[Jeffhs]

With an RF amp that works for both AM and FM, I would think this radio would be very sensitive and excellent for DXing. This design was popular in the late 1940s-early fifties because not every city or town had a local radio station (AM or FM) in those days; the sets almost had to be built with high-performance signal circuits.

Looking at the schematic for the Fada model 790, I found a ballast tube (the type number shown on the schematic is 117-24, although I think it may be 117Z4) as part of the power supply. This is also a tipoff that the radio was made in the 1940s; these tubes were likely the first means used to take up whatever line voltage was not used by the series filament string (the filament voltages in the 790 total about 68 volts, so the ballast tube had to drop the remaining 49 volts, assuming that the AC line voltage in homes in the '40s was 117).