Tag: tech

Radio Clocks and Clock Radios

Here we see a Philco Model A radio-clock circa 1931. This device acts as a 24 hour timer, and was used to turn a radio on and off at pre- set times. There are knobs on the left and right sides to set on and off times, along with an AC receptacle and bypass switch on the back. The radio-clock cabinet was designed by famed industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes, who’s most notable design was the “Futurama” exhibit of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The cabinet complements the styling of Philco console radios of that day.

 

 

 

Here it is seen on top of a Philco 112X radio. The Philco 112X was known as “The Stokowski Model” and was Philco’s entry into high fidelity, but that’s another story for some other time. The radio-clock retailed for $17.95 in 1931. That’s around $280 in today’s money.

At the time, were other devices on the market that were similar to the Philco radio-clock. Up through the 1930’s, several radios were actually manufactured that shared their cabinet with an electric clock, but none of them were designed with the purpose in mind of a modern clock radio. The first clock radio wasn’t patented until the mid-nineteen-forties.

 

 

 

 

The Telechron Musalarm 8H59 is considered to be the first clock radio on the market. The 8H59 Musalarm was soon replaced with the model 8H67 seen here.

 

 

 

 

More images from varying angles… click to open full-sized image.

This Zenith 6D030’s cabinetry was designed by Charles and Ray Eames, most known for their mid-century furniture designs, such as the Eames Chair.  Their designs utilized a process for making compound bends in plywood, which resulted in stylish products at a time when the industry was still suffering from wartime material shortages.  This Zenith radio was manufactured in 1946 and looks years ahead of the competition.

This was a flea-market find from about twenty years ago and has an amazingly well preserved cabinet.  My philosophy has always been to “buy what you like”.  This radio wasn’t anything of particular value , or something that I was searching for.  I just liked its looks. It’s interesting that the 6D030 is now gaining collector status from collectors of Eames mid-century!

RCA “Smoker’s Radio”

This RCA AM table radio has the unique feature of a built in cigarette lighter!

(click any image to view full-sized.)

 

It’s nothing high-tech, even by 1956 standards, but a standard cigarette lighter as would be found on the dashboard of any automobile of that time.   When found, the lighter element was missing from the radio and there were questions regarding the purpose of the hole on top of the cabinet.  I asked to borrow the cigarette lighter element out of the seller’s 1980-something car.  It was a perfect fit and its purpose was confirmed!

Later when I got the set home, I noticed a sticker on the bottom stating the wattage consumed when in the lighter mode. I tried the lighter and it does heat up, but it appears that the lighter socket voltage is not rectified.  Too bad, it would make a great port for a phone charger.

The radio does have a phono input on the side to plug in the optional RCA 45 rpm player.  Oddly enough for a “smoker’s radio”, there is little to no nicotine discoloration on the cabinet.

The Vogue Radio-Mike was the forerunner to the Mister Microphone and other devices that enabled the user to become a home broadcaster. You could amaze and mystify your friends by broadcasting your own voice over your own radio.

It was sold by mail-order through ads that appeared in magazines, such as Popular Mechanics.

This unit dates from the mid nineteen-thirties and has the original box and instructions. The instructions tell you to hook this little microphone to the detector tube on your radio. I wonder how many of the users were able to properly identify the detector tube on their radio and how many got knocked across the room!

Click any of the photos to enlarge them.

 

Do you have an antique radio with a story? Email it to us and we’ll post it here and in the next WBJC eNewsletter. You can send them to membership@www.testwjbcg1440.com and Diana Ross will get them posted.

 

 

This radio is a GLF model F-770, circa 1948.  GLF stands for Grange League Federation, which was a farmer’s co-op in upstate New York.  In the late forties, the Grange League Federation founded six FM stations in upstate New York and formed the Rural Radio Network to serve farming communities.   They marketed these well-built 10 tube AM/FM radios that were designed for long distance reception.  Although the radio looks European in appearance, it is built with standard American parts and displays “Made in USA” on the bottom label.  I found this radio in an antique store in Northeast Pennsylvania.  I plugged the set in at the store, and the store started filling up with smoke and the stench of a burning transformer.  Needless to say, this caused the price of the radio to drop drastically!  Soon after, I was lucky enough to find a donor GLF F-770, that had a less needy chassis, but poor cosmetics.  This radio is the result of the best parts of the two.  I recapped this radio and replaced a couple of tubes.  It plays ok, but still is not what it was in its glory.  Since this radio was probably a one-off built- to-order design, there is no technical data for it floating around.  I’ll take this one to the next level once the schematic and alignment instructions are available.

 

This beautiful radio is The Auditron Single Channel FM Radio, with the original box!

 

This radio does not have a tuning control. It is set to receive a single station. The knob below the phony dial is merely a fine-tuning control.
This one came factory tuned to WFLN-FM, the now defunct Philadelphia classical music station.

 

I’ve heard of similar radios being distributed by radio stations to merchants to ensure that their station was played in stores, but apparently this one was offered to the general public.  According to Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, WFLN-FM sold these radios through the station for twenty dollars.

The Auditron Unichannel radio came out in 1962.   This particular radio came with its original box , indicating a shipping date of August 1969.  It probably received use up until the factory-set station changed format and was then put back in the box.

This five tube radio plays very nicely and didn’t take much internal tweaking to set to  WBJC.

This late nineteen-fifties Emerson model 908 table radio received stereo broadcasts  years before the current FM multiplex stereo standard was adopted.  Some AM&FM broadcast stations were starting to experiment with stereo broadcasting by  using their AM signal for the left channel and their FM for the right, or vice-versa.

This radio allows you to listen to AM and FM simultaneously for a stereo broadcast. AM and FM can be tuned separately and  you can have the AM playing through the internal speaker, while an FM station is playing though the external speaker. In fact, you can even have AM and FM playing simultaneously through the same speaker!  There is even a stereo input for a ceramic stereo cartridge and dial lights that light according to mode of operation.

This radio wasn’t very needy, requiring only the replacement of a burned out light bulb.  I don’t have the external speaker and I’m not sure if it was an option or came with the set.  I doubt that most owners ever had a use for the features on this set, but it’s an interesting  footnote in the development of stereo broadcasting.

GE “Atomic 440” Radio 

From the “Atomic” design style of the 1950’s. I saw one of these radios in an old photo of WBJC’s transmitter site (actual picture!), so I had to have one!

 

This GE “Atomic 440” radio has seven tubes and a selenium rectifier. There is a phono input on the back.

 

I was told that the dials on these are very impressive, when lit. The original dial light bulb was missing from this radio and my favorite parts store could not come up with a direct substitution.  Presently there is a neon bulb in its place. I think the original bulb would give a somewhat brighter glow with a different tint. Still not bad!

 

I had to replace most of the capacitors, the rectifier , and the loudspeaker. The FM reception is quite good by 1954 standards. The AM section needed a lot of work but now sounds great.

 

 

This Emerson radio dates back to the late 1940’s. The cabinet was designed by the studios of Raymond Loewy, famed industrial designer.  Lowey was responsible for the design of the Shell Oil logo, Studebaker automobiles, Coca-cola products and the US postal service eagle logo.  It was quite unusual for a company like Emerson to build an entry level FM-only radio at a time when AM was king.  Unfortunately this radio does not perform as well most AM radios of its day.