Freshly restored 1933 Silvertone 1660

[decojoe67]

This was a tired old set that needed cabinet repairs and a complete refinish. I spent many hours getting it back in shape. A nice mid-level, mid-size cathedral radio with hearty chassis and good size Magnavox speaker. It plays well.

[old_coot88]

Wow! Verry nice. Did the original finish have that lovely dark-to-lite transition?

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Wow! Verry nice. Did the original finish have that lovely dark-to-lite transition?

Thank you. It's one of those sets where every example you find has slightly different toning. I've seen these sets with a solid medium brown tone and the two-tone effect. I had to do the toning because I did some grille fret-work repair, and that needed to get heavily toned. i actually wanted the light and dark a little more distinct, but it ended-up more of a "sunburst" effect. Toning is not easy. You have to be precise.

[vortalexfan]

Is it AM only or does it have a shortwave band in addition to the AM band like the Philco 60?

[Titan1a]

AM only with RF amplifier stage.

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by Titan1a

AM only with RF amplifier stage.

But no IF amplifier stage. It's a very interesting minimalist superhet with the mixer stage called the "oscillating translator", with IF being 175 khz.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

But no IF amplifier stage. It's a very interesting minimalist superhet with the mixer stage called the "oscillating translator", with IF being 175 khz.

Colonial Radio always referred to the convertor as a "translator".
It's a late addition to Rider's VI. It's more like an early 30's entry!
They used the early 6 volt car radio tubes. Anything to get around RCA patents.

[Tube TV]

Wow that looks great. I like how the finish turned out .

Do you have any before pictures?

[old_coot88]

Wasn't the car battery the reason for tube heater voltage finally being standardized to 6.3V ?