'39 Motorola "Picnic" portable

[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.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

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

Interesting. I never knew that. Likely, after the war, people choose to get the newer smaller models. The airplane-luggage look may've have seemed dated.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Interesting. I never knew that. Likely, after the war, people choose to get the newer smaller models. The airplane-luggage look may've have seemed dated.

The buyers that had the foresight to buy the 3 way portables used them as an extra radio. The '40 Zeniths I have are rather beat up from all the use they got. The leather handles are missing and some had a removable cover over the controls. They're missing as well.

[old_coot88]

On many battery portables, the volume by design couldn't be turned all the way down, so as to prevent the radio from being left on unintentionally.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

On many battery portables, the volume by design couldn't be turned all the way down, so as to prevent the radio from being left on unintentionally.

Aha! I noticed that on some sets. Very clever. This thread is really revealing a lot about these portables!

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Aha! I noticed that on some sets. Very clever. This thread is really revealing a lot about these portables!

My favorite lugables are the Emerson models 505 & 523 post-war or the pre-war FU424. These were 3 way portables That had the elegant design of having a higher power output stage for use on the AC-DC mains, 1 watt vs 250-300mw on batteries. They designed the tricky way running the battery tube filaments from the cathode of the line audio output tube. Some models used a 50B5 and 35W4 and others used a 117N7, combination penthode and rectifier
A few other firms built a variation of same.
They sounded a lot better than the others that ran the battery output tube when using it on AC or DC.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

My favorite lugables are the Emerson models 505 & 523 post-war or the pre-war FU424. These were 3 way portables That had the elegant design of having a higher power output stage for use on the AC-DC mains, 1 watt vs 250-300mw on batteries. They designed the tricky way running the battery tube filaments from the cathode of the line audio output tube. Some models used a 50B5 and 35W4 and others used a 117N7, combination penthode and rectifier
A few other firms built a variation of same.
They sounded a lot better than the others that ran the battery output tube when using it on AC or DC.

I personally try to stay focused with these and stick to the battery-only models with the airplane-luggage covering. As time went on they lost the simplicity of the early models with busy metal and plastic grills.