Early F.M. 88-108 M.c. radios

[Telecolor 3007]

Hello. Can you give me some examples of early (pre-1950) F.M. 88-108 M.c. (M.Hz.) radios. Is any such radio that resembles in look pre-war radios?
How they work today on F.M. when there are many stations.

[Electronic M]

I don't have any models numbers in my head but FADA made a very 30s art deco looking bakelite set. Haven't had a working one to try.

Many 40s post war FM radios actually had both the prewar ~42-50Mc and modern postwar band as apparently there was a transition period.

Performance varied by make and sometimes model. Some are still quite competent, others are kinda deaf, some like the one tube fremodine circuit are thrown for a loop by MPX stereo and HD radio sub-carriers.

A number of TVs deliberately included the FM band since it was between CH6 and 7 of the VHF TV band and customers might want FM too when buying a TV...Sort of like how early disc based game consoles included CD, DVD, or Blu-ray playback as an extra.

[ARC Tech-109]

Philco 48-1264 would be a good example. Pre FM-1000 detector tube with a 78 RPM turntable and 10 watt P-P amp using 6F6s to drive a field coil speaker. The FM IF is 11.7mhz and it doesn't play well with the modern world but it's a good example of the post war efforts and it sounds great on AM.
I picked it up from an antique shop around 1995 and after a recap of the supply gave it to my mom as a mother's day gift for her 78's but don't know how well it would work today.

[jhalphen]

Hi to all,
Hi @Telecolor 3007,

There are loads of German radios with FM (UKW) starting circa 1948.
FM was big in Germany as after WWII they were allocated ("punished") with very few LW & MW frequencies, so to create networks, it was FM or nothing.

Radios were limited in frequency range to 87.5-100 MHz, but some USA export models had the full 88-108 MHz coverage.

Physical aspect was modern post-war (luxurious wood table models) and looked decidedly different from 1930s radios.

Look up on RadioMuseum brands such as Grundig, Telefunken, Siemens, Nordmende, ...

Best Regards
jhalphen
Paris/France

[DavGoodlin]

Based on my trio of Stromberg-Carlson consoles, band coverage "progression" 1946-48 for these models; 1121, 1210PLM, 1409PGM.

A prewar (1942 m.y.) S-C model 430 offered BC, full SW coverage (5.8-18 MC) and first FM band of 40-44 MC.

The 1121PLW has just the old 42-50 mc band for FM (ukw) plus a bit of SW 8-10 mc in addition to the AM (mw) band.

The 1210PLM has both the old 42-50 mc and new 88-108 MC band for FM (ukw) plus just the AM (mw) band. The FM dials were listed by channel numbers, not frequency. old fm 20-100 new FM 200-300

The 1409PGM has just AM and FM using the 88-108 numbering. This model was known for its lighted tone controls, possibly due to need for more control of sound equalization with FM ?

Shortwave bands were dropped from many sets by 1948, when FM was becoming established. HiFi era was still 8 years away, when FM band would get much more attention from design engineers.

I only recently discovered that Canada did not have FM until the 1990s. Assumed to be too distance-limited for such distances and vast wilderness?

[Telecolor 3007]

Wow, those consoles looked in a big way. In both ways. They do resemble the prewar ones.
I will make an small off-topic on my topic (thread) and put this: https://www.globalgalleries.net/prod...-model-b-60820

I know why Germany got F.M. I would have had liked to see U.K.W (F.M.) models with prewar look.
France... was behind in F.M.
I had an "Grundig" 5017U. U = export model for U.S.A. Had all the F.M. band. It broke and I gave it away like an idiot. Probably was not hard to be repaired. Uh, some intresting F.M. stations from Bucharest are above 100 M.c. (M.Hz.)... I don't know why for the internal market they didn't made F.M. 88-108... only 88-100 was used, but since export versions had the whole band, it wasn't hard for them to do that.

[jhalphen]

Hi to all,
Hi Telecolor 3007,

100MHz limitation affected German, French & UK radios, probably all of Europe.
In France, pretext was "reserved for military use" even though they never used it.

French FM started "experimentally" in 1954, then first regular program, 1956, state-controlled.
We only had 3 then 4 programs, still state-controlled until 1981 when President Mitterrand opened up FM and TV to commercial broadcasting.

In the East-block you had the OIRT FM band, from memory 64 to 74MHz.

Best Regards
jhalphen
Paris/France

[Telecolor 3007]

G.D.R. had 88-100 M.Hz.
The Swedish made some above 100 M.Hz. radios... seen one with 88-101.

[DavGoodlin]

I recall taking a pocket Panasonic AM/FM to Britain in '76, hearing police calls on it above 100mc.
Desk guy at cheap hotel in Leeds was not amused when he saw/heard it himself.

[vortalexfan]

I know Zenith had several models in the late 1940s that had the old FM band and the new FM band on it plus AM, one of them in particular was a console model that had a Zenith Cobra-matic 78 RPM Changer in it.

I have a 1950 Zenith "Bug-eye" Clock radio that has Modern FM on it and AM, but doesn't have AFC on it so the FM Band Drifts like crazy on it, so I mainly bust it out to demonstrate it to guests.

[zeno]

Some interesting FM & TV stuff
https://losthistory.net/ggninfo/wmtw...oogle_vignette

[Videotechie]

I have a restored 39 scoot phantom with a 12v powered Japanese fm rf range extender for antenna connection. Works on new FM now part of band works great.

[Colly0410]

I have a radio that tunes 87.5 to 104 FM: mother in law gave it to me a few years ago when a new local oldies station fired up on 106.6 FM & she bought a new radio so she could receive it...

Re post 9... I often used to listen to the cops on just over 100 FM decades ago, one day I heard a chase was nearby & rushed outside to see a cop car speed past the end of the road with all it's lights flashing & going "NEE NAA NEE NAA". Oh the excitement, lol...

[vortalexfan]

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