ACEC Radiofil 205 combination
One original appliance, built in Belgium by the ACEC company, in the beginning of the 50's. This model 205 was the high-end.
This appliance can be seen as the pre-history of the «music centers» combinations, availables from the 70's until today! This is a radio, pick-up and magnetic wire recorder all-in-one set.
Found in an «almost new» condition, 57 years after its manufacturing! It was still in the original carton, with instruction manual (in french), accessories and magnetic wire reels! Only the loudspeaker cloth had to be cleaned.
Complicated electronics with 11 tubes : ECH42, EAF42, EF40, EF40, EL41, EL41, 6V6, 6V6, 12AU6, 6E5, GZ32. You can download the schematic here (PDF file)
This is a few pictures, before dismantling for renewal. Now (June 2011) one page is present, with the renewal description. Link below this page.
Clic on small pictures to see it in larger size, in another window.
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Impressive set! 65 cm large, 40 cm depth and 62cm height. 40kg! |
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A standard dial, with 5 wavebands. On the right is the recording lever potmeter, and on the left the 6E5 magic eye. |
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When opening the cover, we discover the pick-up / wire recorder mechanism. This system was a creation of the ACEC engineers. The keyboard under the screen give to the user all the functions. The red key turns on the recording. The «retour» (return) key starts to rewind the wire. The two big knobs are station and bandwave selector (on the left) ; tone and volume (on the right). |
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The beautiful blazon of the ACEC (Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi) |
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The pick-up / recorder mechanism. The original small carton is still there (telling the first user he has to remove two screws before using the machine). On the right we can see a wire reel. The wire is in place, passed by the head and ready to be rolled up on the main tray. |
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Inside the machine, rear cover removed. |
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On the left, the big power transformer. On the frame, the output transformer (EL41 in parallel). Behind the big transformer we can see the GZ32 rectifier. On the right we can see a motor control relay and a 6V6 tube, used for the wire presence detection. Just behind the 6V6 we can see the plug coming from the recording/play and pick-up heads (armoured black cables). |
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On the right of the frame, the radio section. Very classic system. |
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The mechanism seen under the frame. The left motor is used to rewind the wire. The right motor is used to turn the tray. A mechanic gear on the tray rotation gives a push-pull movement to the head. |
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The rear panel. Curiously, it shows all tubes present but seen from under the frame. It's unusual... |
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The appliance, with its original carton. |
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