Need identification of radio AZ1,EBL1,EM4 and ECH4 x2 valves

Can anyone help me identify the radio in the attached photos.  The back cover is missing and there are no identifiable marks that can be read.  It has the following tubes/valves AZ1,EBL1,EM4 and ECH4 x2. The audio output transformer has been removed in the photo as it needs a rebuild and the EM4 valve has been removed. It has a 250 volt European plug attached to it.  Any assistance would be appreciated.

• DSCN4385 (94 KB)
• DSCN4386 (93 KB)

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Sorry, but a professional search with the tubes "az1 ebl1 em4 ech4" and a tube count of 5 did not give a result that matches with your pictures. So I have to suppose that your radio is not listened in our database.

Your radio should be a standard superhet receiver, due to the included tubes. These radios were often built in very similar schematics. A successful restoration should not be too difficult.

You wrote: "The audio output transformer has been removed in the photo as it needs a rebuild." Isn´t the transformer on the right side of the chassis (picture dscn4385.jpg), connected to the speaker via two twisted red wires, the output transformer? Or is it just a choke?

Due to its design and the colours on the dial glass, my first thought was that the radio could be a Scandinavian type. Perhaps the following two things could help us in this puzzle:

1. Which language is used for the station names on the dial glass? (For example: If your radio were made for the Svandinavian market, there were used special letters.) Is a detailed picture available?
2. Are all the implemented tubes Philips made?

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Thank you for your assistance ! The item located on the right side of the chassis is just a choke.  The output transformer was mounted separate from the chassis, below and just left of the speaker.  All the valves in the set are Phillips Miniwatt.  I have attached 3 photos of the dial glass.  Also attached is a photo of marking that is hard to read that is on the back of the chassis.Once again thanks for the help it is appreciated. 

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• DSCN4410 (120 KB)

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Thank you for the additional photos. Sorry, at the moment I have no more idea how to identify your radio.  Looking at the dialglass, it should be possible to tell us when and/or for which area of the world the radio was built. Isn´t there anyone (one of our older experts?) who could help us?

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This is still a mystery, I can only make some presumptions.

The tube lineup suggests it was not made in France, the tube brand “Philips Miniwatt” suggests it was not made in Germany too.

The tube lineup suggests it was most likely made between 1940 and 1949.

The station names on the dial gives the likelihood it was made in a country east of Germany, probably a country which was under Nazi rule in WWII, (occupied or annexed).

Are there any brand names visible on components (capacitors, transformers, filters) ?  

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The loudspeaker not match the chassis, it came from Elektrit radio, similar was used in Minerva radios.  But chassis is different, Elektrit has different. Power transformer and rectifier diode looks strange, I think it's not factory mounted.

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Thank you for the help.  Attached are photos of some of the capacitors.  They appear to be made by a company called "ALWAYS".  I have never seen this before.  Thank you again for the help.

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• DSCN4421 (89 KB)
• DSCN4426 (96 KB)
• DSCN4419 (150 KB)

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Thank you for the reply.  I agree the transformer appears to have been replaced at some point.  Thanks for your help.

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Always has facotory in Warsaw, parts wit Always logo can by seen for sure in polish and czechoslovak radios. "12.46" printed on electrolitic capacitor could be production date - December 1946. If so this radio may be produced soon after war ends, using old parts (including chassis), in very small voume.

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Dear Bryant,

congratulation, you have probably a very rare model. I am sure, that this is an uknown CS Jiskra model. The chassis is an extended model from Jiskra model S40 (see in  rm.org) similar like S41 (see attachment), but different tube arrangement. Except this, on the label is visible Patent Lic. B.M. (Boehmen und Maehren), what was used in CS during WW2. Moreover, Always was a CS company for radio parts, after WW2 was nationalized and Tesla used Always logo on the beginning, until Tesla had got public known.

I Have seen in German goverment instructions about removing SW band during WW2 from receivers, that Jiskra produced another models like RR, RR Special, SN40 and SN41, but no more info is available about them. Might your model is one from them.

Gabriel

• jiskra_s41 (64 KB)

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 Contact form.
 
Jan Schmidt,  Prague,  Czech Republic

Dear Members,

I am neither a collector nor an expert, nevertheless
I would like to offer some observations at the presented
photographs.

1. The scale has the following Czech and Slowak stations:
M. Ostrava, Brno, Prešov, Bratislav[a], Praha? Prag?,
S. Boehmen. With the exception of S. Boehmen (South Bohemia?),
they are in Czech, not German form (Brno not Brun, Ostrava
not Ostrau). The town of Moravská Ostrava (Moravian Ostrava)
has been united with Silesian Ostrava to form what today
is called Ostrava in 1941. It is likely that the radio
was manufactured for Czech or Slowak market.

2. "Always" was a Czech manufacturer of passive components,
incorporated into Tesla in 1946. The mark "always" was
used even after that. The label "12.46" on the electrolytic
capacitor seems to be manufacturing date. I have a very
similar capacitor, marked "Tesla always". The paper
capacitors look very similar to later Tesla components.
The stripe marks the outer foil (shielding), the symbol
"L-0" is for suppressed inductance.

3. From 1946 to 1948, the ECH4-based lineup was
quite common in Czechoslowak radios. I believe that
the tubes were manufatured by former Philips
Hloubětín, together with their loctal versions.
Even radios originally constructed with the Telefunken
lineup were redesigned ater the war - compare
EMPO Major 413 with EMPO Major 451.

4. The overall construction of the radio is not intended
for large-series (e.g. belt) manufacture. Confront
the radio with e.g. Philips Eroica, Orava 925X also
by Philips Hloubětín. For a separate attachment
of the rectifier tube, see Philips; Budapest: 66A.

5. The label at the chassis may read "PATENT D.R.G.M".
I am not certain if it was required after the war but
before the political changes in 1948.

So we arrive to the guess that this is a Czechoslowak
radio, manufactured in 1947 by a smaller firm
- possibly Philips-related - which was reusing war-time
parts such as scale or chassis.

Hope this elps a little
Jan Schmidt, Prague
 

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Thank you all for the assistance.  The information is very helpful.  Bryant Keith

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The restoration of this radio has been completed and photos are attached.  Thanks to Alfred Corbin antique radio repair expert in the US and author on the subject of antique radio repair for his assistance. I dont know if there is a home for the photos in radiomuseum.org for this radio or not.  The editors may move the photos as they see are appropriate.  Thanks again for the assistance.  Bryant Keith

• radio-33 (277 KB)
• radio-35 (271 KB)
• radio-37 (242 KB)
• radio-41 (274 KB)
• radio-50 (281 KB)

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My first thought was that this is a Scandinavian radio.

"Always" was a Danish brand of radio. You can look the models up on Rmorg. I have an Always radio in my collection.

Peter

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"Always" was also polish manufactourer od resistors, capacitors, fuses etc. simillar parts. It was located in Warsaw on Leszno street. Its parts are frequently found in polish prewar radios. It coukd be a local part of bigger company, but I don't have information about it.

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