306
Item nr.


Tesla 521A Popular Table top

Four band set, no FM


Data for Tesla 521A Popular
ProductionCzechoslovakia, 1957.
BandsLW, MW, SW1, SW2.
Tubes6H31, 6F31, 6BC32, 6L31, 6Z31, EM11.
CabinetWood. Size 49x33x20 cm. Weight 10.6 kg.
PowerAC, 50W.
DocumentsSchema.

The Design

The radio is a rather standard four band radio with EM11 magic eye. On a radio with this design, one would expect the FM band, but FM broadcasts had not started yet in Czechoslovakia.

Obtained11/2007 from Marian Andrejko.
Condition7.
DisposedSold 10/2013.
Sound samplePLAY SOUND   Johan Timmer (born in the same year as the radio) presents his show Een hartig Woord on Groot Nieuws Radio (April 2008) and reads from the book of Daniel.

This Object

At first sight , I thought the radio had an Intercom option, but that was because it was fitted with the dial of another model, the Tesla Kantate. As you can see, this is a model with pushbuttons, and the band abbreviations are written in the center of the dial. Of course, for my model 521A Pupolar, this does not really make sense.

The Czechoslovakian tubes have Western equivalent types, so replacing defective tubes should not be a big problem. Unfortunately, the rectifier 6Z31 was shorted, and my tube box did not host an EZ90. I produced a silicon version (left) and placed in the socket (right), and the radio worked. I only replaced two capacitors for safety. The IF tube 6F31 had been replaced by a Russian 6K4P (date code VIII-65), which measured a bit low but worked fine. The emission of the 6H31 was too low and I put an EH90 instead.

The radio was quite worn out, it appearently had gone through heavy times, including decades of moist storage. Also, the dial glass has been broken and I think the radio was used some time without, because there were station names written on the white panel behind it.


Part of Gerard's Radio Corner.
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