Radio Roma

Radio Roma is one of the last versions of Italian People's radios.

Its production started in 1939 and to this project joined many Italians factories: Radiomarelli, CGE, Safar, Allocchio Bacchini, Watt, Philips, Phonola, Telefunken and others.

The wood case and the chassis is similar all factories.

The circuit is a reflex superheterodyne with only three tubes: a converter, a second tube which has three functions (IF/LF amplifier and detector), a rectifier.

Usually this radios has the American tubes: 6A7 , 6AY8 , 80, in other cases are used the European tubes: ECH4 , EBL1 , AZ 1.

One of the most interesting features of this chassis is the 6AY8 tube .

This tube is a double diode /pentode manufactured by the Italian FIVRE and was used in few type of radios.

The low use of this type of tube led to low production and today is very hard to find it.

In the case which are used the European tubes the triple function is made by the  EBL1 which is easily available.

The pentode of this tube has two simultaneous functions: IF and LF amplifier, for this reason the circuit of this radio is critical.

This kind of radio didn’t works very well moreover there was problems to repair it also, so the radio mans, in some cases,  modified the Radio Roma inserting a fourth tube in the chassis and sometimes the 6AY8 was replaced with an other most common type.

I found some of this modified radios.

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