Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

FIXITNOW · 22nd Jun 2018, 7:34 am

Radio id please no markings pos kit set

case looks familiar, but with out some sort of id can not search site
cheers

Edward Huggins · 22nd Jun 2018, 7:41 am

Looks like a Pilot "Maestro" or the Premier Radio Kit version - TRF or Superhet. The knobs are not orignal.

HamishBoxer · 22nd Jun 2018, 7:55 am

Very familiar, name eludes me but were also as a kit. Premier?

mark2collection · 22nd Jun 2018, 8:26 am

Pilot Little Maestro rings a bell, along with Premier if it's a kit jobbie.

Mark

HamishBoxer · 22nd Jun 2018, 8:31 am

You have beat me Mark, I was just going to say little Maestro though it looks more like a kit.

Tell me that speaker below is not a painted AR88 type?

FIXITNOW · 22nd Jun 2018, 10:07 am

no I think its just a radio wooden painted extension speaker

only other picture I have here at work

HamishBoxer · 22nd Jun 2018, 10:17 am

Thanks,it looks like wood.Sorry I am drifting off topic.

Peter.N. · 22nd Jun 2018, 11:13 am

I'm sure there was a DER or Derwent set that looked like that in the early '50s.

Peter

peterpixel · 22nd Jun 2018, 11:21 am

Looks like the kit sold by Premier Radio as a 3 valve TRF or a 4 valve superhet. I have a copy of Wireless World, October 1951 showing an ad on page 43, with the price of £5/19/6 for the TRF kit. I remember my brother building one and the family being very impressed with his ability. It may well be still in the family somewhere. Peter.

Kentode · 22nd Jun 2018, 1:21 pm

This is the same bakelite case, but with a different scale. The pointers look the same and I'm reasonably sure that mine has its original knobs.

I think mine is the kit version but am willing to be told otherwise.

AC/HL · 22nd Jun 2018, 2:59 pm

Not just Premier, it was widely used at the time.

boxdoctor · 22nd Jun 2018, 3:18 pm

The speaker at the bottom of the pile in post 6, looks very much like a Telefusion "Doric" radio relay speaker. (Or the remnants thereof)
If I remember rightly, made by Whiteley Bros. Tony

See_Mos · 22nd Jun 2018, 7:07 pm

As Bill wrote, there were many kit sets and commercial ones that used the same case.

A photo of the internals might help

Paul_RK · 22nd Jun 2018, 11:38 pm

I wondered whether this set of mine, a Barton, might be the same, but the dial is different not least in that it includes short wave. Sure to have been a kit, and it's possible that an internal photo and/or the valve complement might lead to identification via someone who has the appropriate constructional folder, otherwise info is unlikely to turn up.

Paul

vidjoman · 23rd Jun 2018, 8:57 am

I built a Premier Radio kit about 1960 that had the same dial as in the 1st post picture but it had a wooden case with rounded corners. It had a vertically mounted PCB behind the dial and a mains transformer. Believe it cost about £7. Worked well and lasted many years at my parents house.

Hartley118 · 23rd Jun 2018, 3:30 pm

I have the Premier Radio version of this kit radio. It does have ‘Premier Radio’ printed in the centre of the tuning dial. On the other hand, ISTR that the Barton Radio version that I managed to build at an early age had an anonymous dial.

Mine was a very conventional superhet - 6K8 6K7 6Q7 6V6 plus selenium rectifier, though one or two others in my collection include some weird and wonderful valve line-ups depending presumably on available ex-WD types in that post-war decade.

That modified Pilot Little Maestro cabinet tooling ran and ran - sufficiently for the design to become an attractive classic in its own right, whether in cream or mottled brown bakelite. And yes there was a wooden version too, though I feel that lacks the period appeal of the bakelite versions.

Martin

Reelman · 23rd Jun 2018, 4:23 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kentode

This is the same bakelite case, but with a different scale. The pointers look the same and I'm reasonably sure that mine has its original knobs.

I think mine is the kit version but am willing to be told otherwise.

I knew somebody who worked at Premier Radio and he gave me some knobs exactly like yours but in cream. Therefore I believe yours are originals.

Peter.

Trifocaltrev · 23rd Jun 2018, 4:36 pm

Can you give the valve line up, please? I have Premier in a brown identical cabinet which is a trf and it uses an EL32 as the output valve.

Kentode · 23rd Jun 2018, 5:44 pm

Re #17.

Thanks for the info Peter.

Mine must be a Premier kit then. Next week I'll open it up and photograph the valves and the underside to help others identify which model they have.

FIXITNOW · 25th Jun 2018, 7:23 am

internal picture will check valve types tonight

22nd Jun 2018, 7:41 am	#2
Edward Huggins Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 4,903	Re: Radio id please no markings pos kit set Looks like a Pilot "Maestro" or the Premier Radio Kit version - TRF or Superhet. The knobs are not orignal. __________________ Edward.

