I have a radio that is in a cabinet about 3 1/2 ft tall and 18" wide th lid opens to access the radio and underneath the lid is a wooden horn with a brass horn attached to it. on the face of the radio it has a brass plate on it that reads from top to bottom, "HUDSON symphonic RADIO matched unit BIG SIX" the wiring is made to hook up to batteries not a plug in it has three tubes with no markings, three dials that opperate copper bands and two of the tuning parts in the back are marked scovill mfg co. pat mar 5. 1918 the brass plate also says a general radio product. I have looked through general and hudson and can find nothing close to what I have if anyone can help with any info it would help out a lot. I can e-mail photos to anyone that would like to see this radio.

Joe, I can't find any clues in my antique radio guides.

The radio chassis you describe seems to be a tuned-radio-frequency (TRF) set of the mid- to late-1920s.

The cabinet seems to be a console. It that era, consoles were seldom built by radio manufacturers. Instead, local furniture/cabinet builders would build a few cabinets and stuff commercially available table model radios into them. Perhaps that is what you have?

The market for consoles is somewhat limited by the cost of shipping them. It's impossible to estimate what somebody might pay for it.

:Joe, I can't find any clues in my antique radio guides.
:
:The radio chassis you describe seems to be a tuned-radio-frequency (TRF) set of the mid- to late-1920s.
:
:The cabinet seems to be a console. It that era, consoles were seldom built by radio manufacturers. Instead, local furniture/cabinet builders would build a few cabinets and stuff commercially available table model radios into them. Perhaps that is what you have?
:
:The market for consoles is somewhat limited by the cost of shipping them. It's impossible to estimate what somebody might pay for it.

Doug, would it help if I sent you some photos??

Hi Joe

You have a radio from the 1920's. Hudson sold two models in 1925. One sold for $40 with sloped front and the other $125, console. Both are TRF.

With only 3 tubes might be reflex? Tubes are used twice. Once as RF amplifiers then the second time as AF amplifiers.

Norm

:I have a radio that is in a cabinet about 3 1/2 ft tall and 18" wide th lid opens to access the radio and underneath the lid is a wooden horn with a brass horn attached to it. on the face of the radio it has a brass plate on it that reads from top to bottom, "HUDSON symphonic RADIO matched unit BIG SIX" the wiring is made to hook up to batteries not a plug in it has three tubes with no markings, three dials that opperate copper bands and two of the tuning parts in the back are marked scovill mfg co. pat mar 5. 1918 the brass plate also says a general radio product. I have looked through general and hudson and can find nothing close to what I have if anyone can help with any info it would help out a lot. I can e-mail photos to anyone that would like to see this radio.

Joe, based on Norm's identification, I'd first suggest that you get the radio going and enjoy it in your home.

I have a Crosley with a reflex circuit. Quite interesting.

If you really want to sell it, then don't touch it. You should contact Norm and see if he can send you a copy of whatever listings, documentation, or references he has for this radio. Then, post copies of that along with pix on eBay.

Without some references, I fear that some prospective buyers may be totally unfamiliar with this model.

Norm, thanks for helping, is there any paperwork that you can send me on this radio through e-mail or otherwise i really do not know anything about antique radio's i bought this one at a junk store that was going out of business for $20 i was going to throw the radio away but now i am very interested in them any info on it would help. Thanks Joe

Joe, I rec'd the pix that you emailed to me. Interesting set, thanks. You did good by rescuing the set for $20.

There are two empty sockets on the chassis without tubes, making the total tube line-up five. This, then, is a standard 1920s, 5-tube TRF design, not a reflex. Getting it going should not be a big problem. Worst thing might be a burned out audio interstage transformer - there will be two mounted under the chassis.

Probably uses '01A tubes, about $15 each, used. You'd need a battery eliminator, such as the kit that Antique Electronics Supply sells for about $50. Also, an old high-impedance speaker, unless the original one is in working condition?

The knobs may not be original. The power switch is certainly not original.

The three tuning caps are ganged together with two brass bands, similar to the scheme that Atwater Kent used. It looks like both bands are intact.

These old sets are quite easy to work on. Even if no schematic is available, somebody with TRF experience could fix it up pretty easily. Most of these 5-tube TRFs are all quite similar.

I never cease to be amazed at the number of manufacturers of such sets. Must have been hundreds, most of which functioned for a couple of years, and then faded away. Radio, in those years, was considered high-tech, but building 5-tube TRFs was within the capability of a handy person able to implement a standard design.

Maybe there is that one person out there that has been hunting for this particular model to complete a collection of Hudson radios? But, many radios with this sort of design go for $100 or less. Maybe it being a console might catch somebody's fancy.

I did realize that there are three enpty lot spots for tubes for a total of six is it still going to be the same as a five tube or does it make any difference?

One more thing, there are six wires for the power hookup I was told that you have to have 3 batteries all of different voltage to run this system it was explained to me as, A B and C batteries and that the system would not work if any of these were missing or not the proper voltage (about 100 total volts) then the system would not work,is this how this system works??

I'm sorry, I must have miscounted the tube sockets. But anyway, this is a regular TRF, not a reflex. The 6th tube could be an additional RF stage or conceivably an extra audio stage, possibly in a push-pull arrangement?

Yes, there several voltage sources that have to be hooked up. The C- bias voltage will usually be around 4.5V. The A filament voltage will be 5-6V. There are typcically two plate supply voltages, B+, say 45V to the dectector and 90V to the other tubes. Most battery eliminators will supply all the necessary voltages.

Without a schematic or hook-up instructions posted on your set, somebody would need to trace out the set's wiring to figure out how the power supply voltages get hooked up. You don't dare use a trial-and-error approach - if you were to mistakenly get B+ voltage across the tube filaments, kapow!