AR88 front panel

[NJDG3YII]

I recently saw a maroon front panel which I am informed is original.
Apart from the usual black crackle enamel, what other colours were used.

[HamishBoxer]

Possibly grey though I admit I am not 100% sure.Having said that maroon surprises me as original.

[Mr Moose]

Hello,
This is from this website http://www.radioblvd.com/ar88.htm

Front Panel Colours and Cabinets - The first AR-88 receivers had black wrinkle finish panels. The nomenclature was normally silk screened in white on most receivers but not all. Many engraved nomenclature panels were made and supplied with the early AR-88 receivers that were exported. It doesn't appear that all export AR-88 panels were engraved but it certainly is fairly common to find engraved panels on early WWII production. Sometimes smooth black finish panels with engraved nomenclature show up in later WWII production. Not enough engraved nomenclature panels have been reported to see if they were a product of a specific plant or contractor, or a specific time period. At the moment, all we can say is that engraved panels will be encountered. All post-WWII AR-88 panels are silk-screened nomenclature. Some of the AR-88F receivers that were used in the Navy RDM receivers had smooth gloss finish black panels but many were also black wrinkle. After WWII, gray panels started to be produced. The plastic panel that covers the dials was changed to dark gray when installed on the gray panel receivers and remained black when installed on black panel receivers. Most of the CR-88 versions have smooth finish gray panels but there are some exceptions. The RCA "umber" finishes actually have quite a bit of brown mixed in giving the panel a distinctive brownish-gray look (see CR-88A photo below in "AR-88 Performance Today.") However, traditional gray is also seen on some of the CR-88, CR-91A and later AR-88LF receivers. RCA also produced a medium darker brown wrinkle finish version of the CR-88 that was probably for their own broadcast installations. The Royal Canadian Air Force (and possibly the RAF) had some of their AR-88 receiver panels finished in smooth gloss finish dark blue. There are many other colours that show up from time to time, especially cream and very light gray both with black nomenclature, but without a physical inspection it is impossible to tell if those colours are original from the factory. Silk screened nomenclature would generally confirm originality of the panel paint. There are also reports of a black Bakelite panel used on an AR-88, though this would have presented several electro-mechanical issues to deal with. More than likely the report of a Bakelite panel stemmed from an erroneous identification of the gloss black panels used on some RDM component receivers. Factory original panels seem to all be various colour paint over copper-plated steel with silk-screened nomenclature (with the exception of some WWII production that had engraved nomenclature rather than silk-screened.)

Original cabinets are rare and are usually black wrinkle finish however gray and "RCA umber" cabinets do turn up and the CR-88 that was original medium brown wrinkle also had a matching brown wrinkle finish cabinet. Since the AR-88 chassis is 17" deep very few cabinets other than originals will work. The only fairly "easy to find" cabinet is the type used on the WWII Scott Radio Laboratories SLR receivers. A little cutting in the rear is required for the Scott SLR cabinet to work but it is deep enough (the cutting is for clearance that is needed for the AR-88 AC Voltage selector switch.)

Yours, Richard

[NJDG3YII]

Many thanks for the comprehensive information.
Some years ago I had an AR88 with an IF gain control in place of the tone control. The front panel was gloss finish grey. I thought this was incorrect at the time and crackle enamelled it. I have since found out that the grey was in fact correct!

Many thanks,

Nick.

[Silicon]

I have an early AR-88 which has a black satin front panel with white screen printing.
The internals look original.

[NJDG3YII]

Many thanks, our local radio club had one with a smooth black front panel.

Nick

[G6Tanuki]

My AR88 has a black, engraved panel - it;s one of those which was modified for the RAF as "R1556A" with an additional headphone socket and switch below the power/mode/standby-switch, and then un-modified before being released from service.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...7&d=1352657470

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...6&d=1352657470

[NJDG3YII]

Many thanks for the information. One of mine also has an additional phone socket on the front panel.

[Radio Wrangler]

Mine had wrinkle paint on an engraved steel panel, along with the extra jack hole etc. Had, because as a youngster I had the thing shot-blasted then stove enamelled in silver hammer.

It has the R1556 conversion sticker on the chassis gusset plate. It has a PVC wiring harness fitted. The serial number is very early according to the American website collecting such data. Most unusually, it had a real original RCA S-meter.

David