A Multi-Band Radio for War-Torn Europe - The Philips 203U

During World War 2 the Philips company continued to produce consumer goods after the German occupation began in 1940. One product was the Philips 203U, a multi band radio with many variations designed to be used throughout Europe. The design and construction methods used in this radio were quite unique.
Robert Lozier has one of these radios in his collection, and tells the history of the radio and of the Philips company during the depths of World War 2.
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[@WECB640]

Thank you for taking the time to show and explain the schematic and intricate manufacturing process. I wish we could have heard this receiver playing on both MW and SW during a band scan. 73

[@AB1Vampire]

Radio built like a tank with point to point wiring. Every component made to last. Thanks for posting.

[@josephsawicki9335]

If only our world still had this kind of attention to detail and quality workmanship what nice memories this channel always has, we need a time machine that those skilled workers probably made and the Germans confiscated.

[@mackfisher4487]

Robert, Very interesting and well done. I read in a novel that the Phillips plant responsible for making lamps widely used in German U-boats had a well organized sabotage plan to shorten the life expectancy of the incandescent filaments.

[@JensGrigull-ij6fd]

It was ahead of his time. Europa is populated and the relative simple construction, no hf amplifier and the metal back as antenna was good enough for most radio listeners in or near cities. Plug in and listen and it was small and portable. I was surprised there was a SW version even during ww2. The radio provided the listener with good information from the BBC or other internation SW stations during ww2. It would be interesting to see how it performs on SW. Even if you listen on MW you should be able to listen to distance station during the night. You can connect a wire antenna to the metal back.

[@mfbfreak]

12:00 the cloth cover also is there to reduce the amplitude of the speaker's resonance peak in the low frequency, avoiding a thumping or booming sound. 12:50 the tar capacitors were indeed fairly good, compared to other paper capacitors of the same era. Definitely much better than the wax covered ones in paper sleeves. By now they're often bad. They can be left in circuit if there's a current limiting resistor in series with them, but in across-the-HV or as a coupling capacitor, they absolutely need to be replaced. Leakage resistance is typically 10M to 1Mohm.

[@y_x2]

Nice technical info. Tnx

[@patrickpafarnis5798]

The 'U' listed as an extra to the type number stood for 'U' type tubes, here the filaments of the tubes used were in series, saving a transformer. The disadvantage was that the chassis of the radio could either be switched to neutral or line, with all the risks this entailed! But the fact was that Philips could build high-quality receivers, with highly sensitive reception capabilities.

[@anthonymokelkie9360]

Pretty interesting all the special manufacturing teqniques to make the parts. yes some of the wiring looks pretty intricate as compared to USA sets good video thanks Tony ve4akf

[@scotty3114]

Sorry, the subject is great, but I can read the slides for myself. I don't care for someone reading on screen print to me like I was 3 or 4.

[@ae2ea]

But the low vision and blind users appreciate it. If you every run out of things to be thankful for, be thankful you can see.