Meaning, I am very new to your forum, and radios. I've had this in my house for a long time. The wife wants it gone. Still has the insides, and cabinet is in pretty nice condition. Has a spare tube, and ?might work.
Is it worth anything to radio people?
I find your site and forum very interesting. I see some people have a struggle uploading photos. Any trick to that?

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Yes, most old sets are worth something - - the real deal is to figure out just how much and photos are very helpful for that purpose.

If you are looking for a value, this is the correct place, but if you are actually looking to make a sale you'll need to post in the classifieds.

It'll help with a potential sale (and value to some extent) to know what region of the country you are located.


I can post photos if you'll e-mail them to me.

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Here are Mr. Dunford's photos of his very nice Sparton 931:











A very nice and clean example of this fairly scarce receiver. Most any of the Sparton "Equasonne" chassis sets are well worth collecting in my view and I think in the eyes of many other collectors as well.

Additional information on this particular Equasonne model can be found here, at "Mike's Sparton Equasonne World":


http://spartonequasonne.webs.com/


OK folks, what say ye about this really clean Sparton 931?

Let us have some discussion.


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Nice looking radio. I would push the 2 tubes on the left down into the sockets all the way. Very good shape. They usually like a longer antenna and on the right side in the back they have an antenna trimmer to the right of the tuner. Yours probably still has the back for it. You don't see these that often and not in this nice of condition.

The Spartons such as this one use unusual tubes. In the RF amplifier section there are 6 #484/485 Sparton tubes. These have 3.0 V heaters at 1.25 Amp each.

They are still around and obtainable, but if you must sub them, PLEASE don't use 27s! This will most likely overheat the power transformer.

56's would be a more logical choice!

27's are rated at 2.5V at 1.75 A. They will probably draw more than 2 amps each at 3.0 volts!

56s are also 2.5 volts, but only 1 amp. at 3.0 volts it will be closer to 1.25 A.

Not an optimal situation but a far cry better than 27's

The output tubes are also unique 183s as i recall. They are becoming scarce and i don't think there is a worthy sub. Though a 71A might work in a pinch. Though, its not really rated for the job.

Nice performing radios when properly restored.

-Steve

Why would your wife want that radio gone?? I love it!!

Value, hard to say, but definetly more than your average AA5

Even if you do get rid of this, stick around the board, and try to coax your wife to keep this.

Best to have tubes in the broadband amplifier matched or at least of the same type. 484 or newer 485 would be preferred. Some are replaced with 27's. Like mentioned these draw more filament current but I haven't seen a power transformer overheat.

Number 56 would seem reasonable but these have higher gain. Higher gain can cause the broadband amplifier to go into oscillation. I haven't had a set of 56's operate in this type amplifier.

Thanks for that. I am finding it interesting. I'm temped to plug it in, but read that may not be the best idea.
I see where the label says: 115 v 100 w

Any advice from here?

Norm, I have seen a few Spartons of this vintage with blown power transformers and 27's in the amplifier. The first one I ever found was a model 750 which has a Philco power transformer installed and 76s installed in place of the 485's.

It was modified to have 42's for outputs and a 5Z3 rectifier. I carefully removed the 42's sockets and installed 4 pin sockets. Then put 50s and 81's back into the set.

The 50s are being run on the 6.3 volt supply and seem to work well. The 81's have a separate filament transformer.

With the 76's, the radio performs beautifully! I would believe 56's would have similar performance.

-Steve

What do you want to do? Keep it? Fix it?

You are correct that it is not a good idea to turn it on. As a minimum, you should check for bad components and replace them + components known to be failure-prone---eg capacitors.

I still think we'll let it go. Hoping someone around here would like it. I'll try that Hill AFB connection. But, any other suggestions will be appreciated. Looks like antique radio types are a bunch of pretty nice people.
Thanks

Welcome Craig,
Nice set. Someone will find the set, so it you first don't sell it, give it some time.
You are right about not powering it up. Tell the new owner the same thing and pass along this site:
http://antiqueradio.org/powerup.htm

You don't wan to potentially damage a good transformer or something else. Those are expensive and damage can be prevented with a service of the chassis.

Too bad that you are not able to keep it Many of us have small transmitters that are connected to a sound device like an Ipod, CD plater or whatever to broadcast music through the old det.

FYI, posting pics is easy. A small percentage of people have trouble for some reason. For the most of us, you can post many ways. Please see:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=98304

This works for this or any forum you go to. Takes a long time to read, but takes a few seconds to post a photo.

Let us know what happens to the set.

was the virgin owner good looking ? lol
Nice Radio

No one really addressed your original question.

I bought one of these 5 years ago from the grandson of the original owner - I had to drive my giant 1965 Pontiac right through the small streets near down town Chicago and Loyola College to pick it up in person.

Mine is a bit rougher and dustier in condition than yours but does have the original back. I paid $75 for the complete radio and have not yet had it restored to playing condition. The wood working is very nice on these; note the top has 4 piece book-marked veneer, and Sparton was known for their nice sounding speakers.

You may be able to sell it for $150 perhaps but shipping these will be tough with those chicken legs to protect from damage.

JMO of course.

Your set is a very nice survivor. I hope you do well with it.

Tell your wife to get rid of something else

I had 2 of those , both worked as found . Go ahead & plug it in . Be watching the tubes as it warms up . If you dont get any sound ( of any kind ) within a minute , unplug it . If you hear noise then try to tune in a station .
If all you hear is a loud hum then it needs some parts replaced .

That stopped me in my tracks. I think I'd keep it if that was possible. How would I proceed to create that setup? I could use modern devices to play through that radio?

Nice try Daniel , but no .... old and kind of doggy.

read this thread but maybe I missed where you live ?

Utah. Looks like a lot of antique radio people in the mid west or so.

Think lot more old radio's in the midwest because of so many cold days to sit by the fire and leason to them