PHILIPS 838U
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PHILIPS 838U |
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![Front View [16K]](front.jpg)
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| NOTES | One of the Philips "Super Inductance" range and one of the last
TRF designs produced by
Philips. Philips had stuck to the traditional TRF
design whilst all around manufacturers were jumping onto the superhet bandwaggon.
They finally succumed to the superhet in late 1934 when they introduced
their model 588 At the time, radio station frequencies were always changing meaning that those few sets, such as this one, that had printed station names would quickly become out of date. To get around this, the station names have been printed onto cellophane which can be slid up under the dial surround and may thus be "easily" replaced. ![Valve Piccy [5K]](valve.jpg) At
last, I've actually come across a set that uses that odd side-contact style
of valve bases. Its also the first set I've come across that utilises only
half-wave mains rectification. Another weird thing is the volume control
; it works by varying the gain of the first RF valve.
Check out the size of the dial illumination bulb! (just left of center in above chassis view). The heat from this beast has caused the cellophane station name sheet to wrinkle. |
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| SERVICE DATA | A copy of the "Trader" service sheet, dated March 7th 1936, was on CD#1. |
| CURRENT STATE | The wood looks rather good in the photos. However the finish really has
had it so the set will need refinishing, thought the veneer and underlying
plywood is very sound. At first, I thought the permanent magnet loudspeaker plus "mains transformer" audio output transformer weren't original, but thanks to the many people that pointed out that they are correct ! On the underside of the set are two wodden strips that look as though the were meant to retain perhaps an instruction sheet that could be slid in and out. Can anyone confirm this, or indeed provide me with a copy ? |
| WHERE FOUND | Another donation from Richard, in exchange for bunging a few caps and some wire and polishing a few valves in a Bush VHF41. |
![Rear view [14K]](rear.jpg)
| Page copyright © J.Evans 2000,2001 |
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Last updated 23rd November 2001 |
An
unusual feature of this set is the rather unusual tuning dial drive arrangements.
The control knob friction-drives the semicircular "thing" attatched
to the tuning capacitor spindle. The pulley wheel drives a steel (?) belt
around a number of pulleys. A pip on the belt slides into a slot on the
front dial pointer assembly, allowing the chassis to be slid out without
having to disconnect the dial pointer.