Wilson
1931
Wilson Radio Laboratories,
Alexandria, Indiana USA

    This battery radio is believed to be the first model that Charles Wilson, who lived on his boyhood farm at the time, produced.  The circuit is based on a circuit featured in the November 21, 1931 issue of the Radio News magazine, page 8.  The chassis was assembled at the Wilson farm and the cabinets was purchased from a national brand radio cabinet manufacturer and distributor.  Wilson cut out the appropriate holes on the cabinets to custom fit his chassis in them and then would sell the finished radios to the surrounding farming community.  The dial escutcheon, made by Crow of Chicago, Illinois, had the Wilson name custom inscribed on it.  It's believed that the chassis of this particular model was assembled in the bedroom lab of Charles Wilson, shortly before his father built a small factory building  just down the road from the Wilson family farm.  It was in this factory building that a wide variety of Wilson radios were manufactured up until the war.

Tube Line Up:
236...1st. R.F. Amplifier
236...2nd. R.F. Amplifier
236...Detector / 1st. Audio Amplifier
230...2nd. Audio Amplifier
231 X 2...Push Pull Audio Output

Measurements:
Height...19 inches
Width...15.5 inches
Depth...11.5 inches

Frequency Ranges:
BC Band ...550 kHz - 1500 kHz

Power Source:
Battery...+2 Volts
              +67.5 Volts
              + 135 Volts
              - 3 Volts

This web page was last updated: March 24, 2007