22nd Jun 2018, 7:55 am	#3
HamishBoxer Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: W.Butterwick, near Doncaster UK. Posts: 6,685	Re: Radio id please no markings pos kit set Very familiar, name eludes me but were also as a kit. Premier? __________________ G8JET BVWS Member and V.M.A.R.S

22nd Jun 2018, 8:26 am	#4
mark2collection Hexode Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Royal Berkshire, UK. Posts: 304	Re: Radio id please no markings pos kit set Pilot Little Maestro rings a bell, along with Premier if it's a kit jobbie. Mark

22nd Jun 2018, 8:31 am	#5
HamishBoxer Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: W.Butterwick, near Doncaster UK. Posts: 6,685	Re: Radio id please no markings pos kit set You have beat me Mark, I was just going to say little Maestro though it looks more like a kit. Tell me that speaker below is not a painted AR88 type? __________________ G8JET BVWS Member and V.M.A.R.S

22nd Jun 2018, 10:07 am	#6
FIXITNOW Octode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 1,219	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. no I think its just a radio wooden painted extension speaker only other picture I have here at work Attached Thumbnails Last edited by FIXITNOW; 22nd Jun 2018 at 10:23 am.

22nd Jun 2018, 7:34 am	#1
FIXITNOW Octode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 1,219	Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. Radio id please no markings pos kit set case looks familiar, but with out some sort of id can not search site cheers Attached Thumbnails

22nd Jun 2018, 10:17 am	#7
HamishBoxer Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: W.Butterwick, near Doncaster UK. Posts: 6,685	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. Thanks,it looks like wood.Sorry I am drifting off topic. __________________ G8JET BVWS Member and V.M.A.R.S

22nd Jun 2018, 11:13 am	#8
Peter.N. Dekatron Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Charmouth, Dorset, UK. Posts: 3,266	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. I'm sure there was a DER or Derwent set that looked like that in the early '50s. Peter

22nd Jun 2018, 11:21 am	#9
peterpixel Triode Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Wilmslow, Cheshire, UK. Posts: 42	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. Looks like the kit sold by Premier Radio as a 3 valve TRF or a 4 valve superhet. I have a copy of Wireless World, October 1951 showing an ad on page 43, with the price of £5/19/6 for the TRF kit. I remember my brother building one and the family being very impressed with his ability. It may well be still in the family somewhere. Peter.

22nd Jun 2018, 1:21 pm	#10
Kentode Hexode Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 339	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. This is the same bakelite case, but with a different scale. The pointers look the same and I'm reasonably sure that mine has its original knobs. I think mine is the kit version but am willing to be told otherwise. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Regards, Ken. BVWS member

22nd Jun 2018, 2:59 pm	#11
AC/HL Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 7,260	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. Not just Premier, it was widely used at the time. __________________ Bill, BVWS member

22nd Jun 2018, 3:18 pm	#12
boxdoctor Heptode Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Ripley, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 670	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. The speaker at the bottom of the pile in post 6, looks very much like a Telefusion "Doric" radio relay speaker. (Or the remnants thereof) If I remember rightly, made by Whiteley Bros. Tony __________________ The job "couldn't be done". He didn't know that, So he did it.

22nd Jun 2018, 7:07 pm	#13
See_Mos Hexode Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ossett, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 265	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. As Bill wrote, there were many kit sets and commercial ones that used the same case. A photo of the internals might help

22nd Jun 2018, 11:38 pm	#14
Paul_RK Nonode Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Fakenham, Norfolk, UK. Posts: 2,710	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. I wondered whether this set of mine, a Barton, might be the same, but the dial is different not least in that it includes short wave. Sure to have been a kit, and it's possible that an internal photo and/or the valve complement might lead to identification via someone who has the appropriate constructional folder, otherwise info is unlikely to turn up. Paul Attached Thumbnails

23rd Jun 2018, 8:57 am	#15
vidjoman Nonode Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: East Sussex, UK. Posts: 2,110	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. I built a Premier Radio kit about 1960 that had the same dial as in the 1st post picture but it had a wooden case with rounded corners. It had a vertically mounted PCB behind the dial and a mains transformer. Believe it cost about £7. Worked well and lasted many years at my parents house.

23rd Jun 2018, 3:30 pm	#16
Hartley118 Octode Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Cambridge, Cambs. UK. Posts: 1,358	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. I have the Premier Radio version of this kit radio. It does have ‘Premier Radio’ printed in the centre of the tuning dial. On the other hand, ISTR that the Barton Radio version that I managed to build at an early age had an anonymous dial. Mine was a very conventional superhet - 6K8 6K7 6Q7 6V6 plus selenium rectifier, though one or two others in my collection include some weird and wonderful valve line-ups depending presumably on available ex-WD types in that post-war decade. That modified Pilot Little Maestro cabinet tooling ran and ran - sufficiently for the design to become an attractive classic in its own right, whether in cream or mottled brown bakelite. And yes there was a wooden version too, though I feel that lacks the period appeal of the bakelite versions. Martin __________________ BVWS Member

23rd Jun 2018, 4:36 pm	#18
Trifocaltrev Pentode Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Lancing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 146	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. Can you give the valve line up, please? I have Premier in a brown identical cabinet which is a trf and it uses an EL32 as the output valve.

23rd Jun 2018, 5:44 pm	#19
Kentode Hexode Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 339	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. Re #17. Thanks for the info Peter. Mine must be a Premier kit then. Next week I'll open it up and photograph the valves and the underside to help others identify which model they have. __________________ Regards, Ken. BVWS member

25th Jun 2018, 7:23 am	#20
FIXITNOW Octode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 1,219	Re: Radio ID please. No markings, possibly a kit set. internal picture will check valve types tonight Attached Thumbnails