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Marconi Wireless 16 Crystal Radio Receiver
In 1918 a ship went down. Although I know nothing of the ship, it must have been a modern ship of its time being outfitted with a Marconi wireless station. The receiver was a Marconi model 16 crystal set which was first introduced in 1914. It is a two crystal detector set; the two detectors can be used for balanced or independent working. The 16 covers 250 to 3,500 meters. In 1999 the Model 16 Crystal set was brought up from the bottom of the ocean. Another collector did preservation work on the set for three years before turning over the reins to me. He had many projects going and I had just finished one and was looking for a new project. “If I knew what I was getting into I might not have done it.” Many radio historians have echoed those words after they started a preservation project. They certainly were my words. And yet I can say that preserving the Marconi 16 has been the most satisfying project of 25 years of restoring radios. If someone told me that you could restore a radio that had been under the ocean for over eighty years, I would have thought that person crazy. This has been a true reclamation project. One of the key things to restoring the 16 was getting another Marconi tuning condenser. Thankfully, the previous individual who was restoring the set did acquire the correct identical tuning condenser. The inside of the 16’s condenser was mush, as was any iron or steel in the set. (Fortunately, the 16 used little iron or steel in the set.) The knob on the condenser that was acquired was bad but the internal works were in perfect shape and identical to the one on the 16. So I swapped out the mush for good insides and it was as good as new. The hard rubber (like bakelite) panel was not affected by the salt water at all. Surprisingly, the wood holding coils was intact as well. Although a new case was made for the set, you can see the original case in one of the pictures. It is still holding together and I have it displayed next to the 16 with the new case. Brass was a different story. The salt water over the years leeched the tin out of the surface brass leaving copper. This was not a problem for big pieces but some of the screws, especially the wood screws, crumbled when an attempt was made to remove them. Nevertheless, most of the brass parts are original, with only some small parts of the crystal detectors and a few screws replaced. The wire on the coils is original. Indeed, when I placed a small piece of the wire under the microscope, you can still see the silk covering of the wires. The coils were very fragile and it took a long time to remove the salt and mud from them. I did more cleaning of some parts than I would usually do in a preservation project; I did it because I wanted to stop any ongoing corrosion. I discussed with several knowledgeable individuals how to stop corrosion from the salt that had penetrated everything in the set and the safest and most often suggested solution was to continue washing parts in water until the salt was so diluted that it would not have any more effect. So after repeated washings—each coil took 20-30 hours--the coils were dried and ready to reinstall. The hookup wire also was all salvaged and used when resoldering parts. I enjoy preserving radios—even basket cases. It is the part of the radio collecting that I most value. I am not fond of, nor very good at, finding sets. Seeing a mouse infested, ratty old shambles of a radio look good again gives me satisfaction. I probably developed this part of the radio interest because as a teacher many times I could not afford good clean examples of the sets I wanted. I had a Porsche Targa taste and a Rambler American pocketbook. So I have preserved many of the radios in my collection. If any of you reading this have an early Marconi or other wireless basket case that you want to go to a good home please contact me. I am looking for another project—though probably not one that was under the sea for over eighty years. Above is a picture of the inside of the restored set. Above is a picture of how the Marconi 16 looked after the majority of the mud had been removed, but before any preservation was done. Above is a picture of the variable condenser before restoration. Above is a picture of the detector bias rheostats. Above is a picture underneath the set

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Copyright 2003-2004 Howard Stone PhD.
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