DON'S Blog

Don's work:  printing and sign making; repairing radios and jukeboxes for others; database implementation in upper middle vertical markets using the new Cnawlece Data Base Management System (fastest in the world, rock solid stable in multi-user environment, encrypted, internet accessible, easy to use, simple to upgrade/expand)

Avocations: he was living a fabulous life with his wife Heidi, restoring his collection of old tube radios and a 1933 Everett Orgatron, minding this museum. Restoring old radios for friends.

28feb07===busy on all fronts: collecting and working on radios, maintaining this site, home reno's, work. Still assisting his Mom with her physio and speech therapy. Doing a lot of relational database design.

22aug06===just back from a moose hunting trip to the bush SW of Chetwynd, British Columbia. Eight of us set up a hunting camp. Seismic survey crews were busy making lots of noise in the bush in our hunting area for the week prior to our arrival. The result..... the bull moose were hiding in the forest and not out in the clearings where we could see.... and shoot one or two of them.  Lots of helicopters buzzing around kept the moose in fear and hiding. Took my digital instead of a rifle. Shot lots of game with it. Don 24: Hunters 0.   I had a great time hiking in the bush as a photo-journalist for the hunters.

27jun06===been a while since last blog. Added more sets. 4apr06 my mom went to hospital with stroke. Discharged 23jun06. I spend time every day helping her with therapy to regain ability to speak and write. My work with her was under the guidance of a pro speech therapist.  So.... didn't get much done on this site. Mom doing much better. Dad has taken over much of my therapy work now that she is home. Heidi and I are currently having this getaway on Mayne Island at our friend's B&B (see http://www.sageonmayne.com ) I get a chance to sit and update this site. See Jan's RCA Victor A-21 in Small Wooden Radios.

21jan06===the last few weeks I have been able to add quite a few sets to the photo gallery pages. Starting this site several months ago has caused me to spend a lot of hobby time capturing pictures and info on the sets for posting here. So these extra steps are now worked into my usual routine when taking possession of a neat old set. The routine is... vacuum case and chassis top; take a digital colour pic of the set and print it in the top third of a letter-size paper (this becomes the TOP SHEET in the paper file on the set); under the picture draw the chassis tube layout; pull clean the tubes; place a piece of masking tape on the side of the tubes; test tubes, record individual test scores on each tube and in a test score list under the chassis tube layout diagram on the TOP SHEET; archive the set in storage for resto at some point later; edit the picture to be suitable for posting in this site; post the picture in this site adding tube lineup and minor comment.  Have a beer. You can see this receiving process makes a lot of time unavailable for cabinet or chassis resto tasks but I don't mind, for the next little while. Its a phase I am going through sure in the knowledge I have several years of hobby work lined up.....

8jan06===finally hitting the old radios with a vengeance. Busy processing a dozen sets acquired through last Fall. Taking pictures of them for posting here and also for printing the picture at top of a worksheet page that goes into my museum binder (or catalogue). During processing each of these worksheets also gets a sketch of the chassis tube layout and the tube test scores added. This info can be valuable later during the electronic repair and troubleshooting phase.

1jan06===Cylinder head replacement on my car is taking a bit longer than I thought.  After that I hope to do some major site upgrades here.... fix the Chat Room, etc.

7dec05===Mayne Island work is done. Very, very tiring. CSO concert went well on 26nov. Sold out at 1346 in audience. I sang in bass section with our 78 voice chorus. We wowed them with music from Nutcracker and Messiah. Just have to finish the bookkeeping entries for another business year and fill out the corporate T2 and mail it to get the federalees off my back for a while... WHEW!  This task should take until this weekend then I can blow the dust out of my workshop and commence to fixin' radios and getting some more pictures into this site. Just acquired a fabulous RCA Victor model BP-6 lunch box radio! Have another small renovation lined up for completion around New Year.  Y'all come back now! Hear?!  (Jed C. said that.)

