H. Wade Minter

Philco 46-1226

Bringing my family's 1946 console radio back to life, and logging what it hears

Jump to the station log (49 stations)

This is a Philco 46-1226, a walnut console radio and record changer from just after World War II. It was my father’s family’s radio in Hopewell, Virginia, and it hasn’t played in my lifetime. For decades its power cord was too far gone to even plug in.

Inside, though, it was remarkably intact: clean, complete, and apparently never modified. That made the goal simple to say and fussy to do. Get it working again, safely, while changing as little of the original as possible.

The restoration

I’d warmed up on a Philco 40-130 first, so I went in with a plan: replace the parts that are known to fail with age, test everything else, and leave the original wiring layout alone.

Capacitors. Eighty-year-old paper and electrolytic capacitors are the usual suspects in an old radio, and they can take other parts with them when they fail. Over a few late-August sessions I replaced fifteen paper capacitors with modern film equivalents, keeping each one on its original connection points. Two more are buried under the tuning assembly, and I left them there. Getting to them risks more than it fixes.

Power supply. One of the big power resistors had failed open and another had drifted well out of spec. I replaced both, and rebuilt the filter capacitors on new terminal strips while leaving the original cans mounted so the chassis still looks right.

Power and safety. A flaky power switch came back with contact cleaner. Then came a new cord and modern safety-rated line capacitors. The first power-ups were done slowly, through a dim-bulb limiter and then a Variac, with a meter watching the high-voltage supply.

The static. Once it was powered, the radio had an intermittent static that wouldn’t go away. Swapping tubes between sockets showed that the static followed one of the original 6K6 output tubes. A replacement RCA 6K6GT arrived on September 18.

First sound. On Saturday morning, September 19, the radio played a broadcast station for the first time in decades. I tested the audio with a small low-power AM transmitter feeding it music, and it sounded great. The two dial lamps were dead, too; new #51 bulbs had the glass lit again by September 21.

Alignment. The dial was reading badly low, as much as 70 kHz off in places. On September 26 I aligned the receiver, using WHPY on 1590 as the reference for the top of the dial. Afterward, stations landed where the glass said they should, within about 10 kHz.

One last crackle. A popping noise that was hard to place turned out to be the original 7AF7 converter tube. Pulling it silenced the noise, and tapping it with a chopstick made it pop on every tap. A new-old-stock replacement went in on October 8, and the radio has been quiet since.

The record changer is a separate project for another day. The shortwave band works but has only been spot-checked against a couple of stations, not fully aligned.

What it hears

Once the radio was working, I started logging every station I could identify. AM signals travel much farther after dark, and a big console with a good antenna can pull in clear-channel stations from hundreds of miles away.

Everything below was heard on the Philco itself from Wake Forest, NC, and identified by a station ID, a local ad or game broadcast, or by matching the audio to the station’s live stream.

