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RESTORATION TOPICS

Boston Scale & Machine Co.Type 105 Receiving Tuner

BY ALAN DOUGLAS

In the name of preservation, onecollector loans a set to another asa model for a set in dire need ofrestoration. Alan Douglas de-scribes the happy results of such acollaboration. (Editor)

When Richard Foster droppedby this morning to return my Bos-ton Scale & Machine tuner, whichhe had borrowed as a model torestore his set, shown in Figure 1, Icouldn’t resist snapping a photo ofthe two side by side. I couldn’t tellwhich was which. See Figure 2.When he got his set, it was missingthe entire coil assembly, the backpanel, and other mechanical parts.It also had a hole in the panel.Evidently someone had convertedit to short waves around 1930.

ably from 1922, when the broadcasting boom began.Boston Scale spared no expense in designing

these sets, using some pretty elaborate metal work.

These tuners, and the companion Type 100 de-tector-amplifier, turn up in the Boston area from timeto time, but I have never seen any advertising, or anymention of the parent company. They are presum-

Figure 1. A Boston Scale & Machine Co. Type 105 receiving tunerrestored by Richard Foster.

Figure 2. Side by side, Alan Douglas’s Boston Scale & Machine Co. Type 105 receiving tuner and the setrestored by Richard Foster. Alan couldn’t tell the difference — can you?

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The coil rotor and tuning capaci-tor, as examples, have heavy spi-ral pigtail connections kept fromtangling by metal disks on eitherside. See Figure 3. Most of thefabricated parts are unlike thoseof other makers; for instance,when Richard recreated the bind-ing posts, he had to turn themfrom hex brass stock and nickel-plate them. The dials seem to beunique too, with black and silvermetal skirts. And note the realwood inlay banding on the cabi-net in Figure 4. Figure 5 showsthe label on the tuner.

Did Boston Scale & Machine Co.return to making scales after testingthe wireless waters? I don’t know.

Figure 3. An interior view of Richard Foster’s restored set showing the heavyspiral pigtail connections kept from tangling by metal disks on either side.

Figure 4. The wood inlay banding on the cabinet ofthe Boston Scale & Machine Co. receiving tuner.

Web Edition © Copyright 2009 by John V. Terrey

(Alan Douglas, an electrical engineer, has beeninterested in old radios since the age of ten. Hisextensive collection includes a library of 5,000 radio-related books and magazines, now occupying a spe-cial addition to his house. He has written well over100 articles and papers for radio and engineeringpublications. His books, “Radio Manufacturers of the1920s, Volumes I, II, and III” are highly regardedresources for radio collectors.)

Dave Crocker describes his unexpected re-ward for helping a friend. The moral of the story:never pass up an attic-cleaning project. (Editor)

A West Coast friend visiting here on the Capecalled on me to help him empty out his familyhome, as it was going up for sale. It seems hisfather and grandfather had been “pack-rats” andthe grand old Greek Revival residence was full ofitems that needed to be sorted out.

In particular, virtually tons of literature consist-ing of old newspapers, magazines and well over3,500 books had been stored in the attic andupper attic since 1896. The magazines, Life andother forgotten titles, were piled up in the upperattic, whose access was with a ladder through anopening in the ceiling. My friend passed down thehundreds of old magazines to me on the ladder.Part way through the process he reached behind

the piles of magazines and said: “You like oldradio stuff — here’s something you might be inter-ested in. It’s some kind of ‘tuner’ — want it?”

I blew the dust off of it and saw it was an oldcardboard box, of which only part of the cover hadbeen opened. Under it I saw the word “Tuner” andthat was enough for me. I didn’t open it until I gothome. It was then I almost fell over, as inside the(factory) box was the most pristine Amrad Model3366 radio I had ever seen. It had never beenused! A few days later I took it apart and studiedthe insides — perfect!

The Amrad Model 3366, shown in Figure 1,was marketed in 1922 by the American Radio andResearch Corporation of Medford Hillside, nearBoston, Massachusetts. It is a 1-tube receiverwith a unique magnetic crystal detector designedby Amrad’s own woman engineer, Eunice Ran-dall. The detector had a metal pointer held to the

Amrad Model 3366 and Its Crystal DetectorBY DAVE CROCKER

Figure 5. A metal tag for the Boston Scale &Machine Co. Type 105 receiving tuner from a setin John Terrey’s collection.

(Boston Scale, continued)

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crystal mineral by a permanentmagnet, as shown in Figures 2and 3. These detectors wereplug-in units, having two prongsfor removal. On the top of thecabinet, the tube opening had around, aluminum cover with finemesh screening to observe thefilament and release any heatthat might accumulate.

Now, over the years I haveseen more than a few of theseAmrad crystal-reflex sets, andhave taken notice of the onespictured in antique radio maga-zines — and just about all ofthem have had some modifica-tions to their detectors by theirowners. Many years ago, some-one even fabricated reproduc-tion detectors, which were al- Figure 1. The Amrad Model 3366 reflex receiver with a crystal detector.

Figure 3. A different view of the permanent magnetholding the metal pointer to the crystal mineral.

Figure 2. The detector’s metal pointer is held tothe crystal mineral by a permanent magnet.

most, but not exact, and the few produced werequickly grabbed-up by radio restorers. I managedto buy the last one made myself. It seems that theoriginal detector units were either lost or werereplaced with Amrad’s other non-magnetic detec-tor over the years. It, too, was a plug-in type.

Knowing that the detector on my Model 3366was about as accurate as you can get, I thought itwould be interesting to those who have Amradmagnetic detector sets to compare theirs withmine. It appears that Amrad may have madesome production changes that include the elimi-nation of the small holding screw. Notice the rath-er thin Bakelite handle for adjusting the pointer.These handles have usually been replaced by adry cell battery cap or something similar. Also,notice in Figure 3 the tiny brass screw that holdsthe pointer strip to the unit, so it won’t be lost.However, this minute screw and nut were easilylost as well.

Web Edition © Copyright 2009 by John V. Terrey

Dave Crocker, a graphic artist and semi-retiredmember of the A.R.C. staff, has been collectingradios for over 30 years. Many of those yearshave been spent researching and collecting radi-os made by the Crosley Radio Company.

Another Amrad DetectorCONTRIBUTED BY JOHN V. TERREY

Responding to Dave Crocker’s inquiryabout other Amrad crystal detector designs,I offer this one. I have two Amrad Model3366 sets, each obtained from a differentsource and both have this detector style. Iassume that the “original rust” might some-what authenticate it as original.