EH Scott Radio Enthusiasts

The Fine Things are Always Hand Made

Understanding E.H. Scott's World's Record Receivers

Several weeks ago in person I had the pleasure of being exposed to several fine examples of World's Record receiver models.  The story told about the original World's Record intrigued me.  I find it amazing to fathom E.H. Scott was able to receive United States broadcast stations while vacationing in New Zealand between 1924 and 1925.  This was a major breakthrough as DX'ing was still in it's infancy.  Receiving distances between 6,000 and 8,375 miles away from the receiver test site during a 13 week period is truly astonishing for the early 1920's.  I find these records to be very impressive as most transmitters back then could put out a maximum of 1000 watts.  A minor output range compared to what stations would put out 10 years later.

A few questions regarding the Worlds Record's receivers:

To my understanding via research, E.H. Scott originally built an 8 tube Superhetrodyne?  Remler built E.H. a push pull amplifier to increase loudspeaker volume before he left San Francisco for New Zealand in 1924.  Wouldn't E.H. technically now have a 10 tube set while attempting his records during the New Zealand vacation between 1924-1925?  Was E.H. Scott's original receiver called a World's Record 8?

To my understanding, E.H. Scott build a duplicate receiver in March of 1925 before leaving New Zealand, for his brother in law to continue testing.  Literature states he separated the push pull amplifier between both his original set and the duplicate made.  Making both sets each now having 9 tubes a piece.  This was to be called the World's Record 9 correct?

When did E.H. Scott introduce the added phrase "Super" to his labeling of receivers?  Was it after he returned to the States in 1925 and started offering the receiver as a kit?

To my understanding E.H. offered the original World's Record as a kit once returning to the States in 1925.  After a few years with several radio magazines and having thus started his own transformer company providing matched transformers for these kits, E.H. took back the reigns and developed the World's Record 10.  Still offered as a Kit, did E.H. Scott ever build these directly for customers or would that infringe on RCA's licensing debacle?

After the World's Record 10, E.H. Scott offered the Worlds Record Shield Grid Nine with the advent of RCA's newly developed grid type tubes.  Did E.H. Scott continue to use the World's Record name with future receivers all the way thru the AC-10?  Was the AC-10 the last set offered thru custom set builders under the E.H. Scott Laboratory umbrella?  From research, the Allwave 12 was the first set supplied direct to the customer through E.H. Scott.  Did Scott do away with his custom set builder franchise at this time?  I find this an interesting question as E.H. Scott had several showroom studio's in California and Chicago during the remainder of the 1930's and early 1940's.

Thanks,

Jon

    

Views: 561

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Jon - I apologize for not replying sooner, as you know, I was away on vacation last week. You are delving into areas where we do not have a lot of data. However, I'll try to expand on this and answer your questions: 

You are correct, the set that went to NZ in early 1925 was an 8-tube set. Remler did provide parts for a 2-tube amp, but that was only so he could drive a horn speaker. The typical use of the set was with headphones, and the 8-tube implementation was fine for that. He never referred to it as a Worlds Record Super 8. I have one item where he talks about his original "8-tube super". 

To prove the set wasn't a fluke, he wired for another set of parts, and when they arrived, built and tested a 2nd set. This was probably when he broke down the amplifier and created two 9-tube sets. Now here's the critical point: the 9th tube was added as a 2nd AF in parallel with the original 2nd AF tube...so the 9th tube added nothing to the radio performance, it simply made it possible to use it with either headphones or a decent speaker. This design became the Worlds Record Super 9, which has its earliest advertisement (that I have found) in the Nov 1925 issue of Radio Age magazine. "Super" therefore appears in the earliest ad known.

The offer originally was for a complete booklet/plan to build his set. The booklet was $5. I need to scan it in and add it to the archive. He later offered a complete kit of parts for about $125. He also had some things he recommended such as the Qualitone loop antenna. At this point, he had no kit builders...but the problems people had duplicating his set lead him to the idea very quickly.  This is why a truly early WRS9 uses Remler IF transformers....he hadn't started the Selectone line either. 

End Part 1....

Part 2 -

A number of superhet designers (and even TRF and other designs) were often described in magazine articles of the day and then kits of parts were offered. Scott did not do this with the original WRS9 design however. Through the summer of 1926, Scott advertised the WRS9 plan booklet in numerous magazines. Even in the fall of 1926, the Chicago Evening Post Radio Magazine had a "construction" article, but for a 10 tube version of the WRS9. 

Chicago Evening Post Radio Magazine 10 tube set 1926

Beginning in 1927, Scott jumped on the magazine article bandwagon with both feet. Over the next 12 months, there were 12 construction articles in 5 different magazines. 4 8-tube designs, 3 9-tube designs and 5 articles talking about the World's Record Super 10 using the square Selectone transformers. 

