A huge problem with old transistor radios (along with stuff like 80s boomboxes and old 70s calculators) is that once the original owner is no longer interested, they simply stash it in the nearest closet...without taking the batteries out first. Alkaline batteries tend to rot if left sitting too long, and the rot then extends to the battery holder of whatever device they're in. The general response to opening up a radio after 10 years of abandonment and being confronted with a mass of yellow crystalline gunk where the batteries once were is to throw the whole mess in the trash...usually.
I found this at an estate sale. It is simply labeled "Blaupunkt Derby", no model number. Blaupunkt didn't sell too many radios in the US-this is pretty much the only one I've seen. Nordmende had an agreement with Radio Shack in the 60s, so that's usually what you see. Of course, there were always radios brought home by GI's, but this is clearly an export model.
This is what the battery compartment originally looked like. Of course, anytime you have a removable door, you're asking for trouble, especially when that door is an integral part of the power system.
And of course this is what happens after the radio has sat for 25 years with batteries installed. Top and springs are both unsalvageable. The red wire was part of the "solution" to the problem...
...which, of course, was to break out a soldering iron and hook 6 D cells together with jumper wires. I have to admit that I haven't seen this one before, and I've been puttering around old radios for 30 odd years. That red wire was to hook this mess to the radio. There was another one that hooked to the other polarity, but that came out.
A closer look. Simply solder them all together, shove them in, and pray. These Duracells had 1992 expiration dates, so they too rotted. I threw the batteries away after taking these pix. I have no idea if this worked. Of course, I will do what most normal people with a little more electronics knowledge would do and simply wire in a 9v battery clip. Duh!
I found this at an estate sale. It is simply labeled "Blaupunkt Derby", no model number. Blaupunkt didn't sell too many radios in the US-this is pretty much the only one I've seen. Nordmende had an agreement with Radio Shack in the 60s, so that's usually what you see. Of course, there were always radios brought home by GI's, but this is clearly an export model.
This is what the battery compartment originally looked like. Of course, anytime you have a removable door, you're asking for trouble, especially when that door is an integral part of the power system.
And of course this is what happens after the radio has sat for 25 years with batteries installed. Top and springs are both unsalvageable. The red wire was part of the "solution" to the problem...
...which, of course, was to break out a soldering iron and hook 6 D cells together with jumper wires. I have to admit that I haven't seen this one before, and I've been puttering around old radios for 30 odd years. That red wire was to hook this mess to the radio. There was another one that hooked to the other polarity, but that came out.
A closer look. Simply solder them all together, shove them in, and pray. These Duracells had 1992 expiration dates, so they too rotted. I threw the batteries away after taking these pix. I have no idea if this worked. Of course, I will do what most normal people with a little more electronics knowledge would do and simply wire in a 9v battery clip. Duh!
