Show us your vintage pocket transistor radios!

[Celt]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I had a "Coronet" two-transistor "boy's radio" in the late '60s; got it from one of my cousins when his family was getting ready to move. The radio didn't work very well where I lived at the time; only picked up one station, a local station about three miles east of me. These two-transistor radios work great if you are in a very strong signal area, within a few miles of powerful stations, but if you are in the far suburbs of a city or even further away from the transmitters, these sets won't work worth a darn. I remember reading right here in this forum that these 2-transistor radios were little more than glorified crystal sets, with a very small amplifier to drive a speaker.

They performed poorly because they were only a crystal set with a two-transistor audio amp. Amazingly enough, they'd suck the life right out of a 9 volt battery in no time.

[tune tuner]

Originally Posted by Celt

They performed poorly because they were only a crystal set with a two-transistor audio amp. Amazingly enough, they'd suck the life right out of a 9 volt battery in no time.

Boy's radios actually used a reflex circuit. Once I redid the antenna coil on an Angel 2-transistor (that was dumb, I'd sure like to have that radio today)...I replaced the smaller coil with one using more turns. The radio became much more sensitive and selective (and also drained the 9V battery quicker). Now I have several boy's radios from eBay...one of them oscillates at the high end of the band when I attach the whip antenna to it.

The first transistor of a boy's radio is actually an rf stage...

Chuck

[Celt]

Originally Posted by tune tuner

Boy's radios actually used a reflex circuit. Once I redid the antenna coil on an Angel 2-transistor (that was dumb, I'd sure like to have that radio today)...I replaced the smaller coil with one using more turns. The radio became much more sensitive and selective (and also drained the 9V battery quicker). Now I have several boy's radios from eBay...one of them oscillates at the high end of the band when I attach the whip antenna to it.

The first transistor of a boy's radio is actually an rf stage...

Chuck

Learn something every day...

[noveltyradio.co]

I finally found another transistor radio this weekend! Theya re getting way too scarce now. This is an Empire model td-810, made in Japan and included the box. Its rare to find one that has the box too! Its an unassumming little number, but hey, I got it!!
If I have posted this twice I am sorry; still learning the ropes of posting.
If the picture does not show up: someone please tell me how to upload it, I have tried twice!

[tune tuner]

Gary,



Nice Empire, that's not a brand name I see often. The trim is even intact. Does it play? I think I'll try to recap a few of my simpler transistor sets and see how that goes. So many radios have lost their volume...would be nice to restore them but I wouldn't wanna ruin them in the process.

I think I've bought a couple of radios from you. Ahhh, yes, what a hobby!

Chuck

[2DualsNotEnough]

Great radios,guys.Here is my little guy.A Panasonic Toot-A-Loop.The first transistor I ever brought home that my wife was jealous of.
Jimmy

[noveltyradio.co]

Thanks for the kind words Chuck! It did play, even tho I had to replace the battery connector! I wish the picture didn't go big sized. I will have to learn how to do the smaller picture posting!
I am up to 611 transistor radios, and over 1520 novelty radios! I am like you, what a hobby!!
Gary

[tune tuner]

Gary, do you have any basic photo editing programs on your computer? I've been resampling my large pics down to more usable sizes...I think most photo editing software lets you do that...

But my favorite radio pics I still do save originals in their large size just so I can study them later...

Chuck

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Celt

They performed poorly because they were only a crystal set with a two-transistor audio amp. Amazingly enough, they'd suck the life right out of a 9 volt battery in no time.

Hmmm. These radios didn't have much to them, so the amplifier couldn't have been that powerful; I wonder why they would drain a nine-volt battery so fast. If they had large, powerful amplifiers that could blow someone out of a room with the volume just barely cracked open, yes, I could see why they would go through batteries quickly, but with only two transistors?

Doesn't make much sense to me. A two-transistor amplifier, after all, shouldn't draw that much current unless the radio is played at or near full volume most of the time, but then again, maybe that was the only way to hear these sets in most areas.