Hi Everyone
I am new to Vintage Radio and have joined on behalf of my husband who is deeply in love with his Fisk Radiola AWA . It sits in the garage at this time after being sorely abused by our 2 young children. The cloth at the front covering the speakers has been torn beyond recognition and I would love any suggestions as to where I could obtain authentic cloth to restore it to it;s former glory. I know my husband would never let a repairer near it with a ten foot barge pole so any tips would be greatly appreciated. I don't know what year it belongs to or even what model, but it is an imposing piece of furniture that stands on its own. The panel with radio stations is located at the top with a ( I presume ) bakelite covering with two knobs positioned underneath and to either side these have a small piece of bakelite behind the knobs. The bakelite is very yellowed and opaque. The panel has Aircraft and Amatuer and until a few years ago we could still pick up aircraft frequencies with it when we lived on the gold coast QLD. It has place names on the panel (in order) London Berlin USA, India, Iraq, Iran, Burhma. There is one large speaker and the tech at the back goes as follows... Please let me know if I get these names wrong I think there are 6 tubes and 2 resistors ( or is that the other way round?) with numbers 6U7G,(earth),6J8G, no number,6U7G, no number, 6B8G, 6U66, 5Y3G. The surface of the panelling is really dry and when I see all those beautiful polished finishes on the restored ones I think ours use to be one beautiful piece of furniture. Anyway any info as to how we start restoring would be excellent.
Thanks

G'day StaceyJayne,

The yellow film behind the knobs and also covering the tuning dial is most likely celluloid, a similar product that was used to make photgraphic flim. It does harden and go yellow with age and unfortunately this cannot be reversed. The only solutions are to simply leave the current ones in place or try and located replicas which some people do make, although these items are often very difficult to find as those engaging in these activities limit sales to members of radio clubs they belong to and thus don't advertise their services widely.

NOTE TO THOSE WHO DO MAKE RADIO PARTS: Please advertise your services here on Vintage Radio in Wanted and For Sale - it's free and this gives you access to the widest audience in the country.

The valves are the glass devices on top of the chassis that look a bit like light globes. Two, maybe three will show themselves off whilst the rest will most likely be inside metal sheilds with a wire leading to a small cap on top of the glass bulb. Quite often the manufacturer of the radio will stencil the valve type numbers on the chassis for the benefit of the serviceman. The components labelled Aerial and Earth are simply for the antenna and earth bond connections which are seldom used these days because radio station transmitters are far more powerful than they once were. Depending on where you live you may still need a small antenna wire though.

If you need a new grille cloth then Steve at Australian Vintage Wireless might be able to help. Tell him that Brad from NSW referred you. Steve has some Airzone grille cloth that does look okay on AWA sets.

Finally, if you are able to take a photo of your receiver I will be happy to publish it in your post. Simply e-mail it to Bradmail.vintage-radio.com.au and I'll upload it to the webserver. This can help with identifying the set's model number and date of manufacture.