
Atomic
radios were distributed by Atomic Radio Ltd, and were made for them
by Sheffield Radio Ltd.
The
model shown here was used for many years by my father in his Car
Painting business. So it was covered in paint overspray etc. After
this it came home and was regularly used in the basement garage.
Many years after Dad died, I took it from his basement and brought
it to my home. When I pulled the chassis out to check it before
plugging it into the power, I discovered that it had literally exploded
underneath the chassis! Many parts were very badly damaged
and burnt, including valves and sockets, caps, coils resistors and
wiring. Even the speaker cone was "had it", and some grille
bars are broken or missing. Unfortunately, it is not worth restoring.
It
was a 4 valve Superhet, made in 1950. They were available in different
colours, under the name Sheffield or Atomic. The case has
a wooden carcase, with a moulded "Perspex" or "Plexiglass"
front panel. The rear panel was plywood with an aerial coil fastened
to it. It is possible that N.Z. was the only, or one of only a few,
places to use Perspex. It allowed small production runs at reasonable
prices, instead of having to use bakelite.

Not
exactly in the best of conditions!

Really
not good, is it?

As
can be seen, the explosion was on the left end!

This
is now going to be given to the local High School art class so the
pupils have something different as a subject to paint.


This has a 6 valve,
all band chassis. There are 4 shortwave and 1 broadcast bands, plus
phono input. It has a 12 inch permag speaker. Made in 1949.
It performs remarkably well, really pulling in the shortwave, even
with just a short aerial wire. Unfortunately the dial glass is broken,
although it is complete. So we may be able to do something about
it. A few ideas are swimming around in my head! This was a very
expensive purchase! It cost Junior the grand sum of $15.


Click on picture
for large version of this 1950s advertisement. 53KB

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