"I. P. Yurin" wrote in message
...

I hate to be a dullard, but in so many ways I am. I accept that.

And I realize this is not really s/w related, but I like this group
and it's full of smart radio people.

Basically, I would like to know what "this" is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3034411896

I found it by searching on a certain radio station. In any case, the
picture shows what seems to be a tuner, with stations, rather than
freq's listed on the dial.

What intrigues me is that many of these stations are local NYC and
ones I listen to regularly. The write-up makes it seem like this tuner
will be better than a "normal" tuner that covers the whole band. Is
that true?


It's a (rather aesthetically pleasing) crystal controlled "stationized" FM
tuner. In it's day, I'm sure it was quite a bit better than it's full band
tunable contemporaries, as those tended to drift a lot on FM frequencies at
the time. Of course, it's only a monaural tuner, but there are stereo
multiplex adaptors out there that you can buy to use with it, but these
would not be as good as what's in a modern stereo receiver. Basically, if
you like it for it's curiosity value or for it's aesthetics, it may be worth
something to you. As for what it will do about receiving FM signals, it's
probably nowhere close to a modern Kenwood, Marantz, Sansui, etc..

"I. P. Yurin" wrote:

I hate to be a dullard, but in so many ways I am. I accept that.

And I realize this is not really s/w related, but I like this group
and it's full of smart radio people.

Basically, I would like to know what "this" is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3034411896

I found it by searching on a certain radio station. In any case, the
picture shows what seems to be a tuner, with stations, rather than
freq's listed on the dial.

What intrigues me is that many of these stations are local NYC and
ones I listen to regularly. The write-up makes it seem like this tuner
will be better than a "normal" tuner that covers the whole band. Is
that true?

For those who cannot or choose not to view the web page, the
description of this item is:

THIS IS A RARE KARG 10 STATION MONO TUNER(CA.1960) IN VERY NICE
ORIGINAL CONDITION...IT WORKS WELL,AND EXCEPT FOR A MINOR PRESSURE
MARK NEXT TO THE UPPER LEFT FACEPLATE SCREW,AND A TINY MARK(SHOWN) IS
THE CLEANEST AND BEST PERFORMING OF ANY KARG I'VE HAD...THE USE OF 10
INDIVIDUAL CRYSTAL COILS PROVIDE STABLE DRIFT FREE TUNING. IT IS
BASICALLY THE FIRST PRESELECTING TUNER EVER MADE..I BELIEVE THAT ALL
THE STATIONS ARE STILL BROADCASTING... THE STATIONS A
WOR-WFUV-WPAT-WNYC-WNTA-WQXR-WRCA-WBAI-WNCN-WRFM..IT HAS A MPX OUTPUT
IN REAR FOR A STEREO MPX...PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU BID..NON US
BIDDERS EMAIL FIRST...WINNING BIDDER M-U-S-T MAKE PAYMENT WITHIN 7
DAYS...SOLD AS IS...PAYMENT: POSTAL MONEY ORDER,CHECK, OR BIDPAY
ONLY...NON US BUYER BIDPAY ONLY...BUYER PAYS ACTUAL SHIPPING(AND INS)
PLUS $5 FOR PACKING....

I thank in advance any comrades who bother to answer,

The Karg 'Tunematic' was an FM tuner intended for use in specific areas
of the country (large cities), thus the pre-programmed stations in the
NYC area on the one in question. The advantage was greater stability
using a tuned crystal circuit for each station instead of a VFO
(variable frequency oscillator) which tends to drift off frequency,
unless well designed, which is expensive. I don't know how many versions
(cities) were available for this tuner.


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I. P. Yurin wrote in message . ..

I hate to be a dullard, but in so many ways I am. I accept that.

The nail that stands out must be thoroughly pounded into place. For
your own good, of course.

For those who cannot or choose not to view the web page, the
description of this item is:

THIS IS A RARE KARG 10 STATION MONO TUNER(CA.1960)

I thank in advance any comrades who bother to answer,...

Nothing is too good for the people. That radio is rather flashy,
compared to my Trabant, perhaps even bordering on the decadent. It is,
in a hooliganistic sort of way, beguiling.

Try this site:

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/reviewsA-N.html#karg

which refers you to

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/audioghosts.html

Rats! Nothing there either. Other than what an earlier poster wrote
here, I know nothing about them.

Best wishes.

"I. P. Yurin" wrote in message
...


