Please help ID this 1925 box.

[crestavega]

pls could anyone identify this radio? (apart from it being a Radio Instruments Ltd unit)

intention is to put an MP3 player in it, and put it in a farmhouse museum. if we do that then it ought to have a correct headset to play the audio through, what sort of thing might be authentic?
(I dont think it has a built in speaker)

however, I cannot google anything up about it so if it is a very rare or valuable item then the owner (who donated it) ought to know and of course we probably then should not butcher it too much.

[Gridiron]

This looks like a home made set from the mid 1920's, RI tuners like the one pictured were available to amateur constructors of the period as were mahogany and oak cabinets. Nearly all factory made sets of the period had engraved labelling for the controls, etc, on the ebonite front panel.
Mike.

[Gridiron]

Just to add, looks to be quite well made for a home constructed set, could have been made by a local radio shop. It would have probably have been used with a horn speaker of the period (Brown, Amplion, Sterling, etc). Not particularly valuable, probably would fetch £30-£50 at a BVWS auction, the valves with top pips may be the most valuable parts if they are useable.
Mike.

What a lovely set, a "period"* set of headphones driven from an MP3 player is a good idea. One thing, I have seen sets like this displayed in musea (is that the plural of museum?) just as a box, do leave the lid open, much more interesting. A (fake) set of batteries/cells would add to the display.

*any old set of moving iron headphones will be in setting, SG Browns spring to mind.

[crestavega]

yes good thought, "casket open". could arrange some orange lamps to make it appear that the valves are hot.

what should an in-keeping battery pack look like?
I think I even have some 1950s SGbrown type headphones somewhere.
what sort of aerial would have been used with this set (bearing in mind our relatively long distance from any LW tx)

[Herald1360]

Orange lamps maybe if the valves are the older "bright emitter" type (the pip top ones might be). For later valves the manufacturers made a point of how little glow they made!

[crestavega]

some pics from the inside of this receiver.
I had never seen a set that was built in this fashion without insulated wiring. Quite a sculpture.

[Gridiron]

Typical for mid-20's sets, not unusual for the period.
Mike.

[John10b]

Seeing the pictures of the Valves with their side connections brings back childhood memories of me “playing” with my first Wireless.
John

[PJL]

That is a high quality set and I would have thought worth £100+. The square tinned copper wire interconnections were common around the 1925 period. It looks almost too good to be home built so it might have been a kit or even made by a small manufacturer. The headphones should be high impedance, for example those made by Sterling.

[ekjdm14]

My thoughts too, it does look of rather nice quality & if it were mine I'd be sorely tempted to try and restore it to functionality. Might not be the last word in fidelity or sensitivity, but it's just got something about it I like!

Would be a shame if it was butchered to make it appear functional, although I appreciate that it's not very practical to have it actually working in a museum setting so on that note I'd suggest that whatever modifications are made to make it "play", would be better off as non-permanent and reversible.

[AC/HL]

Just hide a transistor radio under the table, feeding the separate loudspeaker. Or if you need to be able to demonstrate the controls use a "pantry" transmitter.

[lloydwells]

I'd you're using the correct type of headphones they won't be compatible with an MP3 or modern radio why would you need to "butcher it " you'd simply need to disconnect the two wires going to the headphone connections in the inside of the set and connect your sound source to those the rest of the set can be left intact and just use the outside terminals to connect your phone's