Being a big fan of days gone by when life was just better, I decided I would get myself one of those old-timey tube radios. I found an old Philco on eBay for a great price.
I was thinking of restoring it but after opening it up and looking at the old style rats-nest electronics, I decided maybe I would try something different and a little easier. These old radios also use a lot of power and I'm into conservation anyway.
I started by buying a pair of USB speakers. They are cheap and easy to take apart.
Just Google "USB Speakers" and you'll find what you need.
I took the speakers apart and found a small circuit board and two little speakers.
After cutting holes for the volume control buttons I mounted it to the back cover.
I made another hole for the second speaker so I would get some stereo sound.
Here is the back of the cover.
You can see the volume buttons and speaker.
I wanted to use the original speaker from the radio but speakers were very different back in those days. There were at least four wires running to it so I decided it had to go.
I found a similar sized speaker and mounted it to the front behind the grill.
I wanted the dial to light up so I removed the blue power led from the circuit board and soldered a pair of wires to that point. I ran the wires to the location of the old bulb and connected a yellow LED. A little hot glue holds it in place.
That's pretty much all there is to it. I reassembled the radio and connected it to my computer. I opened my browser and went to live365.com to listen to an old-timey radio station. It was SOO cool! The soft glow of the dial and the big band music made me feel like I was back in the 1920s.
This project was totally worth it. I use it all the time.
