Later model "farm" radios ('52 Silvertone)

[radiotvnut]

As many of you know, there were many areas of the country, especially rural areas, that did not have electricity. For those customers, there were battery operated tube radios available and the most common variety of these radios operated from a battery pack that provided 1.5V and 90V. From what I'm told, there is a community about 30 miles from me that didn't receive electricity until '53 and I suspect that not many "non electrified" areas remained after the early '50's.

Recently, I picked up this Silvertone (built by Warwick) 4-tube farm radio from '52-'53. It uses 4 miniature tubes and operates on the same type of battery pack as the older farm radios. This radio needed the usual service and is a decent performing radio, given what it is.

I figure that this is probably one of the last table model battery operated farm radios that was made (does anyone else know of any later examples for the US market?). Within a couple of years of this set being introduced, transistor radios hit the market and these rapidly replaced tube battery operated radios. Anyone who didn't have electricity and needed a battery operated radio after the early '50's probably bought either a transistor set or a 3-way tube portable (I think tube portables were made until around '60-'61).

One thing about this silvertone that I don't like are the antenna and ground leads simply dangling off of the fragile antenna coil; so, I added a terminal strip to help protect the coil in the event of an "accident."

I have a friend who picked up his first tube radio in the early '70's, a Firestone battery operated farm set that he obtained from the trash. He said that the local hardware store was able to order him the correct battery pack; but, it was expensive and didn't last long. He said that when he tried to get another one, he was told that they were NLA. Frankly, I'm shocked that these packs were available into the '70's.

[stusnyder]

I have not seen one of those yet. Nice set. I always was a sucker for silvertones..

[JBL GUY]

Very nice find!

Thanks for the pictures and the information.

[transmaster]

Nice! I have developed a real affection for AA5 farm, and universal radios. My favorite tube type portable is a Zenith G503Y Tip Top. Compared to my tube type ZTO's they are so easy to work on.

[radiotvnut]

I've got a circa '46 Emerson AC/DC/battery portable on the way that's interesting. It uses dual output tubes. In AC, a 50B5 is switched into circuit. In DC, a 3Q5 is switched into circuit. They probably did this so that the radio would have more volume and better tonal quality when used on AC.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I've got a circa '46 Emerson AC/DC/battery portable on the way that's interesting. It uses dual output tubes. In AC, a 50B5 is switched into circuit. In DC, a 3Q5 is switched into circuit. They probably did this so that the radio would have more volume and better tonal quality when used on AC.

I have about three of those Emersons. Two of them use the 35W4 and 50B5 combination and one uses a 117N7. It's a very interesting design, to be sure. All the tube filaments, except the 3Q4 are supplied from the cathode of the output tube, when operated on the power line. As a result of this design, no large wattage resistor is needed for the tube filaments. As an added bonus, the power output is around one watt, compared to the others with the conventional design, using the battery output tube, giving only around 350 miliwatts of output.
There is a few other radio manufacturers that built a radio with a similar circuit.

[quaddriver]

Holy cow, I have a similar one I just got....have not started in on it yet - it looks different by far, but it is as described, 1.5 and 90v needed....

Would there be any value in making my own silicon based power supply to feed this thing?

[Olorin67]

I suspect a lot of farm folks without AC power back then just bought portables that could be plugged in later if they were wired for power.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by quaddriver

Holy cow, I have a similar one I just got....have not started in on it yet - it looks different by far, but it is as described, 1.5 and 90v needed....

Would there be any value in making my own silicon based power supply to feed this thing?

I do it all the time!
The hardest part is finding a suitable power transformer or two.
I've used power transformers from scrap test equipment, UHF converters etc.
You need one with a 120 and a 6.3 volt secondary. The filament circuit needs about 125 to 150ma, depending on the number of tubes. A bridge rectifier and large value, low voltage capacitors and a suitable voltage divider or a LM type voltage regulator chip.
The B+ is the easy part. A half wave simple B+ source providing 90-100 volts dc.