Hey everyone,
I gotta stop looking at Craigslist! I Just agreed to buy this radio from an elderly lady about 20 miles from my home. She was asking $40 bucks for it. I haven't seen it in person but it looks to be in pretty good shape and she says she has the knobs for it. Weather permitting I am going to pick it up on Saturday. Does anyone have any idea what make this set is? It looks like a Teledial so I thought maybe a Grunow? The owner didn't know what make it was either, she thought it was a Philco! So any guesses on what I've just purchased? Thanks!
Kevin
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...4e3a80.jpg]
I think it is a Grunow, a 1936-37 model as it doesn't have the airplane dial like the more famous Shirley Temple sets. It could also be a Fairbanks Morse or some off brand, Teledial tuning was all the rage for a few years, as we all know even Philco got in on the act.
Regards
Arran
It is a 1938 Fairbanks Morse 9A. Should have a shield over the chassis. I just finished the chassis on mine and will tackle the cabinet in the spring. Someone slathered poly on the top and front of mine. Nice sounding set, I was surprised once I brought mine back to life. Nice snag, not many of those around since the factory burned down I think in 1939 and FM decided to drop their radio line.
Thank you Skip for the info! I'm suprised and excited that it's a Fairbanks Morse. I have another FM, a 1936 72C2 that I just finished up and it turned out to be a terrific sounding set. hopefully this one will be the same
Kevin
I just finished up electrically restoring a FM 12A as well. The pp 6L6's really put out some sound. Interestingly the 12A has the ultra-short wave band or the early television band up to 70,000 kc. I actually did hear a couple of stations from Japan (I think) when testing he band out. The cabinet on the other hand, is in bad shape but I must save it because I have never seen another 12A, and so far no one has been able to provide any pictures or info on it.
I took a scan of an original sales tag from an 8A and created one for my 9A. When I get a chance I will post it.
Good luck with the restore, the chassis is big with plenty of room to work. If it has any of the original Fairbanks Morse labeled caps, keep them!
Here are a few pictures of my FM12A. The chassis is done, but as you see, the cabinet has issues. I have yet to see another. I have asked on ARF for pictures of another, with no response. I have also searched the net and I have only found a few B&W advertisements. If anyone has one I would appreciate any pictures.
Hi there and greetings from The Netherlands - Europe
Just this week I bought the same radio. Orig. the radio was bought by the former owner in an antique shop about 20 years ago.
The radio plays but unfort not all the knobs are orginal. Als the grill cloth is not the same as it use to be back then
I've always wondered, is the Fairbanks-Morse company that made these radios related to the one who built the engines? I might have asked before and if I did, sorry.
Radios from that era having a really-high frequency band were designed to receive the "Apex" stations...high fidelity AM before the use of Armstrong's FM system.
The name reportedly came from the fact that the transmitting antenna had to be at the 'apex' of the desired service area to get the necessary coverage.
Fairbanks-Morse had their fingers in many pies. They originally manufactured scales but eventually diversified their production into engines, ranging from "one lung" farm engines to diesel submarine engines to diesel locomotives.
Eventually FM got into radio, TV, and even kitchen appliance manufacturing.
Although the FM name is still around, I believe that it is subsidiary to the company(s) they merged with. [/i]
! I Just agreed to buy this radio from an elderly lady about 20 miles from my home. She was asking $40 bucks for it. I haven't seen it in person but it looks to be in pretty good shape and she says she has the knobs for it. Weather permitting I am going to pick it up on Saturday. Does anyone have any idea what make this set is? It looks like a Teledial so I thought maybe a Grunow? The owner didn't know what make it was either, she thought it was a Philco! So any guesses on what I've just purchased? Thanks!
