![\"IMG_20151112_141930198\"](\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_20151112_141930198.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhile browsing a display\u00a0of antiques, I happened to notice a vintage radio perched on a high shelf.\u00a0Here’s what caught my eye:<\/p>\n
I asked, was the radio was for sale? And, indeed, it was. One of the sales clerks\u00a0pulled it from the shelf, dusted off the top, and read the price: $74. I noted that it was a West German Telefunken receiver. \u00a0I asked the clerk, Chris,\u00a0\u00a0if it worked, and he confirmed that it did;\u00a0it belonged to his uncle, who had clearly taken very good care of it.<\/p>\n Chris\u00a0allowed me to plug it in, turn it on, and tune in a couple of local stations…The Telefunken produced beautiful audio without even the slightest hint of a hum. Chris was pleased that\u00a0I appreciated the radio, and sincerely\u00a0wanted me to take it home, so he lowered the price a bit further. \u00a0I agreed, and purchased it without hesitation. Just couldn’t help it…<\/p>\n Chris behind the counter with his uncle’s classic Telefunken.<\/p><\/div>\n The Telefunken Superheterodyn Caprice 5451W covers the AM\/mediumwave band and FM. It’s a tube radio produced in the early 1960s in West Germany, and is now the only tube-based radio I own that covers the FM band.<\/p>\n Of course, I was very eager to get the Telefunken on the air, so that afternoon\u00a0I headed to our balcony overlooking the Atlantic, tuned around a bit on the mediumwave band…and was simply amazed at all it could receive. \u00a0I picked up\u00a0my smart phone, and with it\u00a0made a very short recording of the Cuban station, Radio Reloj<\/em>, on 820 kHz<\/a>:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n