[Arran]

I went after a few of the RCA export sets that appeared occasionally on eBay. They're RCA's counterpart to these Philco sets. The RCA sets like these always have a "Q" in the model number.

A couple of years ago, I bought a GE export set, made in Canada. It's a horizontal tombstone design, with a horrendous dial on one half of the panel, and the speaker grille on the other half. The power supply and amplifier chassis is a separate one from the receiver chassis; most unusual in a table set. Probably our pal, Arran may have seen something like this. I certainly haven't. Just another that I'm looking forward to getting up and running. It should work like the blue blazes.

All of these export jobs have superior sensitivity, and usually, exceptional audio. They had to compete with the Grundig, Telefunken, and Blaupunkt sets that originated in Europe. Once they're all up and running, the results are very rewarding.

I can't remember whether I have seen a Canadian G.E export set like that or not, but Canadian G.E often did their own thing often in tandum with whatever Canadian RCA was doing at that time. Many of the collectors that I knew largely passed by the CGE sets, probably because they were viewed as RCA clones, which is a shame since the G.Es often had nicer cabinets. However it gives me something else to keep my eyes open for, both CGE and Philco seemed to have a distributor in this region so they turn up a lot. If only I could find another CGE E-81, or at least a chassis for a T-7, K-7, T-8, or K-8 RCA which were identicle electrically
Someone put out a book about radios of Canada a few years back, I haven't seen it but it apparently only has 150 pages or so, you could almost fill a book that size with the history and products of one Canadian company alone.
The Tropic I have, the 40-780, is like a table top console, push pull output with a ten inch speaker, tuned RF amplifier stage, an extra IF amp, and a triode-heptode convertor.
That was a popular format in not only many European countries but also with some Canadian brands, particularly Canadian Westinghouse. There was also the similar approach of building sets with a control panel, sometimes sloped, sometimes vertical, mounted above the speaker, sort of an inverted tombstone, I've found out since that this layout was also popular in Europe. I have an early 40s RCA A23 and also a CGE equivailent from the same era, I've found out since that their layout is very similar to many French, and German sets of the late 30's and 40s.
Regards
Arran