Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Lurie, who writes:
Hey, I’ve known your site for quite a while, ever since someone gave me Sony’s last portable world band radio, the ICF-SW7600 many years ago. Was wondering if maybe you or someone else who peruses your blog would recognize this set in the background of an episode of Orphan Black.
Hard to tell, but it appears to be a more conventional radio. Regardless, it is positively fierce! And since the imrdb seems to have died, I thought I’d ask you. Hope it’s not a bother. I’m still learning so please keep up the good work!
Alan
It’s not a bother at all, Alan! Indeed, many here in the SWLing Post community love solving our radio mysteries. Sadly, I can’t get enough detail from the image to determine the model, but I’m willing to bet someone else can! There are a couple good clues in there.
Readers: Please comment if you can ID this radio. Good luck!
The tuning scale better matches the Canadian Philips B4C87A than the European B4X82A. Old European radio sets usually have a lot of station names or cities on the medium and shortwave scales. Also the logo is longer than shown on the pictures with Philips sets. I was thinking about NordMende which logo has a larger M than the rest of the characters in the logo. However I don’t know if they sold outside Europe and if they had rebranded Philips sets. The case is still not completely solved I would say. 🙂
Typo: not the shortwave scale. I meant the longwave scale.
The logo on the radio in the picture doesn’t look like Philips. I was going to suggest NordMende, because of the length of the logo and larger size of a character in the middle of the name. It might as well be the same radio appearing under different brands. Appart from the logo it seems to be the same radio.
I have one.
It’s a Philips.
Marvelous radio.
It’s not a Philips for the European market. It lacks all the station names or cities printed on the scales of European radios, including the B4X82A on radiomuseum.org. The B4C87A from Philips Canada matches better.
Not exactly the same thing but very similar to the one I have:
https://swling.com/blog/2020/05/ted-inherits-two-vintage-receivers-and-a-1959-uk-receiving-license/
I happened to be at my Aunt’s house when she was given one of these as a present. I remember seeing tears in her eyes for being given such a nice gift.
Yep, it’s a Philips B4X82A. Bog standard 10.7 MHz / 455 kHz IFs. Lots of other makes very similar, such as Bush or Murphy in UK. Plessey also made chassises which were boxed by other names, but not sold under Plessey name [at one time most of the TVs in the UK were Plessey chassis, but some other name on the box]. Probably made in the mid to late 1950s.
Oh, it’s got a 7 valve line up. Way before transistors could be designed in. Around the germanium era and very unreliable at the time.
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_b4x82a.html
That’s it. Good sleuthing. I like the “eye” tube/valve in the upper right used for tuning.
HI ALAN,
CANNOT MAKEOUT THE BRAND, COULD BE A VALVE OR AN EARLIER TRANSISTOR SET?
I PLACE IT 1957 TO 1961, MAYBE BY WATCHING THE MOVIE AND WHERE IT TAKES PLACE WOULD HELP OUT TO NARROW DOWN ITS ORIGINS?
GOODLUCK,
FRANCOIS
Hi, it feels like a Philips radio – B4X82A
Pavel
Looks like a Bush 61 valve radio