Subject: Issue #2 — The Radio That Became a Computer
A 1950 Bakelite radio, restored and converted into a home NAS server.
Hi there,
In the last issue I told you I was working on something a little unusual: converting a vintage radio cabinet into a NAS server for my home. It's done.
The object: a 1950 RCA Victor 9-X-651. Brown Bakelite cabinet, three knobs, AM and shortwave bands. Serial number B 003994. Roughly the size of a shoebox. It came to me from a Portland prop house with their sticker still on the bottom. Before that: unknown. Seventy-five years of kitchens and living rooms.
The 9-X-651 is one of the most common Bakelite radios ever produced. Collectors will tell you that with a slight wince (it means low desirability, modest value, abundant supply). I find that comforting. It means this radio was in a lot of homes. It meant something to a lot of people.
It just doesn't work anymore. The capacitors are shot, the tubes are old, and I'm not an electronics restorer. So I gave it a job.
What I did to it:
The Bakelite cabinet got the full treatment: dish soap wash, Flitz polish, Renaissance Wax finish. The brown residue that comes off the rag is tobacco tar and oxidation. It's satisfying in a gross way. Underneath: deep chocolate brown, light catching the chamfered edges.
The grille slats I painted Heirloom White (warm, not stark) in satin finish. Satin because the polished Bakelite body has a natural semi-gloss, and flat paint would look chalky against it. Three coats, tape pulled at 25 minutes while still slightly tacky. The original brown knobs came off and got replaced with gold aluminum knurled knobs. Warm gold against ivory against dark chocolate. It reads as mid-century without pretending to be something it isn't.
The original chassis, tubes and old wiring and all, came out and didn't go back. In its place: a Raspberry Pi 5 with a 20TB hard drive and 500GB SSD, running as my home Time Machine backup server. FastAPI dashboard, ntfy alerts when something needs attention.
The dial face (original RCA Victor graphics, AM and shortwave bands still legible) sits behind the original glass. The knobs don't do anything. The whole thing is a shell around a small computer doing useful work.
The radio that once pulled shortwave signals from across the world now quietly backs up every photo, document, and project file on the network. I like that a lot.
→ Full write-up with process photos: https://thetoddmark.com/rca-victor-9x651-memorypalace
That's issue two. More when the next one's done.
Mark
thetoddmark.com