24nov05===been working at finish carpentry in a new home on Mayne Island (a 90 mile drive and a ferry ride from Chilliwack). Am in the ferry cafeteria, on the way home as I write. This is the end of my third trip to Mayne Island with the possibility of a forth. The work helps a friend and provides wages. Found nine nice old small radios in the past two months but been too busy to open them up and do basic inspection. Involved in a lot of volunteer work for CSO and also the yet to be built Chilliwack Performing Arts Center.

28sep05===added pictures of leaky caps to Museum's "Tell Me What This Is" section, for the jukebox list gang.

20sep05===had a lovely post 80th birthday visit with Mom.

14sep05===the usual organizing for the Fall activities now that yard work is mostly done for this year. Rehearsals started for the CSO Christmas concert.

2sep05===astounded by lack of rapid relief in New Orleans after Katrina. Guess it just takes time to get that big a rescue effort in full swing... diversions and getting chores caught up mean nothing to add to site for progress on radios. Been working on Ralph Clarke's old Wurlitzer 1550-A jukebox.... think I shall have it running after two more hours of troubleshooting and repairs... at least I hope so. It is a neat mechanical contraption. Ralph will be pleased.

29aug05===for most of the past month I've been busy painting the exterior of a house in the warmth of our August heat wave. Finished now and am catching up on myriad tasks.... again. No radio work done yet but two new repair jobs came in.

20july0===now I can get on with myriad other tasks. No sign of being able to hunker down with an old radio any time soon.

20july05===finally fixed the difficulties with the well pipe depth. I did not understand there are different kinds of couplers for pipe. For a steel well pipe that you are going to drive into the ground using a hammer or pounder, you must use special "hammering" couplings. The first time I didn't know of this and used a regular coupling. The concussions of the hammer blows destroyed the Teflon tape and pipe sealant's ability to keep air leaks from happening. The joint allowed air to leak into the well pipe once the pump began sucking on the pipe to draw the water up. With such a small air leak one can draw water, albeit at a lesser volume. The bigger problem is that when the pump shuts off and stays off for several hours, the small air leak allows the suction in the well pipe to draw air bubbles in. These bubbles rise to the check valve and begin accumulating as an air pocket from the check valve right back down to the top of the water table. This should not happen and it is called losing the prime... getting the water up from the water table's level to the pump is called priming the well system. When the prime is lost you have to wait when you demand water the next time, for the pump to build enough vacuum in the well pipe to allow the outside air pressure to push the water back up the pipe to the pump. This is always an unacceptably long delay and their can be a risk of damage to the pump unless one is there to supervise and add water to the pump at several times during a length priming process.

15jul05===added Ashland pictures after hours of editing, sorting and commenting them. The whole trip to Ashland was a superb experience! Exalting!

13jul05===installation of pump and pressure tank for the well resulted in air being drawn with the water. Have to drive the well's sand point deeper to get below the water drawn down that happens during pumping. This phase of lawn project not going well.

4jul05===laid last of pipe and sprinklers in back yard... slow going. Edited some pics for this site but too tired to add them now.

29jun05===returned from Shakespeare Festival in Ashland Oregon on Monday night, 27jun05. Set up the new Ashland photo gallery page on this site and started to add text and pictures.

17jun05=== my Dad's 79th birthday today. Happy Birthday Dad!! We sure had a great birthday dinner and floor show! Today I added a new photo gallery page entitled DISTRACTIONS where I will show pictures of current projects that have nothing to do with fixing my old radios.... speaking of which I picked up several radios in the past three weeks... no time to deal with them.

13jun05===visited Lucy and Simon Hoogendoorn in Abbotsford today and bought Simon's old tubes and miscellaneous stuff. One cache of tubes was in a funky old wire and cable box. Simon had the tubes wrapped in newspaper pages from The Free Press Weekly Prairie Farmer April 13, 1960 and also some pages from the Abbotsford, Sumas and Matsqui News Wednesday February 26, 1969. Honestly this is the kind of treasure cache that gets my mojo going... there were 45's, 24's, 27's, 35's, 71's, and one really odd (but tested as no filament present) tube which you can see in the "box" linked picture above. It has a strange twin tower. Later I will display a better close-up of this tube. Simon also gave me a 'scope and a DeVRY model 1S13 volt/ohm/dB meter on consignment. These items will eventually appear on a special consignment page.

