Manufacturer: Philco
Model: 190
Approximate Date Of Manufacture: 1953
Type: 6-tube Superheterodyne AM/SW Radio
Tube lineup: 6BJ6 12BE6 6BJ6 6AQ6 35C5 35W4
Status: working, restored
Where purchased: eBay, July 2004
Some other somewhat unusual design features include: use of a "tube saver" resistor in series with the tube heaters, trimmer caps accessible from the rear panel, 3-gang variable tuning capacitor (required due to the RF amp stage), and internal loop antenna but no external antenna connection. I found schematics in both RCC and Rider's manuals.
According to the service information, there were three models of radio that shared the same chassis but had different style cabinets. The model 190 is also known as model 53-950 (possibly this is the US model number).
As received it worked, but had a loud hum. This went away as expected when the electrolytic filter capacitors ere replaced. The line cord needed replacing. All wax paper caps were replaced. The dial lamp had burned out and was replaced. Most of the tubes have the Philco brand on them. All resistors were measured and were within acceptable values.
One problem had me stumped for a while. After replacing the line cord the radio was completely dead. I double checked the connections and everything looked right but the power supply voltages were totally wrong. I tested the tube and it was fine. I wiggled the tube in the socket and suddenly the radio came to life.l It turned out one of the tube pins on the 35W4 rectifier was not making proper contact with the socket.
The radio was pretty clean inside, but I gave it a thorough cleaning. The volume control and tuning cap have nice brass shafts which polished up very well. There is a 6 inch long tuning shaft which is copper and also looked nice after being polished.
The is not much actively these days on the shortwave band that this radio receives, mainly the 160 meter ham radio band, and reception is best at night. During the day, from the basement, I was able to pick up the WWV time station at 2.5MHz.
