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  #16  
Old 12-02-2018, 04:40 PM
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decojoe67 decojoe67 is offline
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Originally Posted by jr_tech View Post
Very nice... thanks for posting! Still scratching my head trying to figure out where the other plate goes.

jr
You're welcome. It's actually a bit complicated. The plate is on a center geared shaft with a zig-zagged tension wire attached to a notch on it's right side. On the on/off control shaft is bent metal wire that tugs a tab at the bottom of the plate when you turn the shaft, the plate pulls it away to the left. When you turn the set off that bent wire frees the plate to spring back.

The springing action isn't abrupt. I happens swiftly, but rather softy. I'm glad it's a tension wire rather than springs because I doubt it would be still working!

Last edited by decojoe67; 12-02-2018 at 04:52 PM.
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  #17  
Old 12-03-2018, 11:25 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by mr_rye89 View Post
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.
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  #18  
Old 12-03-2018, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
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!
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  #19  
Old 12-03-2018, 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
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.
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Last edited by Electronic M; 12-03-2018 at 02:54 PM.
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  #20  
Old 12-03-2018, 02:14 PM
WISCOJIM WISCOJIM is offline
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Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
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.

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  #21  
Old 12-03-2018, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by decojoe67 View Post
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
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  #22  
Old 12-03-2018, 03:21 PM
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Originally Posted by jr_tech View Post
….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
Now that you put it that way, it does seem like the price of the batteries wasn't the issue. It's just hard to figure out why some of these sets are found used, yet in such clean shape. I guess it was simply that the old generations were frugal and took care of what they had!

PS WISCOJIM - I'd like to see that ad with the woman jogging with an early portable set. It would be way ahead of it's time! Although some of the "camera-style" portables were small, with the batteries installed they were not exactly super-light. They were not really practical to run with.
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  #23  
Old 12-03-2018, 03:49 PM
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This ad, perhaps:



jr
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  #24  
Old 12-03-2018, 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by jr_tech View Post
This ad, perhaps:jr
Thanks. It looks like the couple is just taking a leisurely walk. Even a small battery set like that would not be good to run with. In the early days of portable tube electronics, they often tried to make them seem even lighter than they were.
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  #25  
Old 12-03-2018, 04:55 PM
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This ad, perhaps:



jr
That may have been it.
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  #26  
Old 12-03-2018, 07:47 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by decojoe67 View Post
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.
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  #27  
Old 12-03-2018, 08:30 PM
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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.
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  #28  
Old 12-03-2018, 09:40 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by decojoe67 View Post
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.
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  #29  
Old 12-03-2018, 11:28 PM
old_coot88 old_coot88 is offline
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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.

Last edited by old_coot88; 12-03-2018 at 11:33 PM.
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  #30  
Old 12-04-2018, 04:11 AM
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decojoe67 decojoe67 is offline
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Originally Posted by old_coot88 View Post
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!
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