8jun05===still working on new turf front lawn. Sprinklers in. 150 sq. yds. of turf arrives tomorrow. Well pump and pressure tank to install after turf is down.

30may05=== haven't been on the 'pooter for days. Been volunteering in provincial election... also installing new turf front lawn c/w sprinkler system. Ol' Paint back from the vet again today.... 650 bucks for replacement oil pan, redo valve cover gasket, power flush the steering fluid, shampoo engine. Now she don't leak no more oil on the Queen's Highway!

21may05=== picked up 3 radios (Northern Electric 5200, Viking EMB61-419 and DeForest D556-1) from John and Marion Schweigert at Grandma and Grumpa's Antiques... added the pix to battery radios and plastic bakelite radios.

12may05===  Installed Wurlitzer 1550 amp. Picked up two old tube radios at 2nd hand store.

11may05===  Finished recapping amp for 1938 Rock-Ola "Monarch-20". Works fine now! FINALLY added pictures showing the "before" and several steps in restoration of Western Air Patrol (WAP) cathedral radio cabinet to "Current Restorations" page. Yet to do is the WAP's chassis. Got a 1982 Rowe AMI Model R1-5 jukebox to fix today.

10may05=== Picked up Ol' Paint (my car) from the vet. Runs great. Salvaging a bunch of 2 by 10's at a local truss making plant.

9may05=== Spent weekend volunteering at Chilliwack Dixieland Jazz Festival. Slung beer and sold bar tickets. Fabulous time! Finished recapping an amp for a Wurlitzer 1550 jukebox. Tested OK. Started recapping the amp for a 1938 Rockola Monarch-20 jukebox. Quoted and got several print jobs from a new customer.

8may05=== Thanks to the editor of OKVRC (Oklahoma Vintage Radio Club) newsletter for mentioning my site in this month's newsletter. As a new member I have already enjoyed correspondence with several in the club.

8may05=== Charlie Maier in Philadelphia, is looking for the new pictures of a King-Hinners model 25 Neutrodyne radio posted in the museum under Current Restorations. Thanks for your help finding parts Charlie.

8may05=== Started this page. I drive an '85 Grand Am with two hockey sticks mounted on the roof as a roof rack. Only car in the world like it and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Past month spent battling two car ailments; water in fuel and a failing Ignition Control Module (IGM) located under the rotor in the distributor. Both cause engine to die. The water caused random engine stops. The IGM failed gradually. At first it caused random engine shut-downs. In its last stages it would work until the engine reached full operating temperature, then it would shut the engine down.  This unhappy combination of problems was difficult to diagnose because the water problem's symptoms masked the symptoms presented by the failing IGM and there was no sense paying the garage bill for an electronic diagnosis until I was certain I had all the water removed from the fuel system. I pumped out the fuel tank three or four times, to no avail.  SOLUTION: remove gas tank, remove its pump and sender unit, drain all liquid (including the last 2 cups of water trapped in its baffle system), reassemble, then blow out fuel line to engine, replace fuel filter. Pay for electronic diagnosis, replace IGM, rotor, distributor cap.  Quite aside from this, several days ago I replaced two of the three engine mounts. ==== Why the hockey stick roof rack? A few years ago, while driving down the road, a gust of wind pulled a $100.00 sheet of plywood and the roof rack off a station wagon I was driving. That roof rack was held to the roof by four factory issue expanding rubber plugs. Terrible, unsafe design that!   When the head liner in my Grand Am started falling down around my ears Don took it out for re-upholstry. Whilst it was out he drilled holes in the roof beams for four stainless steel hex bolts. A welder welded the bolt heads to the inside roof beams. He went to the local hockey rink and scored several hockey sticks with broken blades but good shafts. He fabricated four special, stainless adaptor brackets to get from the bolts to the hockey sticks (which are the strongest laminated wood in the world, right?)...... you wouldn't believe the loads his "cruck" has hauled as his sign making and home reno projects demand. But enough of this.... back to radios... above

Edited June 30, 2008 By: Gord Routley - Don's HostMaster, Guru & Friend!