ŠJ.S.
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 | Airline 14BR-685A
Circa 1941Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 1A7, 1N5, 1N5, 1H5, 3Q5, 35Z6 |
The Airline 14BR-685A is very similar to the 14WG-806A, but it was designed mainly as a farm radio and lacks a tuning eye. The chassis is designed with horzionally mounted tubes so there is space for the large batteries. The radio could also run on AC mains.
 | Airline 62-317
1936Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6L7, 6C5, 6K7, 6Q7, 6F6, 6G5 (eye), 5W4 |
This Airline, which was purchased at a VRPS swap meet, was my first radio with a tuning eye. The radio mostly needed cleaning and little electrical work. After the chassis was cleaned, it gave a brilliant shine and appeared to be chrome. The tuning mechanism operates via a paper-rubber type of belt that stretches over time. The belt was replaced with several turns of fishing line and tied together via a spring, which worked relatively well.
 | Airline 62-361
Circa 1938Bands: AM & SW Tube Lineup: 6A8, 6K7, 6Q7, 6K6, 6U5 (eye), 5Y3 |
"Photo finish" cabinets were not solely a Philco thing because a few other companies used the same finish on some radios. The cabinet of this Airline has a nice photo finish that was in excellent shape. However, when the Airline turned up at a VRPS auction, it appeared to be missing many exterior parts, including the knobs, dial escutcheon, pushbuttons, tubes, and more other miscellaneous parts. Fortunately, I had the chance to inspect the Airline before the auction and noticed that everything for the radio was included; all the parts and tubes were kept in one bag. So the Airline made its way into my collection for a very good price. The downside with the radio was its badly warped and unreadable dial. A reproduction was made on the computer. The final dial image was printed on paper and sandwiched between two pieces of transparencies. The power transformer in this radio had obviously been replaced perhaps because the original one shorted or died. Nevertheless, the radio worked well after a few capacitors were replaced.
 | Arvin 182-TFM
1948Bands: AM & FM
Tube Lineup: 12BA6, 6C4, 12BE6, 12BA6, 12BA6, 12H6, 50L6, 6AQ6 |
The Arvin was my third radio; I bought it at an antique store in Indiana. The Arvin sports a durable look with its metal grille and boxy case. Additionally, FM became commonplace in the late forties so the Arvin has a FM band, which probably was not cheap at the time.
 | Coronado 585
Circa 1935 |
The radio above is the marriage of a what is believed to be a Coronado 585 cabinet and a cheap All-American 5 (AA5) radio. The label inside the cabinet indicates "Model 585," but without stating the manufacturer. The metal tag on the bottom front of the radio spells out "Freshman Masterpiece." The cabinet had been sitting around for so long and without any success locating the original chassis, a cheap Silvertone AA5 was rebuilt to fit in the cabinet. The dial was made on the computer. Then the completed radio was traded off for some useful parts.
 | Coronado 908
1940Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 6SA7, 6P5, 6SK7, 6P5, 6SQ7, 6P5, 6AC5, 5W4 |
The large Coronado tombstone appeared at a VRPS fleamarket and made its way in my collection for a short time. The Coronado only needed cosmetic work; the cabinet was refinished a little. The tombstone radio used eight tubes and only played AM!
 | Crosley 517 "Fiver"
Circa 1936Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A8, 6U7, 6Q7, 6K6, 5Y3 |
These Crosley "Fiver" radios came in various cabinet styles, ranging from tombstones to tabletops, and are well-known for the large round dial with a brass-colored background. This particular model came in a wood tombstone-style cabinet, which was in pretty good shape and only needed some cleaning. The chassis was rusty and needed some cleaning too. After replacing the power cord and a couple filter capacitors, the radio played well with a long antenna.
 | Delco R-1125
1938Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 78, 75, 41, 80 |
The Delco appeared on eBay with an original knob and a wooden Zenith knob. The Zenith 5-S-218 I had was missing one such knob, which can be costly to replace. However, the Delco was purchased for nearly the value of one original wooden Zenith knob, which was a great deal! The Delco exhibits an unique appearance with its small, beautiful gold-colored dial and gorgeous walnut wood cabinet.
 | Emerson B-131
1937Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 6D6, 75, 43, 25Z5 |
The Emerson found itself into my collection after being purchased for just five bucks at a flea market. The electronics were already recapped, but the cabinet needed refinishing. Afterwards, the two-tone wood colors stood out very beautifully with the familiar Emerson-style gold dial.
 | Emerson 25A
1933Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 39, 36, 38, 37 |
The Emerson 25A was one of Emerson's low-cost radios that originally sold for $25 in 1933. In order to achieve the low costs, Emerson used a simple T.R.F. circuit in this radio with the 37 triode tube used as the rectifier!
