I am a new member. The reason for joining is that my wife bought an antique radiogram for me to do up. Problem is that I do know what I have. It has a Classic emblem on the front. The record player is a Monarch BSR but I want to know all the info about the radio. The cabinet was made by Rickettes and Thorpe. I have attached a few photos that may help identify the system.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi & welcome.

This Classic chassis is a type TG and dates from 1953.
It was manufactured by the Classic Radio Co. of Malvern, Melbourne.

Cheers.

Interesting looking set.

Over the years there were a few variations of the TG chassis. If you unhide your email address via Control Panel at the top of the screen, I'll send you the schematics.

Thanks a lot for the info and so quick. I have spent days looking for any info and had found nothing.
GTC I have unhidden my email address. The correct schematic diagram for this unit would be greatly appreciated.

When you mentioned that it is an interesting looking set that is the reason my wife got it.
As I mentioned it was manufactured by Ricketts and Thorpe and no doubt it was a special order. So I am thinking that maybe it is one of a kind.If this is true does that mean that the unit is not worth as much.

Okay, 4 schematics emailed. There are 2 different valve line-ups involved. One has the 6X5 rectifier; the other 3 use 5Y3 rectifier, so that should help you decide quickly which version you have.

So I am thinking that maybe it is one of a kind. If this is true does that mean that the unit is not worth as much.

The worth or value of an old radio/radiogram is quite subjective. It depends on the buyer. See post #9 in this thread:

http://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=1&th=571

Hi.

Your Classic TG is not a one off, nor is it unusual. Classic churned out 100's, if not 1000's of these between 1952 & 1956.

Classic was a small but prolific manufacturer of mainly radiograms and was around from just after the war until the advent of television. Their designs ranged from ones like yours to roll-top radiograms and elaborate cocktail cabinet radiograms. They even made a foray into television, but didn't last too long after that.

Classic made the chassis' and had cabinets makers like Ricketts & Thorpe to make the cabinets for them.

Of the circuit diagrams GTC is sending you there are 3 variations. The 4th circuit is the same as the 3rd one. The one you have looks like it has these valves: 6AN7, 6AD8, 6BD7, 6AQ5 & 5Y3GT. These circuit diagrams were drawn by the AORSM and may be inaccurate. You may need to use a combination of all 3 diagrams to match your chassis.

Cheers.

GTC thanks for the diagrams. A great help.

Monochrome625 you were spot on with the valves you listed.

When I mentioned a one off I was referring to the cabinet design not the radio components. I have seen a lot of radiograms but usually they are bigger and as you mentioned more elaborate.

Thanks for all your info. Much appreciated.

Your wife has good taste, your workshop seems to be pretty well set up, and the radiogram looks to be in pretty good shape for its age. Good luck with the resto!

Maven

I did mean the cabinet. There were hundreds like this made.

Monochrome625 I hope you are correct because I require a good dial scale and I was thinking that it would be neigh to impossible to get one. Especially when the model I have travels up and down not across.

This is a common problem with those Classic dial glasses. They are fastened on to the cabinet with 4 special wood screws with a small threaded hole in the heads for those decorative buttons. Some of those decorative buttons srcew in, others just clip in. Often when the wood screws are over tightened they crack the glass. There might be someone that has a spare. Also, there are people who can make repro dial glasses. Send out the feelers as someone out there might be able to help you. If you do manage to find a replacement be carefull when tightening the screws and perhaps use some rubber for some padding.

Cheers.

P.S.
I just remembered. There has been some discussions on this Forum about reproducing dial glasses. Get the measurements of your original glass and have a glazier make you copy. Scan the original glass and if there is some of it missing use a bit of Photoshop magic to fix it. You can then print the scanned copy on to a transfer and affix to the new glass. Anyway, there are other people who are regulars on this Forum who have played around with this issue and they may able to give you some tips.

See this thread on dial glass replacement:

http://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=14&th=1.

Maven

Well who ever gave me Michael Rannan email contact to make a new dial , thanks a lot as he will be doing it for me. I get the glass cut and he does the rest.
The turntable was really shot but low and behold I got a brand new one (1954) unused in original packing for $140 plus $80 freight from the usa. Naturally it will be set for 110 volts but when I received it it can only run on 110 volts.Luckily I had a 240 to 110 transformer. I thought I had won but no usa power is 60 hertz and ours is 50 so it turns too slow. I did some calcs and a body turned me up a new drive spindle.
But now I really need some help. I did a complete recap and was checking all circuits and found that the choke was open circuited.
I have been frantically searching for a new replacement but to no avail so now I am after a good second hand choke.

The specs are - > Rola H.T. choke
> Type 14/60
> 14H. at 60 M.A.
> 10 volts 100 c.p.? I think it is (s)
> D.C. Resistance
> 550 ohms.

Any help would be appreciated

Well who ever gave me Michael Rannan email contact to make a new dial , thanks a lot as he will be doing it for me.

You're welcome. Glad to hear that he can help out.

Be sure to show us the result.

You may need to consider a wire wound resistor of around 560R (think that's the nearest).

Marc