1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

howard · 11th Oct 2007, 6:02 pm

Hello again,

If one takes a look on eBay.de, one can always find a selection of these pretty little German built Philetta radios, usually selling for not a lot, but this one I won on eBay UK for £21. The BD244U was built between 1954-1955 and was the first Philetta in this design with piano keys. It arrived very badly packed with just a thin layer of bubblewrap around it in a flimsy box, and unfortunately it was damaged, one of the front mountings inside was broken and one corner of it's rear cover had shattered into little pieces .... I got my money back though. However, it's outer case hadn't a mark on it and it's chassis was free from any corrosion so I went ahead and restored it.

I glued back the mounting with some Uhu glue and cleaned years of grime off the case quickly with some white spirit and upholstery cleaner and then polished it with some Mer polish which brought back a nice shine. The brass on the knobs were stripped/polished/revarnished and I replaced the sponges inside the case either side of the keys with some draught excluder coloured black with Kiwi Scuffcote. I could do nothing with the rear cover so I pinched the back from a WIP BD254U which is paler in colour but has identical markings and carefully transferred the serial no sticker from the old cover.

I took the chassis over to Ron Bryan for its initial trial, replaced a makeshift piece of fusewire with a new fuse, but it didn't work, it just hummed and crackled. However it was noted that some work had already been done to the set in the past, with several replacement electrolytic capacitors fitted including 'that' capacitor. So i took it back home, replaced all but one of its Wima capacitors (unfortunately I didn't have a 3900pf capacitor), cleaned all the valve mounts, put back the valves and it now worked quite well on FM but made a horrible rumbling hum noise on all AM wavebands.

Ron investigated the hum and found that its UABC80 valve was faulty and a new Mullard valve fixed that. The tuning capacitor was noisy, so its earth spring was cleaned and a tiny piece of metal removed from it and away it went. And that was it, this little set then really worked well even without an external aerial. I finally repaired its attached cord aerial, by fitting some shrink sleeving over a bare patch.

I like these little Philetta radios and I have four different models, two in bits and two now completed. They work remarkably well with good sensitivity on all wavebands and sound good too despite their dinky size. And they sure are cute !

Howard

MALC SCOTT · 11th Oct 2007, 6:59 pm

Hi Howard, yet another first class restoration.

I have taken a shine to these sets . I will be on the look out for one now. Cheers, Malc.

howard · 11th Oct 2007, 7:33 pm

Hello Malc,

These little AM/FM sets are smaller than a Sovereign II transistor set so you should have plenty of room for one.

A pic taken just now of the set working in the evening, all the perspex trim on the front lights up with a reddish glow ..... wunderbar !

Howard

kalee20 · 12th Oct 2007, 1:17 pm

Yes, I have a Philetta (can't rmember exactly which model). It is a good performer, sound quality is decent, from an incredibly small cabinet. And it has a pick-up input (which I fed with my cassette player when I was at college).

Mine hummed badly (except when tuned to a station) but a new UABC80 cured that. Also, the usual capacitor feeding the UL84 output pentode grid was replaced, and so was the tone correction capacitor on the output transformer.

Only thing I don't like, is the temperature inside! It gets really hot, with the mains dropper and the output valve fairly close together.

howard · 12th Oct 2007, 6:38 pm

Hello Kalee,

I'm glad to hear someone else owns and likes one of these cute Philips AM/FM miniature valve sets cos they do work really well and don't take up a lot of room. The bakelite cabinet does get hot above the dropper but not too hot. The last of the Philettas in this cabinet in 1960-61 was an AC only mains set which presumably ran cooler. After that the Philetta valve sets came in larger cases, some wooden, and eventually the name appeared on transistor table radios.

Mine doesn't hum at all when tuned into a station, and only slight hum is audible between stations.

Howard

howard · 16th Oct 2007, 9:27 am

Hello again,

A final pic before the Philetta is put away, on top of two Philips plano sets which shows how dinky this set is. It plays just as loud as the other two though !

