As a young boy ( 1927-29) remembered having a radio That required a wet cell battery to operate. it had 3 dials and a big horn. What kind was it ? any help thank you

Hi Bernard

It was a 5 tube TRF radio using 201A's. Can't determine a manufacturer as most radios were built this way.

You can click on resources above and check Atwater Kent Model 20. Also Stewart Warner 300 series has good general circuits.

Norm

:As a young boy ( 1927-29) remembered having a radio That required a wet cell battery to operate. it had 3 dials and a big horn. What kind was it ? any help thank you

In addition to what Norm told you Bernard, the following may help you to narrow the date when the radio was manufactured:

After the UV-201 A tube became available in early 1923, multi tube radios requiring wet cell batteries became popular. This happened mainly because the filaments of these tubes used a lot less current than its predecessor, so wet cell batteries finally became practical for use with several tubes. The cost of vacuum tubes were also reduced considerably about this time, adding to the popularity of multi tube radios. Therefore, the radio could have easily been manufactured as early as this time period..

By 1926, most three dial radios were being phased out in favor of a single dial. At about this same time, manufacturers were going to cone speakers instead of horns. So it is possible for the radio and horn that you remember to have been manufactured as late as this year, but the odds are in favor of it being earlier.

:What tube was used before the 201 A? Have you ever heard of 199s? They are about the size of a 5U4 tuning eye and I think they have four prongs.

In addition to what Norm told you Bernard, the following may help you to narrow the date when the radio was manufactured:
:
:After the UV-201 A tube became available in early 1923, multi tube radios requiring wet cell batteries became popular. This happened mainly because the filaments of these tubes used a lot less current than its predecessor, so wet cell batteries finally became practical for use with several tubes. The cost of vacuum tubes were also reduced considerably about this time, adding to the popularity of multi tube radios. Therefore, the radio could have easily been manufactured as early as this time period..
:
:By 1926, most three dial radios were being phased out in favor of a single dial. At about this same time, manufacturers were going to cone speakers instead of horns. So it is possible for the radio and horn that you remember to have been manufactured as late as this year, but the odds are in favor of it being earlier.
:

For RCA tubes in the 201 category, the UV 201 A with a ¼ amp thoriated tungsten filament at 5 volts replaced the UV 201 tube with a one amp tungsten filament at 5 volts. At this time, RCA began supplying tubes for Cunnington, which was the same tube, but designated C 301. RCA didn’t manufacture anything at this time, but sold tubes manufactured by GE, Westinghouse and Westinghouse Lamp Co. These tubes had very short pins with a bayonet pin on the side of the base for locking it in the socket. They required a UV type socket, which had already been in use for several years.

In 1925, the RCA UX 201-A and Cunningham CX 201 tubes became available with long pins and for many years, they would fit UV sockets. However, later tubes did not have a bayonet pin, and required what was then called a UX socket. The UX socket became a standard and was used in all later radios that had 4 pin tubes.

UX 199 tubes pretty much followed the same development. They came out about the same time as the 201-A type, and also had a thoriated filament. The filament was designed for 3.3 volts @ 0.135 amps for use with dry cell batteries. Therefore, it was often used with so called “portable” sets. The base for this tube is about one inch in diameter with a bayonet pin, and the socket pins are little more than buttons. No other RCA tube was made with this base. Later UV 199 tubes had four regular pins for use with a standard socket. All versions of these tubes were also supplied to Cunningham under different designations.

All of these tubes first came out with a brass base and a tip on top of the globe. Then came the round top globes, followed several months later with short pin composition bases. Most tubes you see today have a composition base with long pins.