Antique Radio's
Antique radio's refers to a group of radios that were manufactured no less than 50 years ago. These types of radios are usually the subject for collection of radio enthusiasts. Although the group that deals with radio collection is relatively small, the support to these radios is always there. Refurnishing antique radios is also a hobby has become a great business opportunity for enthusiasts. Antique radios are also very delicate and that their components are usually different from each other so maintenance is usually done by professionals in the industry. There are also a small set of transistor radios that were released during the 50s that are considered as antique radios.
There are a lot of factors that determine the price of an antique radio. The main factor that will determine the price of the antique radio is the year of manufacturing. The 20s radio are particularly very expensive because they are thought among the first radios. Another factor that will determine the price of an antique radio is its design. A box type radio will not be as expensive with cathedral or tombstone designed radios. The casing of the antique radio is also a big factor. Wooden type radios are less expensive compared to Bakelite type of radios simply because of their durability.
Antique Plastic Radios Source Book Bakelite Catalin ID$ |
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$32.26 | 2h 1m | |
BOOK, REPAIR OF ANTIQUE VACUUM-TUBE RADIOS |
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2 | $16.05 | 2h 47m | |
Antique Radio - 1931 Philco Model 112 Highboy |
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$0.01 $150.00 |
3h 40m | |
ANTIQUE # 84 6Z4 ST KEN-RAD RADIO VACUUM TUBE #90 |
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$6.99 | 4h 28m | |
Antique Tube Radio Alarm Clock General Electric 572 |
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- | $9.99 | 5h 14m | |
ANTIQUE VINTAGE HIS MASTERS VOICE SUPER 5 ELETRIC RADIO |
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- | $99.95 | 5h 45m | |
A Atwater Kent ID Book Antique Radios Breadboard Tube |
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$22.06 | 5h 46m | |
Antique Radio City Brass Enameled Usher Hat Badge |
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3 | $4.80 | 5h 52m | |
ANTIQUE # 84 6Z4 ST PHILCO RADIO VACUUM TUBE #91 |
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$6.99 | 6h 13m | |
ANTIQUE # 84 6Z4 ST PHILCO ? RADIO VACUUM TUBE #92 |
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$6.99 | 6h 13m |
Antique Radios
When one thinks of antiques and collectables, one item that does not miss attention is the evergreen radio. Though a common hobby for a long time, in recent times it has seen a skyrocketing rise in the number of collectors. Albeit the cutoff dates differ, radios about at least 50 years are in demand. Most would prefer to go for the pre-war ones.
Antique radios of earlier times used a coherer, which is a radio detector of a primitive kind and a sound board. Earlier radios worked on wireless telegraphy, and later turned to wireless telephony as this technology could transmit and receive speech with better sound quality. These radios used vacuum tubes and had poor amplification. However, the wealthy could opt to go for the superhets which had much better performance. These used many vales and numerous components, and building a radio itself was a significantly large project. Pre-war, most radios were built using the superhet technology. It is still in wide use these days, although with integrated circuits and transistors.
Antique radios of the 1930s are usually wooden consoles that were huge, waist height wooden receivers, and were mainly meant for the wealthy as their cost would run up to $700 back in those times. Some common manufacturers of the time were Westinghouse, GE, RCA, Montgomery Ward, Philco, Sears, Radio-bar and others. Manufacturers like Zenith, Atwater-Kent, Scott etc, were meant for the super rich as their sets were priced between $500 - $800 back in 1930s and 1940s
As time progressed, the antique radios became much smaller in size with the advent of table top radios which as the name suggests could be placed on tables. They were much shorter and lighter, but still a few had the wooden chassis. These radios would mainly come in three forms: Cathedral style, Table top and tomb stone style. The availability of cheap light weight bakelite considerably lowered the cost of the table top radios.
With time, antique radios went digital with the invention of transistors. These radios were much smaller in size and were portable. It didn't need any warm up time, and could run on small batteries. The sound quality with initial antique radios made of transistors was a problem though.
A few antique radios could also be found in cars. But in 1930s these were made for experimental purposes only. They required huge aerials, had inconsistent reception and also needed an adjustment from time to time which was not practical. But no matter what the technology is, antique radios till date is a prestigious collectible item.