49stations logged
15states, provinces & DC
637 mifarthest (Chicago, IL)
12stations 500+ miles away
  1. 540 kHzWETCDivine Mercy RadioStation ID; crystal-clear local signalWendell, NC16 miCatholic talk10 kW day / 4.4 kW nightSep 19, 2026
  2. 640 kHzWXSM640 The Sports AnimalMatched local breaks to the stream during Sunday Night FootballBlountville, TN216 miSports10 kW day / 810 W nightSep 20, 2026
  3. 650 kHzWSM650 AM WSMMatched to the live streamNashville, TN462 miCountry / bluegrass50 kWSep 20, 2026
  4. 660 kHzWFANSports Radio 66Heard the WFAN ID during Yankees coverageNew York, NY408 miSports50 kWSep 19, 2026
  5. 670 kHzWSCR670 The ScoreWestwood One Sports audio at 670Chicago, IL637 miSports50 kWSep 19, 2026
  6. 680 kHzWPTFNewsRadio 680Commercial mentioning Wake ForestRaleigh, NC16 miNews/talk50 kWSep 19, 2026
  7. 700 kHzWLWNewsRadio 700 WLWStation ID plus an Ohio law-firm adCincinnati, OH393 miNews/talk50 kWSep 19, 2026
  8. 710 kHzWOR710 WORClear “WOR” IDNew York, NY408 miNews/talk50 kWSep 19, 2026
  9. 720 kHzWGNWGN RadioNorthwestern vs. Colorado footballChicago, IL637 miNews/talk50 kWSep 19, 2026
  10. 740 kHzCFZMZoomer RadioZoomer Radio ID after Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”Toronto, ON532 miAdult standards / oldies50 kWSep 19, 2026
  11. 750 kHzWSBNews 95.5 & AM 750 WSBGeorgia Bulldogs postgame showAtlanta, GA367 miNews/talk50 kWSep 26, 2026
  12. 760 kHzWJRNewsTalk 760Westwood One NFL broadcastDetroit, MI501 miNews/talk50 kWSep 20, 2026
  13. 770 kHzWABC77 WABCSinatra Showcase; Saturday-night oldiesNew York, NY408 miNews/talk50 kWSep 19, 2026
  14. 780 kHzWBBMWBBM NewsradioNewsradio branding and a Menards adChicago, IL637 miAll news35 kW day / 42 kW nightOct 12, 2026
  15. 790 kHzWNISNewsTalk 790Virginia Tech–Maryland footballNorfolk, VA137 miNews/talk5 kWSep 19, 2026
  16. 810 kHzWGYNewsRadio 810News at 810 after darkSchenectady, NY531 miNews/talk50 kWSep 27, 2026
  17. 830 kHzWTRUTruth NetworkWorship programmingKernersville, NC88 miChristian50 kW day / 10 kW nightOct 11, 2026
  18. 840 kHzWHASNewsRadio 840Louisville ads for local businessesLouisville, KY429 miNews/talk50 kWOct 12, 2026
  19. 850 kHzWKIXOldies 850Station IDRaleigh, NC16 miOldies9 kW day / 120 W nightSep 26, 2026
  20. 860 kHzCJBCIci Radio-Canada PremièreMatched to the live streamToronto, ON532 miFrench-language public radio50 kWSep 19, 2026
  21. 880 kHzWHSQESPN New YorkMatched to the live streamNew York, NY408 miSports50 kWSep 21, 2026
  22. 890 kHzWLS89 WLSStation IDChicago, IL637 miNews/talk50 kWSep 20, 2026
  23. 930 kHzWYFQBBN RadioMatched to the live streamCharlotte, NC141 miChristian5 kW day / 1 kW nightSep 27, 2026
  24. 980 kHzWTEMThe Team 980Matched to the stream during Bills–RamsWashington, DC218 miSports50 kW day / 5 kW nightOct 12, 2026
  25. 1020 kHzKDKAThe Voice of PittsburghPittsburgh commercialsPittsburgh, PA319 miNews/talk50 kWOct 12, 2026
  26. 1030 kHzWBZWBZ NewsRadio 1030Station IDBoston, MA594 miNews/talk50 kWOct 12, 2026
  27. 1060 kHzKYWKYW NewsradioReading Terminal Market ad and 103.9 FM simulcast mentionPhiladelphia, PA329 miAll news50 kWOct 12, 2026
  28. 1090 kHzWTSBThe Cross 1090The Cross / Truth Network programmingSelma, NC33 miChristian9 kW, daytime onlySep 26, 2026
  29. 1100 kHzWTAMNewsradio WTAM 1100Station IDCleveland, OH418 miNews/talk & sports50 kWOct 12, 2026
  30. 1110 kHzWBTWBT“WBT 107.9” announcement over a jazz loopCharlotte, NC141 miMusic loop pointing to 107.9 FM50 kWSep 26, 2026
  31. 1130 kHzWBBRBloomberg 1130“Bloomberg 1130” IDNew York, NY408 miBusiness news50 kWOct 12, 2026
  32. 1170 kHzWWVANewsRadio 1170Top-of-hour station IDWheeling, WV306 miNews/talk50 kWSep 21, 2026
  33. 1180 kHzWHAMNewsRadio WHAM 1180Joe Pags show, just above WWVARochester, NY498 miNews/talk50 kWOct 12, 2026
  34. 1190 kHzWOWONews/Talk WOWO“WOWO 1190” IDFort Wayne, IN502 miNews/talk50 kW day / 9.8 kW nightOct 12, 2026
  35. 1200 kHzWXKSTalk 1200Mark Levin’s time slotBoston, MA594 miTalk50 kWOct 12, 2026
  36. 1210 kHzWPHTTalk Radio 1210ABC News Radio, right beside WHKW 1220Philadelphia, PA329 miNews/talk50 kWSep 26, 2026
  37. 1220 kHzWHKWAM 1220 The Word“Live with Pastor Al”Cleveland, OH418 miChristian50 kWSep 19, 2026
  38. 1320 kHzWJASTalk Radio 1320“1320 Pittsburgh” IDPittsburgh, PA319 miTalk7 kW day / 3.3 kW nightOct 12, 2026
  39. 1370 kHzWSPDNewsRadio 1370“Newsradio 1370” ID with a Toledo mentionToledo, OH476 miNews/talk5 kWOct 12, 2026
  40. 1410 kHzWRJDWRJDCall letters and Durham IDDurham, NC22 miSpanish language—Oct 10, 2026
  41. 1500 kHzWFEDFederal News NetworkCommercials during Nationals–CardinalsWashington, DC218 miNews/talk50 kWSep 19, 2026
  42. 1510 kHzWLACNewsRadio 1510iHeart branding and Fox News Radio updatesNashville, TN462 miNews/talk50 kWSep 21, 2026
  43. 1530 kHzWCKYESPN 1530ESPN Radio at 1530Cincinnati, OH393 miSports50 kWSep 19, 2026
  44. 1560 kHzWFMEFamily RadioFamily Radio programmingNew York, NY408 miChristian—Oct 11, 2026
  45. 1590 kHzWCSLCarolina CountryNASCAR race from Charlotte on PRNCherryville, NC166 miCountry10 kW day / 30 W nightOct 11, 2026
  46. 1600 kHzWIDUWIDUGospel music at 1600Fayetteville, NC68 miGospel5 kW day / 147 W nightSep 26, 2026
  47. 1610 kHzCHHARadio Voces LatinasItalian songs matched to the live streamToronto, ON532 miMultilingual community10 kWOct 12, 2026
  48. 9.35 MHzSWWWCRWorld Wide Christian RadioMatched to the WWCR-2 streamNashville, TN462 miChristian talk100 kWSep 27, 2026
  49. 9.93 MHzSWWTWWWe Transmit World WideOn-air “WTWW, Lebanon, Tennessee” IDLebanon, TN435 miChristian music & talk100 kWOct 12, 2026

Distances are approximate, measured from Wake Forest to each station's city of license. Power is the station's listed transmitter power. Station links go to Wikipedia.