Adrian's British "Battery Portable" Tube Radio Pages

A site mainly concerning British Portable Valve Radios of the 1950's




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since 10th July 2001



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Click above for Site History - Last Update: 12th December 2010

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This site offers: specifications; photographs; historical information; restoration advice; and other general issues concerning British portable valve ('tube' for our non-British readers) radios from the 1940's and 50's.  It also covers some American examples and is twinned with a sister site concerning the Zenith 'Trans-Oceanic' shortwave portable -  at www.zenithtrans-oceanic.portabletubes.co.uk

Information on long-gone names, such as Vidor and Ever Ready - as well as more popular names such as Bush, Roberts, Ekco and Pye - has been brought together from varied sources and seasoned with my own opinions, judgements and knowledge in an easily referenced form for this forgotten corner of post-War radio technology. Additionally, there are some schematics, manuals, period advertisements and magazine articles to enjoy.

Featured inside are:

As my collection and interests have grown, I have added vintage test gear and heavy communications receivers - 'boatanchors' - for further interest.

I know there are several sites on the web dealing in vintage radio but, invariably, these are wooden cased mains-driven table or floor console models. Radios have always been portable (even before transistors made them into a fashion statement) but I couldn't find much information about valve portables. So, in the finest tradition, I thought, "Why not build a site dedicated to the valve portable yourself and incorporate all the knowledge and wisdom you have acquired into an easy to find site?".

So, here is the result thus far of my particular choice of esoteria in the already obscure world of vintage radio. And please note, my moving to the other side of the Atlantic has meant that the focus on British portables is to be weakened somewhat if the collection is to continue to grow - sorry!

A Note Concerning Copyright: The copyrights on the material in this site rests with the author or as shown in any copyright statements. Visitors are allowed to freely copy anything useful but acknowledge its source if being reused (including use for Ebay auctions!).This site is provided as enjoyment and not as a commercial venture so please don't try and make any money off it! Attention Webmasters - please feel free to link to this front page if you have a relevant site and let me know so I can provide a reciprocal link. Thanks.