Northern Electric 6302

Manufacturer: Northern Electric Company, Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Model: 6302
Approximate Date Of Manufacture: 1949-50
Type: 6-tube Superheterodyne AM BC band radio
Tube lineup: 6BJ6(2), 12BE6, 6AQ6, 50B5, 35W4 (all miniature)
Status: working, restored
Where purchased: eBay, December 2005

Description

This is a 6 tube AM radio with a bakelite case, painted brown. It was made by Northern Electric for the 1949-1950 model year.

According to the label on the radio it was known as the "Topper". I don't know why. There was a series of Topper movies in the 1940s. Or maybe someone added the decal themselves? This model came in four colours: Brown, Green, Sand, and Ivory.

It has 6 tubes with tone control, making it a slightly more deluxe radio than the basic 5 tube models. This is one of the few radios that has the power switch on the tone control rather than volume. According to the specs it puts out a big 1.9 Watts of audio output

The schematic and alignment info are listed in the RCC supplement for 1949-50. It is a pretty standard circuit. It has a loop antenna and an external antenna connection (wire). There is a phono input jack and switch on the rear panel.

A bit of trivia — the speaker in this radio is made by Jensen. Modern car audio buffs familiar with Jensen speakers may be surprised that Jensen speakers were being made back in the 1950s. The Jensen company actually goes back to 1910 when their first product was a telephone receiver. They developed a loudspeaker based on their telephone receiver and a phonograph horn in 1915 (this information came from Radio Manufacturers of the 1920's by Alan Douglas).

I haven't found any other examples of this radio on the Internet, so it must be one of the rarer models.

Restoration

21 Dec 2005 The radio arrived today. It is in pretty good shape with some scratches and wear in the paint about as expected. The case is bakelite. It is very dusty inside. The pilot lamp is an unusual 7W 120V type with a bayonet base that is mounted at the back of the case. It has a 3 gang tuning cap (it has an RF amplifier stage). I powered it up with a variac, isolation transformer, and ammeter for the smoke test. It works. There is noticeable hum which is likely due to weak filter caps. Confirmed that the power switch is on the tone control. The "Topper" decal on the case appears to be original.

23 Dec 2005

Cleaned the chassis and case. It was very dusty inside. Replaced the line cord and filter It now has much less hum. Various repairs had been made over the years including the electrolytic caps. A newer one was paralleled in with the old one. A wire was insulated with friction ("hockey") tape.

24 Dec 2005

Recapped the radio, measured resistor values, and aligned it. Let it run for a few hours for a final burn-in test.