| 1931 PHILCO JR Model 80 |
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| 1931 PHILCO JR Model 80 |
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In 1931 America was in the depths of the great depression - few people were buying radios. Radio manufacturers began adding very low cost receivers to their product lines. Philco's lowest cost contender in this market was the 4 tube Philco Jr. Although only a 4 tube set, it still used a superhet circuit. To make the set sensitive enough to be usable, regeneration was used in the superhet circuit. It was necessary to re-adjust the regeneration control whenever the set was moved to another location or whenever a different antenna was used. Performance of the Philco Jr. is marginal on distant stations and average on strong local stations. Two cabinets were available: one which looked like a shoebox, and a small "cathedral" style cabinet. The Philco Jr. was a success, many were sold due to the low cost and pleasing styling.
© Stan Watkins 1997