Setchell Carlson 407
An Ultra Short Wave radio from 1939


This is an interesting 4-band radio. It covers from long-wave up to 36 MHz. Somewhat surprising is that those higher frequencies actually receive a few signals! From here, I can hear activity on the CB-band and other signals in what they called at the time "ultra short wave".


Its a 7 tube set and obviously designed for the short wave listening customer.

The following pictures show the condition in which it was found and some of the stages of restoration.


Here is the RF deck...a bit more sophisticated than the average table radio.

(btw, these photos are all posted full-size and shrunk down only for this webpage...you should be able to right-click them and see them full size)
This radio also came in a version capable of operation from a 6 volt battery. There was a vibrator circuit enclosed inside the big square can. Mine does not have that. The schematic is at Riders Setchell-Carlson 11-2 and lists the same basic model as 407, 408 and 4017. I really don't know which is which.
Tube lineup is 6K8-Osc Mixer, 6K7-IF, 6Q7-Detector, 6J5-Phase Inverter, pair of 6K6 as AF Out, and 6X5 as Rectifier. It uses a permanent magnet speaker...another oddity for that era.
About the restoration - As you can see, this radio was in pretty rough shape. I cleaned the chassis and removed as much rust as possible without total disassembly which really wasn't justified. The delamming cabinet was repaired and it was relacquered. This was done about a year ago and I see some tiny fractures re-appearing in the lacquer where the wood had been stressed. Smaller than hairlines, but they are there.
The knobs are generic NOS. Grille cloth is new as is the plastic dial cover. The actual dial is a replacement...the original one is still underneath, but really looks pretty shabby. Set has been re-capped and about half the resistors needed replacement. It has been playing in my shack off-and-on over the past year and I can vouch for it being a good, trouble-free set and a good shortwave performer.




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