VE301W aerial and earth arrangements.

[nightowl]

How do you go about getting the earthing cable set up? Do you wire something to the earth in the plug? Also the aerial set up? Just got mine today.

[Station X]

Unless it's a known good working set I wouldn't risk plugging it in. You could do a lot of damage and RES164 output valves are difficult to obtain.

[lloydwells]

On the ve301 ? My earth connection goes straight to the nearest radiator pipe mine picks up plenty with a 10ft length of wire plugged in to aerial socket number 1

[Joe_Lorenz]

Yes, Sir, the same with my set. But see: The "radiator pipe" earth connection will not work in a modern house with floor heating with pastic piping ...

My remark regarding "Braun" quality is a point to discuss as I got to admit. Yes, the quality of components did not differ much between manufacturers, but well, in my eyes there is (was) a little difference in workmanship whether you have got a "Mende" or a "Braun"! I had a lot of "Mende"s with some mechanical imperfections.

Regards, Joe

[nightowl]

the photos of the unattached box are not mine but give you a look at the part you can't see when attached.... I think they are called Sperr kreis or lock circle as google translate has it down as.....they have holes at the back labelled for aerials (A1 and A2) and another for earth (E)....

[Station X]

It's a switching box so that you can switch the aerial between the aerial sockets without unplugging it.

[nightowl]

ah, so you could have 1 plug for the aerial for mw and 1 for lw and just flick a switch as it were? where would be the best place to source plugs for making the aerials and how would the earth work? (its got a 2 pronged plug)

[Julesomega]

That's a Volksempfänger which I think was WWII and made to the same pattern by several factories
Radiomuseum has one the same with the switch unit. Would the switch unit have replaced the continuous tuning to stop the Volk hearing alternative truths from the BBC, VoA and others?

[red-duck]

Sperrkreis is a wave trap/notch filter.
I'm assuming the radio wasn't very selective and to listen to more distant/weaker stations you had to notch out/reduce the strength of the local stations.

[wd40addict]

Nigel is quite correct.

Note that because of the large numbers of radios sold a whole infrastructure of accessories made by 3rd parties sprang up. A modern equivalent would be how many accessories were produced for the iPod.

Attached is picture of Heliogen's version.

This website shows a selection of the accessories available:

http://www.imperatorrex.de/ve301zubeh.htm

[lloydwells]

It doesn't really have anything to do with the sets needing constant tuning they don't they're actually pretty sensitive considering what's in them for far too long the poor things have been maligned because of where and when they came from.

[Station X]

Originally Posted by nightowl

ah, so you could have 1 plug for the aerial for mw and 1 for lw and just flick a switch as it were? where would be the best place to source plugs for making the aerials and how would the earth work? (its got a 2 pronged plug)

These sets used 4mm diameter plugs and sockets for the aerial and earth sockets. Unlike the 1/8" diameter plugs and sockets used in British sets, these are freely available. Just Google "4mm wander plug" or "4mm banana plug"

You can connect the earth to a metal water pipe. This is a signal earth, not a safety earth. You can fit a three core mains flex if you wish and connect the earth wire to the set's chassis.

You may find these threads interesting and useful.

https://vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=149451

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=157696

Note also that these sets were designed for use on 220 VAC supplies.

BTW. I'm not touting for business. I won't be fixing any more of these sets.

[bluepilot]

Originally Posted by red-duck

I'm assuming the radio wasn't very selective and to listen to more distant/weaker stations you had to notch out/reduce the strength of the local stations.

The VE301 was a cheap radio and if you wanted a filter you had to buy it as an add-on extra. More expensive radios had sockets built in for a filter.
Here for example is a Lumpohon where you can see a filter installed to the right of the voltage selector.

[nightowl]

thanks for the info people, I had a look at the thread by justdamo last night graham, you did a good job by the looks..... I'm going to see if someone more local can help me out I think....

[lloydwells]

Nightowl I'm in Dumfries if that helps ??

[Joe_Lorenz]

Me thinks it is astonishing that quite a number of these VE 301 sets pops up right now from forgotten basements, attics or elsewhere. As if someone had put them there 70 years earlier to be found today!

And here we see a Loewe Radio in respectable condition!

Regards, Joe

[nightowl]

Joe, the riveted name plate says JDEAL werke ag, but as you say underneath the unit it says Loewe, which would you class as being the correct manufacturer? or would JDEAL be the company that put it all together but loewe made all the parts?

m

[Station X]

Could it be IDEAL rather than JDEAL?

werke =works. ag (Aktiengesellschaft) = limited company.

The label on the capacitor block probably indicates who manufactured it. The cap blocks I've seen were made by Bosch and had the info stencilled on them rather than a paper label.

[bluepilot]

I'm a bit confused as to which radio we're talking about. However in the 1930s in Germany "I" and "J" were effectively the same letter. So it's the "Ideal" works but you can spell it "Jdeal" if you want.

Aktiengesellschaft is a company which issues shares (Aktie = share). A bit like a plc. Limited company is GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung)

[Station X]

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