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Hi, welcome to my website, displaying my treasured collection of hundreds of antique transistor radios. Last update.......May 12, 2002 ! It's taken about 10 years to assemble this collection, mostly from flea markets, antique malls, garage sales, gifts from friends and neighbors, etc. I've paid as little as 50-cents for some of them, and up to $200 for unique specimens. Most of them work too! Please note that, like in any decent museum, the items displayed are not for sale. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy collecting them !
If you recognize a model that I can't figure out, drop me an e-mail at Cleanwtr@msn.com, or, if you have a memory about any of these radios. I'll continue to add, as new additions make their way into the collection. My website is pretty much put together by my son, Dave Jr., who has his own website dedicated to Minor League Baseball and Ohio State.
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My collection
The little radio above is a "Katone", and I think it went for less than a buck. There is no mfg. information inside the radio (usually there is at least a model number, and a country of origin). So, not much more to say about this baby. It is powered by one 9-volt battery, and has 11 transistors. It works, but its sounds real tinny.
This is a rather odd piece, with a transistor radio, and a wind-up clock. Again, no information on the radio indicates who made it, or when. It does reveal that it was made in Japan, and says "No. 103" on the back of its plastic case. A cheapie.... less than a buck.
These are two Summit radios, and in pretty good shape, though they don't sound too good. They were made in the 1963 time frame, and cost about a buck apiece. I think they were made in Japan.
This is a Zenith "Deluxe Royal 755", made in 1960. I have several of these radios, which came in black or brown leather cases, with a little leather carrying handle (which usually has rotted through). These radios play just fine, sound good, and are very well built. They are powered by a big D-cell battery block, which holds 6 batteries.....as most of the battery holders are corroded on radios of this age, I did the math for 6 D-cells (6 x 1.5Volt = 9 volts), and cut the leads for the battery holder, and jumped in a cheap little 9-volt battery.... the radios love it, and play their little hearts out. And, save about 5-lbs. of weight when you carry the radio around ! I think I have about 5 bucks in each of these radios.
Here's a cute little Panasonic R-1158 seven transistor radio. Plays good. Made in Japan by Matsushita Electric, probably around 1963. Ivory colored case. Uses 4 x AA cells. Paid around $15 for this one, in an antique store about 5 years ago.
The General Electric P-807J radio. There must be several thousand of these left around, because I run into them now and then. I have 3 sets, all with leather cases.... made well, because the leather hasn't fallen apart yet. The radio was powered by an early version of a 9-volt battery, with huge terminal clips.... no problem, just soldered on a modern 9-volt battery clip, hooked up a cheapie modern 9-V battery, and these radios fired right up. The set shown in this picture was purchased at Amateur Electronic Supply in Milwaukee several years ago, for $5.00, on their "odds and ends" table. I think that this radio was made by GE in Utica, NY, before they shipped all of this business overseas. This radio was made in 1963.
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