It's been a long time since I began my interest in radio. My parents owned a quite smart radiogram in the 1950s which included shortwave on its dial. Many Sunday mornings I would move the dial very slowly and, if I was lucky, I would receive local ham operators although it was generally one-sided as they used to transmit on one frequency and transmit on another. The only other interest then was, of course, Radio Luxembourg and, occasionally, Radio Nederland. My father liked this latter station and, indeed, wrote off to them and actually received a QSL card and a mention on their programme! The Light Programme was mainly of interest Sunday lunchtimes when Jimmy Clitheroe, The Navy Lark, The Glums, Billy Cotton and various other comedies kept us entertained!
I did enjoy searching for odd transmissions on the radiogram and always yearned for a "proper" receiver! On schoolboy pocket money there was, however, no way that I could afford such luxury! I consoled myself by visiting Tottenham Court Road and pressing my nose up against surplus store windows. Living in Paddington at the time, this was easy to do, just a short bus ride away! During the 1960s these surplus stores stocked everything from field radio short wave transceivers to components. At this time, nearly all was based on valve operated equipment. There were many of these shops; two of the better known ones being "Proops" and "Z & I Aero Services".
This website covers multi-band radios from the 1960s - 1980s. These radios, all using transistors, had the "ability" to receive CB, Police, Public Services, Television and Airband transmissions. Some also included one or two shortwave bands as well. Medium, Long and VHF bands were usually standard. Nearly all will be analogue ie. bandspread with moveable pointer.
Most were really aimed at the American market. CB transmissions then were on AM. Television sound was VHF at the time. Certainly it was possible to pick up Police and Airband, but the former soon became encrypted via the TETRA systems. Any Shortwave bands available on the cheaper radios were useable but not always selective enough for the true Short Wave Listener.
Some of the makes / models listed may be bordering on being "communications receivers" in the sense of shortwave reception plus BFO (Side band) pitch control. I will not, however, be including radios from the major players in the shortwave arena, eg Yaesu, Eddistone, Heathkit, Hallicrafters etc.
There are also many different makes that are just "badge engineered" with minor mods (or not) to differentiate, but all really coming from the same factory in "You Know Where Land"!
Whilst this website concentrates on portable "Multi-Band" radios there are, however, some makes of basic AM/FM radios that are worthy of inclusion, if only because of their design, eg the "Dash Dial".
I am not an electronics expert and could not repair a faulty radio apart from spraying switch cleaner! But I do like the imagery of these radios. Their designs, their aspirations; certainly offering such a lot for what was a cheap price compared to a proper communications receiver! I am sure that there are other enthusiasts out there who share an interest in these radios but, are perhaps, not so technically minded.
Many of these multi-band radios certainly caught your imagination. Their band spreads had different colours to "show off" the ability to receive "Police", "CB", "TV" and "AirBand" etc. Their design also included many knobs, switches and long extending aerials; sometimes two or even three! They certainly made a good job of mimicking the more expensive and genuine communications receivers! It is very likely that an intending purchaser would actually choose to buy based on aesthetics, colours and implied power of reception rather than actual technical specifications! The average person who bought one, however, was probably quite happy with the radio's performance and spent many an hour receiving transmissions that they had never heard before!
Some old radios are ideal for a talking point in your lounge or workshop. But there are many other items from similar eras that may also brighten your living room. These range from Lava Lamps to models of unusual objects. I own several lava lamps, a large model petrol pump and a business card waiter; the latter is about half real size and is made from wood. It He originally held a plate where business cards were offered to visitors!
Don't forget telephones such as the "Trimphone" and "Viscount", with their warbling tones. How many people knew that the microphone was actually in the earpiece of these two phones, so putting your hand over the mouthpiece for secrecy (as we all did!) was a waste of time because the other party could still hear!
I did enjoy searching for odd transmissions on the radiogram and always yearned for a "proper" receiver! On schoolboy pocket money there was, however, no way that I could afford such luxury! I consoled myself by visiting Tottenham Court Road and pressing my nose up against surplus store windows. Living in Paddington at the time, this was easy to do, just a short bus ride away! During the 1960s these surplus stores stocked everything from field radio short wave transceivers to components. At this time, nearly all was based on valve operated equipment. There were many of these shops; two of the better known ones being "Proops" and "Z & I Aero Services".
This website covers multi-band radios from the 1960s - 1980s. These radios, all using transistors, had the "ability" to receive CB, Police, Public Services, Television and Airband transmissions. Some also included one or two shortwave bands as well. Medium, Long and VHF bands were usually standard. Nearly all will be analogue ie. bandspread with moveable pointer.
Most were really aimed at the American market. CB transmissions then were on AM. Television sound was VHF at the time. Certainly it was possible to pick up Police and Airband, but the former soon became encrypted via the TETRA systems. Any Shortwave bands available on the cheaper radios were useable but not always selective enough for the true Short Wave Listener.
Some of the makes / models listed may be bordering on being "communications receivers" in the sense of shortwave reception plus BFO (Side band) pitch control. I will not, however, be including radios from the major players in the shortwave arena, eg Yaesu, Eddistone, Heathkit, Hallicrafters etc.
There are also many different makes that are just "badge engineered" with minor mods (or not) to differentiate, but all really coming from the same factory in "You Know Where Land"!
Whilst this website concentrates on portable "Multi-Band" radios there are, however, some makes of basic AM/FM radios that are worthy of inclusion, if only because of their design, eg the "Dash Dial".
I am not an electronics expert and could not repair a faulty radio apart from spraying switch cleaner! But I do like the imagery of these radios. Their designs, their aspirations; certainly offering such a lot for what was a cheap price compared to a proper communications receiver! I am sure that there are other enthusiasts out there who share an interest in these radios but, are perhaps, not so technically minded.
Many of these multi-band radios certainly caught your imagination. Their band spreads had different colours to "show off" the ability to receive "Police", "CB", "TV" and "AirBand" etc. Their design also included many knobs, switches and long extending aerials; sometimes two or even three! They certainly made a good job of mimicking the more expensive and genuine communications receivers! It is very likely that an intending purchaser would actually choose to buy based on aesthetics, colours and implied power of reception rather than actual technical specifications! The average person who bought one, however, was probably quite happy with the radio's performance and spent many an hour receiving transmissions that they had never heard before!
Some old radios are ideal for a talking point in your lounge or workshop. But there are many other items from similar eras that may also brighten your living room. These range from Lava Lamps to models of unusual objects. I own several lava lamps, a large model petrol pump and a business card waiter; the latter is about half real size and is made from wood. It He originally held a plate where business cards were offered to visitors!
Don't forget telephones such as the "Trimphone" and "Viscount", with their warbling tones. How many people knew that the microphone was actually in the earpiece of these two phones, so putting your hand over the mouthpiece for secrecy (as we all did!) was a waste of time because the other party could still hear!
The images used on this website are either copied from the internet (Some of which are probably already copies of someone else's image!) or photos of the actual radio eg. owned by myself. Due to the nature of the common design of every individual make or model of radio, it is obviously difficult to attribute original ownership. I do try to make reference to the source of any image when it is specifically indentified as from a particular collection. Please let me know if you recognise your image and I will certainly acknowledge it.