and push it back in to mechanically program the button to the station playing.

 

The vibrator switched the transformer primary & secondary in unison to create DC. !

So basically a mechanical (switch-mode) rectifier on the transformer output.

 

Yes, it was rather amazing how you could pull out the pushbutton and push it back in to mechanically program the button to the station playing.

Those were definitely a clever design -- and amazingly simple in implementation.

It wasn't uncommon for car dealerships to go into a prospective customer's car when they arrived and, while inspecting it to decide what it's trade-in value was going to be, write down the stations that were programmed into the radio and then have someone program the radio in the car they wanted to test drive to the same stations. The idea was to create an emotional connection to the car by making it familiar. I've often wondered how much affect that actually had, as I don't think I ever bothered turning on the radio when I test drove a car -- it's very low on my priority list. But I do have vague recollections of the salesman turning on the radio to "demonstrate" it and punching a couple of the buttons. I never paid attention to the station that it went to, instead focusing on the sound quality (to the degree that AM has a sound quality). But I can imagine some people subconsciously being lured in by the tactic. At the end of the day, it's a no-cost, low-return tactic, so why not try it.

 

Need I say more.

 

So basically a mechanical (switch-mode) rectifier on the transformer output.

Sometimes reffered to as a double vibrator Or Synchronous type.

 

Need I say more.
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