[Nathan Slingerland]

I picked this up from Facebook Marketplace. I couldn't tell what model it was from the ad - but the mystery was driving me nuts so my curiosity got the better of me. 

It turns out this is a model 98 - something maybe made for export? I can’t make out what is stamped on the chassis: "Made in ??" (GB? Q&A? USA?). It has a dual-voltage transformer and has a US plug on it.

Close up of chassis stamp:
https://flic.kr/p/2nQ5xQ3

The cabinet is very similar to the January 1935 model 18, but there are many differences. This is a 3-band, 7-tube set. The grille cloth I've only ever seen in the Philco UK section of the Philco Library. 

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Unfortunately the shadow meter / band light mount was broken in shipping. I think the 16 (125) and a few other sets have a similar setup and that seems to be a common structural weak point.

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What do you guys think would be the best way to repair? Maybe JB Weld with some additional reinforcement?

[klondike98]

Interesting set! That shadow meter mount fix will be tricky I suspect but the JB weld with reinforcement sounds reasonable.

[Ron Ramirez]

Great find! That Model 98 was intended for sale in the UK, as evidenced by the "licence" notice tag inside the edge of the cabinet. The cabinet itself, along with the back, all have the appearance of UK Philco sets.

The cabinet was probably made in the UK. The chassis, as you know, was made in the USA for export to Great Britain.

It would have been an expensive radio when new, as radios were taxed in the UK based on the number of tubes ("valves" in Europe) used in the set. This is why 5-tube, 4-tube and even 3-tube sets were more common there than here.

A repair of the dial lamp assembly with J-B Weld, with reinforcement, should work fine. I've done it before. Just be careful with it after you repair it.

[Nathan Slingerland]

Thank you for making sense of it! Funny to think how many times some of the components have crossed "the pond".
That's really interesting about the valve tax. I see from our UK history page there was a UK sold version of the 116PX - that must have cost a fortune!

I came across the UK service info for the model 98. Apparently there were a couple of variants - an earlier version ("Series 1") with 3 bands (like this one has) and a later version ("Series 2") with 4 bands:

philco_uk_98_service_info.pdf Size: 683.64 KB  Downloads: 106

I was also surprised to see that the model 98 also appears in Riders: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel...013904.pdf

There's also this UK radio forum thread which discusses a bit about the model 98. The model shown there looks like it is Series 2 - it has four bands - and an oval dial like Philco's 1936 model year - vs. the 1935 model year styling of this one. A photo of a similar oval dial version from an older eBay listing (gone from eBay, images still out there on the 'net):

   

[Ron Ramirez]

There are some UK Philco sets in Rider's - I don't know why since they would not have been available on this side of "the pond". Maybe John F. Rider just published everything Philco sent to him?

Regarding the rectangular escutcheon as opposed to the oval escutcheon, maybe UK Philco made model 98 available in both the 1935 and 1936 model years? Here in the USA, as you know, the similar model 97 was only available during the second half of the 1935 selling season before it was replaced by model 640 when the 1936 models first came out in May-June 1935.

And, yes, the UK 116PX would have been quite expensive there when new. Just imagine what the three versions of the 1938 Empire Twenty-Two (a modified version of the 37 or 38-690, with two extra tubes or "valves" and a phonograph, making the set a "radiogram") would have cost including taxes?

(For context, go to the link below and scroll down to near the bottom of the page:
https://philcoradio.com/library/index.ph...d-kingdom/ )

[Arran]

There was not a valve tax as such, however during the 1920s, and up until the early 1930s, radio manufacturers were required to pay a license fee to the British Marconi company, and that was set based on how many valves the set had. The reason I read for why people preferred lower tube count sets is that members of the B.V.A, or British Valve Association, the tube manufacturers, would sell tubes to the radio manufacturers at near cost, and then soak the owners of the set on the cost of replacement tubes. On top of that they would not allow replacement tubes to be imported, so if you bought a set in the U.S, and brought it over, you would be stuck for replacements, especially with 150 ma tubes which none of the B.V.A members made.
 The radio manufacturers also used to collude with other parts manufacturers to keep new competitors out of the market by refusing to sell to them. This would not have worked so well with Philco since they were a huge company whom manufactured most of their own parts. It's a behavior that would have landed them in court in the U.S under the Sherman Antitrust Act for collusion, and conspiracy to defraud, and likely explains why they started to be left behind having to import technology under license.
Regards
Arran