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Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: ThaDood on July 24, 2018, 1459 UTC

Title: Retro bring-back, an FM to AM converter! Another Cuthbert Kit.
Post by: ThaDood on July 24, 2018, 1459 UTC
Yeah!!!! I remember those car radio FM to AM radio tuner converters from the 70's and even the early 1980's. Well, here's a portable one.   https://radiojayallen.com/cuthbert-fm-to-am-converter-mkii/    Radio Jay did a miss print there where he typed 15kHz, 14kHz - 16kHz, to really mean 1500kHz and 1400kHz - 1600Khz. (But gee, wouldn't super ELF be a neat kit to modulate? Hi-hi...) Anyway, what would you use this kit for? Most of you have SWL rigs and HF transceivers that do not have the FM BC band. This would be a unique way to add that. Well, sounds fun...
Title: Re: Retro bring-back, an FM to AM converter! Another Cuthbert Kit.
Post by: pinto vortando on July 24, 2018, 1932 UTC
Had a couple of Audiovox FM converters in our cars (mine and the XYL) back in the 70s.  IIRC the output was on 1400kc.  Wish we still had the cars.  8)  Anyway, still have the XYL.   :)
Title: Re: Retro bring-back, an FM to AM converter! Another Cuthbert Kit.
Post by: Pigmeat on July 28, 2018, 0419 UTC
Anyone remember the first couple of runs of the Pioneer "Super Tuner" in the mid-70's? You couldn't drive near a FM stick w/o blowing the front ends out of those things.
Title: Re: Retro bring-back, an FM to AM converter! Another Cuthbert Kit.
Post by: Josh on July 28, 2018, 1936 UTC
Lol I had one (supertuner thingy) in a Pinto coupe, with like 16 speakers! Never had an issue with sensitivity as this was in Perry Iowa, no hi powa fms around. I was gonna put a 302 with tunnel ram and dual autolite 4bbl carbs in that Pinto till the rear corner got punched in by a semi in the apt parking lot.
Title: Re: Retro bring-back, an FM to AM converter! Another Cuthbert Kit.
Post by: Pigmeat on July 29, 2018, 0239 UTC
The first one I encountered was in a HS buddy's late 50's Cadillac hearse. He had a bunch of intercom speakers he'd salvaged from an old school the county was tearing down in the Caddy. They would rattle that old rustbucket.

We were seniors and only went to school about a half day. The rest of the time we cruised around in that thing, usually along the ridge roads w/ various loose women we knew. He was so pumped when he got that Supertuner. It lasted about a week and a half. One day we were heading out to what was known as "Party Hill" with a couple of girls, jamming to the local free form rock FM station. The road to Party Hill passed about 150 yards from the stick of local classical music station. It overrode the rock station for a couple of seconds, then it went dead with that lovely smell of ozone.

Pioneer sent him a replacement. It went in less than a month for the same reason on a different ridge. That was his last Pioneer product.