My Sound System.

[ew1usnr]

I have a 1963 Futura. The original 1963 transistor radio that was in the car wasn't working so I bought a working 1962 Falcon vacuum tube radio off e-bay for $62. I really like the vacuum tubes. They take a minute to warm up and then kick in with a snap. The original speaker was mostly disintegrated, so I bought a 5” x 7” replacement radio speaker ($24.95) from Classic Auto Parts. The speaker fit perfectly and sounds great. The radio can be turned up LOUD without distortion. There is not much to listen to anymore on AM, however, so I bought a period Radio-Shack brand "Realistic" FM converter off e-bay for $25. I added one of these to the Falcon I had in high school when disco took over the AM band. My "new" FM converter worked, but FM has too many commercials, the pop music is horrible, and the "oldies" stations were playing disco and Phil Collins (also horrible). So, I bought an MP3 player off e-bay $2.60 (direct from China postage included). The MP3 player plugs into the cigarette lighter and broadcasts an FM signal, that gets picked up by the FM converter and amplified by the vacuum tube AM radio and played through the new dashboard speaker. The little thumb drive is 8 GB (I think). I loaded it with 10 CD's and it only took 14% of the capacity. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the car radio is plenty loud even while driving with the windows down. Now I can drive around while listening to BB King, Chuck Berry, the Grateful Dead, and Joni Mitchell blasting out of my single dashboard speaker (how the car was originally configured). The MP3 player just plugs in, and the FM converter is mounted with Velcro. I can easily remove them anytime and revert the car back to all original. See the following picture (click on it to make it larger):

Sound System.jpg

The little gauge behind the MP3 player is an inside thermometer that I bought off Amazon.com for $9 (I think). I had a magnetic dashboard thermometer on the Falcon I had in high school and wanted one for my "new" Falcon. I snipped off a strip from an old aluminum license plate and bent it to make a mount for the thermometer. I colored the strip black with a sharpie and mounted it to the bottom of the dash with a magnet and then attached the thermometer with its self-adhesive backing. Since it is mounted with a magnet it can also be easily removed.

[61ranch]

Thats what I call thinking outside the box. Well done. I am in the process of converting some old drive in speakers to house the speakers for my sound system and using an old suitcase for the amp and sub enclosure so you dont see them (I have a 2dr wagon so you see everything in the back). Nice job.

[BillP 98201]

I just left the old radio in the dash, and mounted an Alpine head unit under the dash. I also use flash drives in my glove box. This gives the freedom to expand my sound system. Great thinking out of the box

[ew1usnr]

I have been happy with my "MP3 broadcaster to FM converter to 1962 vacuum tube AM radio" sound system. I was driving around listening to Leslie Gore belting it out from my dashboard speaker this morning.

Sound System.jpg

But ... there has been an annoying degree of static mixed in with the music. I have resistor spark plugs, noise-suppressor spark plug wires, and a capacitor on my generator and wondered what else I could do. I just ordered this in-line power supply filter from e-bay for $5.77, shipping included. The price seemed good. You run the power through it and there is a black wire that hooks to ground. I will run the power supplies for both the AM radio and FM converter through this gizmo and see if it reduces the noise.

Power supplu noise supressor .77.jpg

[Luva65wagon]

If you go all the way back to AM (no MP3 player), do you still get similar "static" coming through on stronger stations? These old tube radios, like any of the AC versions I've restored, have paper and filter capacitors inside and these, like the electrolytic's it may have, dry up over time. When this happens capacitors can make a lot of noise in the output. You mention buying a "working" radio, but not whether it was serviced.

Old capacitors can fail in not so good a way (like little fire crackers), so if this isn't known for sure whether they are original or not, you may want to consider this if the power supply filter (ahem.. another filter capacitor) doesn't resolve your issue. Most places will service these in about 3-5 weeks for about $125.

[ew1usnr]

Hello, Roger.

I have not had the radio serviced, but I don't hear the static when it is running off just the battery. I hear the static when the engine is running and it gets louder when the engine runs faster. The antenna mast should be shielded from the engine by the hood and fenders, so my guess is that the static is coming through from the power supply.

Another twist is that the broadcast signal from the MP3 player is not very strong, so I have to turn the radio up and that makes the static louder. So ... I am going to try adding an amplified antenna inside the car and right next to the MP3 player. I'll mount the antenna under the dash right next to the MP3 player. That should minimize interference from other radio stations or external static and it will feed an amplified signal to the FM converter so I should not have to turn the AM radio up as loud to hear the music. The antenna amplifier has a red wire that goes to a 12V power supply.

amplified antenna.JPG

I ordered this amplified (see above) “New Universal Car Windshield Glass Electronic Radio Non-Directional Antenna 12V” from e-bay for $2.87, including shipping from Hong Kong. The price seemed right. “Can amplify FM signals. Strengthen the weak signal receiving sensitivity.” Specifications: Input voltage: 12V, FM gain: 20±3dB, AM gain: 18dB, Absorption: -8mA, Power supply: 60-100 MA, Working frequency: 48-860 Hz, Noise factor: ≤ 7 dB, Output impedance: 75 Ω, Output standing wave: ≤3.

[Luva65wagon]

Well Dennis - none of that can hurt. I was just wondering whether the noise was there with the engine running and only AM station tuned. Filter capacitors are just that - filters to remove minuscule changes in voltage up to radical changes. Smoothing everything out. Noisy tube radios are usually a result of these no longer doing their job. With the engine off, the battery voltage it pretty stable and there would not be anything happening to induce noise.

Let us know what happens with the new bits.

[ew1usnr]

I added the filter in-line with the power to the AM radio and the FM converter this morning, and .... Wow! The static is gone. The music plays crystal clear. It sounds like a CD, it is that clear. The filter very much exceeded my expectations.

Power supplu noise supressor .77.jpg

I don't think that I will bother with the amplified antenna now. This is perfectly fine the way it is.

[Luva65wagon]

What is the purpose for your speakers?

So he can turn the radio up LOUD without distortion. Do you have a different purpose for your speakers?

[Millennial Falcon]

I love every part of this, its like watching myself go entirely too far with keeping it real. (Compliment)
Being a bit too concerned with my abilities to restore a radio that old, mine remains off. My wife turned it on when i was driving and visions of a flaming falcon caused me to frantically swat at the controls mumbling things that probably aren’t true.

For now, I think ill go with a Bose SoundLink Mini 2, print out some feet for it and plop it right down on the dash when i need some tunes. My biggest problem is not having HD radio.

Keep it up Dennis, this was great info, thank you!