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

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Old 15th Feb 2020, 1:46 pm   #21
poppydog
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

Are the cases on these radios really made of cardboard?? I now have several of these types of radio and the cases on the ones I have are I thought some sort of hardboard.

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Old 15th Feb 2020, 4:35 pm   #22
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

It's a type of cardboard I think, though the distinction between cardboard and hardboard isn't clear cut.
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Old 15th Feb 2020, 4:45 pm   #23
Mycroft
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

Cheaper sets I've had in for repair in past had (as with this one) a case made from a material I don't know the correct term for, but a thin hardboard/heavily compressed fibreboard. A bit like (if you're as ancient as me and remember them) the black fibreboard tool cases suppliers like Radiospares & HRS used to sell. Cardboard seems a cruel term, these cheap sets aren't that bad!
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Old 15th Feb 2020, 5:34 pm   #24
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

I once owned an Alconic radio that was indeed from Hong kong. It did have the usual black vinyl stitched casing. Covered the aircraft band and a few shortwave bands along with Medium wave and looked quite stylish for its time which i would guess to be around 1975. Wish i still had it too.Where do these things just disappear to?
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Old 15th Feb 2020, 7:45 pm   #25
G6Tanuki
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

These sorts of radios were indeed popular in the 1970s: a couple of brand-names I remember being used were Benkson and Harvard.

As mentioned upthread, the circuitry was usually very simple - reminiscent of a lot of first-generation early-1960s 'six transistor' radios, but with the benefit of now using silicon transistors (more gain, lower internal feedback capacitance) so performance was better and there was no need for messy 'neutralisation' circuits on the IF-stages. Even using the less-efficient typical small IFTs they performed as well as if not better than first-generation transistor-radios using OC44/OC45 or OC170/AF117 transistors.

One trick they sometimes pulled was to use transistors-strapped-as-diodes for things like the detector/AGC and to control bias on the output-stages. This was a profitable way for them to use up 'under-spec' transistors - it also let them boast "TEN TRASNISTOR" on the front.
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Old 15th Feb 2020, 7:45 pm   #26
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

Hi.

Looking at the circuit diagram that Mycroft kindly provided, it's good to see that capacitors have been connected across the power supply rectifiers to minimise interference when they switch off, a nice touch not often seen in basic radios.

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Old 15th Feb 2020, 8:36 pm   #27
Paul_RK
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Default Re: Anyone have info on this radio? ALCO Alconic clone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
One trick they sometimes pulled was to use transistors-strapped-as-diodes for things like the detector/AGC and to control bias on the output-stages. This was a profitable way for them to use up 'under-spec' transistors - it also let them boast "TEN TRASNISTOR" on the front.
Our own Fidelity Radio weren't above pulling this one, in their "12 transistor" Fairline portable:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/fidelity_fairline.html

Hong Kong manufacturers took it to a different level, though. Numerous 15 transistor MW pocket sets were marketed, but for some reason they seem scarce in the UK and to have been far more popular in the USA. I can't remember meeting with an account of how the transistors were all used, if indeed they were all used at all - why not just glue a few total duds to the circuit board?

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/unknow...ransistor.html

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