Howard

howard · 28th Jan 2008, 9:44 pm

Hello again,

In fact I didn't put this little Philetta away, I've been using it regularly since October, that is until last week when it blew its internal fuse, so Ron Bryan very kindly offered to look over it for me. A new fuse was fitted and when fired up gently with a Variac it was working fine again, so the set was checked over very carefully for anything that might have caused the failure. The 0.022uF mains suppressor capacitor, a replacement WIMA, was found to be cracked and when tested was also leaky so that was replaced with a N. American sourced Y2 250 volt AC safety capacitor. There were a few original capacitors still in place and these were all found to be a bit leaky. The 0.1uF UABC80 anode supply decoupling cap was replaced as was the detector to volume control coupling cap (which cured the mildly noisy volume control) and then a couple of caps wired to the input/output sockets were replaced with Japanese disc ceramic safety caps. Also a replacement UCH81 screen grid feed resistor was found to be running at its maximum 1/2 watt rating so was replaced with a new 1 watt resistor. On the top side of the chassis, also replaced was an original brown lozenge shaped 3900pf WIMA in the tone control circuit, and then two non original striped Mullard radial caps were both found to be the wrong values (one the wrong voltage, the other the wrong capacitance). The set has been run on the bench for many hours since its overhaul and the fuse has not blown again.

I missed this pretty little set cos it had been working really well, it pick ups everything on MW/LW and FM 88-100 MHz loud and clear without an external aerial connected to it, it suffers no FM drift during warm up and despite its tiny size it sounds really good, indeed it's amazing how much sound comes out of this 54 year old valve set which is smaller than a Hacker Sovereign transistor portable ! It does hum a touch on weak stations, and it also gets rather hot but then it is a 220 volt AC/DC set running at nearer 240 volts, which doesn't help.

It's great to have it back and there shouldn't be any further problems with it.

Howard

11th Oct 2007, 6:02 pm	#1
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Hello again, If one takes a look on eBay.de, one can always find a selection of these pretty little German built Philetta radios, usually selling for not a lot, but this one I won on eBay UK for £21. The BD244U was built between 1954-1955 and was the first Philetta in this design with piano keys. It arrived very badly packed with just a thin layer of bubblewrap around it in a flimsy box, and unfortunately it was damaged, one of the front mountings inside was broken and one corner of it's rear cover had shattered into little pieces .... I got my money back though. However, it's outer case hadn't a mark on it and it's chassis was free from any corrosion so I went ahead and restored it. I glued back the mounting with some Uhu glue and cleaned years of grime off the case quickly with some white spirit and upholstery cleaner and then polished it with some Mer polish which brought back a nice shine. The brass on the knobs were stripped/polished/revarnished and I replaced the sponges inside the case either side of the keys with some draught excluder coloured black with Kiwi Scuffcote. I could do nothing with the rear cover so I pinched the back from a WIP BD254U which is paler in colour but has identical markings and carefully transferred the serial no sticker from the old cover. I took the chassis over to Ron Bryan for its initial trial, replaced a makeshift piece of fusewire with a new fuse, but it didn't work, it just hummed and crackled. However it was noted that some work had already been done to the set in the past, with several replacement electrolytic capacitors fitted including 'that' capacitor. So i took it back home, replaced all but one of its Wima capacitors (unfortunately I didn't have a 3900pf capacitor), cleaned all the valve mounts, put back the valves and it now worked quite well on FM but made a horrible rumbling hum noise on all AM wavebands. Ron investigated the hum and found that its UABC80 valve was faulty and a new Mullard valve fixed that. The tuning capacitor was noisy, so its earth spring was cleaned and a tiny piece of metal removed from it and away it went. And that was it, this little set then really worked well even without an external aerial. I finally repaired its attached cord aerial, by fitting some shrink sleeving over a bare patch. I like these little Philetta radios and I have four different models, two in bits and two now completed. They work remarkably well with good sensitivity on all wavebands and sound good too despite their dinky size. And they sure are cute ! Howard Attached Thumbnails

