1926 Rogers Batteryless First AC-Powered Radio R-220 Restored

1926 Rogers Batteryless First AC-Powered Radio R-220 Using Rogers AC Overhead Heated Tubes

Up to 1925 radios were powered by several batteries each. It was Canadian Edward called “Ted” Rogers Sr., who only 24 years old in 1924 got the Canadian license from Frederick S. McCullough for his newly developed indirectly heated AC tubes, and improved the tubes so they could be used in radios, powered by AC household current. Ted formed the Standard Radio Manufacturing Company in 1925 and began production of his revolutionary A.C. heated triode and the Rogers Batteryless radio. Standard and Grigsby-Grunow joined forces in 1928 to form Rogers Majestic Corporation. First radios had to be plugged into a home’s light sockets. The new tubes had their filament connectors overhead at the tube’s top, far away from the cathodes, into which they would induce hum. The 1926 model 220 was the first AC powered one-dial TRF (tuned radio frequency receiver), then sold less speaker, but often combined with the horn speaker shown here. The chassis has 3 parts, the new power supply using a Raytheon gaseous rectifier tube type BH, the 3-stage RF tuner and the transformer coupled audio amplifier. The top view is dominated by the distribution system for the overhead filament voltage of 2.8Volt at 1 Ampere, which is controlled by a line voltage adapter and monitored by an AC voltmeter. The speaker was made by the company Newcombe Hawley in St. Charles, Illinois. It uses the same “Concert Grand” reproducer as the console model R-200A and consists of a 86″ long folded exponential horn from paper fibre with a magnetic driver unit by Nathaniel Baldwin. Please visit my extended restoration report with 70 high resolution pictures in ref.1, and watch my youtube video in ref.2. I recommend pickup in Chilliwack, where you will have the opportunity to test it yourself, and see many more restored vintage radios, phonographs and gramophones. Alternatively, delivery to Vancouver and anywhere in between is possible. Make me an offer, you may be surprised.

References:
ref.1: http://www.radio-antiks.com/IndexRadio-Antiks_Rogers_R220.htm
ref.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqJQPFrcV6c