[GarySP]

Pip pip, old boy. In no time at all I'm sure you will be enjoying a spot of tea, or better yet, a pint or two while listening to that " across the pond" wireless. Nice score!! Take care, Gary

[British Philcos]

Picked this up in London earlier in the week, not in the best of shape, but obscure, cant find it in any books, model 582. Cabinet is very similar to Rons

       

[Ron Ramirez]

Very nice set! A bit fancier in appearance than my 282, I think.

I *might* have the service info for your 582 - I would have to look and see.

Say, if you ever come across a 1263 Baby Grand at a reasonable price in your travels over there and back, please keep me in mind - I would love to have one of those.

[Image: http://philcoradio.com/images/phorum/uk_window1.jpg]

[British Philcos]

A 1263 sold on UK ebay a month or so ago, Ive seen them, I will keep an eye out

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks!

[British Philcos]

found it, went cheap enough

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philco-Vintage...7675.l2557

[Ron Ramirez]

Wow, yes, it did! $46.92 at the current exchange rate.

From the back, the chassis looks like a variant of the USA model 60. I wouldn't be surprised if that chassis was built in Philadelphia. The chassis of my UK 261 was built in Philly, and is also very similar to a USA model 60.

[Ron Ramirez]

I (mostly) restored my 282 this past winter, and chronicled its restoration on the Facebook group Philco Radio Enthusiasts. I have now copied that information here to the Phorum:

http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=7267

[PhilcoJohn]

Ron nice find. I wonder if those UK models perform better than the sets made in the good old USA?

[Ron Ramirez]

Most UK sets had fewer valves (tubes) than their American counterparts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I *think* that radios were taxed in the UK based on valve (tube) count...the more valves, the higher the tax. So manufacturers managed to extract the most performance they could from the fewest amount of valves.

That said, the 282 is an excellent performer for being a five-valve (tube) set. I would put it on a par with the USA 620 or 630. I have never heard a 610 in operation, so can't comment on it. A 610 would be closest in circuitry to the 282 since neither have RF amplifier stages.

[British Philcos]

What you say is accurate Ron, the European sets had to at least be more selective since the station spacing was 9 Kc instead of 10. Also the tax on tubes drove the fewer valve sets to have much nicer cabinets. The Cabinets on the British Philcos are really works of art compared to the US sets of the same size.

[Arran]

There was no tax based on tube count in Britain as far as I can find out. However there was a stigma against higher tube count sets because there was a manufacturer's cartel called the British Valve Association that sold valves/tubes to manufacturer's on a loss leading basis that then gouged customers on replacements, that is according to an article I read in a Radio Craft magazine from around 1946. This was in part the motivation behind sets like the Philco 444 "People's Radio". The author made no mention of a tax on tube counts only the purchase tax which was a big incentive to buy a cheaper radio, and it was cheaper to make and sell a radio with fewer tubes. This was mostly in the pre war era but I don't know if it applied to imported tubes, which is mostly what Philco used. It must have went away by the 1950s however as it's not uncommon to run into a PYE, a Murphy, or a Bush set with more then five tubes, but by then things were more standardized and they were using the same tubes as they did on the continent.
Regards
Arran

[Philco444]

After reading this thread I was as usual looking on ePay.co.uk and stumbled upon this 1280 for sale in Düsseldorf, Germany. This one caught my eye looking similar to the 282 and is from 1935

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rohrenradio-P...3968587075

Also you mentioned in this thread you used to have one of these as well. Being a British set with 5 "valves" but one should say 5 "valves" and a mystery toobe, bulb, discumbobulator? What is that mystery device on the left side (looking forward from the rear) and from what I gathered this is one of those AC/DC sets not using a transformer. As for DC it would fall into the category of the VE301G the wooden version of my VE301Wn except that one was for DC mains not AC. This 1280 appears to be in decent shape but is missing a knob and the back cover and if it is like my Philco 444 phinding a back cover is as difficult or worse than locating droppings from a wooden rocking horse!! Currently at EUR11.50 is very low indeed. It would probably cost 50-55EUR for shipping

[Kenneth F. Besso Jr.]

I guess ,,you E-bayed ---England to find this ????

[Philco444]

eBay.co.uk
eBay.de (for my Sieg Heil sets)  
eBay.ie
eBay.com&eBay.ca
The Philco 444,A527&B537 were called the People's sets and the Deutchland version were the Volksempfanger or People's Radio. Other than the Philco 444 I also have a very fine VE301Wn which are the more civilized first of the series. They are much more common most of the time and usually not molested like the VE301DYN or DKE38 bearing the Third Reich emblems and most have these ground off, drilled out or smashed cabinets. Also attempting to purchase these are harder because the emblems always have to be covered or the eeevilPay "Nazi Brownshirts" yank the listing even if it's being bid on as I found out on several ocations. It gets yanked and no notifications are given. Another variation of my VE301Wn made by Braun are the VE301G that look the same but have a wooden cabinet and run on DC mains. Yes I'm gravitating to the European sets as there are many VERY interesting goodies out there that Leowe and Telefunken have put out. Instead of derailing this post I will post pictures of my "Fanger" and Philco along with my other members of my radio family most of which are Deforest. Deforest are common in my location and of course Marconi being mostly Canadian or as I refer to them as Macaroni.
Don
PS
A valuable tool
Google English German translator and it can be used with many other languages.