Early Motorola "all transistor" AC operated clock radio

[radiotvnut]

I just bought this off of ebay and am waiting on it to arrive. It's a Motorola all transistor model CX27-G AC operated clock radio. I notice that it says "all transistor" instead of "solid state" and it still has "CD" markings on the dial. By it having "CD" markings, wouldn't that put it in the pre-'64 category?

Really, I don't run into very many early AC only transistor radios. I have one GE AM clock radio with CD markings from around '62 or '63. It seems that solid state electric table radios didn't really become common until the mid '60's. I guess that's because many of the early solid state AC sets used high voltage output stages and large value filter caps in the power supply. I'm sure, during the early '60's, it was cheaper to build a regular tube radio; even though the technology was in place to build a solid state AC only radio.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

When I get the radio, I'll post pictures of the inside. I suspect it's a hot chassis setup, just like most tube radios of the day.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I just bought this off of ebay and am waiting on it to arrive. It's a Motorola all transistor model CX27-G AC operated clock radio. I notice that it says "all transistor" instead of "solid state" and it still has "CD" markings on the dial. By it having "CD" markings, wouldn't that put it in the pre-'64 category?

Yes. The "CD" markings were to identify 640 and 1240 kHz (kc) on AM radio dials between 1953 and 1963. These frequencies were used at first by an emergency broadcasting network called Conelrad, which was formed in the early 1950s and lasted until, as you said, 1963-'64. Conelrad was replaced by the Emergency Broadcast System, which ran from 1964 until the end of the Cold War era. EBS was then replaced by today's Emergency Alert System, or EAS, in the mid-1990s. It is interesting to note, however, that most TV and radio stations still ran Conelrad tests as late as the early 1970s.

[radiotvnut]

And, I remember the EBS test of not too many years ago. On TV, it went something like: "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test". Then, you 'd hear a loud "BEEP" for about 30 seconds. Then, it would go back to regular programming.

[AUdubon5425]

If anyone worked in radio back when, there were daily code words that you had to match to the wire to indicate it was a real emergency and activate the EBS. I remember there was a list of these sent every month.

Going from memory:

This is a test. For the next sixty seconds this station will conduct a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is ONLY a test: BEEEEEEEEEEP

This has been a test of the emergency broadcast system. The broadcasters in your area, in voluntary co-operation with federal, state and local authorities, have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency.

If this had been an actual emergency, the attention signal you just heard would have been followed by official information, news or instructions.

This concludes this test of the emergency broadcast system.

[radiotvnut]

OK, here it is and it's in nice shape. The radio has a nice tone and is more sensitive than I expected, unlike a solid state GE that I own of similar vintage.

I think I saw a date code on one of the caps that stated the 36th week of '62; so, this radio was probably made in late '62 or early '63.

A couple of other interestings things that I noticed is that this radio had a selenium rectifier and uses a power transformer. I don't think I've ever seen a solid state radio that used a selenium rectifier and most of the AC operated sets of this period were line operated. There is also a hefty audio output transformer mounted on the speaker; so, those two transformers make this a heavy radio.

On the bottom, it still has the "PLAcir" notation and also a label advising that only Motorola original parts AND TUBES should be used for best performance. That's strange, seeing as how this set does not use tubes. I'm sure that was just a standard form label that was plastered on all Motorola consumer electronics of the period.

This may be an early example of a solid state AC radio from Motorola; but, it appears that they had their ducks in a row as far as making a quality product with this model.

[drh4683]

That thing is great! I need to find myself one of those now. I have always been a fan of Motorola products. I think Moto was one of the first to sell itself out and go with japanese and european parts. Some of their radios as old as 1961 have nichicon or elna capacitors. Yours looks like one of them. Looks like it has japanese IF cans also. Then you started to see the japanese made speakers and it just started to get worse each year with moto. Lots of domestic made parts of course, but they certainly had their fair share of foreign parts compared to the rest of the industry.

As for the EBS, I've had that memorized since I was a kid, but not on purpose. Its from hearing it all those years as a kid, exactly as you worded it. Its like the pledge of allegiance, you never forget how it goes.

[joemama99]

Where IS the speaker?

[radiotvnut]

The radio uses a rear firing speaker that's mounted in the back cover.

[ctc17]

Wasnt the first generation of stuff called transistor or transistorized and sense it was crappy they changed it to solid state when they finally got it together?

[radiotvnut]

Well, you had crap and you had decent quality stuff all along. Most solid state radios from 1954-circa '65 had either the term "all transistor", "transistorized", or "transistor" printed on it. By the mid '60's, the term "solid state" started showing up. I figure the reason for the phrase change is because transistor radios had already become well established by the mid '60's and the term "solid state" sounded more modern. When IC's came into use, many radios carried the phrase "IC/solid state". I've even seen a few radios that said "all transistor solid state".

[AUdubon5425]

Once I saw a "multi-state" TV....

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Once I saw a "multi-state" TV....

Yeah, Packard-Bell's fancy term to describe their tube/transistor hybrid TV's from the early '70's.

[ctc17]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Once I saw a "multi-state" TV....

That was the one with dual rotating super mega ultra bright crts and fifty thousand volts of peak picture power.