Forests Commission of Victoria

Receiver Type FRFS Serial N^o1

This radio looks like a prototype and it is labeled serial number 1. My investigations so far lead me to believe that it may have been built by Vinten or Plessey.

There is a partially removed label on the front panel which may help to identify the manufacturer.

The radio has two receivers - one on a crystal locked frequency (unknown) designated H.O. and the other receiver has three crystal locked channels 2612kc, 2728kc, 2792kc plus one tunable band (2 - 6 Mc) designated SEARCH. The each receiver has it's own aerial input. The receivers are AM only can be individually muted.

The valve line-up for each receiver channel is 6BA6, 6AN7, 6BA6, 6AL5, 12AX7 and both receivers feed into a 12AX7/6M5 audio output stage. The audio output from each receiver can be adjusted independently via the front panel volume control.

The receiver scale is hand drawn and is calibrated in 500kc segments from 2Mc to 6Mc.

Modifications

The set was originally designed to work from a 12V DC supply but a previous owner has removed the vibrator and associated components and built a mains supply into the power box. The HO receiver has been completely stripped out as have the three crystal oscillators and associated circuitry for the search receiver. The 2612kc channel position of the search receiver now has a number of hand wound coils fitted to effect a fairly unstable receiver that tunes from around 9Mc to 15Mc.

Can you identify this radio or anything about it or where/when it may have been used or built or even the frequencies employed?

Last modified Sunday March 11, 2007