 | General Electric 221
1946Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 12SK7, 12SA7, 12SG7, 12SQ7, 35L6, 35Z5 |
The GE 221 sat in the rear of an antique store for a while before its discovery and becoming part my collection. All the old capacitors were replaced and the radio played well. The radio unusually mounts the speaker almost upward onto a diagonal wooden panel that sloped down from the back to the thin grille on the front.
 | General Electric E50
1937Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A8, 6K7, 6C5, 6F6, 5W4 Restoration Notes |
The GE E50 was an eBay win. The original cabinet was painted solid black and orange, but most of the paint had flaked off mine so I decided to strip the cabinet and stain it with a naturalistic wood color. Other GE E-50 radios came with cabinets painted solid black or white with gold trim. The electronics needed serious attention, which is discussed in the restoration notes.
  | General Electric F80
1937Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A8, 6K7, 6K7, 6H6, 6F5, 42, 6U5 (eye), 80 |
The GE F80 was an incredible auction purchase. The tuning eye has the GE logo on it, which could be considered rare. The radio also is a superb performer, picking up stations from all over the world on the shortwave band. The dial has individual dial pointers for each band and even for the volume and tone controls, which was a GE trademark for that year.
 | General Electric G53
1938Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A8, 6K7, 6Q7, 6K6, 5Y3 |
The GE G53 is one of GE's series of radios that had the unique dial with individual pointers in 1938. The G53 is not a good performer, but it has a pleasing appearance.
 | General Electric J64
1941Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6SA7, 6SK7, 6SQ7, 6J5, 6Y6, 5Y3 |
The J64 is one of GE's multiband radios with the nice curved corner on the left. My J64 was missing the loop antenna, so one was recreated by making several turns of wire around the back of the radio. The 6SA7 oscillator tube has been known to not operate correctly with the loop antenna hooked up wrong.
 | Howard 275
1937Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 6D6, 75, 6V6, 6U5 (eye), 80 |
This marvelous Howard tombstone was discovered in an antique mall in Virginia. Howard radios are well-known for their copper-clad chassis and superb performance. The 275 is just that, a great performing radio for such a simple five-tube circuit (excluding the eye tube).
 | Master RT-200
1949Band: AM |
A less-popular novelty phone radio, the Master RT-200 shares many similarities with Guild's Country Belle. The bells serve as the knobs, and the speaker is behind the fake microphone.
 | Motorola 59T5
1938Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 6D6, 75, 41, 80 |
This gorgeous Motorola was another eBay find and had a near-flawless photo finish cabinet. Who could deny that photo finish cabinets are lovely when in such great condition?
 | Motorola 62CW
1953Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 12BD6, 12BE6, 12BD6, 12AT6, 35C5, 35W4 |
This Motorola was given to me by a friend. Clock radios became quite common in the late forties to fifties, and this Motorola is one of the nicer ones with a large clock face and a wooden cabinet. The knobs are on the sides and the speaker is located on the left side.
 | Motorola 65F11
1946Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 7A4, 7H4, 7A7, 7B6, 7B5, 5Y3 |
What collection is complete without a radio and phonograph combination? The Motorola found its way into my collection for ten bucks and only needed knob repairs. Yes, knob repairs! The radio worked well and the cabinet did not need refinishing, but the knobs snapped off the shafts. A few drops of superglue fixed that in a snap.
 | Philco 41-220
1941Bands: AM & Police
Tube Lineup: 7C7, 7A8, 7B7, 7C6, 35A5, 35Z3 |
This darling Philco was a $20 Christmas present, and ironically the radio originally sold for $20 in 1941! The cabinet was in excellent shape and the radio only needed recapping. However, the small and well-packed chassis filled with those fragile rubber wires and several capacitors was quite a headache to repair.
 | Philco 41-255
1941Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: XXL, XXL, 7B7, 7B7, 7A8, 7C6, 41, 41, 84 |
This large Philco tabletop has an unique cabinet design with a slanted front, which was common in late 1940. The model 41-255 originally sold for $59.95 for the 1941 year, which is not so surprising because of the intricate circuit and design. In fact, the circuit was too troublesome for me to troubleshoot that I eventually sold it. It also took up a great deal of space.
 | Philco 46-421
1946Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 7C7, 7A8, 7B7, 7C6, 50L6, 35Z5 |
This simplistic Philco was very common and only remained in my collection for a short time. A similar 1948 model of this radio sold in numbers greater than 40,000. The cabinet did not need any touchups, and the radio only needed a new cord.
