Arako "Ingrid" Model SU 118 Radio (1957)

           

The Arako "Ingrid" Model SU 118 radio resembles many European tabletop radios, but it's unusual to find any radio from Denmark where I live, on the West coast of the USA. When I spotted this one for $10 at a swap meet, I had to have it.

Arako was a small Danish manufacturer, producing radios from 1932-1957. If you scroll down on this page from the Radiohistorisk Forening Ringsted website, you can see an exhibit of Arako sets. Elsewhere in that site is a list of 16 Arako models, including the SU 118 Ingrid, possessed by the museum.

As with most European radios, the Ingrid is a multi-band receiver. The mode switch is labeled LB (long-wave band), MB (middle-wave band, or the American standard broadcast band), SB (shortwave band), and FM. The final position, labeled GR, enables a rear connector for a gramophone, or record turntable.

The dial shows the names of many European cities near their respective frequency positions. In the center is the Arako logo with concentric circles. The leftmost control is labeled TONEKONTROL, LYS (light) - MØRK (dark). Next to it is the power/volume control, labeled STYRKEKONTROL, TÆND - TRÆK. The rightmost control is the tuner, labeled INDSTILLING.

On the rear cover you can see connectors for an FM dipole antenna or an AM longwire antenna and ground, plus the gramophone jack. This receiver operates on 220 volts AC.

Inside the cabinet is a generous oval speaker and a sturdy, un-cramped chassis.

If you look closely, you can see the socket of one of the two side-mounted dial lamps, just visible above the chassis top. These illuminate the dial from the sides and they can be changed by unscrewing decorative buttons from the front.

One of the buttons is missing its embossed brass insert. It should not be hard to fashion a replacement. The next photo shows that pressing foil on the intact button makes a reasonable facsimile. I'll either paint this one brass, or find some brass foil at a craft store and then trim it and glue it on.

I haven't tried to power up this set. That will have to wait until I buy or build a 220-volt power source. Like every 1950s radio, it will also need routine capacitor replacement, of course. If anyone has a schematic for this model, please send me an email.

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