What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Can anybody provide any information about this cabinet radio? Its marked Bela Radio but I can't find any reference to it online. The speaker points upwards and the sound is deflected by two curved panels towards grilles in the sides. There is a Smiths electric clock at the top.
Is anybody familiar with the chassis? It has a plate which refers to a variety of patents which might help to date it. I'd guess its early 1930s but it has an input on the back marked 'Pickup' which might mean its later.
Any information gratefully received....

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

I say you are right with 30,s as it is not a superhet.Sure I know it from somewhere.Think I am getting mixed up with the Tempovox.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Definitely obscure. There's no reference to Bela as a trade name or manufacturer in any of the Broadcaster trade annuals here (1933,34,35 and 37), I suppose it could be a year or two older still. That loudspeaker looks quite promising for sound quality.

Paul

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

I can't find any reference to Bela either.

I've just clicked through loads of similar long-case clock radios hoping to find another, but they all seem to be American, Philco, Westinghouse, Crossly etc.

Sorry, it has to be said, that's one ugly looking clock radio 8-o.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Seriously though, the valve line-up might provide a clue.

Alan

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Very unusual indeed, It first I thought it might be a recent mock up made with old parts, but with the badge and plate it looks more like some product from a long forgotten company.
Maybe only a few were made and company folded. I must admit as styling goes, it doesn't really work, perhaps it didn't sell very well.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

I am pretty sure I have seen a clock like that one before but not on a tall radio.
Does it have the switching so that it works like other clock radios?

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Two points. The fretwork on the side of the clockbox is reminiscent of that used on some early 30s Cossor sets. Not that I think there's a direct link, but maybe. The chassis has simple, folded aluminium look to it as was used by many of the smaller, low volume manufacturers such as Pegasus and others.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Apart from the fact that they share a mains supply, the clock and the radio are completely independent of each other. Its simply a clock and a radio in the same enclosure.

Yes, a very simple folded aluminum chassis screwed to the wooden framework.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

The speaker arrangement with the curved panels is interesting. It almost hints at the development of horn loading.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

There was a company called Bela Radio Limited that was dissolved in 1937 according to the London Gazette.

Lawrence.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

That looks like a classic Bulgin 3 pin mains connector. This type of connector is described as "new" in Bulgin's 1936/37 catalogue, so if the connector is original, it would make it late 1930's.

Crossed with #12, which could narrow it down to 1935 - 1937.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

When you open that door you expect to see a pendulum and weights on a chain.
You don't expect a long-case clock to have a dial of a clock intended for a mantelpiece.
A TRF radio, but someone went to the bother of ensuring decent sound quality with that big speaker and the reflector to divert the sound to the sides.

It would be very interesting to find what the design of the circuit is, if it is a limited production item with commonly available components. The rectifier on the PSU chassis looks like a GEC/Osram made item. Are those wet type electrolytic cans?
I see evidence of repair & restoration. Someone has given the speaker cone minor attention & replaced wiring. I also spotted the choc-block connector.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

All very interesting, especially the information that Bela Radio was wound up in 1937.

The speaker is actually a replacement. When I got the set twenty years ago the speaker cone had completely disintegrated and the rest of the radio was in quite a state. The people who overhauled it fitted a replacement speaker instead of trying to repair the old one. The speaker is the same size though, it fits the original bolt holes and is the correct mains energised type.

The bulgin socket is also a replacement, but it predates my ownership of the set. Originally the mains cable entered through a slot in the back of the cabinet. Behind the slot is a bakelite connecting block with a cover, now unused.

Heres a picture of the one of the original psu capacitors (now disconnected of course). The rectifier is an Osram MU14.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Is the low capacitor value because it is immediately after the rectifier?
I assumed the HT circuit was R-C smoothed as I could not see a four-wire cable bundle going to the speaker.
I take it that they did not have good enough permanent magnets to get the required field density or they would have made the speaker immensely heavy.
The L-C smoothing using the field coil as a choke is more effective?

I am very interested in the radio circuit: I am just wondering how many stages are in there & if the detector also employs controlled positive feedback.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Hi Gents, was there a set like this on the front cover, or inside one of the editions of Radio, Radio ?

Ed

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Unfortunately I haven't got any pictures of the underside of the chassis. Its tricky to get to being screwed into the wooden frame with the power supply directly above it. Much of the wiring is original and I decided to let sleeping dogs lie.....

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Ed, all I can find in my copy of R-R is a picture of the 1938 "Tempovox" on page 154. To my eye, that is a much more attractively styled set, though the more 'spartan' one being discussed on this thread is certainly extremely rare.

Steve

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

Very strange to go to all the effort of building the cabinet, fitting a large speaker, and then only putting in a basic 2 valve radio. Not surprised the company went bankrupt.

PS: a 7uF reservoir capacitor is large for the early 30's, many used just 4uF.

Re: What is this 1930s Cabinet Radio?
 

The clock movement is the Smiths English Clocks' first style, introduced c. 1931.

By c.1933, it had been replaced by the second generation movement which was in production until after the war, but even the early version still turns up in huge quantities.

Info from Pam and Peter Wotton's excellent books.