When I walked to the train station to visit my parents, I wasn’t in a hurry but had plenty of time. On my way I came across a flea market where an old Philipps radio drew my attention. After asking the owner, he told me it costs 10 euros, more than the 5 euros I had left in my pocket. But he smiled and said: “Fine. I’ll let you have it for 5 euros. And in case we see each other again somewhere sometime, you’ll buy me a coffee, okay?”. Good deal, hugh? At home, I cleansed the radio and discovered that it still could be turned on, although it was hard to tune in a radio station. But since I normally listened to music via my vintage iPod touch connected to a docking station, the radio was nothing more than an eye catcher for a few years.
At least until this year, when I decided to integrate the iPod touch dockingstation into the classic radio. But my respect for the beautiful old electronics and mechanics hindered me from gutting the radio. What I did was to keep as much of the radio as possible and only do minor modifications necessary to insert the iPod dock. But the radio should remain functional. Therefore, the circuit boards of the dockingstation were carefully attached to the cealing of the wodden radio case, whereas its power supply found a good place in the bottom. It draws the required 230 V from the power cord of the old radio. Depending on the position of a toggle switch, either the docking station or the radio is powered. Slots were cut into the wooden top plate for the iPod dock, clock display and volume knob. The dockingstation plays its audio output through the speaker of the old radio, whose volume is sufficient for my needs. Finally, I sketched a Plexiglas cover for the back, have it laser cut and bend in a 90 degrees angle. Oh yeah, right, I forgot an opening in the transparent cover to access the toggle switch. But mostly I use the iPod dockingstation which is why this is not to bad. Now, everyone can marvel at the old electronic circuit and mechanical parts of the radio.