Colette's Makeover

  • 1. Introduction

    The Philips 'Colette' is a luxurious mains/battery valve portable offering LW, MW, SW (band spread 31 to 49 metres) and VHF (87.5 to 100 MHz) wavebands. It was released in Germany in 1956 and in The Netherlands a year later as the virtually identical 'Clipper' L5X62AB model. At the time of its release the set was an expensive top-of-the-range offering.....

  • 2. First Impressions

    Underneath the cloth covering, the front and back sections of the case are made from bakelite with the middle section being wood. Most noticeable was a large split in the bakelite above the tuning dial that had torn the covering. This area revealed the cloth to be paper thin and extremely brittle with age, repairing the split without tearing the cloth further.....

  • 3. Case Restoration

    Whilst searching for a suitable replacement covering I came across some grey and black vinyl imitation snakeskin material with a cloth backing. Since quite a few other German portables of the period had mock snakeskin coverings, several models by Akkord for example, I decided it would also be acceptable for the 'Colette'. I was further.....

  • 4. Chassis Restoration

    Virtually every one of the dozen or so wires going between the main chassis and power supply board had been disturbed - several of the wires having been left disconnected. It took quite some time to track and trace everything, but gradually I got the wiring reinstated to how it would have been originally. Finally, I had reached the point.....

  • 5. Batteries and the DEAC ni-cad

    With portable radio restorations I like to undertake the construction of an authentic set of reproduction batteries to demonstrate the radio operating with the specified battery types. The HT battery is a Pertrix No.78 - the reproduction version housing a chain of 10 x 9 volt PP3 batteries connected in series to provide the required 90 volts. The.....

  • 6. Conclusion

    I am very pleased with how the new cloth covering has turned out - it has more than exceeded expectations. Whilst the cloth I substituted for the original is perhaps not to everyone's taste - I hope others will still agree that it is in keeping with other snakeskin covered sets of the period. Personally I think it enhances what was already a.....