[snip]

Basically, I would like to know what "this" is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3034411896

I found it by searching on a certain radio station. In any case, the
picture shows what seems to be a tuner, with stations, rather than
freq's listed on the dial.

What intrigues me is that many of these stations are local NYC and
ones I listen to regularly. The write-up makes it seem like this tuner
will be better than a "normal" tuner that covers the whole band. Is
that true?


[snip]

It would have better frequency stability than other FM tuners of the early
60s. Of course, it also be unable to tune frequencies for which it had no
crystal. Modern tuners also have crystal stability, and can receive all the
channels in the FM band. So, from that point of view, a modern frequency
sythethisized tuner would be better. Also, modern electronics are generally
more reliable. So, it's hard to see any advantage for a non-technically
oriented FM listener.

There were other crystal controlled FM receivers in the 60s and before.
They were used for Muzak and other FM subcarrier broadcasts. They'd run
without any attention almost endlessly, a good thing for that market. The
people who were buying home FM receivers had little interest in this sort of
thing back then.

But I do think it's kinda cool. I like vacuum tube electronics and
technological dead-ends. I'd enjoy getting this thing working as perfectly
as possible. And I'd pay $20.00 bucks for it. Maybe $25.00.

Frank Dresser

"extra crispy recipie" wrote in message ...
Ha! Here is the Pentagon's latest plan for DPRK:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...oplan-5030.htm

Plans, shmans. That and $600 will get you a toilet seat.

"extra crispy recipie" wrote in message ...
Ha! Here is the Pentagon's latest plan for DPRK:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...oplan-5030.htm

Plans, shmans. That and $600 will get you a toilet seat.

Stand firm, comrade, stand firm.

Your invincible "army-centered politics" will keep the happy family of
North Korea safe from these imperialist parasites.

The East is Red!

--
Col. I.P. Yurin
Commissariat of Internal Security

Stakhanovite
Order of Lenin (1937)
Hero of Socialist Labor (1939)

I wrote:

I hate to be a dullard, but in so many ways I am. I accept that. And I
realize this is not really s/w related, but I like this group and it's
full of smart radio people. Basically, I would like to know what
"this" is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3034411896

I found it by searching on a certain radio station. In any case, the
picture shows what seems to be a tuner, with stations, rather than
freq's listed on the dial.

What intrigues me is that many of these stations are local NYC and
ones I listen to regularly. The write-up makes it seem like this tuner
will be better than a "normal" tuner that covers the whole band. Is
that true?
-----------------------------------------------------------

And many good people replied.

==The--wildly desirable on so many levels--Comrade Brenda Ann, wrote:

==It's a (rather aesthetically pleasing) crystal controlled
=="stationized" FM tuner. In it's day, I'm sure it was quite a bit
==better than it's full band tunable contemporaries, as those tended
==to drift a lot on FM frequencies at the time. Of course, it's only
==a monaural tuner, but there are stereo multiplex adaptors out there
==that you can buy to use with it, but these would not be as good as
==what's in a modern stereo receiver. Basically, if you like it for
==it's curiosity value or for it's aesthetics, it may be worth
==something to you. As for what it will do about receiving FM signals,
==it's probably nowhere close to a modern Kenwood, Marantz, Sansui,
==etc..

I understand, I think. So I should not dispose of my Onkyo T4055 in
order to 'upgrade' to this thing? Gotcha.



+++The Comrade-whose-clothes-say-what-he-thinks, Frank Dresser, wrote:

+++It would have better frequency stability than other FM tuners of
+++the early 60s. Of course, it also be unable to tune frequencies
+++for which it had no crystal. Modern tuners also have crystal
+++stability, and can receive all the channels in the FM band. So,
+++from that point of view, a modern frequency sythethisized tuner
+++would be better. Also, modern electronics are generally more
+++reliable. So, it's hard to see any advantage for a non-technically
+++oriented FM listener.

A question: does this thing actually have individual crystals for the
different freqs (stations) it shows on its tuning dial? Or it has
circuits each acting like a crystal?


+++There were other crystal controlled FM receivers in the 60s and
+++before. They were used for Muzak and other FM subcarrier
+++broadcasts. They'd run without any attention almost endlessly, a
+++good thing for that market. The people who were buying home FM
+++receivers had little interest in this sort of thing back then.

+++But I do think it's kinda cool. I like vacuum tube electronics and
+++technological dead-ends. I'd enjoy getting this thing working as
+++perfectly as possible. And I'd pay $20.00 bucks for it. Maybe
+++$25.00.

