The PHILCO Phorum

Hello Peter,
That is amazing story and one great looking console .
Sincerely Richard

MrFixr55 .Your story is also very interesting. I wish you success in restoring your convertible

Sincerely, Peter

Quote:That is amazing story and one great looking console .

Thanks Richard

Wow MrFixr, I would love to see that 64 Lincoln. I always wanted a 60s Lincoln convertible with suicide doors back when I first started driving. That never happened but I did buy a used 72 Continental in 76, best car I ever had. Now retired for 10 years, money is tight so I won’t be buying any huge toys like that now

Peter, you really have a terrific collection there to be proud of. I see a 37-116 there, same as the one I have. I’m hoping to refinish the cabinet this year, I’ve only been putting it off for 5 years now! Glad to see you’re staying safe.

Ron

Thanks Ron. Yes, Michael helped me buy this Philco 37-116, for which I am infinitely grateful to him. This is my very favorite radio, it works great and has a great audiophile sound. It is not for nothing that the inscription "High Fidelity" is placed on its front panel. It has a beautiful classic powerful two-stroke amplifier on triodes 6B4G (and this is a minimum of distortions of the 2nd and 3rd order), a huge 13-inch speaker and a very progressive system with "sound purifiers" at that time. I have not yet heard any other radio with such a natural and deep sound at low frequencies.
Maybe the Zenit Stratosphere has a better sound, but I don't have it ... And hardly ever will

Peter I imagine it’s not easy but very expensive to have such a large radio shipped to you. I traveled 6 hours round trip to get my 37-116. Doing cabinet refinishing isn’t my favorite thing or in my comfort zone to do. Mainly I’ve put it off for so long because I don’t think I could do a good job with small rattle cans and I don’t have any spray equipment and can’t justify buying all that would be needed for one project. But who knows, there might be a project someday that would benefit from a good spray system!

Ron

Yes, Ron, delivery of such a large radio to Ukraine is very expensive, if I remember correctly, it cost about 350 dollars. But the main problem is the limited size and weight of parcels that transport companies agree to deliver to Ukraine. This is a maximum of 30 kg per parcel. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the chassis to reduce the weight and send it in a separate package. Not all sellers agree to this. Therefore, I had to buy several separate chassis of very heavy radios without cabinets from some sellers, and now I am dealing with the problem of manufacturing these cabinets. Exactly what is best for retirement.

Ron


This radio was in MA, I am in NJ, so the travel was roughly over 4 hrs one way....or 5hrs.....forgot.
I packed it orifessionally in UPS store, which it itself added some pretty penny to the shipping expenses.
The chassis was packed separately and situated on top of the cabinet.
The limit at the time was 108 lbs or so, and this is what this all came to, including the shipping boxes, fillings, tape and all. It was prepared to withstand the worst abuse a shipping company could provide, but, surprisingly, it was handled very well and, according to Peter, came without a slightest damage.

However, I'd prefer to not ship this kinds of radio anymore: just protecting teh chassis took some work. I had to but a piece of thick plywood, oversized such that the shafts of all the regulators would no go outside the pereimeter, and then bolt it to that plywood, which then was packed (plywood added at leat 20 lbs).

The Philco 37-620 you see there was much easier to deal with - it is lightweight, and I think did not require any disassembly. Also came fine.
Now, 37-690, if it ever comes to this (I doubt it...) would be a double b...ch to deal with. Two chassis' ..... much heavier cabinet....I doubt it would make the weight cut-off with the shipping company, or it would be 3 separate packages. And then it would certainly be expensive as h**l, especially considering the prices went up world-wide due to fuel, insurance and other things having increased.

Peter;
I was watching your videos and in one you have a brown battery powered portable I think this was the name: Батли однокласників. It looks interesting, is the case metal or Bakelite? Are there any chassis pictures?
Regards
Arran

Aran, I think you are talking about one of these two radios, the American FadaP80 and the Soviet "Дорожный " ("Road") . Both of them are Bakelite

Fada P80
Here is a photo of the chassis. True, here is a photo before restoration and cleaning from rust...
[attachment=28088]
[attachment=28085][attachment=28086][attachment=28087]

"Дорожный " ("Road")
These photos were also taken before the restoration, so there is a lot of dirt here. If necessary, I will take new photos tomorrow
[attachment=28089][attachment=28090]

Hello Peter,
Those are a couple nice bakelite sets !

