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 Newbie Question about an Astor Mickey Mouse Radio
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 Return to top of page · Post #: 1 · Written at 10:14:27 PM on 29 September 2012.
Andestew's Gravatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 29 September 2012
 Member #: 1225
 Postcount: 7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357182@N06/8035329726/.

Hi,

I am a newbie to the Vintage Radio world and have just joined this forum. I have a couple of questions about the Astor Mickey Mouse EC radio for anyone familiar with this model. I have an opportunity to buy one of these lovely radios. Hopefully the URL works OK and you can see the picture I’ve put on my Flickr site. The first question is about the volume and tuning knobs. All the pictures I have seen of this model on the internet show a different style knob. The style of knob on this particular radio I have seen on another Astor model. Is it still possible that these could be the original knobs? My second question is about the tuning dial. When I turn the tuner knob it does actually tune to different stations but the clock hand needles on the front display don’t move. This will sound a bit naive but are they supposed to move? Obviously I would have thought that was the whole point so you can see where to tune the radio but being new to vintage radios I thought I would ask the question. I have seen this model sell on eBay for $400 to $500 so I need to figure out how much to offer the vendor. Overall it looks in great condition but I know it has been repaired at some stage. I am happy to pay a good price if it is in full working order and the visible parts such as the knobs I mentioned are the correct ones and the tuning dial needle isn’t broken. Than you for any advice on this.

Andrew


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 2 · Written at 7:29:34 AM on 30 September 2012.
Brad's avatar
 Administrator
 Location: Naremburn, NSW
 Member since 15 November 2005
 Member #: 1
 Postcount: 7290

You would need to remove the chassis from the cabinet to get the dial pointer working again. This is usually a fairly easy task with most radios. Dial pointer mechanisms most often consist of cord threaded through pulleys and the Astor Mickey Mouse is no exception here and its dial cord run is rather short and simple.

Astor Mickey Mouse dial mechanism


Less-common mechanisms include friction or gear drives.

I've got your link sorted. Flickr's URL query strings include the . character but it is obstructed here by an old anti-spam feature.

As for what to offer the owner of the radio: offer them less than what it is worth. Personally, I'd start at $300, especially if the owner does not know much about old radios. I was in an antique shop once when I came across a green AWA Radiolette 500M (1947). Before I could make an offer the owner, noticing that I was looking at the radio, said, "That one will go for $80". I was about to offer $200, knowing that the radio was worth about $600-$700 at the time so naturally I didn't start any arguments.

I'll admit that sometimes I get guilty if I do not pay what a radio is worth but at the end of the day it's a two way street. If someone doesn't know what they are selling then that's their problem and at the end of the day, you are the one taking over the role of the preserver. It's a case of being cruel to be kind.


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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 3 · Written at 12:27:57 PM on 30 September 2012.
Andestew's Gravatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 29 September 2012
 Member #: 1225
 Postcount: 7

Hi Brad,
Thank you for that information and for fixing up the URL. If the workings inside are still complete then as you say it shouldn't be too difficult to fix. However, when I looked at the radio the dial plate with the numbers on looked like a piece of paper. When switched on the the light glowed through it whereas from your picture it would seem that this should be a metal plate. I better have a closer look. How about the dials themselves do they look the right ones for this model?
Andrew


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 4 · Written at 1:54:26 PM on 30 September 2012.
Brad's avatar
 Administrator
 Location: Naremburn, NSW
 Member since 15 November 2005
 Member #: 1
 Postcount: 7290

The dial is made of thick celluloid which was as close to plastic as they had at the time. The colours were reversed for the battery model.

Mine is a bit grubby as I haven't touched it since I bought it about eight years ago.


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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 5 · Written at 12:03:06 AM on 3 October 2012.
Met's Gravatar
 Met
 Location: NSW
 Member since 3 October 2009
 Member #: 554
 Postcount: 80

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/astor_mickey_mouse_ec.html.

Hi Andrew,

The above link will take you to some pics and info on this model.

If you zoom in close enough you will note the correct detail you need to see on the knobs and dial.

