Show us your vintage pocket transistor radios!

[Fisher-Dave]

I have my mothers old RAC Victor,can't make out the model as the battery corroded at one point in time and I cant read the label inside the rear cover.It still has the serial # and says it was made in Indianapolis Indiana. It also calls for a replacement battery thats a RCA VS 149 4 Volt..

[OMI]

GLAD THEY FOUND A GOOD HOME

[aj_chicago]

Just found, cleaned up, and LOVE this little jewel. This is 60s high tech. It's a Panasonic 10 transistor RadarMatic. Takes 4 AA batteries. You wind up a spring loaded mechanism with a pop-up key on the back. You then push the lever on the top and let go and the radio slowly "scans" the dial for the next station and automatically stops on the next station. When it stops it is always very clear. Pretty amazing. A single wind lasts forever! Everyone who picks it up just can't stop scanning the dial. Lol! The only drawback is that it is AM only. FM wasn't much back then.

[Adam]

Zenith Royal 16

[radiotvnut]

I don't have many transistor radios; but, these two are my favorite pocket radios. The white one is a two transistor boy's radio that has it's own stand to sit it up & is made in Japan. The red one is a USA made Arvin in a genuine leather case. I think both of these date from the early '60's. I'm sure USA made pocket radios are rare, especially by the '60's.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I don't have many transistor radios; but, these two are my favorite pocket radios. The white one is a two transistor boy's radio that has it's own stand to sit it up & is made in Japan.

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.

[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...

[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.

[radiotvnut]

Here's a few more plain looking radios that date from around '65 to about '70. The first picture is a Sears Silvertone 7209. This is a hefty radio with a chrome metal front. This is a model 7209 and uses a round 9V battery.

The second picture is of four pretty plain models.

From L to R:
1. Realtone 10 transistor AM made in Japan.
2. AITC 8 transistor AM. Printed label says assembled in Singapore. The back has printed in tiny letters at the bottom "British crown colony of Hong Kong."
3. Philco-Ford AM made in Taiwan.
4. RCA AM/FM made in Japan. Model RHM19E. The antenna is broken and I think the band switch is erratic. This one has a stand on the bottom.

Pocket radios seem to be getting harder to find. The last one I saw was in a local flea market. It was one of those later model silver Radio Shack weather radios. They wanted $29.99 for it. I laughed and moved on.

[tune tuner]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Here's a few more plain looking radios that date from around '65 to about '70. The first picture is a Sears Silvertone 7209. This is a hefty radio with a chrome metal front. This is a model 7209 and uses a round 9V battery.

The second picture is of four pretty plain models.

From L to R:
1. Realtone 10 transistor AM made in Japan.
2. AITC 8 transistor AM. Printed label says assembled in Singapore. The back has printed in tiny letters at the bottom "British crown colony of Hong Kong."
3. Philco-Ford AM made in Taiwan.
4. RCA AM/FM made in Japan. Model RHM19E. The antenna is broken and I think the band switch is erratic. This one has a stand on the bottom.

Pocket radios seem to be getting harder to find. The last one I saw was in a local flea market. It was one of those later model silver Radio Shack weather radios. They wanted $29.99 for it. I laughed and moved on.

I've got that RCA...the bandswitch is erratic on mine too, have to get it just right on FM. FM reception is weak, only the strong stations are good, but it does improve when I connect a random wire antenna to the collapsed whip. Very good on AM! A good DXer on the AM band! I have to tighten the tuning dial every now n then, luckily the screw for that is accessible...

Chuck

[tune tuner]

Here's my latest catch from eBay...a Candle 10-Transistor. In very good cosmetic shape...not as loud as it was in its prime, but for an early 1960s radio it does fine. Quite sensitive, at night I can do some DXing with it. I don't know how many transistors are actually used in the circuit...the radio uses an 006P 9V batt.

Chuck

[MJSNet]

Perfect! Thanks Gary!

[Brian]

I also have a Candle portable radio but it is not pocket size. It is a 12 transistor am/fm/sw and is quite heavy. Nice unit and not cheaply made as I guess the company started turning out later.