Although nice for display purposes, these batteries are invariably dead and cannot be recharged. Some times, you may find an original battery still inside an old radio. Daunted by the expense and inconvenience of using large, costly, non-reusable batteries, many owners simply stored their radios in a closet or shelf, where they remained untouched for years. Many of them are still in amazingly good shape. Not everyone knows how to power them, so they often sell for less than their AC-powered counterparts. Using Modern Batteries in Old Radiosīattery radios offer great bargains for modern collectors. To use a battery radio in the 1990s, of course, you need the right batteries, or some substitute for them. The new portable radios sold in great numbers, and many still exist today. Others were made of metal, Bakelite, and other early plastics (see Tube Portables). Their cabinets were made of lightweight wood covered with colorful airplane cloth (see RCA 94BP1), canvas, leather, or leatherette (see TransOceanics). Many new portables were disguised as expensive luggage. On the marketing side, stylists developed radios with a new appearance. On the technical side, new radio tubes were developed to operate on the lower voltages supplied by flashlight batteries. Radio manufacturers seized the opportunity to offer something new. When you got to such a destination, wouldn't it be nice to have a radio to listen to? Soon, consumers were carrying flashlights to places where there was no electricity, such as a cabin in the woods or a treehouse in the backyard. Everyone wanted one or two or three, and these new products used lots of batteries-flashlight batteries. ![]() Smaller batteries made possible small hand-held flashlights, which became very popular. Others developed smaller zinc-carbon batteries to replace bulky lead acid cells. Having recently lost their bid to develop electric cars for the auto industry, battery makers now faced another blow: the loss of the radio industry. Everyone loved these new radios, except the battery manufacturers. Soon, the stores were filled with battery-less radio sets using rectifier tubes. Half-cycle pulses that approximate the direct current (DC) that flows fromĪlternating current became increasingly available in homes during the 1920s, and radio engineers soon developed new radio tubes, called rectifiers, which could convert AC to DC. A tube also canĪct as a diode, which changes alternating current (AC) into a series of Sufficiently to be heard through a headphone or speaker. Taking a tiny voltage, such as an incoming radio wave, and increasing it Radio tubes offer two important features. ![]() ![]() Perhaps more radio tubes could do part of the job of expensive disposable batteries. Recognizing these problems, radio makers, many of which also made and sold tubes, sought to develop battery-less radio sets. Worst of all, if you accidentally reversed the A and B battery connectors, you could fry your radio's precious tubes. Lead acid cells could leak acid, which might drip out of the radio cabinet onto your lovely Persian rug. A dead battery could leave you radio-less in the middle of a crucial broadcast. The farmer could simply hook up the battery to a generator and recharge it.įor the portable radio user, the price of mobility was a large, heavy,Įarly battery sets had several drawbacks. Often, the only availableīattery was taken from the family truck or car. Rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery packs didn't exist in the "good old"ĭays, but some owners of "farm" radios used rechargeable leadĪcid batteries, of the type still used in cars. Radio engineers soon designed circuits to eliminate the C battery in a typical radio circuit. These batteries were known as A, B, and C. It also gives plans for two inexpensive battery eliminators that you can build, with additional suggestions and technical data.Īll early radios used batteries-as many as three batteries in the earliest sets. ![]() This article gives you some history on battery use in old radios and advice on how to power them with modern batteries. These include tube portables, such as the Zenith model K-401 shown below, and "farm" radios, which were used in rural areas where there was no other source of electrical power.
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