Hi, my name is Craig Schroeder and I was wondering if anyone would have any information on this working Electroplex Tube FM Storecast Receiver I picked up the other day. It has me perplexed. I can't find any info on it anywhere. I understand that it isn't a multiplexing receiver which means the manufacture date has to be within 1949 to 1955 while the FCC still allowed storecasting. If you want any more specifications just ask. I know quite a bit about tube amplifiers and such. Any info would be appreciated. Here are some pictures of it:

Was this meant to receive SCA broadcasts from FM stations?

I'm pretty sure it is. All I know is that it is indeed a storecast receiver for subscription based listening. It has a single frequency crystal of 97.9. My guess is because it isn't a multiplex it has to be SCA.

That unit looks like a good historical find. If you restore it, try and find the same line cord
and plug. What metal is the small shield around the 119-022 discriminator coil (just
behind the power transformer) made of?

I was a bench tech at a Muzak franchise, and saw many different SCA receivers, but never one of this brand. It looks like a McMartin clone, and receives one FM station using a crystal controlled oscillator, and a front end tuned to that specific station. The main channel is amplified by two or three IF amps, usually two limiters, a Foster-Seely discriminator, not a ratio detector, then the un-de-emphasized signal is fed into a 67 kHz tuned coil or transformer to trap the sub-carrier signal, which is then converted to 455 kHz, and amplified using two IF amps, two limiters, and another discriminator. A type of filter/amp system has also been used, notably by Browning Labs. The audio would have had about 8kHz bandwidth, not HiFi, but enough for the purpose. The main channel is usually of very high quality, as that's whats necessary to accomplish the bandwidth needed to amplify the sub-carrier signal.
You're right about the outboard multiplex unit, as there aren't enough tubes on the chassis to indicate one on-board, unless this one is a real cheap set. You could re-cap it and see what station might or might not come in, but maybe it would be better to just keep it a an artifact of broadcasting history, as the crystal needs to be changed to change stations.
Hope this helps. Anyone else??

Well if you get bored with it, and nobody wants it, and the iron is good, you could make a really serious guitar/bass head amp out of it, especially since it has a cage. Probably could fit a short body reverb on the chassis as well.

It is also a 10 watt 70 volt PA amp. I wonder how the mike circuit works? Is their
a Vox break-in that fades the music when announcements are made?

so far I have been using it as a guitar amp and it sounds beautiful. I'm guessing mainly because of the MASSIVE transformers for such a small amp. As far as the PA part goes it somehow switches to whatever audio source is next. so if I plug a different rca into the mx2 while I have mx 1 running it goes to 2. it also fades the 97.9 FM station when anything else is playing. The crystal is for 97.9 and comes in perfectly (surprisingly).

neat score man ive always loved these sort of oddball deals. any idea what store it was for?

i have one made by mcmartin that is a little newer but has the same genral look to it, mine was set up for sears.
infact they must still use the same frequency cause i get elevator music via the sears radio network on it!

WAIT!

Nucler Electronics Company.. N.E.C. -i wonder if there is any relation.....

NEC is Nippon Electric Company, which is Japanese.

Gotta love that 50s atomic era naming. You couldn't sell anything now with that sort of brand name.