G.E.C. TouchTune 5 BC3960

The receiver shown is the "Touchtune 5" from 1938. Yes we are back to descriptive model numbers again, with the set also being known as BC3960. Here we have a pushbutton receiver, because 1938 was the year that saw every large manufacturer include a pushbutton receiver in their range. GEC has been rather flamboyant with the button colours, picking red and green to tie up with the tuning scale colours for medium wave and long wave. All other manufacturers stayed with black or brown for their pushbuttons, with perhaps white to indicate the "manual" position. Therefore the red and green really does stand out on this receiver, and it must have done even more so in the 1930's when walnut and dark colours were the order of the day. 

The pushbutton tuning on this receiver is effected by use of trimmers, with each pushbutton capable of being set to a given range of the band (medium wave only, there is only one button for long wave). This process was not particularly easy, and involved removal of an under chassis link and then connection into the circuit of a meter that indicated when the optimum tuning position had been reached. This job would almost certainly have been done by the retailer according to the purchaser's instructions before installation into the home. I suspect many users would have had to call a serviceman out to change the pushbutton station selection should the owner desire a new pushbutton station (a problem that did not occur with motor tuning). The presets can be seen in the pictures above. 

Continue for more on the indicator pointers of the G.E.C. Touchtune 5

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