I've had many a RCA BP-10 come and go through my collection, but I've never
come across this before.

Original box.

Original 1940 vintage Minimax 467 B battery--one of the first ever made.

Original instruction sheet.

And one barely used BP-10, built on August 10, 1940. The rear leatherette's
fallen off, and I need to reglue it. Aside from some leatherette wear here
and there, the set's near new. Only major flaw--the 467 was still inside
the set, and the positive clip has some verdigris on it.

This one's definitely a keeper!

Bill Morris wrote:

I've had many a RCA BP-10 come and go through my collection, but I've never
come across this before.

Original box.

Original 1940 vintage Minimax 467 B battery--one of the first ever made.

Original instruction sheet.

And one barely used BP-10, built on August 10, 1940. The rear leatherette's
fallen off, and I need to reglue it. Aside from some leatherette wear here
and there, the set's near new. Only major flaw--the 467 was still inside
the set, and the positive clip has some verdigris on it.

This one's definitely a keeper!


From the bad analogy department:

"Personal as a purse
Compact as a camera
Clear as a bell"

Don't ever get rid of that box! 8-)

Rick

In article ,
"Bill Morris" wrote:

I've had many a RCA BP-10 come and go through my collection, but I've never
come across this before.

Original box.

Original 1940 vintage Minimax 467 B battery--one of the first ever made.

Original instruction sheet.

And one barely used BP-10, built on August 10, 1940. The rear leatherette's
fallen off, and I need to reglue it. Aside from some leatherette wear here
and there, the set's near new. Only major flaw--the 467 was still inside
the set, and the positive clip has some verdigris on it.

This one's definitely a keeper!

Very interesting, Bill. I¹d never heard of the BP-10 before, That's a
very small tube radio. Those are standard size 7 or 9 pin tubes,
correct?

Dave K9SW

"Dave Moorman" wrote in message
]...
In article ,
"Bill Morris" wrote:

I've had many a RCA BP-10 come and go through my collection, but I've
never
come across this before.

Original box.

Original 1940 vintage Minimax 467 B battery--one of the first ever made.

Original instruction sheet.

And one barely used BP-10, built on August 10, 1940. The rear
leatherette's
fallen off, and I need to reglue it. Aside from some leatherette wear
here
and there, the set's near new. Only major flaw--the 467 was still inside
the set, and the positive clip has some verdigris on it.

This one's definitely a keeper!

Very interesting, Bill. I¹d never heard of the BP-10 before, That's a
very small tube radio. Those are standard size 7 or 9 pin tubes,
correct?

Dave K9SW

I've had more than my share of these radios, too. Yes, those are 7 pin
mini's. Standard set: 1R5, 1U4, 1U5, 3V4 or 1V4.

It reminds one of just how "quaint" a Walkman or Discman will seem in a few
years...

Very interesting, Bill. I¹d never heard of the BP-10 before

It was one of the very first "personal portables," small enough to fit into
a coat pocket, and using all glass miniature tubes. Quite an engineering
feat for 1940.

Earlier portables -- and many later ones, too -- were the size and shape of
a small piece of luggage, and could more properly have been called
"luggables."

Phil Nelson

In article ,
"Phil Nelson" wrote:

Very interesting, Bill. I¹d never heard of the BP-10 before

It was one of the very first "personal portables," small enough to fit into
a coat pocket, and using all glass miniature tubes. Quite an engineering
feat for 1940.

Earlier portables -- and many later ones, too -- were the size and shape of
a small piece of luggage, and could more properly have been called
"luggables."

Phil Nelson

Like the Zenith Transoceanic.

"Dave Moorman" wrote in message
]...
In article ,
"Phil Nelson" wrote:

Very interesting, Bill. I¹d never heard of the BP-10 before

It was one of the very first "personal portables," small enough to fit
into
a coat pocket, and using all glass miniature tubes. Quite an engineering
feat for 1940.

Earlier portables -- and many later ones, too -- were the size and shape
of
a small piece of luggage, and could more properly have been called
"luggables."

Phil Nelson

Like the Zenith Transoceanic.

Well, more commonly about half way between the BP-10 and TO. The TO and it's
cousins were at the upper size end of the 'luggable', while the typical
portable before the BP-10 was about 10" wide 8" tall and 6-7" deep.

I was wondering, when I first read this thread, as to why there are still so
many BP-10 around? Is it because they were fairly small and metal? The
majority I have seen have had at least the D cell rot in them, so very few
are in even decent condition, internally, but they were not tossed. Also,
many, especially the early ones without the brace, have the front lid broken
at the hinges, but still they were kept.

Any thoughts?

By the way, the pictures never showed up on my server. Can Bill Morris post
it again, please??

Neil S.

why there are still so many BP-10 around

Well, they sold for $20 in 1940, which is nothing nowadays, but I remember
my Dad buying a used car for $50 in the 1960s. I can imagine some people
saying "Grandpa paid a lot of money for that radio" and keeping it long
after they knew where to get batteries or cared about using it. Same as
TransOceanics, only cheaper.

They take up very little space, and metal tube portables definitely survive
better than all-plastic ones, which break and are subject to warping from
heat, etc.

Just my $0.02.

Phil Nelson

"Neil S" wrote in message
news:2BhIi.62445$Pd4.13173@edtnps82...

"Dave Moorman" wrote in message
]...
In article ,
"Phil Nelson" wrote:

Very interesting, Bill. I¹d never heard of the BP-10 before

It was one of the very first "personal portables," small enough to fit
into
a coat pocket, and using all glass miniature tubes. Quite an engineering
feat for 1940.

Earlier portables -- and many later ones, too -- were the size and shape
of
a small piece of luggage, and could more properly have been called
"luggables."

Phil Nelson

Like the Zenith Transoceanic.

Well, more commonly about half way between the BP-10 and TO. The TO and
it's
cousins were at the upper size end of the 'luggable', while the typical
portable before the BP-10 was about 10" wide 8" tall and 6-7" deep.

I was wondering, when I first read this thread, as to why there are still
so
many BP-10 around? Is it because they were fairly small and metal? The
majority I have seen have had at least the D cell rot in them, so very few
are in even decent condition, internally, but they were not tossed. Also,
many, especially the early ones without the brace, have the front lid
broken
at the hinges, but still they were kept.

Any thoughts?

By the way, the pictures never showed up on my server. Can Bill Morris
post
it again, please??

Neil S.