Updating a 1960s Radio / Phono HiFi

I guess this doesn’t really count as a woodworking project, as the closest I came to cutting wood was working with some fiberboard, but some of you might find it a neat idea on what to do with an old HiFi set.

This was originally my Grandparents Hifi. It is a Sears Silvertone AM/FM/Phono set. I am going to guess that the year is 1967 since there was a 1967 Fischer Hifi catalogue inside the base. Also inside the base was a complete electrical schematic of the unit, complete with a part list down to every resistor. They made these sets easy to repair back then. There were even a few repair tags found throughout on various wires and spots on the circuit boards.

It has been sitting in my mother’s hallway for a few years, holding plants and not being used. I decided to give it a new purpose. Since the Radio and amps still functioned great, I decided it would be a good candidate for an iPod update. The idea grew to incorporate some of the ideas behind the WW Gadget Station.

I have replaced the turntable with 2 1/8” fiberboards laminated together. This has been painted white to match the iPod plastic piece. The iPod plastic piece is the thing that would go in an Apple-made dock, to let the Nano fit. I modified it with a mini jack and a spare iPod cable, to turn it into a full functioning dock. The cables are attached with some epoxy paste, kinda like JB weld but thicker. Beneath the white tray is a powerstrip which just happened to fit perfectly.

The iPod is wired directly into the Phono inputs. On this particular unit, the Phono is the same as being “off”, so when the turntable was switched on, the amp would power up. I handled this by installing a 5A 125VAC pushbutton SPST switch next to the iPod.

In the back of the tray is a powered USB hub, so I can plug in all my various USB devices (BT headset, cellphone) to charge. I will also be putting my camera chargers in here. That is what the hole/slot in the rear of the tray is for.

The whole tray is held down to the drawer with 6 bits of Velcro, for easy to access the wiring.

-- John Castle - Johncastle.org