Can anyone ID this possibly foreign radio?

[radiotvnut]

I was digging around in the bottomless radio pit and found this unmarked wooden radio. It covers standard broadcast and shortwave bands. Looking at the chassis, I has what looks to be a variable voltage power transformer installed. The tube lineup is: 12SA7, 12SK7, 12SQ7, 50L6, and the rectifier is missing. Also, the wires from the power transformer are running through the center hole of an empty octal tube socket. Any light that you can shed on this radio will be appreciated.

[Reece]

That really is odd. That arrangement on top of the transformer may be a way to select different line voltages? What's in the oval shaped cans: the SW coils? On the back is noted 35Z5 for the rectifier, typical AA5 lineup, but with a transformer. The circles to the right of each band on the dial show dots to indicate the band switch position. American-made for export? The case looks somehow familar. Too bad somebody slopped brown paint on it, probably covering up decals. Maybe in oblique light some name might show under the paint.

[wa2ise]

Your set looks to have been a hack job, just like a Philco 46-806 I got years ago and never attempted to restore. Someone before me installed a transformer to replace a probably unobtanium ballast tube, so they could continue to run it off their 230VAC lines. They also hacked in (actually fairly neatly) an octal socket for a loctal one that held the rectifier tube. So they could use a 35Z5 instead of the loctal equivalent. Same with the audio output, now a 35L6. Loctals must have been unobtanium, or maybe someone had the octals on hand... They soldered in the octal socket chassis mounting ears to the chassis. Must have been eons ago, as the solder is well corroded gray, like the chassis. And then there was some badly done replacement electrolytic caps. Internal wiring does look to have been abused with high heat. Said power transformer had been soldered to the chassis... Think this radio came from Peru when I got it off ebay. According to http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1946a.htm#16 this set is similar to Philco's 42-706 and it does look to be, except for a 14J7 instead of a 7a8 for the converter. You inspired me to restore mine, should be an adventure to restore it...

[Sandy G]

It, uhh, DON'T have a lot to recommend it, 'specially in th' Looks Dept, do it ?!? (Hack, hack, cough, cough, clears throat...) I mean, if the Shyte Brown they painted it was considered An Improvement, Gawd only knows what it musta been before...(grin)

[Reece]

This would be one I would tackle out of curiosity! The case is intact (held together by all of that caca-colored paint) and there may be good wood grain hiding under that. The chassis could be put back to normal AA5 series string operation. Mysteries: why is the (I guess) 'lytic can hiding down under the chassis? What was the extra octal socket for where the wires go through? Maybe a ballast tube? Maybe it was an export model for higher than 120V, the ballast tube went south, and the junkbox fix was the funky xfrmr. setup.

Who knows what mysteries lurk below the chassis?

[AUdubon5425]

I don't believe I've ever seen the dial face pictorially illustrate which position the knob should be in to receive each band. And it also implies that one knob is a local/distant switch.

It looks like there was a label inside the cabinet. I tried searching that ink-stamped number on the back with no luck (maybe DC 7748 A?)

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Reece

Mysteries: What was the extra octal socket for where the wires go through? Maybe a ballast tube? Maybe it was an export model for higher than 120V, the ballast tube went south, and the junkbox fix was the funky xfrmr. setup.

Looks like the same story with my Philco I mentioned above. The extra socket accepts a ballast tube that, depending on how it's plugged into the socket (the socket has two key slots) sets the radio for 120V or 240V. The Philco schematic I have shows the resistor values, so I could build my own approximation of the ballast tube. I say approximation, as IIRC ballast tubes used iron wire inside hydrogen gas for better control of current regulation.

[radiotvnut]

Here's the chassis out of the cabinet. As you can see, it's been "worked on". I did find a 1944 date stamp.

[AUdubon5425]

Generally, civilian radio production was suspended for the war, and here is a chassis dated 1944. Interesting.

[electroking]

Weren't radios like this manufactured for providing U.S. servicemen with entertainment
during WWII? I once saw one with similar design on Ebay, maybe even tried
buying it, but didn't get it anyway. It looked like a standard AA6 (with RF stage)
that had been modified to include shortwave bands and a multivoltage power
transformer. I'm sure pictures can be found on the web with the proper search.

[wa2ise]

FWIW, I have had significant success in restoring mine. 3 bands: "standard broadcast" and one of the SW bands works (2.3 to 7MHz), the third one (7 to 24MHz) I think my local oscillator isn't working. The band switch was broken, may still have a bad contact. That's what it is, bad contact, if I turn the swirch slightly off the normal position it does make contact and the band comes alive (not that alive, not that sensitive). Think I'll just call it done.

The radio's back has a sticker saying "Talleres electrotecnicos valverde electro-mecanica" "radio" "baterias" "av, merino 2585-2599-linc???(sticker defaced here)"
"lima telf 38493 pe??" and a serial or order number "25637"
In the center of the sticker is a graphic of a tube, an old style voltmeter and what looks like a rectangular clock. And stylized script that looks like "Fcelor" which may be a trademark. Seems they did hack work, though...

[PunkTiger]

Well, the "lima telf 38493 pe??" part could be Lima, Peru. The Spanish would also fit in with that presumption. That radio could very well be from South America.