Sincerely Richard

Peter that is an amazing story about your 37-116. Quite expensive indeed just for shipping and how fortunate for you to receive it unharmed! You must have really wanted that model and I don’t blame you. I have my chassis done but still needing to refinish my cabinet so I’ve never heard how well this radio sounds yet because I’ve only had it playing on my bench.

Mike, that was very generous of you in all the traveling you did to retrieve that radio and all the time to dismantle it and package it all up. You da man for sure!

Ron

Made a new video about the Telefunken T-776 GWK radio receiver . Here is the English translation of the subtitles

The Telefunken 776 GWK radio receiver of 1937 is a bright representative of the heyday of German pre-war radio technology, which fell precisely in 1937..39 years. In 1937, in the company's line, it occupied a niche below the company's flagship T 7000, but above the middle class.
Three ranges - Long waves, Medium waves and Short waves from 20 to 50 meters. Six radio lamps "C" series СК-1, CF-3, CB-2, C/EM-2, CL-4, AZ-1 and one Urdox (current stabilizer for heating cathode filaments).
It is a bit surprising, but with its arbitrarily high status, excellent high-sensitivity acoustics on a speaker with a diameter of 26 cm, a powerful amplifier and the complexity of the design, there is no high-frequency input amplifier... The receiver is intended for use in alternating and direct current networks from 130 to 240 volts.
In contrast to the American principle of engineering design, "We will make everything difficult simple, but qualitatively and with a reserve", in pre-war Germany designers adhered to another principle - "We will achieve the maximum at the limit of possibilities, but with a minimum of resources, even if it is difficult."
And this Telefunken is a vivid representative of this concept. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why in a 6-tube radio receiver with a universal power supply unit, which already automatically leads to the idea of its simplification due to the rejection of a power transformer, a sophisticated system of switching from direct current to alternating current is installed using ... an autotransformer , and for switching the voltage power supply from 220 volts to 127 volts, it is necessary to change the urdox in the power supply unit to the corresponding voltage value. Why do it simply, when you can do it complicatedly and cunningly... It is not otherwise to provide radio services with work as much as possible, because few clients can do it on their own at home... .
Such intricate schemes help to achieve the maximum characteristics of the device with a minimum of radio lamps, but hardly increase its reliability and durability. And at the same time, the use of a combined triode radio tube and an optical indicator of precise tuning to the station in the first stage of UHF is surprising, as well as the use of a single continuous HF band with the refusal to divide it into several sub-bands.
Nevertheless, the receiver is quite sensitive and has a very powerful and balanced sound.
Let's evaluate it...

A new video about a rather interesting radio.... Text with subtitles in English

Quote:This model from the leader of the pre-war radio industry in Germany, Telefunken, was the first attempt to revive its pre-war popularity and power. When the entire country and the company's production facilities were in ruins, and competitors managed to produce only the simplest one- and two-tube radios, the T-6445 GWK model in 1948 became the first post-war creation of the company with claims to regain leadership.
The idea of the concept of this model was very simple - in the body of the "German suitcase" of the Wehrmacht during the war, instead of the battery radio chassis, install a chassis with a universal power supply for direct and alternating current networks with a voltage from 110 to 220 volts.
And it turned out to be a great solution for a compact portable all-wave radio, making this model very popular. And taking into account that here are all radio lamps of the 11th "metal" series of the 38th model (UCH-11, UBF-11, UCL-11, UY-11), it is also extremely reliable.
It is not surprising that due to its portability, availability of the SW range and phenomenal sensitivity, this radio became extremely popular again in the army ... but already with the officers and soldiers of the US military contingent in Germany.
Paradox...