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Vintage Radio (domestic) Domestic vintage radio (wireless) receivers only.

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Old 25th Sep 2017, 11:03 am   #1
crackle
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Default Mystery radio - any ideas?

I bought this radio at Harpenden yesterday and cant find any model with a speaker fret like this one.
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You can view larger images on my KB 333 web page, see link below.
The radio has a KB 333 chassis. see http://www.kbmuseum.org.uk/kb_images/kb333/kb333.htm
I have been in contact with Aerodyne, who was the person who carried out the last restoration of the radio, and he confirms that the speaker cloth was replaced and the cabinet refinished with a very dark finish.

It has an additional knob because, I believe, it has been altered at some time in the distant past with an additional separate volume control, possibly because the original combined reaction/volume control was faulty.

The cabinet looks like it was professionally made and manufactured with fine fitting finger joints along the top corners.
I have searched all the information I have on KB 1930's radios and can find nothing like this.

Google Images seems to think it is a floodlight of some sort
Can anyone on here help with information on the radio.

Thanks
Mike

Last edited by crackle; 25th Sep 2017 at 11:17 am.
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Old 25th Sep 2017, 12:15 pm   #2
crackle
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

My suspicions are that this may be a radio made by KB and sold under the STC brand.

Mike
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Old 25th Sep 2017, 8:42 pm   #3
Lloyd 1985
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

Sorry I can't help with any info, but I have to say that is a really nice looking radio!

Regards,
Lloyd
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 12:20 am   #4
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

Wow I'd love a radio like that why don't they make radios this iconic now ?
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 6:50 am   #5
crackle
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

I have received confirmation from Aerodyne that the original finish to the front of the radio was brown, with possibly a rather plain Oak veneer, but so badly damaged it needed to be darkened to hide the blemishes.

I have recently acquired some user instruction pamphlets for STC radios, they came with a whole load of KB paraphernalia. I believe these all used chassis manufactured at the KB factory in Foots Cray and bear a reference number in the top right corner of the cover which match the equivalent KB model, where where was an equivalent.
Some of these STC radios have very angular fretwork for the speaker grille. One at least seems to just have a plain oak look to the front.
Below are a few examples of these STC sets all TRF radios from the same era, 1932-33 as the mystery radio in in the first post..
Has anyone else got information on my mystery radio.
Thanks

STC S328
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STC S330
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STC 30B
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Mike

Last edited by crackle; 26th Sep 2017 at 6:58 am.
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 7:44 am   #6
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

"Rising sun" speaker grilles went out of fashion and never came back in. I've heard it said that association with the Japanese flag post WWII was a subconscious influence.

It's certainly battery powered and with three valves, it looks to be a TRF design. Battery-valve sets in table-top cabinets were made later than you'd think. My first radio as a kid was a post war Kolster-Brandes battery set, identified on here as KB model AR22. Battery powered valve portable sets were made into the sixties when transistor circuitry took over.

The one here will be from the early 30's or possibly late '20s.

The space inside he cabinet to the side of the chassis is where a very large 120v battery slides in. There would also be 1.5v batteries for the valves' heaters.

why don't they make radios this iconic now ? Actually, some people do, just for the fun of it. Gerry Wells made replicas of the round-shaped Ekco sets in small quantities and those are style icons for sure. There are several threads on here about those and ones other people are making. Some people have built close replicas of the shortwave transmitters and receivers used by wartime spies. Originals of all these things exist, but demand from collectors versus limited numbers in circulation have led to eye-watering prices.

There's an amateur radio group dedicated to low power transmitters and in their magazine 'Sprat' there has been a steady flow of radio transciever designs built into all sorts of disguises as modern takes on what a spy set could be like.

There are radios and record players which try to hark back to these iconic eras and miss by a mile. Names like Steepletone, Crossley and GPO are stuck on them. They serve the sector of the current market that wants this sort of style, but their quality is absolutely awful. THe electronics inside is cheap rubbish while the cabinets aimed for art deco but landed somewhere between kitsch and totally naff. Enough has been written on here about them if you search around.

Back in the day, a radio was a very expensive object and they were made to high quality standards and the finish reflected their prestige.

Anyway, there are all sorts of genuine period components to be found in junk bins on stalls at radio rallies. YOU could build yourself a radio to your own design of any style you fancy or can imagine, and you could do it to a far better standard than the retrojunk which is currently available. Anything you make for yourself has a very special feel to it that nothing else can touch. I designed and built my own hifi system and to people used to small speakers and MP3 players, it still has the ability to shock.

Making things is a different branch of the hobby. It takes serious effort, but the feeling afterwards is a proportionate reward. Don't be put off by thinking 'I don't know how to do it/ I don't have the skills' No-one else did when they started and learning is fun.

David
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 8:21 am   #7
crackle
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

Hi David
I appreciate your comments about vintage radios in general, I would just like to clarify a couple of points.
There is no doubt that the chassis was made by KB, it is the same as their model 333 which the service information is readily available for.
This radio would use 120 volt "dry" battery and a single cell 2 volt accumulator, because I dont think there were 1.5 volt heater valves around in 1933, which is about when this radio was made. (but someone may correct me). It would also require a 1.5 to 9 volt grid bias battery which in this case was combined with the HT battery.
What I am looking for here is someone who has the same radio or who knows what the model number is.

thanks
Mike

Last edited by crackle; 26th Sep 2017 at 8:31 am.
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 9:45 am   #8
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

Sorry Mike, my reply was to Laneyloo's remark that they didn't make radios like this any longer.

I'd completely forgotten the 1.4 versus 2v filament difference. There was no way mum'd allow a lead acid accumulator in my bedroom, and my set was a later one with 1.4v heaters. so I learned first hand of the ratio of consumption of heater batteries to HT batteries.

That AR22 is the one set I'd really like to find. Personal nostalgia!

Cheers
David
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Old 26th Sep 2017, 10:41 am   #9
crackle
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Default Re: Unknown radio Model

Hi David
No problem, I just wanted to clarify a little more about what we know already about my mystery radio.
The radio you had as a boy may have been the KB AR21, that was the battery version of the AR20. http://www.kbmuseum.org.uk/kb_servic...R21_rev_kb.pdf
It used octal 1.4v valves but it also had a resistor circuit to enable it to be used with a 2 volt accumulator. If there was an AR22 I am not aware of it, but as my thing is KB radios I would like to be aware if it existed. It could be there was a modified version of the AR21 to take the smaller 7 pin 1.4 volt valves, which were around from about 1938, I think.
The first KB radio that I have which used the miniature 1.4v valves is the FR11. Note this also ends in 1 indicating it was a battery only radio, the equivalent AC mains one would be the FR10 or AC/DC one would be the FR15.
Anyway digressing slightly.

More on the black radio (originally brown) with the "striking" speaker fret in the first post would be very welcome.

Thanks
Mike
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