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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment. |
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26th Aug 2017, 10:11 pm | #1 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 3
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Help identifying Lorenz branded receiver
Hi,
I am trying to identify and/or find out more about a vintage Lorenz(?) radio receiver. This radio was used as a community radio in a village I spent many summers at while growing up. It is in many stories passed down by word of mouth. There used to be an external speaker but I am not sure if it has survived. Currently I have no schematic and below is most of the information I have gathered from a number of sources over the years. Any further information would be very useful towards identifying and ultimately restoring this radio. As you can see in the attached, the cabinet is metallic with a single Lorenz logo tag. The receiver has 6 AM bands, phono and pickup inputs, connections for two external speakers and an option for an external DC power supply of 380V. There are 9 tubes (valves): EF13, ECH11, EBF11, EF12K, ECF12, 2xEL12, EM11, AZ11 Most Telefunken brand, the rectifier is Phillips. At least one of the Telefunken tubes has a 1951 datecode. One capacitor has a 1949 datecode. There are several electrical and mechanical similarities to the Lorenz L45W and associated models (SG42, T90W). However, this radio has one band less, the PSU and audio output stages are different. The cabinet is also different and there are two additional speaker-related control knobs. It has been suggested that this is a 'military amenities' radio, hence my post here. On one of the sides of the enclosure there is a hand-painted code: "ECA/4230/DA". This points to a USA-Greece treaty (TIAS 3050, 18 Aug 1954) concerning the transfer of community radios to Greece. This is probably part of the Marshall Plan. The location of the radio matches that stated in the treaty: "Drymades Ioanninon", a tiny village in northern Greece. I have many more pictures of it in case you need to see something specific. Alex |
26th Aug 2017, 11:11 pm | #2 |
Octode
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,180
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Re: Help identifying Lorenz branded receiver
Interesting set and I imagine it was made under contract for the Ecomomic Co-operation Administration. The ECA was no more by 1951 so your 1954 treaty hypothesis may be out.
Andrew
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27th Aug 2017, 1:29 pm | #3 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 3
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Re: Help identifying Lorenz branded receiver
Hello Andrew,
I take it that is where the ECA portion of the code ECA/4230/DA comes from, Ecomomic Co-operation Administration. As for the year 1954, I am certain that was when the radio was officially transferred. This is because the treaty is signed and dated Aug 18 1954. The exact code is listed in the treaty, along with many other codes for radios that should be in nearby villages and towns. Of course the radio should have been manufactured a bit earlier, between '49 and '51 as you say. You mention that it might have been made under contract for the ECA. Would it be a contract to Lorenz then, given the logo on the radio? Would it be reasonable to assume that this radio never had a model number or name? Also, I presume the contract would have some specifications for these community radios. Where could one begin look to find such information? Thanks, Alex |
27th Aug 2017, 6:08 pm | #4 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 1,648
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Re: Help identifying Lorenz branded receiver
Alex,
a place you might want to try is the online radio museum at http://www.radiomuseum.org I did a search on there to see if the valve list would turn up anything. It didn't. They do have photos of the Lorenz L45W you mention - I agree that it looks similar, but is not the same (wooden case for a start). Its possible that someone on there will be familiar with radios of the time and place. Richard |
27th Aug 2017, 7:00 pm | #5 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 3
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Re: Help identifying Lorenz branded receiver
Hi Richard,
Yes, I am a member of RadioMuseum and asked there (internal forum) months ago. The forums are not very active. Thanks for looking the L45W up, I have a ton of material on that from service manuals etc that I later contributed back to RadioMuseum. In fact I thought the set in question was the L45W until I got a chance to visit it again and take pictures. I feel I have reached a temporary dead-end and that providing extra info like detailed differences to the L45W etc is not very useful, if not misleading. I feel that someone will immediately recognise it or not. In fact from what I have gathered so far from my own research and valuable input from other members it is not unlikely that the radio was never actually given a model number or name. Just the ECA code. I plan on: - Visiting other villages listed in the treaty to check if any other radios have survived. - Look into the Marshall Plan and the ECA operations in Greece in great detail. - Look for a Lorenz radio collector by pestering the wrong people hoping for a referral. Do you think it is worth checking via the 'domestic radio' forum? I am aware that double posting is not allowed. Alex |
27th Aug 2017, 7:42 pm | #6 |
Octode
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,180
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Re: Help identifying Lorenz branded receiver
Hi Alex,
Just my hypothesis but yes, I think the ECA contracted Lorenz to produce radios for them. Lorenz took an existing chassis and built into a metal cabinet for ruggedness. Regards - Andrew
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