DKE - Volksempfänger

[Kris]

Hi all,

Here's some info and pictures on my DKE radio.
Not really Wehrmacht but i think it fits this forum.
I did not found many threads about this great radio so here we go ...

First picture, overall view as it arrived, uncleaned for who knows how many years (sorry for the bad pics).

[Kris]

.

the backside.
There were more than 20 known firms who made these.
As you see, thisone is made by the Graetz company.

The DKE was the most simple radio in the range of volksempf******228;ngers.
Here you see the power cord, on/off switch and antenna/earth connections

[Kris]

inside

The inside, to my surprise very complete and in good shape.
A lot of dust ! I didn't clean the dust off too much, 60 year old dust has his rights

Look at the radio tubes' shape

[Kris]

underside

The underside...

[Kris]

VCL11 tube

Look at this VCL11 tube !
Not only a technical wonder but also beautyfull to look at.
Special about the VCL11 is that it is one of the first radio tubes that works directly on the domestic powerlines voltages, mostly 220 or 110V

[Kris]

.

other side of the VCL11...

VCL11's are mostly painted in a silver or gold paint. The paint is not for decoration but has conducting characteristics.

[Kris]

Vy2

VY2 lamp from Telefunken. Used in the power supply section of the radio.
This is a single ... euhm.. in English ?? current equalizer ??

[Kris]

other side..

[Kris]

Close up from the inside with VY2 lamp removed, revealing the socket for it. In the back you see a part of the speaker. The speaker's frame is from pressed carton and the speaker has a high Ohm level, thus saving antoher transformer. frequency range of the speaker is only 2500 Hz.

Look at the period and working fuse on the right !
Right of the 2 big capacitors there's a choke and next to it a variable capacitor, part of the tuning circuit (this is what the big round plaque is turning).

On the left you see 2 capacitors who are in the power supply section. These are the tricky part. After all these years they're probably dried up inside and not working anymore.
So just plugging in the radio would probably kill the VY2 lamp...

[Kris]

so i decided to check the capacitors and indeed, no good anymore.
I choose to 'restore' them rather than replacing them by new ones
I put 2 new ones in to try the radio.
And yes, it still works perfectly

Here you see the original capacitors removed and modern ones temporary soldered in...

[Kris]

These old capacitors are made of some hard carton casing.
By putting them in the oven at moderate temperature you make the 'paste' soft and you can remove the inside like you see on the photo.

Make sure there's enough ventilation as the toxic fumes are all around

[Kris]

The result, 2 empty casings ready to be remade and filled up with modern exmaples like the blue ones on previous photo's.

[Kris]

I forgot to take pictures of this part but i think you'll understand.
I put modern capacitors in the casings, filled the empty space up and soldered 'old style' protected wire on the connection points. I closed the openings with candle wax. This was not so easy and some went more smoother than the other.

[Kris]

Putting them back in, more difficult than it looks..

[Kris]

Everything connected as it should be with the wireing being isolated.
Its quite important because these capacitors are electrolite ones, so having a positive + and negative - side.
Putting them the wrong way = boom