Excellent 1915 Recepteur Radiotelegraphique WWI Radio Alan Douglas Collection
I'm starting off the new year with one of the most tantalizing assortments of mech. I suspect you'll find something you like. Here's a gorgeous, century-old Recepteur Radiotelegraphique Type A-1 "trench set" manufactured in Paris ca. The A-1 was the world's first field radio and was the forerunner of the U.
Signal Corps' BC-14a, which saw duty from 1917 until the end of the war. The cabinet is pristine, and the radio itself is still in amazing shape when you consider it probably spent a fair amount of its early life on the European battlefield. Spotless tuning coils (still coated in their original shellac), a clean tuning condenser, tarnished but undamaged brass everywhere, a pristine hard rubber panel with crisp original engraved lettering and no cracks or other cosmetic issues, pristine hard rubber knobs, perfect pointers, etc. Original paper instructions and calibration sheets are still affixed to the underside of the lid. Original cabinet hinges and latches.
The exquisitely designed Gaumont plug-in detector -- missing from most A-1's -- is a perfect all-brass replica machined by Gabriel Roullier in Switzerland. It is absolutely identical to an original Gaumont detector, as you can see in the pictures. With the exception of the headphone plug, which is missing, the radio is complete, and it is one of the nicest examples I've ever seen.
Both drivers in the 2000 ohm Sterling headset test good, and the cord is in excellent condition, with the metal tips still securely attached to the fabric covering. Much more beautiful and much better built than the BC-14a radio it inspired (just look at the tongue-in-groove cabinet joints), the Recepteur Radiotelegraphique A-1 is also much more uncommon than its Signal Corps counterpart. The A-1 is a radio you don't see very often, and when you, it never looks this good. Measures approximately 13" x 9" x 8 (with lid closed). I will package it carefully and properly, and I can assure you that it will show up at your doorstep in the same fine condition in which it leaves mine. The item "Excellent 1915 Recepteur Radiotelegraphique WWI Radio Alan Douglas Collection" is in sale since Sunday, January 01, 2017. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Radio, Phonograph, TV, Phone\Radios\Tube Radios\Pre-1930".The seller is "firebottles" and is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This item can be shipped worldwide.