Philips L3X88T transistor radio c1958

[Vintage_RC]

I saw this radio previously unknown to me on eBay and was immediately attracted to it for a number of reasons. I thought I would share a few notes and pictures with the forum.

Some of the more unusual features (to me at least) for a transistor set of this period are:-

Coverage is MW and SW (5 to 12MHz), a UK set of this period with two wavebands would normally be MW and LW. The annotation on the tuning scale is in English and Spanish - any clues there? Also it was marketed in the USA.

The unusual SW aerial arrangement, a form of loop antenna pivots up when required, one end goes to the chassis via a 430pF cap, the other end goes to the SW tuning coil. This can clearly be seen in one of the photos. The inclusion of SW means an expensive (at the time) OC170 front end transistor is used. Being Philips the transistor line up is Mullard - OC170, 2xOC45, 2xOC71, 2xOC72

Although not unique to this set, the complex point to point wiring must have taken ages to do compared with a PCB which by now was the norm for a transistor radio. It is also mechanically complex.

The complex tuning cord arrangement (see a seperate posting) can be partly seen in one photo, there are 4 more pulleys on the front of the chassis.

I have never seen one of these sets before and a forum search reveals no other refences to it. A Google search does not reveal much of interest except for useful service information on radiomuseum.org. From the radiomuseum entry it can be seen that it was marketed in the USA as the Norelco L3X88T.

It works very well with excellent sensitivity on MW and SW so it seems like the OC170 has avoided the tin whiskers. Audio quality is also very good for a plastic cased radio probably helped by the substantial construction and decent speaker. I wondered if any other forum members are familiar with this set?

[paulsherwin]

It may have been intended for the Spanish market where LW wasn't used, or it may just have been an export set for global sale. Maybe one of the forum's Philips experts will know.

PCB construction was only starting to take over in the late 50s, and several early transistor radios use a valve style metal chassis, most famously the Bush TR82.

[Sideband]

Not on my list of models from 1955 - 2000. Most likely a continental model that has been imported at some time. If the model number is repeated anywhere in the set see if there is a /xx number after the main model number. /15 would be UK but I very much doubt it was for sale in UK.

[Jolly 7]

I have a similar radio, a Philips L4X05T. I think my set may also have been called a Henriette. This model used to be one of our family radios when I lived abroad, but my current one was purchased in the UK. The springs were severely corroded in the battery compartment, but it runs well on two 18650 batteries instead of the intended six D cells.

Reception is at its best when connected to an external earth i.e. copper stake and a longwire antenna. An inductively-coupled loop antenna also improves MW reception. It does receive some SW stations, but probably is not as sensitive as my original one.

Here are some pictures. I am not sure what the socket below the antenna socket does. Maybe it was intended for an external amplifier ?

[Vintage_RC]

There is certainly a family resemblance to my set. As I noted in my original post the performance of my L3X88T is excellent both in terms of sensitivity and audio quality.

[vinrads]

How come I didn't see that , It looks in excellent condition ,I find Philips radios and amplifiers are a cut above the rest , regarding sensitivity and audio quality , I remember back when I was about sixteen the service manager ,was so impressed with a Philips record player ,he decided to copy the cct and build an amplifier , It didn't sound anything like the Philips , he used a R/S output tx and a Goodmans speaker ,not to be beaten ,he ordered an o/p tx and speaker from Philips , that's what made the difference , Mick.

[Maarten]

These models (designed and mostly manufactured in Eindhoven and Leuven) were quite usual on the continent from roughly 1957-1961 with even some second brand and export models up to 1965. The last 8 in the modelnumber, suggests a general export model. Tropical destinations didn't use LW so that fits the picture.

[majoconz]

Radios of that appearance often come up for sale on our web auction site. Probably a different model number - often Philips made radios in their Lower Hutt factory just for NZ with a broadcast band and three shortwave bands.

[Paul_RK]

Interesting to see the L3X88T, a new model to me but I do have a set of identical appearance except for the tuning dial and in having no external aerial. Coverage is LB/MB - long and medium waves to us - model number is LDK381T, signifying its destination as the Danish market, and the dial has predominantly Scandinavian stations, plus "DEN" in smaller letters toward bottom right. I see it has a Radiomuseum entry,

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_ldk381t.html .

There's an OC44 in place of the OC170 of course. As for the folding loop antenna, I can't think of many instances of it in portables aside from other Philips models c.1960, but one that comes to mind is Panasonic's large and delightful RF-5000.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/panaso...00_rf5000.html

Paul

[Vintage_RC]

Thanks for the heads up on your LDK381T Paul, it is clearly a very close relative of my set. Comparing the circuits there are considerable similarities. Aside from the obvious changes due to the different bands covered the other main difference appears to be in the audio output stage.