'39 Motorola "Picnic" portable

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Celt

I be liking that two band!

Thanks. Yes, that one's my favorite so far. It plays as good as it looks too. It's only a single band though showing both Kilocycles and Meters.

[jr_tech]

These are great fun!

I have always wondered why they don’t seem to be more popular among radio collectors. I’m guessing that many are avoided because of the batteries, but it is really easy to make a workable battery pack, and with more effort, duplicate the appearance of the original pack.

Could you post a picture of the Motorola “turned on”, so that we might see the dial markings after the dial changes?

jr

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

These are great fun!

I have always wondered why they don’t seem to be more popular among radio collectors. I’m guessing that many are avoided because of the batteries, but it is really easy to make a workable battery pack, and with more effort, duplicate the appearance of the original pack.

Could you post a picture of the Motorola “turned on”, so that we might see the dial markings after the dial changes?

jr

I have several of those large portable radios, but most of them are the 3-way type, AC-DC and battery. I did build up a few AC power supplies for the battery only sets. The best way of doing it now is to use a 5 volt regulator chip.
I still have to build one up like that.
For a power transformer, I use a transformer from a scrap VTVM or other obsolete, worthless test equipment. Total line isolation!

[mr_rye89]

I love battery tube sets! all mine are post war though. I've got a funky red Motorola one that does three way power and a battery only bakelite Emerson. I also have a "recipe" for homemade 67 1/2 volt batteries.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by mr_rye89

I love battery tube sets! all mine are post war though. I've got a funky red Motorola one that does three way power and a battery only bakelite Emerson. I also have a "recipe" for homemade 67 1/2 volt batteries.

I could never understand the reasoning to buy a battery-only radio after the three power models came out. Almost all the US firms made them until the end of the tube era. Those batteries were never cheap!
I have a Motorola model 41H that looks like the one pictured, only a 3 way job. That is one interesting circuit, using the resistance line cord from H*ll,
dissipates 38.25 watts.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I could never understand the reasoning to buy a battery-only radio after the three power models came out. Almost all the US firms made them until the end of the tube era. Those batteries were never cheap!
I have a Motorola model 41H that looks like the one pictured, only a 3 way job. That is one interesting circuit, using the resistance line cord from H*ll,
dissipates 38.25 watts.

The battery only sets seem to be smaller, lighter, and they were probably cheaper too than the plug-in models. Likely that appealed to people who might of also realized they had their AC home set. I believe these battery only sets had maybe one battery replacement and then they went into storage because, as is still today, batteries are expensive!

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

The battery only sets seem to be smaller, lighter, and they were probably cheaper too than the plug-in models. Likely that appealed to people who might of also realized they had their AC home set. I believe these battery only sets had maybe one battery replacement and then they went into storage because, as is still today, batteries are expensive!

Smaller, lighter, cheaper for sure, but also I might add safer... as a little kid, my battery only Arvin was the only radio that I was allowed to take into the bathroom and damp basement, as there was NO shock hazard.

Batteries were fairly expensive for a kid whose source of income was doing dishes and mowing lawns, but I assure you that that many sets of batteries were purchased for the set. IIRC, a 67.5 “B” battery was $2.75 and the “A” cells were just inexpensive (25cent) flashlight “D” cells. A “B” battery outlasted the “A” cells about 3 to 1.

jr

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

The battery only sets seem to be smaller, lighter, and they were probably cheaper too than the plug-in models. Likely that appealed to people who might of also realized they had their AC home set. I believe these battery only sets had maybe one battery replacement and then they went into storage because, as is still today, batteries are expensive!

Also, the pre-war battery models spent 3 or 4 years on the closet shelf because batteries were almost un-available during the war.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I could never understand the reasoning to buy a battery-only radio after the three power models came out. A

Some of the ultra compact shirt pocket tube battery only sets were the smallest lightest radios you could get before transistors were being sold.

I'd imagine reason for owning one would be similar to the reason for having a Walkman in the 80s or 90s sure your average home stereo had a cassette deck that was better by all measures, and you already own a home stereo, but that thing is not practical to take with you on your daily walk to _______.

Some time ago I read a piece on the first small portables with miniature tubes pre WWII and there was an ad for a IIRC Sonora portable advertisement that had a picture of a lady jogging with the set strapped to her arm.... It sort of blew me away how ahead of it's time that ad seemed to be.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

there was an ad for a IIRC Sonora portable that had a picture of a lady jogging with the set strapped to her arm.... It sort of blew me away how ahead of it's time that ad seemed to be.

What, the portable, or jogging? I didn't think people jogged back then.

.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

These are great fun!

I have always wondered why they don’t seem to be more popular among radio collectors. I’m guessing that many are avoided because of the batteries, but it is really easy to make a workable battery pack, and with more effort, duplicate the appearance of the original pack.

Could you post a picture of the Motorola “turned on”, so that we might see the dial markings after the dial changes?

jr

They are fun and, as I mentioned, will surprise you how good they play. I was a collector who ignored these for years too. I always thought they were too utilitarian looking with the mesh grills, handles, and unlit dial. As whenever you go outside your area of focus in the hobby, you soon get hooked! I did that a while back with '20's sets too.
I don't concern myself with the look of the batteries. A single "D" and a series of 10 9V's is easy to tuck into the back of these early sets. With limited collector use, the batteries last for a good long time.
Here's the Motorola turned-on with the "Batteries Off" plate out of the way. It's really cool how it springs back and forth!

[Celt]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Thanks. Yes, that one's my favorite so far. It plays as good as it looks too. It's only a single band though showing both Kilocycles and Meters.

Ah, gotcha.