Rogers Radio Model 400

[andy]

I believe I have a rare radio in my possession. It has a plate on it which identifies it as a Rogers Radio Model 400. On the front is a decorative piece which calls it a Rogers Batteryless A/C. I have found a Model 400 on the Rogers history timeline, but it looks nothing like the one I have. From my reading I think this is a very early model of Rogers Radio – likely late 20’s or early 30’s – it has a "Standard Radio Mfg Corp" Identification on it – and I understand Rogers became Rogers-Majestic in about 1930 or 31.
I have included pictures of it – as you can see it is in rough shape. My goal would be to fully restore it, but I don’t think that’s very realistic. I would like to hear from you folks about the following;
1. Can anyone give me more information about this radio?
2. Can the electronics on the machine be restored?
3. Does anyone have any information about the cabinet – there is a plate on it that says the cabinet was made by McLagan.

Thanks for any and all help you can give
Andy in Victoria. ]

radio back.jpg

front doors open.jpg

tube array.jpg

[Gerry O’Hara]

Andy,

Sounds an interesting radio , but I could not see the photos, although the file names are listed on the post). Did you use the ‘upload attachment’ tab, then browse for your photo, then upload? Make sure the files are not too big. I use approx 128kb size.

Gerry

[andy]

Let’s try this with photos…

Download radio back.jpg. (Caution: This file may not be virus scanned.)

Download tube array.jpg. (Caution: This file may not be virus scanned.)

Download front doors open.jpg. (Caution: This file may not be virus scanned.)

[cvrs]

It’s definitely quite old. I am not sure about the exact date but the oldest Roger’s set I have is 1929 and this is definitely earlier than that. The tubes with double pins like that were quite early production.

about the roger’s history page, I have seen that they have some samples of early tubes, but they mixed up the tube numbers. I informed the historian but got no reply.

My ’29 rogers uses some R30 tube which had a funny shaped envelope, but no pins on top like yours.
the R30’s in my set can be replaced by the common 27 tube They also used two roger’s 27’s in the same tube lineup in my set.

Those tubes do show up on occasion I don’t think the tubes would prevent you from getting it working, and it is probably a fairly simple TRF radio. you might check the transformers out. Mine had a interstage transformer that had a lot of thin wire and was open somewhere. I ended up using one from AES which was a lot smaller, but worked.

Another thing you could check is the tuning capacitor. sometimes the core of the thing is made of a type of cast metal that expands and distorts over time and it might be good to assess if that’s the case. avoid bending the tuning plates, some may appear to be bent, there are likely tabs you can bend to adjust how all the stages track, and some of these plate segments may have been bent in the factory to allign it. don’t try to adjust this unless you find you need to. of course it will kill the signal if the tuning plates touch the stationary plates.

The SPARC museum has at least one radio with tubes similar to that so you could perhaps contact them to see if they have any more info on it. This is a piece of Canadian history. as you probably know Rogers invented the first AC tubes which allowed radios to be run using AC power for the filament supply. I suspect the radio you have is made quite shortly after this breakthrough in technology. Thanks for shaping the photos !

Phil

[rfenergy]

Those pins on the top of the tubes are the filament pins I believe they were an AC filament.The First Rogers Batteryless came out in late 1925.This radio could be anywhere from 1925 to about 1927.For some reason schematics for the early Rogers Batteryless radios seem to be very hard to find.
Jim

[andy]

I scoured the radio and came up with the following information

There is plate ont he back with the following information;

Rogers Model 400
Serial Number 5351
Standard Radio Mfg Corp. Ltd.
Toronto Canada
Licensed by Canadian Radio Patents Ltd.
Only for the non-commercial reception of public radio telephone broadcasting
Patented 1914, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1921, 1922, and 1924

On the Power Supply it says;

Rogers Model 400
Serial Number 5351
Voltage 110 Freq. 26-60
Standard Radio Mfg Corp.
Toronto Ontario

Cabinet by McLagan

on the front is a small plate that says;
Rogers Batteryless A/C

Incidentally, the scale on the tuner starts at 0 and ends at 100 – it does not have the AM scale we are used to…

Andy

[scoobydoo391965]

Hey saw this post and was surprised by it because I though wow I got one of those and guess what. Im looking for Info on it as well if anyone can help. I have some info but need further info on this as well. hope to upload some photos of mine

Download 5392bgh_20.jpg. (Caution: This file may not be virus scanned.)

[scoobydoo391965]

By the way from what I know the model 400 was made 1928-29 and used the Rogers 32 tubes. if anyone has the tube set up for this tube to test in a heathkit tc-2 could you send this info along to me. Thanks

Download IMG_3592.JPG. (Caution: This file may not be virus scanned.)

[Author]

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