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The knob at the back of the chassis is for the QAVC adjustment. This acts a bit like a squelch control, cutting the audio as one tunes between stations. The toggle switch on the side of the cabinet turns this feature on or off.
The unit added to the right side doesn't look original to me. It seems to consist of slightly later vintage components. Could be an add on for a phonograph input, or some modification to improve radio reception. Information on how it is connected to the main chassis would help solve the mystery.
Do you have pictures of the front of the cabinet? That way, we could have a better chance with ID. Model 16 appeared in a number of variants but I would guess yours is an early chassis with five bands. It looks to be in quite undisturbed condition, and you even have the "Echo Absorbing Screen".
Ed
I don't hold with furniture that talks.
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Welcome to the Phorum!
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Looks like an aftermarket BFO (Philco maybe) (beat frequency oscillator) for listening to CW (code signals) on the Ham bands... Without the BFO code signals would just "clickity, click" unless the beat against another radio station carrier, (messy).
Nice addition if one can read code or put the tones into the computer to decode. The BFO would also make listening to Single-Side-Band voice, those sound like Donald Duck without the carrier (BFO) turned on. The radio may be hard to correctly tune the SSB but it is possible.
Remove if you like, I would buy for another Philco shortwave in my collection
YMMV
Chas
Pliny the younger
“nihil novum nihil varium nihil quod non semel spectasse sufficiat”