Sonora WCU-246

This very practical, post-war set is a combination radio/reading light for mounting on your bedstead. I use this wonderful thing virtually every night. Going to sleep is a three-step process: start with the radio and the light, reading a magazine; then turn off the light and close your eyes; finally, turn off the radio, using the dim, orange glow of the filaments to find the power switch…z z z z.

The electronics are unremarkable—a typical 5-tube All-American-Five AC/DC set that works well. Introduced in the late 1940s, the set uses octal tubes rather than the more modern miniatures.

Notice the hole cut in the back cover of the set to accommodate an IF transformer that stands a little too high? At first, I assumed that the original IF transformer had been replaced with one that was physically too tall. However, in looking at the set’s internals, I tend to think that the transformer (and hole) are original. Possibly Sonora somehow got stuck with a batch of IF transformers that were too large.

The radio has a factory price sticker on the back: $29.95 in “District 1,” and $39.95 in “District 2.” It takes a paragraph to define the district boundaries, but essentially District 1 is east of the Rockies. Such two-tier factory pricing was common for radios.

© 2005 Doug Criner