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Radio Star Starlet 30 of 1950 |
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This is a really small French AC portable radio in a red metal case. It was build by Radio Star in Nice (Nizza) in 1950. The wine glass and the bottle of red wine are not only for size comparison ;-) The Starlet 30 has 4 bands (short wave is spread in 2 bands):
The Starlet 30 is using Rimlock tubes:
The radio has no power transformer. The sum of the heater voltages in series results in 116,6V. So it looks like the radio was build for 120VAC, which was a common power voltage in France, or for DC. Another indication for 120VAC design were the old power supply electrolytic caps I found, which were rated for 165V.
I replaced as usual a lot of capacitors, 14 in numbers. Three of the tubes: UL41, UY41 and UBC41 were gone, but it was easy to get replacement. Then I hooked the Starlet 30 on my variac transformer, and yes, it starts. First step to restore the radio is actually done. Trying to set up the tuner I found the potentiometer is weak. I replaced it with an 1m (original it was 470k) log pot with on-/off switch. And the metal case got a new paint in a dark red colour. Now the Starlet 30 is receiving on long wave and on the 2 short wave bands. Unfortunately medium wave is not working. I expect there is a problem with the oscillator unit, but I was not able to remove the unit from the chassis and check it. After removing the screws on the front there is not enough space to pull the unit to the inside and get it out of the chassis. The resistors in the radio are color coded according to the RMA system. I've found a very good description of the system on A schematic for the Starlet 30 is really welcome!!!
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Last update: 07/October/2002