Tues. show and tell pics

[mr_fixer]

Hi, everyone just thought i would post some pics of my European radios. I usually had bad luck in repairing european radios during my teen and 20 something years, so i stayed away from them for almost 20 years, but about 6 years ago i found a beautiful Nordmende-Sterling Parsifal at our local radio club swap meet. The original owners heard about the swap meet through a article in the paper and wanted to sell theirs. it went up for auction as the club does at the end of the day. they plugged it in and nothing lit up period. I got the radio for $10 as everyone must have been scared that it had a blown transformer. well when i got it home i found that the original fuse failed, not blown open. 1 fuse, electrolytic, paper caps and a tube later, it was working with a wonderful sound.
This success gave me the confidence to try another european radio, this time a Grundig 2220 also found at our radio club swap meet a year later. The Grundig has a nice Bakelite case that looks like wood. it was kinda working on AM but no FM, It had a bad connection inside of the FM tuner module. The last one is a Philips B6x94a Plano cabinet radio that worked but wasn't very sensitive, it had a shorted bypass cap in a IF section. here are pics of my 3 Euro radios.
Logan

[sprman55]

Hi cool photos.Ipicked up a R-274B/FRR SP-600 JX-6.Boy its been a real workout getting it going.Had to recap it get BFO working .When i got it it did not light up.Found bad fuse,replaced it and it worked! Then the fun begain. All caps replaced ,found top 3 bands not working.After much time found bad switch cleaned it now everything works but the xtal phasing.So ordered manual and found a few resistors way out ,replaced and now it works.Lst week turn it on smell something burning!.A resistor burns up.So after burning 3 more up i find and fix short! Now back to top 3 bands not working right ahh.I use it everyday sounds good on am band. Nice radios there you got bet they sound real good.Cant beat sound of tubes IMHO.Well guess i be back at the radio for more work,im thinking a few more resistors need checking befor i get it right.Shorted caps do kill resistors lol SPRMAN 55

[gadget73]

Ah you have an actual Phillips. Those are sort of rare here since they weren't sold in the US under the Phillips name. I have a Norelco, which is what Phillips radios were branded as for sale in the US.

My two Euro rigs. The Norelco is on the bottom, and a Schaub-Lorenz Goldy 250 on top. . Got the pair plus a variac for $50. Neither was working. The Norelco had 2 bad resistors in the FM IF strip and the main speaker is shot. The second is fine though. The Schaub had a bad selenium bridge. The dial for AM and SW is off, probably just needs the pointer moved. AM and SW sensitivity on the 250 are impressive.



My most expensive radio, a 1928 RCA Radiola 18. Paid $75 for this one just this past weekend. I have a correct speaker hooked to it, but its in poor shape. The speaker I've had for ages, got that one for free someplace. This has 3 non-original tubes in it, and all original capacitors. The first audio interstage transformer (it uses transformers between stages instead of RC coupling) failed so I bypassed it with a cap and a resistor stuck inside the box tht normally contains the transformers. Its been re-assembled since these pics earlier in the week. Sensitivity is much better than I expected, selectivity not as bad as I expected but its definitely no superhet.




I also have a Philco 39-116 that I've electronically restored and replaced the grille cloth. I don't have any pics of that handy, and none since I finished with it at the moment. Its a nice performer. I regularly listen to CHWO out of Toronto on it, though this week I've been using the Radiola for that just because its the new guy. The Philco I got for free, someone was going to toss it out.

[heath2832]

Philco 38-12 on top. Absolutely original (unrestored)
Philco 38-7 bottom (NOS tubes, new grill cloth)

[mr_fixer]

Cool stuff guys, Gadget and Heath. Hey Sprman "Angelo"get out your camera and take some pics of your cool stuff, this is "SHOW" and tell. logan

[Sandy G]

Homina..Homina..Homina...I'm frothin' at th' mouth, guys ! This is GREAT !!

[Fisherdude]

Very nice radios!

[sprman55]

Hi Logan well picked up the following NC-57B ($75.00) WORKS,Lafayette HB-115A CB rig works,Superior TV sig gen works,Eico Sig gen works,Triplett 1200 meter works all for 20.00 dollars and Superior TW-11 tube tester works 40 dollars at hamfest in Gladeville.. Had a blast guy had Knight R-100 recievers 5 and Knight T-150 transmitters 4 of them very nice want $100.00 each all worked.I did not get them to hi IMHO.As for photos it be a while ! Sprman

[radioactive]

nice radios indeed.it was my dads interest in antique radios that lead me to the boatanchor s/w receivers all the way up to the tube hi-fi gear.