+++Frank Dresser

Follow it up on Ebay, comrade! $100 didn't get a nibble; next we can
expect $80. Then comes $50 and maybe $25!

***After the seller's description, comrade Starman wrote:

***The Karg 'Tunematic' was an FM tuner intended for use in specific
***areas of the country (large cities), thus the pre-programmed
***stations in the NYC area on the one in question. The advantage was
***greater stability using a tuned crystal circuit for each station
***instead of a VFO (variable frequency oscillator) which tends to
***drift off frequency, unless well designed, which is expensive. I
***don't know how many versions (cities) were available for this
***tuner.

Thank you for the description!


And, to my eternal happiness and pride,

$$$$The Beloved Leader wrote:

$$$$Nothing is too good for the people. That radio is rather flashy,
$$$$compared to my Trabant, perhaps even bordering on the decadent. It
$$$$is, in a hooliganistic sort of way, beguiling.


$$$$Try this site: http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/reviewsA-N.html#karg
$$$$which refers you to http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/audioghosts.html
$$$$Rats! Nothing there either. Other than what an earlier poster
$$$$wrote here, I know nothing about them.

$$$$Best wishes.

And best wishes to you, son of the great, immortal, unmatched Il Sung!
And to all who gave my query a reply.

It is slightly less likely that you or your relatives will be
arrested!


--
Col. I.P. Yurin
Commissariat of Internal Security

Stakhanovite
Order of Lenin (1937)
Hero of Socialist Labor (1939)

"I. P. Yurin" wrote in message
...


[snip]


A question: does this thing actually have individual crystals for the
different freqs (stations) it shows on its tuning dial?

I've never seen the Karg or any circuit description, so I'm going on what
the seller wrote, and what sort of crystal controlled radios were available
at the time. These radios would switch in an individual crystal for each
frequency. This was typical for the Citizen's Band radios of that era. I
wouldn't be surprised if the Karg used a modified version of a CB tuner. It
would work well and there's no point in re-inventing the wheel.


Or it has
circuits each acting like a crystal?

The old push-button radios could be preset to several stations in a given
area. But that wasn't really like a crystal because they could also tune in
all the other frequencies and they weren't nearly so stable. A radio with
a crystal controlled frequency synthisizer could tune in many stations, but
this technology was expensive in the early 60s. If they went with a
frequency synthisizer, I'd expect they'd be receiving more stations. The
CBs could get 23, then 40.

The seller mentions "10 INDIVIDUAL CRYSTAL COILS". I don't know exactly
what "crystal coils" might be referring to, but I'll guess the coils are
fine tuning adjustments or peaking adjustments for the antenna and radio
frequency amplifier circuits. These adjustments would not be changed in
normal use.


Follow it up on Ebay, comrade! $100 didn't get a nibble; next we can
expect $80. Then comes $50 and maybe $25!


[snip]


--
Col. I.P. Yurin
Commissariat of Internal Security


I fear some Bill Gates or Warren Buffet will think the tuner is worth
$26.00. The free market can be so cruel! Why can't there be a place full
of factories mass producing things nobody wants, for all the people who want
things that nobody wants?

It's an unusal item, and there could even be a bidding war on the next
go-round. Ya never know on ebay.

Frank Dresser

I. P. Yurin wrote in message . ..

Stand firm, comrade, stand firm.

Your invincible "army-centered politics" will keep the happy family of
North Korea safe from these imperialist parasites.

The East is Red!

By the oddest of coincidences, the #1 hit on North Korean radio
stations - both of them - this week is "Our Invincible "Army-centered
Politics" Will Keep the Happy Family of North Korea Safe From
Imperialist Parasites." It's got a great beat, and you can dance to
it.

I remember that the Onkyo T-4055 was quite the highly regarded tuner
back the in the mid to late 70s. I have that issue of _The Absolute
Sound_ - number 4, I think - in which the Onkyo did so well.

"I. P. Yurin" wrote:

A question: does this thing actually have individual crystals for the
different freqs (stations) it shows on its tuning dial? Or it has
circuits each acting like a crystal?

It's my understanding that it has a crystal for each of the programmed
stations. Each crystal is switched into the oscillator circuit by the
main tuning knob/dial. As someone said, it's like the early CB radios or
scanners, before PLL (phase locked loop) frequency synthesizers were
used. These require only one crystal to act as a reference for
generating a wide range of frequencies for complete coverage of a band.

Dos Vedanya


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