Marc


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 6 · Written at 10:46:07 PM on 4 October 2012.
Andestew's Gravatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 29 September 2012
 Member #: 1225
 Postcount: 7

Hi Marc,

Thanks for the link. Every picture I have seen shows the radio knob as shown here - (you might need to copy and paste into another browser window as I am not sure how to fix the URL issue Brad fixed before)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357182@N06/8053419923/.

As you can see in the picture of the one I have been offered.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357182@N06/8035329726/.

the knobs are different. How much does this affect the value of the radio do you think? I am guessing if the parts aren't authentic then it would not be worth as much and serious collectors wouldn't want it.

Regards

Andrew


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 7 · Written at 11:08:21 PM on 4 October 2012.
GTC's avatar
 GTC
 Location: Sydney, NSW
 Member since 28 January 2011
 Member #: 823
 Postcount: 6678

I am not sure how to fix the URL issue Brad fixed before

I'm guessing the problem you allude to is the one caused by this site's software deliberately changing the at symbol character to a graphic symbol which is then not a valid part of a URL.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 8 · Written at 2:09:32 PM on 5 October 2012.
Brad's avatar
 Administrator
 Location: Naremburn, NSW
 Member since 15 November 2005
 Member #: 1
 Postcount: 7290

G'day Andrew,

The issue can't be 'fixed', as such. The forum software changes the . symbol to an image of the same symbol to obstruct spam robots efforts at harvesting e-mail addresses.

Don't worry about it. I read all comments and make subtle adjustments where needed. Fortunately Flickr is the only site I know of that uses the . symbol in query strings.

If you'd like to know the secret to get the text version of the symbol to work you can replace @ with the HTML entity & # 64 ; without spaces. I don't expect members to go to this amount of trouble though and I am happy to do this editing for them.

When the new forum software comes online early next year I will allow for this issue when programming the spam filtering.


‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 9 · Written at 9:38:36 PM on 5 October 2012.
GTC's avatar
 GTC
 Location: Sydney, NSW
 Member since 28 January 2011
 Member #: 823
 Postcount: 6678

Apropos of this question of knobs, there's a Mickey on eBay at present with very clear photos of it here:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110959924689&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1123.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 10 · Written at 10:13:45 PM on 5 October 2012.
Met's Gravatar
 Met
 Location: NSW
 Member since 3 October 2009
 Member #: 554
 Postcount: 80

Hi Andrew,

There are people who make reproduction knobs if you cant find any or you want to get as close as possible as the originals ones.....

Flick me an email for details when and if you decide:
met9.optusnet.com.au



 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 11 · Written at 10:53:19 AM on 6 October 2012.
Maven's Gravatar
 Location: Canberra, ACT
 Member since 23 August 2012
 Member #: 1208
 Postcount: 584

I'm not a Mickey expert, but the knobs on the ebay sale item look more like those in most Mickey pictures , but they could also be reproductions.

As a clue, the ebay Mickey seems to have reproduction decals on the back - they are much too clean to match the un-restored internals. Backplate looks new and dial also could be a reproduction. Some restorers are meticulous about the cabinet appearance, less so about the internals. Nothing wrong with that, just a choice.

Maven


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 12 · Written at 1:46:13 PM on 6 October 2012.
Brad's avatar
 Administrator
 Location: Naremburn, NSW
 Member since 15 November 2005
 Member #: 1
 Postcount: 7290

This is what the knobs should look like on the BP and EC models.

Knobs for the Astor Mickey Mouse Mantel Radio


‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 13 · Written at 9:36:17 PM on 24 October 2012.
Andestew's Gravatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 29 September 2012
 Member #: 1225
 Postcount: 7

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful information. Regarding the knobs I am now sure they are not the correct ones for this model. However, they match the casing and they work. Originally I thought the tuner dial wasn't working but it does. the radio works and it is in good condition. I paid $100 for it so I am happy with my Mickey Mouse radio.

I have also managed to find another working valve radio. It only cost me $10 but I have no idea what make it is. Can anyone identify it for me?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357182@N06/8118649049/.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15357182@N06/8118662298/.

Thanks to Brad for fixing the URLs

Andrew


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 14 · Written at 10:27:37 PM on 24 October 2012.
MonochromeTV's avatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 20 September 2011
 Member #: 1009
 Postcount: 1179

Good score!
The answer to your other question:- Homebrew using a Astor BPJ chassis.


 
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