Western Visionette Restoration

[vts1134]

Originally Posted by Steve McVoy

The set in the newspaper article does look similar to yours, though not identical. Note the ornaments on the side of the viewing lens on your set, but not on the one in the article. Also, the radio knobs are different, as is the base.

The ad I have for the Visionette (early 1931) show both the scanner and the radio. So, at that time, Western had its own receiver. I can't read the date on the newspaper you published. Can you let us know?

I doubt if this was an interim design, since it doesn't bear any resemblance to the Empire State or 41. These sets were not manufactured until Early 1932.

The illustration isn't a 100% match, but it's clearly the same set. The knobs are a different layout which is how I know the tuner doesn't match the one in my set, but also doesn't match the knob layout of the factory Western tuner. The tuner is what I can't wrap my head around. My first thoughts were when comparing it to Art's set, that some company in the Chicago area bought the Visionette kit and made a "deluxe" version of the set for sale. This would explain why our sets had tuners that were made from other manufacturers. However the illustration in the article clearly points to the set being from Western Television Co. but why would it have a Crosley tuner instead of a factory Western tuner? The article is dated June 13th 1930. Could it be that the factory Western tuner was made in later 1931 or 1932 and that this set was manufactured in limited numbers between the standard Visionette (1929) and the later model 41 and Empire State (1932).

One way or the other it's a mystery . On the one hand my original theory is correct and my set was made by some enterprising company that was selling their "deluxe" version of the set in a fancier cabinet complete with a tuner, but if that's the case why would the Western Television Co. take credit for, and provide an illustration of a television they didn't manufacture themselves? On the other hand my set is a factory produced set, but if that's the case then why would Western use another company's tuner?