Help identify radio

[leadlike]

http://www.antiqueradio.com/Jul10_Wi...Two_Names.html

FWIW, the Earl in this article appears to be a similar chassis (the NA schematic shows that it is not electronically close), and definitely shares the same escucheon. It's interesting to note that the radio in this article does not use a field coil speaker...

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Reece

I love a mystery! Like the shelf between the chassis and the speaker: just for stiffening the cabinet? Maybe the "bandswitch" is really for local/distant? Three gang tuning condensor but where's the RF tube on a five tube set? 175Kc IF stamped on one of the xfrmrs.

If you wanted to ditch the tuning eye as not being "authentic" (whoa: what IS authentic on this one?) it would take reveneering the front panel. OTOH somebody "updated" this set so it's part of its history.

I think what I would do first is to trace out the wiring and draw the schematic, see if it makes sense, while getting familiar with it.

Good question - maybe the 6D6 served as osc mixer somehow ?

Yeah, I'll have to trace out the circuit. So many modifications! Who knows, many it'll sound great once restored ? Someone seems to have spent a lot of time on it.

Originally Posted by leadlike

Someone really built a hot rod radio there. The cabinet is probably a battery farm radio, hence the shelf for the cabinet.

Zenith sometimes used Rola speakers like that (or so I've been told) and that grill cloth is the same as what I've seen on some of my other Zeniths-it's possible this had a reed-type speaker when it was a battery set, which was lost during the AC upgrade.

It's possible this was converted to shortwave operation at some point, and when the maker just decided to log the stations off of the am dial.

The eye tube is also a later addition. Looks like every mod that a kid would make to a table radio circa 1936-8. Looking in depression era magazines, you'll note that almost all of the reader-submitted photographs showing off their dx rigs were almost always lower quality sets that had been modified. This is one such set.

They even added a phono jack My only doubts about that shelf being for a battery are that that aren't any holes in it or stains

I just noticed two pencil lines through the two chassis mounting holes that do line up. I bet the three unused ones were for the original chassis and the other two were drilled to mount this chassis.

Looks like every control has been replaced or modified. I bet those coils are for shortwave bands.

I think the chassis was always AC. The 80 rectifier socket matches the others and there's a punchout and mounting holes for a transformer of different dimensions under the current one.

Go figure. My only other tombstone is a Philco 643 farm sets that's just as heavily modified!

[leadlike]

Here's the thing that gets me about those holes in the bottom-so many of them aren't used that it suggests a second chassis was put in there. But then why do the control switches line up so perfectly with with the cabinet's face? It sure doesn't look like they had to drill new holes in the front of the set...


It's sets like this one that remind me of what you can do when you have very little; it also shows how spoiled we are today-can you imagine telling some 1940's family "Oh, I have 12 televisions, 8 console radios, and 30 table sets..."

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by leadlike

Here's the thing that gets me about those holes in the bottom-so many of them aren't used that it suggests a second chassis was put in there. But then why do the control switches line up so perfectly with with the cabinet's face? It sure doesn't look like they had to drill new holes in the front of the set...


It's sets like this one that remind me of what you can do when you have very little; it also shows how spoiled we are today-can you imagine telling some 1940's family "Oh, I have 12 televisions, 8 console radios, and 30 table sets..."

That's a good point. Check out this photo of the interior. I see pencil lines just like those two underneath that line up with the chassis. Perhaps that entire center board is a homemade replacement


Hey, I only have 5 console radios
They're also a heck of a lot cheaper now too. I paid $25 for this set. That would be about $1.58 in 1934. I'm sure it cost a lot more than that new.

[leadlike]

NOW the mystery REALLY deepens....it really is possible that center board is part of this custom package. I see the speaker is mounted to a board with clipped corners-is this part of the center board, or a separate speaker mount? As for the center board itself, can you tell if it is solid wood/veneer?

BTW, I think my count is something like 9 vintage tvs, 3 consoles, and at least 15 table sets....

[bandersen]

I torn into the radio cabinet a little more.

Here's the interior with the speaker removed.


I believe the center board is plywood with veneer. It's separating a little at the bottom, but not too bad.


Here's the speaker. I can't believe how clean it is considering how filthy the rest of the set was. Just one minor tear. Some Aleene's tacky glue will take care of that


I'm itching to refinish this cabinet because I have all the supplies on hand, but I've got to finish the Motorola 19K1 first.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by bandersen

...
They're also a heck of a lot cheaper now too. I paid $25 for this set. That would be about $1.58 in 1934. I'm sure it cost a lot more than that new.

That would mean that in 1934 a penny would buy today's 15 cents worth of something. But maybe that might be too much of something, but you have to take it, as you can't make change on a penny... Like that you can't buy exactly a gallon of gas, as it is always priced $X.XX9 and you can't get change for the 1/10 cent.

[bandersen]

16 cents according to the inflation calculator I used. Of course there are many other factors to determine the intrinsic value of something.

One of my consoles sold for $250 in 1932. Somehow, I think I'd have trouble getting $4,000 for it now, but I wouldn't mind

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Reece

... Three gang tuning condensor but where's the RF tube on a five tube set? 175Kc IF stamped on one of the xfrmrs...

I've been pouring over dozens of schematics and can't find one with the original lineup of 57, 58, 55, 2A5, 80, but I did find some that were close. The 57 can be used as an osc / mixer. The 58 an IF amp. The 55 a detector and 1st AF amp.

[leadlike]

http://www.grillecloth.com/sylvania/...it=Submit&db=5

I don't know if the page will show up with my search or not, but not a lot of sets match your tube lineup. But note that Knight has a similar chassis-so possibly it was ordered from Allied Radio (Knight was their house brand) along with all of the other parts for this insane conversion...

[bandersen]

Thanks - I'd forgotten about that search tool. How do you know that the Knight has a similar chassis ?
I used those search results and dug through Riders. I came up with these 3 schematics. All have the proper tube lineup and 175 KC IF.

Allied Knight 6 although the tube layout looks wrong

Radiolek 5

Simplex Model P

[bandersen]

You can see the Knight P AC chassis here Nothing like mine unfortunately.

[bandersen]

I did a little more work on the cabinet tonight and discovered that the escutcheon hole was packed with wood filler.
It seems unlikely this escutcheon originally went with this cabinet - or at least this center board.


It came out easily and the old finish just melted off with CitriStrip.




It should be a piece of cake to refinish. Mohawk Medium Walnut on the center board and Extra Dark Walnut on the rest.

[bandersen]

I finished stripping the cabinet. The wood on the sides and top is pretty funky looking. I can see why they used a thick dark finish on it.

I'll be using black acrylic on the grill edges, shellac for a sealer and grain filler, Mohawk toners and Deft clear gloss.


I applied the acrylic with a small brush then the shellac sealer. very important because lacquer doesn't play nice with acrylic or enamel paints.


Medium Brown toner on the front. I masked off the sides and sprayed the top with Dark Walnut toner. Then, I masked off the top and sprayed the side with Extra Dark Walnut toner.


Here's the result. The sides are a little darker than I had intended, but not too bad I think. Next up a few coats of clear gloss and rubbing it out.

[PaulOF]

Oh my. That's turning into something beautiful