marelli: ; Aldebaran

Dear esteemed colleagues,

On the present ebaY Italia, (see item # 320051336584), there is a model 1938 Marelli Aldebaran which has one photo depicting the output tube as 6V6 and the rectifier as 5Y3.

Is it possible there may have been a chassis revision to the model. I  attach a copy of the digital photo from the rear of the chassis. The label appears to be an original part of the radio which identifies the tube layout.

Respectfully,
Robert Attachments:

• Aldebaran tube layout (32 KB)

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Robert,

 

If you look at the pictures from RMorg, where the radio is located, the radio has a 5Y3 and a 6V6.

The question is, howcome Italian radios of this period used American vacuum tubes instead of German?

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Hello,
I apologize, I do not exactly know about Italy, but in those years, it was not uncommon that Swiss sets used imported US tubes, maybe, a few of these tubes were imported to Italy.
Maybe, one of our Italian members can help with this topic
Sincerely Martin

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No surprise if American tubes were used in Italy.
Radiomarelli (one of the main makers) started its production with radios based on American Bosch' sets. Also the corporate symbols is very similar, and the motto as well (The best in radio for American Bosch, Il meglio in radio for Radiomarelli). The main tube factory, FIVRE, was a Marelli's branch.
Other Italian makers have started radio production in the same way. To name a few more examples:

• CGE, an electomechanics firm related with Thomson-Houston (and therefore General Electric), started his radio industry by selling RCA's sets
• Capriotti-Kennedy used to sell radio which were very similar to Grigsby Grunow/Majestic ones (but with a smaller number of tubes, probably because of radio taxes)

Italian companies used both German (German commercial banks played a very important role in developing Italian manufacture) and American patents in electromechanics; in the radio industry American patents and components were widely spread. Also, several foreign corporations had dealers (like Stromberg Carlson or Magnavox) or plants in Italy, in which their technology were used.
Several Italian radio companies used American components at the beginning (of course, also German tubes were used, and not only by German enterprises with plants in Italy).
Also driven by the autarky and by the political spur to spread the radio, the domestic production grew quickly - still relying on American tubes for a while.

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Dear Omer and Martin,

The answer to the US tubes is because RCA and M-M had an agreement in the early to mid- 1930s, in which Marelli would produce some octal tubes. There were other countries, as Martin states, which used the octal tubes. The 1939 Swiss Biennophone 593 that I enjoy (and I might also add still has nearly every original component (except the PS elkos), also used the US octal tubes.

I believe our esteemed members from Italy must certainly have the background data to explain the anomaly.

I must not have observed closely enough,  Omer, to be able to determine the difference between a 6V6 and a 6L6 - both tubes were produced in the metal cylinder and the glass envelope. I could not read any markings on any of the tubes.

The difference between a 5X4 and the 5Y3 is more difficult - my RCA tube manual does not list a tube for the 5Y3 designation.

The 5Y3G and 5Y3GT were first produced by Sylvania in a Medium Octal 5-pin in the ST14 envelope (5Y3G); and then in the Intermediate Octal 5-pin in the cylindrical-shaped T9 envelope (5Y3GT). It is quite possible that Sylvania licensed Marelli and other European makers to produce as many tubes as needed to satisfy their market requirements .
 
The point I was trying to make is that the RMorg database for the 1938/39 Morelli Aldebaran model does not agree with what appears to be an authentic tube layout in photo. It is remotely conceivable the seller or someone else may have produced a small label to paste to a pre-War radio to enhance its value. . . . .I seriously doubt that.

If a member wishes to submit the item to our administrators, it may help to resolve the  ambiguity.

Respectfully,
Robert

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