Freed radio

[Red Raster]

Lately i have been trolling in the north west (Washington) and here is the third runner up of what i brought back.

From Vancouver Wa. is this Freed radio model NR-78





The tubes did not come with the radio just one of three sets of the
globe style 80,45,45, 27,27,27,27,27 looking for a home to move,
from the shoe box.

I will use a set of modern tubes to test and restore this radio as these
globe tubes are worth more than the 2-5 bucks that i paid a piece.

Was it the painted knobs or...

That this one came with a instruction manual that made me buy an
another radio.

[mstaton]

Cool radio. It's similar to my 1929 majestic. The Majestic has a separate power supply. And the same tube lineup. 2 45's usually means it's a push pull amp. If you need a tube, PM me. I can get almost any including those in your radio

[bandersen]

Nice find! That's a really sweet radio and it's in great condition

[Reece]

Really nice-looking radio. What is that slide for: presets?

[Winky Dink]

That is absolutely the most beautiful radio I've seen. Our cat likes it, too--but she called it a "scratching post," which is why I don't plan to collect anything that stands on the floor.
- Winky

[old_coot88]

Wao, that radio is a beaut, a real creampuff. It reminds of a set I inherited in '08, an 'Apex' model 80 identical to this one -
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/us_radi...0_case_80.html
It had been 'time capsuled' and the cabinet was absolutely pristine with original finish. Just needed a bit of polishing. Most recent service tag in it was from Feb. 1943. Built like a tank and weighed 95 pounds. Circuitwise it was a very close clone of a Majestic 70 with the identical tube lineup and separate 'big black box' power supply.

I figured it would surely have the usual gamut of problems- open audio transformers, bad filters etc. I wasn't interested in dealing with tar-potted components, and intended to offer it on Ebay 'as is' and untested. Then got to thinking what the heck, and decided to try a power-up with a 'dim bulb' setup and see what might happen. Up it came with no signs of overcurrent or shorts. And by golly it started working!! A slight hum but not in excess of normal for a radio of that vintage. With 10' of wire for an antenna it got all stations across the dial but a little deaf on the low end, so you just had to turn up the volume a bit to compensate. And dial calibration was correct.

Virtually 'working as found', the 80 year old radio was the only set that ever passed thru my hands needing no repair work whatsoever (other than minor dusting/polishing). I never even pulled the chassis. It played for many hours rock solid and cool as a cucumber. The ancient oiled-paper filter condensers proved OK.

Since I had no need for a big console TRF radio, the question was what to do with it. So rather than just selling it to a private party I donated it to the Calif. Historical Radio Society's museum, figuring more people might enjoy it that way.
Bill(oc)

[mstaton]

Here is my Majestic 90 from 1929 with that wonderful black power box. Have never powered it on because the black box has 2 bad wirewound resistors. Someday I may see if it works,

[Red Raster]

Thankyou everyone for your input, This acquisition was very spontaneous i purchased the radio this monday. Although the tubes were missing i felt that it was still worth $100.00 we settled on. The cabinet as shown has yet to be cleaned and polished and to have the operating instruction booklet is quite a bonus. And yes the slide is for presets.

[moltogordo]

Not only is that a beautiful radio, but your photography is getting quite sensational, Rasterguy!

Great post!

[parvo]

Now that is what I call a quality radio!

Very Nice!

Allen

[Sandy G]

Damn Canucks-Comin' acrost th' Border 'n' stealin' OUR Radidios !! Of course you know, THIS MEANS WAR !!! (grin) EXCELLENT score !! Nice stash of Balloons, too-Those are gettin' harder & harder to find. Congrats !!

[coffee123]

Nice that is a beast, and something that would give me nightmares when i was little...just look at the eyes and mouth of that bad boy, lol