Gerard's Philips BX321A

1
Item nr.

Philips BX321A Table top

The radio I have the longest: I bought it as a little boy.

**Data for Philips BX321A**
Production	The Netherlands, 1953. Price was 210 guilders.
Bands	LW (1053-1974m), MW (185-580m), SW (16.5-50.7m); IF is 452kHz.
Tubes	ECH81, EBF80, EBC41, EL84, AZ41; dial light 8045D-00.
Cabinet	Bakelite. Size 39x27x19 cm. Weight 6 kg.
Power	AC 45W.
Documents	Service docs, promotion card back, front.

The Design

The bakelite cabinets are now well sought and expensive, but they were considered cheap stuff back in those days. Electrically the design is straightforward: mixer, IF amp, detector plus preamp, output, and rectifier, three bands. Compared to American radios this is not quite standard, because many American radios have only the MW band. Another difference between a simple European and a simple American radio is that European radios usually are multiple-voltage. Indeed, the manufacturer wanted to sell the radios in different countries, and voltages varied quite a lot still in Europe in the fifties.

It could be of interest that this set is among the first generation with a ferrite rod antenna, which can be seen at the top of the cabinet. Ferrite rods were introduced in home sets around 1952 or '53. In some French radios of the time, like this Point Blue, one finds a cylinder shaped magnetic antenna. At the extreme left of the chassis you can see the electrolytic filter capacitor, date-stamped April 1953. The radio has two Rimlock three Noval tubes, including the EL84 output tube.

Obtained	6/1972 from Vredenburg Flea Market.
Condition	8.
Disposed	Sold 3/2024.
Sound sample	PLAY SOUND The flood of 1953 enriched our culture with the word Delta Plan. Originally a national efford to secure the west of the country, it became custumary to say things like We need a Delta Plan for the preservation of Old Radios to express your concern about our technical inheritage.

This Object

I bought the radioas a little boy in 1972. After that it spent 20 years in my sister's place, first in daily use and later as a decoration piece. It returned to my place when I seriously started collecting radios.

It needed just little servicing, like some cleansing, and later a new output tube. It missed the back panel (mea culpa: I seem to remember it was there 25 years ago) but in December 2001 I was supplied with a replacement. In May 2006 I replaced the paper capacitors and cleaned the bandswitch to improve the sound.

Part of Gerard's Radio Corner.
Generated by SiteBuilder on 4/6/2024 by Gerard (gerardtel@gmail.com)