Some original service manuals for 1964 and newer RCA models are available here: Original RCA Service Manuals via US Mail. made RCA models see the 1953-1963 section. NOTE: Record changer service manuals may be several pages and must be ordered separately.įor factory service schematics of Canadian made RCA models see the RCA Victor Canada section.įor schematics for later U.S. Some early Victor files may be only one or two pages.
The files for the models listed below typically have more information than other service series publications and may be several pages. RCA Victor factory service manuals published from the 1920s through the 1950s. Last revised: December 31, 1995.RCA Victor Factory Service Manuals and Schematics These files are the radio and record player schematics and service information individually scanned in high resolution directly from the original U.S. His prize is the 1932 Jackson Bell Peter Pan featured in the June 1991 A.R.C. His collection of over 60 radios ranges from crystal sets to a 1928 American Bosch desk radio in a Pooley cabinet. Since 1985, Richard Arnold's collecting interest has been primarily in cathedrals and 1920s battery sets. (Richard Arnold, PO Box 275, Lone Grove, OK 73443) The radio has four controls - volume, tone, tuning (with a fine tuning feature to assist in tuning in the shortwave band), and a small knob on the right that pulls out to receive shortwave reception. The six tubes used are Types 58 (RF amplifier), 2A7 (oscillator and 1st detector), 58 (IF amp), 2B7 (detector/1st AF), 2A5 (audio) and 80 (rectifier). The set has a broadcast band of 540-1500 Kc and a shortwave band of 5400-15.350 Kc. This AC "midget" measures 17 inches high by 14 inches wide. In 1933, RCA came out with the beautiful cathedral cabinet design of the Model 121, shown in Figure 1. The RCA Model 121 midget has a beautiful cathedral cabinet design. The midget radio market faltered for a while in 1931-1932, but then made a strong comeback for a few more years.įigure 1. In 1929, the average unit price of a radio sold was $136. In 1933, there were 3,800,000 radio sets sold at an average unit price of $61. As a result, most manufacturers began producing superhet radios in the early 1930s. RCA had a pretty good clamp on the superheterodyne market and patents, and it wasn't until 1928-1929 that they really started to lift these restrictions. However, the weight of these sets (about 25 pounds) and the price (averaging $50) were well below that of the heavy and relatively high-priced consoles of the period ($100 plus). The power, tone and overall general performance left a lot to be desired. The cabinets of tombstone or cathedral design occasionally used moulded wood. These radios were usually TRF (tuned radio frequency) sets that used the new screen-grid tubes. This style of radio came into being on the West Coast in 1929, and by 1931 had spread across the nation.
One of the first magazine advertisements in 1930 on the new "midget" radios reads in part, "Only 17.5 inches high and 16 inches wide, with reception limited only by the suitability of your location." The radio industry invented the name "midget" for these radios, but years later they came to be called "cathedrals" or "tombstones." Midget Radios and the RCA Model 121 BY RICHARD ARNOLDįrom Antique Radio Classified for January 1996 Antique Radio Classified: Midget Radios and the RCA Model 121