  
| Philco 54C
1934Band: AM
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 78, 75, 43, 25Z5 |
Philco sold large numbers of these dainty 54C compact radios in 1934. My 54C originally was all disassembled before purchase. The previous owner intended to restore the radio and obviously took it apart and sanded the cabinet pieces, but never got around to finishing the project. It was one "well-prepared" kit, though there were no assembly instructions but it wasn't that hard really. The cabinet was stained and given several coats of varnish. The radio only needed some minor electrical work.
 | RCA 96T2
1938Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6K8, 6K7, 6H6, 6F5, 6F6, 5W4 |
The RCA was my fourth radio and came from the same antique store in Indiana where the Arvin 182-TFM was found. The RCA had a huge paper cylinder that held all the filter capacitors, which had to be replaced.
 | RCA R-58
Circa 1935 |
The RCA R-58 was in working condition and found its way from a VRPS flea market into my collection. This RCA has a stylistic and interesting appearance.
 | RCA T5-3
Circa 1935 |
This RCA has a dark walnut-colored finish and a red dial. Unfortunately, all the writing on the dial wore off because of the "clever" idea of placing the knob right in the middle of the dial. The radio plays well despite its plain appearance.
 | RCA T6-11
Circa 1935 |
RCA made some attractive tombstone radios, but this radio certainly is not considered attractive. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder - for a short time in this case. The cabinet was fixed up and the electronics did not need much attention. Then the radio was resold at an auction.
This handsome Sentinel was found in a friend's attic. The model is unknown because the chassis had several modifications done to it. The cabinet has a sticker that says "6-volt battery radio" yet the radio has a transformer. However, the transformer may have been added later on. Despite the oddities with this radio, I was able to repair the radio (see restoration notes). The Sentinel plays fairly well on the AM band with a good antenna.
 | Stewart Warner R-1272
Circa 1935Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 6D6, 75, 41, 80 |
This radio is a gorgeous example of Stewart Warner's incredible line of tombstone radios from the time. The cabinet is covered with a plethora of attractive wood colors from the various wood veneers. This Stewart Warner was bought at a private auction in fair condition. The cabinet was stripped and some of the veneer had to be repaired on the sides. The swirly wood on the front of the radio was chipped especially at the bottom and in other areas. This type of wood is difficult to replace so I decided to cut off some of the chipped parts and placed a long strip of wood at the bottom. The results came out great and the pieces I cut off were reused to fill in chips in other parts of the front panel. The top of the cabinet is actually painted solid black perhaps because of the oriental influences on the design back during the Depression times.
 | 20th Century 100X
Mid 1940sBand: AM |
While the 20th Century radio may seem plain, the wood finish has a neat black fade-out effect on the edges. Also the radio has a black square dial with yellow lettering, which stands out compared to other radios.
 | Truetone D-711
1935Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 6D6, 6Q7, 76, 41, 41, 6G5 (eye), 80 Restoration Notes |
The elegant Truetone D-711 radio is made by Detrola for Western Auto Supply Co. The combination of graceful curves, attractive wood grains, and the unique dial makes this Truetone a great radio to add to any collection. However, this particular Truetone needed a good deal of restoration attention, but a couple weeks of effort brought this radio back to life.
  | Truetone D-727
1938Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 6A7, 6D6, 75, 76, 42, 42, 6G5 (eye), 80 |
This huge Truetone tabletop is another Detrola-made radio with 8-pushbuttons and motorized tuning! The radio had several problems that were mostly attributed to missing or incorrect parts. The schematic for the Truetone D-727 cannot be found in Riders, but the model cross-references to a Detrola 175. The transformer in this Truetone may have been replaced, so the automatic-tuning motor needed a roughly 24-volt power source. A smaller transformer was mounted inside the chassis to provide the 24-volt source. Additionally, the filter capacitors were originally missing so they were replaced in accord to the schematic. Moreover, a homemade adapter was built to use a military 1629 tuning eye instead of the rarer 6G5/6U5.
 | Westinghouse RC
1922 |
1920s radios do not normally find themselves in my radio collection, but this pristine Westinghouse was a superb estate find. The Westinghouse RC radio is a 2-part set with the model RA tuner and the model DA amplifier. The radio was in good shape and complete with tubes, but requires batteries or a battery eliminator to operate and needs earphones or a separate speaker.
The 5-S-218 is one of Zenith's many famous cube radios, and this particular model originally sold for $32.95. The beautiful black dial with white lettering is the epitome of Zenith radios. This 5-S-218 only needed some minor electrical repairs but worked beautifully afterwards.
 | Zenith 6-S-527
1941Bands: AM & SW
Tube Lineup: 7H7, 7B6, 7A7, 7B6, 6K6, 6X5 |
The 6-S-527 is another one of Zenith's nice radios that turned up at a VRPS swapmeet. The cabinet was already refinished, but the radio needed some technical repairs. An animation of a similar model to this Zenith can be found in the animated radios page.
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