11th Oct 2007, 6:59 pm	#2
MALC SCOTT Octode Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Willington, County Durham, UK. Posts: 1,499	Re: 1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Hi Howard, yet another first class restoration. I have taken a shine to these sets . I will be on the look out for one now. Cheers, Malc. __________________ Malc Scott

11th Oct 2007, 7:33 pm	#3
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Hello Malc, These little AM/FM sets are smaller than a Sovereign II transistor set so you should have plenty of room for one. A pic taken just now of the set working in the evening, all the perspex trim on the front lights up with a reddish glow ..... wunderbar ! Howard Attached Thumbnails

12th Oct 2007, 1:17 pm	#4
kalee20 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK. Posts: 7,088	Re: 1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Yes, I have a Philetta (can't rmember exactly which model). It is a good performer, sound quality is decent, from an incredibly small cabinet. And it has a pick-up input (which I fed with my cassette player when I was at college). Mine hummed badly (except when tuned to a station) but a new UABC80 cured that. Also, the usual capacitor feeding the UL84 output pentode grid was replaced, and so was the tone correction capacitor on the output transformer. Only thing I don't like, is the temperature inside! It gets really hot, with the mains dropper and the output valve fairly close together.

12th Oct 2007, 6:38 pm	#5
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Hello Kalee, I'm glad to hear someone else owns and likes one of these cute Philips AM/FM miniature valve sets cos they do work really well and don't take up a lot of room. The bakelite cabinet does get hot above the dropper but not too hot. The last of the Philettas in this cabinet in 1960-61 was an AC only mains set which presumably ran cooler. After that the Philetta valve sets came in larger cases, some wooden, and eventually the name appeared on transistor table radios. Mine doesn't hum at all when tuned into a station, and only slight hum is audible between stations. Howard

16th Oct 2007, 9:27 am	#6
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Hello again, A final pic before the Philetta is put away, on top of two Philips plano sets which shows how dinky this set is. It plays just as loud as the other two though ! Howard Attached Thumbnails

28th Jan 2008, 9:44 pm	#7
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1954 Philips BD244U Philetta MW/LW/SW/VHF 6 valve radio Hello again, In fact I didn't put this little Philetta away, I've been using it regularly since October, that is until last week when it blew its internal fuse, so Ron Bryan very kindly offered to look over it for me. A new fuse was fitted and when fired up gently with a Variac it was working fine again, so the set was checked over very carefully for anything that might have caused the failure. The 0.022uF mains suppressor capacitor, a replacement WIMA, was found to be cracked and when tested was also leaky so that was replaced with a N. American sourced Y2 250 volt AC safety capacitor. There were a few original capacitors still in place and these were all found to be a bit leaky. The 0.1uF UABC80 anode supply decoupling cap was replaced as was the detector to volume control coupling cap (which cured the mildly noisy volume control) and then a couple of caps wired to the input/output sockets were replaced with Japanese disc ceramic safety caps. Also a replacement UCH81 screen grid feed resistor was found to be running at its maximum 1/2 watt rating so was replaced with a new 1 watt resistor. On the top side of the chassis, also replaced was an original brown lozenge shaped 3900pf WIMA in the tone control circuit, and then two non original striped Mullard radial caps were both found to be the wrong values (one the wrong voltage, the other the wrong capacitance). The set has been run on the bench for many hours since its overhaul and the fuse has not blown again. I missed this pretty little set cos it had been working really well, it pick ups everything on MW/LW and FM 88-100 MHz loud and clear without an external aerial connected to it, it suffers no FM drift during warm up and despite its tiny size it sounds really good, indeed it's amazing how much sound comes out of this 54 year old valve set which is smaller than a Hacker Sovereign transistor portable ! It does hum a touch on weak stations, and it also gets rather hot but then it is a 220 volt AC/DC set running at nearer 240 volts, which doesn't help. It's great to have it back and there shouldn't be any further problems with it. Howard Attached Thumbnails Last edited by howard; 28th Jan 2008 at 9:59 pm.