84 Year Old Radio Receiver Restoration! Stromberg-Carlson 145L

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I am 74 yrs old. My dad who was a radar technician in the war and went to work for his entire career at Gates Radio in Quincy, Illinois primarily making commercial radio stations for cities and governments around the world. So from my earliest childhood memories i watched my dad in his radio room at home building his transmitter (w9sft). Very shortly i was picking up what he was doing and new how to read schematics at 11 yrs old. In the late 50s i used to ride my bicycle through the neighborhood on monthly curbside trash pick up day and i would pick up old radios like you work on that people had placed on the curb for trash pick up. I would bring them home and identify the leaky capacitors and run the tubes down to the local drug store who had a tube tester set up in the corner. I would get my dad to get replacement tubes if needed but i would replace the leaky capacitors. I was 11 or 12 when i did this and loved doing it. I guess my dads work and hobby rubbed off on me. Most of the time the elegant wood cabinets were in perfect condition and were quite beautiful. I loved seeing my work bring the radios back to life. I dont know any 12 year old who ever did this kind of work. I spent hours listening to the various radio bands and hearing stations from around the world. When i watch you work on these old radios it brings back many good memories. That was before we had a TV so listening to the radio was prime time entertainment. Thanks for all your work and sharing your expertice.

Mr. Carlson must be the only person in the English speaking world who can be on-line for up to three hours and not say a single word about himself nor any other person. He's that focused. A kind of hyper-nerd without "issues" and very likeable. A rarity and amazing to watch.

Mr. Carlson’s Lab draws together such a great group of folks. Best comments, wonderful people 🤙

Imagine listening to Orson Wells narrating War of the Worlds with this radio receiver back in the day...no wonder people panicked! 😊

I have almost 60 years experience working on both tube and solid-state electronics, yet every time I watch one of Mr. Carlson's videos, I learn something new. This is another incredible video on the restoration of an equally incredible radio. Congratulations Mr. Carlson. You have done it again.

Thanks for the christmas gift! This radio bears the "Carlson" name well

Merry Christmas to you all, Mr Carlson is an internet diamond.

Amazing to think that when the radio was manufactured in 1936, if spectrum analyzers existed at all they would've been only in research labs. This radio was probably aligned with a signal generator and a multimeter at the factory. The skill of the technician that originally aligned it, is something to be admired.

That "radio" is in absolutely amazing condition. Virtually perfect. I use radio in quotes, because this is so much more than just a radio.

As the story goes... Mr. Carlson and his partner Mr. Stromberg were working on their best system yet, the 150 TRX Deluxe. This was to be the RX/TX variant of their previously popular 145L receiver for which they had become famous. As Mr. Carlson was in final testing stages one evening, after Stromberg had gone home, he decided to push the device to it's uppermost limits. Unknown to him an impending solar storm was en route, and it was to arrive at a most particular time. As Carlson keyed for transmit furious undulations of wave/particle duality excited the atmosphere and focused unimaginable amounts of global communications towards his device under test. As the key was released Mr. Carlson vanished. Not to a place, but to a time. Catapulted far forward to the new millennium with neither the 1930s or Stromberg in sight, he settled into a strange new life finding no way to return. As for what happened after that little is known, but some speculate he still teaches with the greatness of past philosophers the ways by which he is able to build such great apparatus. I have heard rumors that searches for him on YouTube may reveal his whereabouts.

AS a 81-year-old USCG-trained ET1 I thought I knew everything. Watching Mr. Carlson showed me that I missed a lot of trained/understanding of radio tech. I guess the 100Khz Loran C station I served in Matratin, Lybia in 1961 was simple to work with. Thank you for show me I can accept a better understanding.

The old analog displays with incandescent bulbs were so much more attractive compared to the modern digital displays, I really miss that in modern equipment.

“I’m a little bit picky about what I do” 😂😂 Understatement of the century! Another great video, Paul! Absolutely beautiful unit!

We just witnessed the Carlson 2020 Christmas wonder of the IF stage curtain.

There is nothing more satisfying to watch you repairing and callibrating antique equipment that looks so pristine as well. And certainly refreshing to hear a whole other flavour of AM than we're used to on crappy transistor radios.

We still have a small table top version of this at my mom's house, my father inherited it from his father who bought it back in the 1930s. The radio still works as well as the record player on top. It still has the deep, clear sound that I remembered from my days in high school. FM especially sounds great! The company used to make these receivers right here in Rochester, and my uncle worked for them until he was drafted during WW2, helping to finish the wood work on various models. During WW2 Stromberg made a lot of radios for the military, and a lot of their work was top secret. Everyone I know who worked for Stromberg enjoyed working for them; they were good to their employees and their pay was well above the average. Not too far away in Tonawanda was the Wurlitzer factory and they too had high standards for audio and wood working.

A two hour plus video!!!! Getting the coffee ready!!! -- KE4EST

I own the same radio. 30 years ago I was told it was broken. Today I keep it in my home theater room (unplugged) as eye candy. I appreciate Mr Carlson for explaining what is does and how to use it.

Listening to ANYTHING on that radio would be a pleasure. Just turn it on in the morning and it would be relaxing all day. And the cabinet is in mint condition.