Item ST 18483 Broadcast Receiver - AWA, Radiophone, 1923-1924

Summary

AWA Radiophone, the first radio made by AWA for domestic broadcasting.

It was a 'sealed set' intended to be used to listen to one station only, to which the listener would have paid a licence fee. The sealed set system, introduced in 1923, was promoted by Ernest Fisk of AWA but was extremely unpopular and was abandoned by the middle of 1924. The sealed set system was designed to fund radio broadcasting by selling receivers tuned to a specific station. People did not buy them; they were expensive and one could only listen to one station. There were a lot of amateur broadcasters, who people wanted to listen to. It was more satisfying to build a crystal set or a valve radio or have one made by a dealer.

However, a catalogue entry from the AWA Radio Guide for 1926 indicated that these sets were still being offered for sale after the end of the sealed set system, probably on the basis that in those days there were not many stations to choose from and some people would be happy to listen to their local or favourite one all the time. The scheme was replaced by the system, which is basically still used currently (2013).

Physical Description

A rectangular polished wooden box with an inset ebonite containing 4 controls, knobs, two valves, four terminals and four pins. On top is a metal carrying handle. The 2 valves are Marconi type DEP410, but are not original according to a label attached to the set. The other components - variocupler, rheostat, two plate condensers, transformer and so on, are concealed behind front panel.