1967 Cossor CR4212A AM/FM 7 valve radio

[howard]

Hello again,

Recently I've acquired three Philips plano sets from eBay at good prices and this one I won for £9.99. As it wasn't far away I collected it and I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw it as it was virtually mint condition with just 3 tiny nicks in the edge of the top panel. It also came complete with it's original Philips guarantee card dated 25th February 1967 and its instruction book too. When I got it home it worked although the waveband switch and volume pot were dirty, the magic eye was dim, it lacked volume but essentially was working OK.

I dismantled it as described at the end of this thread ....

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=26094

and the chassis on this plano has to come out the back as the panel above the dial is fixed in place. I found one or two problems, a piece had broken off the corner of the dial lamp diffuser (as usual !), the bulb was missing and one of the tone switches was broken. So I cleaned the volume pot and waveband switches with Servisol 10 and reassembled the set and set about finding bits to repair it with. I noticed also that it had been run at 220 volts even though it does have a 245 volt setting so I corrected that.

In the meantime I checked all the valves, and replaced with NOS valves the EM80 (a nice new Cossor in fact), a Mullard EF85 (which dramatically improved gain on AM), a Japanese made ECC85 as not much was being picked up on VHF above 95 MHz and a Mullard ECH81 which significantly improved SW sensitivity. I didn't change any capacitors in the set, it's full of top quality Mullards which rarely give any trouble. The set was now woking really well.

I managed to get some second hand 6 volt Philips bayonet bulbs from Mike Lewis, and also some white PVC material from PWH on the forum here. I took the set out the case again, made up a new diffuser - it came out well, the only small difference is that the new eyelets are a bit bigger than the originals (I couldn't find any smaller ones). I fitted the bayonet bulb and then repaired the tone switch. The end had broken off one of the paxolin strips attached to the push button so the switch wouldn't run straight so I cut a small piece of paxolin and stuck it on the end with superglue and sandwiched the join with two tiny glued on pieces of paxolin - not a pretty repair but I doubt if it will break again.

I then brushed all the dust off the chassis and in the case, replaced the black strips of sponge under the trims around the dial and under the piano keys and cleaned all the trim with upholstery cleaner, reassembled the set touched in the tiny nicks on the varnish with polyurethane varnish and polished the wooden case with Mr. Sheen.

This must be one of the last Philips valve radios sold in the UK. It works well as these Philips sets usually do, it sounds good with its light and airy sound quality and picks up everything on all wavebands. And this Cossor is by far the most attractive Plano set I have.

Howard

[Sideband]

Just as an aside Howard, you will find that the circuit of this is similar to the ST160A that you have. Even the layout of the controls is much the same.


Rich.

[Tazman1966]

A nice result Howard. I've heard Lee's set in the flesh and if yours is working just as well, you've got a very nice sounding radio.

Cheers,

[howard]

Originally Posted by Richard_Newman

Just as an aside Howard, you will find that the circuit of this is similar to the ST160A that you have. Even the layout of the controls is much the same. Rich.

Hello Richard,

The chassis is identical to the one in my Philips B4X23A but with an extra treble tone button like the ST160A but all these late Philips sets are very much alike. Interestingly, this Cossor doesn't have 'Made in Holland' printed on it anywhere so its country of origin is a mystery.

Originally Posted by Tazman1966

A nice result Howard. I've heard Lee's set in the flesh and if yours is working just as well, you've got a very nice sounding radio. Cheers,

Hello Taz,

It's mint this set and it does work perfectly. These small plano sets don't have a lot of bass though as they only have small 4.5" loudspeakers, but they do sound crystal clear.

Howard

[Steve_P]

Nice job as always Howard. Valve techonogy really went out on a high with these!

Cheers,

Steve P.

[ianj]

Does anyone here own the Philips Plano model that has the stereo decoder, with the lit display on the dial saying " Multiplex", that lights up as you tune in on fm.........? ianj

[howard]

Hello Ian,

I don't have one but I am looking out for a mid 1960s Capella or Reverbeo which has a built in transistor FM stereo decoder. I've not seen a plano set with a 'multiplex' indicator, any idea of its model number ?

Howard .

[ianj]

No, buts a late model, with wrap around metal grills on the speakers, in black. Still has an em80/1 instead of the em84 type magic eye, though...........the "multiplex" lamp symbol on the dial lights in green, along with the "philips" badge, and has "radio wave symbols" surrounding it! ianj