10-08-2011, 09:26 PM
Hello, Tom, and welcome!
This IS the place to be with Philco questions, and frankly with other radio issues, as someone here will have the expertise to answer your questions.
Personally I do not know the differences between the 41-255/6 models, but I am really a 1930 to 1938 guy myself. The 255s I have seen were good players and recievers when right, you have a good radio to make right! The numbers you speak of are mega-hertz frequencies associated with shortwave radio. On them you can potentially listen to broadcasts from around the world, assuming that you have a good antenna on your radio. Right now I am listening to Radio Croatia on 7.8MHz, the radio I am recieving it on is a 10 tube RCA 263.
With respect to your 38-620, yes, it does have the RF deck that others have made (mostly negative) comments about. It is indeed tough to get at the components on the RF deck. And yes, your 41-255 has the troublesome rubber wire that often requires complete replacement. If I could offer any advice without knowing what your abilities are, it would be to know what your abilities truly are before you tackle restoring a radio. You can ruin a set by getting too deep into it. Photographs of the set's wiring before you work on it, diagrams, and tagging wires you have to un solder is a good way to avoid problems. Assume nothing, verify what you are unsure of. It is better to leave a project until you are sure of your next step.
This IS the place to be with Philco questions, and frankly with other radio issues, as someone here will have the expertise to answer your questions.
Personally I do not know the differences between the 41-255/6 models, but I am really a 1930 to 1938 guy myself. The 255s I have seen were good players and recievers when right, you have a good radio to make right! The numbers you speak of are mega-hertz frequencies associated with shortwave radio. On them you can potentially listen to broadcasts from around the world, assuming that you have a good antenna on your radio. Right now I am listening to Radio Croatia on 7.8MHz, the radio I am recieving it on is a 10 tube RCA 263.
With respect to your 38-620, yes, it does have the RF deck that others have made (mostly negative) comments about. It is indeed tough to get at the components on the RF deck. And yes, your 41-255 has the troublesome rubber wire that often requires complete replacement. If I could offer any advice without knowing what your abilities are, it would be to know what your abilities truly are before you tackle restoring a radio. You can ruin a set by getting too deep into it. Photographs of the set's wiring before you work on it, diagrams, and tagging wires you have to un solder is a good way to avoid problems. Assume nothing, verify what you are unsure of. It is better to leave a project until you are sure of your next step.
