My newest radio treasure was found by the curb awaiting the trash pickup. It is a 1959 Blaupunkt Granada. It is a huge table radio, featuring AM, FM, SW, and LW. I carried it down the street to my house and plugged it in. It made loud humming noises, so I replaced about four capacitors and now it plays nicely. The FM has a big, beautiful sound. The shortwave works, though there isn't much to listen to lately on SW. I haven't gotten the AM working yet. I think the selector buttons need cleaning. I haven't decided if I will redo the case. It has some water damage to the top of the wooden cabinet, but it looks nice from the front. There is a nice one of these listed on ebay for $200 plus $50 shipping. Mine will never command that amount, but it is a nice old tube radio.
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An update: I cleaned the band selectors and got the AM to work!
Posted by: Scooby214 | July 13, 2009 at 10:59 AM
This is a great lesson---that radio didn't belong in the trash.
Posted by: Angelo | July 13, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Great find, Brian. I own a Blaupunkt Granada 61, a similar model.
They take well to any kind of random wire antenna and unlike newer solid state receivers, aren't fussy about how you hook them up. Just a banana plug and some bell wire and you're set. Get it outdoors if possible. Even FM will sound pretty good that way.
One feature of these sets that would be nice to see on a modern table radio is that the internal MW antenna can be spun completely around using the outer left knob. The internal ferrite is less powerful than one would expect given the cabinet size, but no other set responded as well to the select-a-tenna I used to have. The old tube set really boomed with it, perhaps because there is no AGC circuit in it.
Enjoy the new set.
Posted by: Mike W | July 13, 2009 at 04:42 PM
Tis trite but true: One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Posted by: Ed | July 13, 2009 at 05:38 PM
Mine does fine on FM with the internal dipole. I get in my favorite distant FM station well (a hard one to get in on most radios due to distance and having local stations on second adjacent channels both above and below).
My version of the Granada doesn't have a ferrite AM antenna. It has a switch on the back to either use the FM dipole for bands or to use the external antenna connection for AM and SW. I haven't attached the radio to my outdoor AM wire antenna (about 75' long) and ground, but it does well with a length of wire run in my living room. On mine, both knobs on the left side are for volume. They are attached as one knob.
I like the updated cabinet on the '61 as well, but I'm happy to have mine.
Posted by: Scooby214 | July 13, 2009 at 06:10 PM
I never knew the other Granadas had a different antenna configuration, so I guess I was kind of bluffing on that one. Or something else that begins with a 'B'.
Without a ferrite antenna, it fairly cries out to be hooked up to that 75' outdoor wire. And I agree, not much worthwhile is on SW anymore, and some of what little that's left is below the Blaupunkt's tuning range. Still, every once in a while I tune around and find something interesting. Bandscanning on modern receivers lacks the charm of old tube sets like these.
Posted by: Mike W | July 13, 2009 at 06:22 PM
I still find interesting things on Shortwave---the foreign broadcasts and some of the political/conspiracy talk is good fun, along with sideband.
Posted by: Angelo | July 13, 2009 at 07:36 PM
I mainly use the outdoor antenna and ground with my nicer crystal sets. When I get some free time in a couple of days I'll try out the Granada with them and see what happens.
When using the FM dipole for AM, the set gets in locals only. I expect good things with the outdoor wire.
Posted by: Scooby214 | July 13, 2009 at 07:38 PM
I connected the Granada to my outdoor 75' wire antenna and ground, and AM/SW reception really shined. I didn't run into the overloading that I had expected. The Granada is fun to tune with its counterweighted tuning knobs. It's quick to spin the dial from the top of the band down to the bottom.
Posted by: Scooby214 | July 15, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Didn't overload - that's part of what I meant about the old tube sets not being fussy. The filter is not very tight as it was a consumer-grade radio rather then a communications receiver, but when you can get an AM/SW station without co-channel interference, it sounds great.
I have an outside random wire myself now, but because I use a magnetic balun with a coax lead-in, it would be useless to try it on my Blaupunkt.
From what you posted, I take it that FM is better on the internal dipole than the wire antenna.
Posted by: Mike W | July 15, 2009 at 07:00 PM
I meant "adjacent [sp.?] channel interference" there, but I am splitting hairs. I just meant anytime you can get an AM/SW clearly.
Posted by: Mike W | July 15, 2009 at 07:03 PM
Yes, the FM is better with the internal dipole. I haven't tried it with my FM attic yagi antenna, because I don't have a matching transformer for it. The FM is strong enough with the internal dipole that it doesn't need yagi.
I may make myself a small loop for the set's AM. My planned location for the set is far away from my outdoor antenna lead-in.
Posted by: Scooby214 | July 15, 2009 at 08:02 PM
My experience was that small loops yielded little or no signal strength on AM when connected directly.
When coupled inductively they worked extremely well, as I wrote above, but it sounds like your model excludes that option as it has no ferrite antenna.
Perhaps you could try a loop versus a discreetly hidden indoor wire and just keep what works.
Posted by: Mike W | July 15, 2009 at 08:37 PM
I have a couple of possibilities... I have a tuned antenna tank circuit for one of my better crystal sets that has a good ferrite coil. It is on a separate base from the rest of the set, and can be connected to the AM terminals of the Blaupunkt. It may serve as a basic antenna on its own, plus it would allow me to inductively couple a nicer loop or a CC Twin Ferrite. My other option is to build a loop that is designed for a tube radio, such as the ones that Dave Schmarder has designed and built. See them here: http://www.schmarder.com/radios/loops/index.htm Dave knows his stuff. I learned some of my best crystal radio DX tricks from him. These loops are designed to replace the built-in loops on vintage radios. I have a couple of radios with loop antennas that do surprisingly well with DX. The trick is to get the right inductance so the loop will resonate with the desired band. One of Dave's loops could be modified to work with both AM and SW on the Blaupunkt, and would look neat when displayed with the radio (if made with from hardwood).
Posted by: Scooby214 | July 16, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Hello: I just acquired a Blaupunkt Granada Model 2220 and I notice also that there isn't a ferrite antenna in it for MW. Can you tell me where the "switch" is for using the external antenna for MW reception? FM and SW receive well but I get not MW reception even on a strong local station. Thanks for your help.
Posted by: john jarratt | April 18, 2012 at 12:40 PM