Had a blast guy had Knight R-100 recievers

i have one of those bought it yrs ago.if cosmetically fine and working i dont see $100 being too much for it although id try to bargain him down a bit .

[Fisherdude]

Originally Posted by sprman55

... Had a blast guy had Knight R-100 recievers 5 and Knight T-150 transmitters 4 of them very nice want $100.00 each all worked.I did not get them to hi IMHO.As for photos it be a while ! Sprman

Originally Posted by radioactive

...i have one of those bought it yrs ago.if cosmetically fine and working i dont see $100 being too much for it although id try to bargain him down a bit .

You might be very, very surprised at what some Knight Kit radios are going for these days. I've seen Ocean Hoppers and (what's the other one...something Spanner) go for well over $100 in good condition. An R-100 could easily top that.

Everybody wants to go back to their youth!

[OvenMaster]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Homina..Homina..Homina...I'm frothin' at th' mouth, guys ! This is GREAT !!

You said it, mister. I have always loved those Euro table radios ever since I was a kid.
Tom

[gadget73]

another Teusday, another piece to show. Picked this fella up on Saturday. Its a circa 1926 Freshmen Masterpiece, fully loaded with Cunningham globe tubes and the original optional Utah horn.




Its not that heavy, the workbench is just bent. Its an old 8 foot table that came with the house. Its in miserable cosmetic shape, but functionally as a bench it does just fine.

[Old1625]

Hi gadget73,

I've got two of those Freshman chasses--both applied in different cabinet schemes than what you show, but I've seen yours in articles about that radio. How are the audio interstage xfmrs in the thing? I have an RC network bypassing one of the pigs in one of mine.... Still worked very well the last time I tried it.

[gadget73]

Originally Posted by Old1625

Hi gadget73,

I've got two of those Freshman chasses--both applied in different cabinet schemes than what you show, but I've seen yours in articles about that radio. How are the audio interstage xfmrs in the thing? I have an RC network bypassing one of the pigs in one of mine.... Still worked very well the last time I tried it.

It seems that there are at least 3 Masterpiece models. 2 in a cabinet like mine, and one with a bakelite front. All the ones I've seen online have the other chassis with a "staggered" tube layout, where mine are all inline. I don't honestly know the difference if it was more involved than a physical layout change. As for the transformers, well they seem to work, though the audio quality isn't so hot. One may be bad, not honestly sure. It appears that one was previously replaced, but its with a unit that looks absolutely identical to the other. Either it was replaced with an OEM one, or just the wires were re-soldered to it. That looks to be the only work ever done to this set. Its totally un-molested internally.

I know I had one go bad in my Radiola 18 and I bypassed it with a simple RC network. I stuck that one inside the box where the interstage lives, so its nearly undetectable. I've actually been told that RC coupling usually gives better sound quality than the original interstage setup provided for. I know my 18 sounds pretty darn decent, especially given that I'm using it on the correct Radiola 100a speaker from the late 20s. Its not HiFi, but its very workable for AM listening.

mr_fixer: Thanks. I'm pretty pleased with it myself. Its not perfect, there are some issues on the lid but honestly for being over 80 years old, its in darn fine shape. For $40 I don't think I did badly.

[Old1625]

Originally Posted by gadget73

It seems that there are at least 3 Masterpiece models. 2 in a cabinet like mine, and one with a bakelite front. All the ones I've seen online have the other chassis with a "staggered" tube layout, where mine are all inline. I don't honestly know the difference if it was more involved than a physical layout change. As for the transformers, well they seem to work, though the audio quality isn't so hot. One may be bad, not honestly sure. It appears that one was previously replaced, but its with a unit that looks absolutely identical to the other. Either it was replaced with an OEM one, or just the wires were re-soldered to it. That looks to be the only work ever done to this set. Its totally un-molested internally.

I know I had one go bad in my Radiola 18 and I bypassed it with a simple RC network. I stuck that one inside the box where the interstage lives, so its nearly undetectable. I've actually been told that RC coupling usually gives better sound quality than the original interstage setup provided for. I know my 18 sounds pretty darn decent, especially given that I'm using it on the correct Radiola 100a speaker from the late 20s. Its not HiFi, but its very workable for AM listening.
.......

Although it doesn't have to be so a transformer-coupled interstage of the day was usually of narrower bandwidth along with non-flatness of frequency response as compared to an RC-coupled stage--thus the inferior sound quality. The tradeoff is that the TC setup is often of greater efficiency within its bandwidth than the RC type. I've not attempted to drive a horn with my Freshman; just headphones. But I enjoyed hearing a symphony orchestra on a station out of NYC, and was surprised to hear the full body of the timpani.

Both my chasses are of the "staggered" socket configuration. The coil design on these sets is worthy of mention.