[Eric Strasen]

There’s an interesting thread going on right now at antiqueradios.com/forums in the Antique Radio Discussions category entitled “Post War Radio With FM Pre War Band Only?” It deals with the changeover of the pre WWII FM band of 42-50 MHZ to the post-war 88-108 MHZ and its effect on those still using pre-war receivers. Apparently, this change was made by the U.S. FCC at the insistence of RCA’s head, “General” Sarnoff, and was bitterly opposed by the developer of FM, Edwin Armstrong.
At some point in the thread, someone asked if Canada had any experience with the two different bands and if any radios were made in Canada using the old band prior to the war.
I figured if anyone would know, it would be my friends in CVRS. So here it is. I’m kind of curious too.

[Don Edwards]

Well Eric, looks like no one knows or no one is interested. As a collector of post WWII am-fm radios I would like to know more about this as well. I am well aware of the “general” and his underhanded tricks and manipulations regarding the move of the fm frequencies. In my opinion that “man” was reprehensible. Nevertheless, it’s old news now. I wonder even if there were any fm broadcasts in Canada at the old frequencies or any available within reach of the American border.
Regarding the first generation of fm-am radios (I have a Philco console circa 1947 and a Zenith mantle and I have found them to drift outrageously all during listening tests. Of course they are both pre AFC
I haven’t gotten around to experimenting with NPO caps yet but may do so when I get the chance. The amazing thing is I also have a next generation Zenith mantle radio with an AFC tube in it and it locks onto just about any fm signal it finds. What a difference
Don

[Brad Winder]

According to “Visionary Thinking- The Story of Canada’s Electrohome”, CFCA was Canada’s first exclusively FM station, launched on April 26, 1949. So, that would mean that there were stations broadcasting on a combination of AM and FM to that point in time…but whether there was anyone doing it pre-war…

[Eric Strasen]

Thanks to the ersatz “General” at RCA, a fair number of people in the U.S. were left with expensive pre-war consoles which no longer received FM stations following WWII. Some manufacturers made converters for their pre-war radios (Scott Radio Labs and Zenith come to mind), but apparently few people opted for them. Pilot and Meissner and probably other manufacturers made small table model FM tuners especially for these consoles and for the beginnings of the hi-fi market. I have examples of both Pilot and Meissner tuners. The Meissners are marginally better than the Pilots, IMHO, but neither are particularly sensitive. Both need all the antennae they can get.

[Author]

Posts