A most unusual little radio
 

The name on the dial is Tefi this was a purchase from Ebay I felt sorry for it it was a right state the case was in bits ,but I do like a challenge ,the front of the cabinet is the only original bit left ,I made the rest from thin oak. it measures 6"x 4.25x 4.25 "
The chassis is a TRF using Valvo valves I had never come across before ,it was a bit confusing to start with as the bases of the valves are the things you see from the rear view ,to remove them you push the top cap the valve comes out from the rear.
A small 33v tx was squeezed in to supply the heaters three volts low but works ok I left the old rectifier in as it worked ok supplying about 200v ht via a dropper resistor , a new wave/change switch was fitted on the rear , plus a new speaker, re stuffed some of the capacitors new smoothing added , It works very well with a good signal.

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

What a really interesting set.

It looks like this is it on radiomuseum.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/tefi_z...zgehaeuse.html

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

Looks awful - built down to a price - but does have a certain charm all the same! I'd have done the same as you!

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

Love it, I do have a soft spot for the cheaper vintage radios making radio available to many more. Unlike the cheap modern ones that are just cheap carp.

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

That set on the radio museum site says 1947 - this looks a lot older that that. Those valve bases are indeed unusual - I wonder what they're called?

Valvo, I'm sure, was a Philips brand. I don't know when they started putting date codes on valves but is worth looking. There is a pdf on the net that explains all the codes if you can find any!

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

That valve base is more commonly seen on German military valves, including the ubiquitous RV12P2000 which is does roughly the same job as an EF91. I think the official way of extracting them is to screw a handle into the threaded boss on the base and pull.

Chris

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

RV12P2000 pentode issued in 1937 for German army. Hence 12V heater.
Very, very versatile valve, was produced in east germany till 60-ties Identical valve with different base (B8G) was manufactured in USSR as 12Ж1Л and in Poland 12Z1L, also versions for differnt heater voltage 4, 6, 10 V.

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

After the war, my Dad was stationed in Germany for a while in the British occupied territory. There must've been a very relaxed atmosphere as he used to relate the tale of how he was awoken one morning by the sound of the tiniest little valve radio he had ever set eyes on. One of the locals had built the set using German war-surplus parts including 3 (I think) RV12P2000s and had plugged it in next to Dad's bed. That's how the story goes anyway! Dad just had to have it. He was quite a fan of gadgets. There's no record of just how much hard currency passed hands in the transaction but that little radio still exists, less its case unfortunately, and one day I will get around to fixing it. Its speaker BTW is an earpiece rather than a proper speaker. Thanks for the reminder.
Graham

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

One of those earpieces that later featured in no end of early transistor radio kits, by any chance? I'm sure that they were government surplus.

Re: A most unusual little radio
 

I also enjoy working on TRFs. You've got a nice rare set there, well done!