National T-100D

National T-100D multi-band radio made in Japan, 1964. 1/2 meg - 27 megs in 4 bands, dial light, signal strength & battery meter, bass & treble controls, nice looker, very well made, loop aerial pulls up at rear for SW reception, world zone reception calculator disc at rear..

As with most Japanese radios little or nothing was wrong with this one. I must say the build quality for 1964 is quite astounding. A few variations of the model were made, one with VHF or FM band, one with Long Wave band, this one being for the World market due to the wide range of the short wave reception. Also as with mine a separate 1.5 volt battery was used for the switched dial light, 6 bulbs in all, 4 in the band selection and 2 on the dial display. I did find a intermittent electrolytic capacitor, causing low volume, found in picture below just to the right of the white painted IF coil.

Single right batter is for the dial lights.

I spent quite a while with the plastic cutting polish and wire wool on the chrome metalwork, toothbrush on the front and rear grills, silver touch-up paint on front grill. Watch-out for the switch on the back above the batteries, only it cuts out the sound from the radio and waits for an gram input signal in socket next to it, caught me out for a minute or two. I found this at a reasonable price (untested) but I have seen some for sale for £250, if it just had gain control and sideband switch it would be up there with the big guys for sensitivity. The AGC works very well without a switch, I have the Droitwich transmitter just a few miles away and reception of this powerful broadcast is very good. Most radios make it sound overloaded and distorted. So in all a very nice radio.

World reception calculator needed a drop of oil to free it up