Show us your vintage pocket transistor radios!

[Jeffhs]

I had a blue RS Flavoradio years ago. Nice little set...should have held on to it. Nothing fancy, but it was cute and fit nicely into a coat pocket (it was just a li'l bit too big for a shirt pocket ), or even around one's wrist, as IIRC it had a wrist strap. I wonder how long Radio Shack made these radios, and for that matter, who actually made the sets for them (they were custom made for Radio Shack). I'm sure they aren't available any longer since RS got out of the consumer electronics business to focus on computers and home theater.

[resound]

Just found this at a garage sale and couldnt pass it up. Its so cool and I had to figure it out.
Turns out its a Pee Wee pocket crystal set that needs no batteries from the 40's.
Clip one wire to ground and the other to a large metal object to act as an antennae. How cool is that!

Ooops that means its not transistor

[AUdubon5425]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I had a blue RS Flavoradio years ago. Nice little set...should have held on to it. Nothing fancy, but it was cute and fit nicely into a coat pocket (it was just a li'l bit too big for a shirt pocket ), or even around one's wrist, as IIRC it had a wrist strap. I wonder how long Radio Shack made these radios, and for that matter, who actually made the sets for them (they were custom made for Radio Shack). I'm sure they aren't available any longer since RS got out of the consumer electronics business to focus on computers and home theater.

I bought a couple of blue AM Flavoradios around 1990 - my mother still has one of them in a kitchen drawer for emergency info in case the power fails. Nothing special about them - the tuners were kinda stiff.

Radio Shack was still selling them in 1999 (last catalog I have) - a black AM model 12-201 for $6.95. That one took AA batteries - the older ones used a 9 volt. There's one on eBay right now - ad says it was made in the Phillipines.

[MJSNet]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Radio Shack was still selling them in 1999 (last catalog I have) - a black AM model 12-201 for $6.95. That one took AA batteries - the older ones used a 9 volt.

Here's the ad from '98. 20 years later the price only went up .04!

[Brian]

Neat little radio. I like crystal sets.

[MJSNet]

Here's the ad from '78:

[67 grad]

Anybody seen this one?
Measures 2.25"x2.5"
Right now, audio output is extremely low - have to put your ear to the speaker to hear anything & headphone is silent.
Hope to get someone to work on it for me - it does have a schematic in the back.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by 67 grad

Anybody seen this one?
Measures 2.25"x2.5"
Right now, audio output is extremely low - have to put your ear to the speaker to hear anything & headphone is silent.
Hope to get someone to work on it for me - it does have a schematic in the back.

First things first - have you tried a new battery? If that doesn't get this little set singing much louder than it is now, I'd look at the volume control. If it is open, or if the wiper contact is not in contact with the carbon resistance element inside the control, it can reduce drastically or even kill the audio output. I have an old tube-type radio with the same problem as yours (extremely weak audio output); it has been suggested to me by at least one person here on AK that the volume control may be open.

I've seen those little squarish-shaped radios, but never actually heard one in operation. However, they are cute little sets. With eight transistors, I would guess yours may have a push-pull audio output. In any case, it is almost impossible to tell, without seeing at least the schematic, what the functions actually are of the seventh and eighth transistors.

If you decide to have the radio repaired, I would look for someone (an electronically-inclined friend, for instance) who would be willing to look at it for little or nothing. Taking one of these little sets to a repair shop could be a colossal waste of time and money, as it would probably cost more just to have it looked at (let alone repaired) than the radio is worth. I'd try replacing the battery and cleaning the volume control first.

[mnop]

You can find more info on the Flavoradio (than you ever wanted) at oswegoradio.com Also, articles in the June 2002 and March 2008 issues of Antique Radio Classified.
Briefly, the original Flavoradios were introduced in 1972 and ran through 1986 giving them the record for longest production of any radio ever made. There were eleven color choices. The first redesign came in 1987 and was available in just red, blue and black. The last redesign hit in 1991 using an IC (no transistors at all) and came in red, blue, purple and black. The last flavoradio (blackberry) left the Radio Shack shelves in 2002 at $3.99. What posessed the 'shack' to continue with an am only radio is anybody's guess. (mac)

[MJSNet]

Cool info. Thanks Mac!

Civil Emergency?

***edit: Just got your avatar! Cool!***

[gibsona9]

My dad gave me this red Panasonic when I was 12 - I was sick in bed with the flu, and I remember listening to Kasey Kasem's Top 40 (around 1979?)...

Came with a white in-ear "headphone" (earbud?), which I no longer have...

Panasonic

[compucat]

Originally Posted by gibsona9

My dad gave me this red Panasonic when I was 12 - I was sick in bed with the flu, and I remember listening to Kasey Kasem's Top 40 (around 1979?)...

Came with a white in-ear "headphone" (earbud?), which I no longer have...

Panasonic

I have one of those in white, found at an antique shop mint in box - never used. It is a high quality radio with excellent performance. Very rugged too with its extra thick plastic case.

[JBeach]

Hey Guys...Cool Site... I See the Field,'Attatched Thumbnails', w/no pics, don't get the pointing finger icon to click on show up in the Field. Anybody see the old crystal sets built from a kit? Used to spend hours over the Kitchen Sink hooked up to the Spigot... JB Is this where I might get help w/ID'ing radios? In Pic on far right is a 'Candle' 10 transistor AM (Japan),next an 'Audition' AM,just says 'solid state' (Hong Kong),next is,'GE' 10 transistor AM/FM,next is 'Life Long' model 845-2 AM/FM w/LCD Alarm Clock,w/Day-Date,(China) Just Curious...

[OvenMaster]

Finally found it in the basement: a Continental TR-622. IIRC, $2 at a yard sale about 10 years ago. Before I packed it away, it worked, but now the tuning thumbwheel doesn't move the display or capacitor.

[pelikanu]

Here is one of my pocket-radio-transistor, made in Romania by TEHNOTON in 1970 (i guess). It's a super-heterodyne type for medium and long waves.
4x silicon transistors and two germanium transistors (AC184-AC185).