On May 26, 1927, Scott incorporated the "Scott Transformer Company". In the first few months of 1926, Scott struggled with getting a sufficient supply of IF transformers (generally we believe he was having Remler make them, but to his spec). The frustrations of delays and quality standards forced Scott into winding his own units under the Selectone name. Through the remainder of 1926 and all of 1927, Scott's transformers could barely be wound quickly enough either. Ramping up the magazine articles created many orders (most set designs used 4 or 5 transformers). The sales and production needs forced Scott to move from his apartment building (he had rented the top floor), first to Dearborn St, and finally to 4450 Ravenswood Ave in the fall of 1928. 

1928 was a transition year, selling numerous WRS10 designs but also introducing the Shield Grid 9 in the spring of 1928. The Shield Grid 9 became the set that really drove the kit builder business. Easy to assemble (the majority of the circuitry is contained in the large central copper box), a kit builder could assemble an SG9 in just a few hours and be assured of good performance. Scott heavily encouraged the kit builders around the SG9, and I suspect his success is why we see a fairly good number of them left today. Far more SG9 sets than the earlier battery sets. 

One of the last articles published in 1928 was a power supply designed for the SG9. The "Furby" of the Christmas season in 1928 was to purchase a new "All Electric" radio. Scott didn't have one available yet, but that would change in 1929 with the introduction of the World's Record AC 10.

End Part 2

Hello Kent,

Thank you for your response.  Yes I understood you were traveling, I hope vacation went well for you.  I figured I was diving into obscure area's regarding E.H. Scott history.  I appreciate you taking the time to help me, and perhaps others whom are interested, in understanding the early years of what would eventually become E.H. Scott Laboratories.  A follow-up to your first statement:

Understand regarding the first set E.H. Scott built for his New Zealand trip:  The receiver was technically meant for head phones.  The push pull amp was an accessory and not part of the receiver operation on a general basis.  I now figure the reasoning for the "Super" labeling was for the fact these units were Superhetrodyne circuits.  Using "Super" for abbreviation of Superhetrodyne.  I think this was common phraseology in the mid 1920's for this type of circuit in general.  Understand the first wording of the "World's Record" labeling of receiver's began after the building of a duplicate receiver, push pull amp separated.  If we were to get real technical, I would imagine the labeling of his receivers as such began after his worlds records were published?  Understand The "Worlds Record" began with the 9 tube duplicate circuit.  The introduction of the "Worlds Record" series to the general public once returning State side sold in kits to avoid RCA's patents.  Very interesting regarding the use of Remler IF transformers.  Appreciate the help in understanding this first part!
 
Kent King said:

End Part 1....

Yes, what you've stated here is probably as close to understanding Scott as we can get. "Super" was used generically for superheterodyne...many companies did that, to distinguish their set from the much more common TRF designs. Another term was "Regen" (not used by Scott)...but indicating a regenerative set beyond the TRF. I'll try to get to Part 3 tonight.

Thanks Kent.  Appreciate part 2 as well.  You expertise with E.H. Scott history has helped me better understand the early years, much appreciate you taking the time to share this info!  I look forward to part 3.

Jon
 
Kent King said:

Yes, what you've stated here is probably as close to understanding Scott as we can get. "Super" was used generically for superheterodyne...many companies did that, to distinguish their set from the much more common TRF designs. Another term was "Regen" (not used by Scott)...but indicating a regenerative set beyond the TRF. I'll try to get to Part 3 tonight.

Part 3 -

As mentioned previously, the "rage" in late 1928 and into 1929 was for the "all-electric" set - meaning a radio that could be plugged in to an outlet and require no batteries or other connections except for an antenna. Scott even ran an ad calling the SG9 an "All Electric" set as early as January 1929, although it hardly met the definition. In April and May, ads appeared for a "mystery set" called the AC9. None of these sets has ever been found. At that same time, the Symphony was advertised: a very few Symphony sets exist and represent the earliest fully self contained AC set offered by Scott. The Symphony is also unique because it is the only set Scott offered that is not a superheterodyne. Scott probably assembled the Symphony sets at the factory (no real license concerns), although we have no hard documentation on the Symphony development and production. With little advertising and minimal orders, it is highly unlikely that a set builder would have assembled a Symphony. 

The World's Record AC-10, first advertised in July 1929 was a set for the set-builder. Like the SG9, the bulk of the circuitry is contained in the copper "can" mounted across the rear of the chassis. It is possible that some sets were also built by Scott at the factory, but this cannot be refuted or substantiated with the meager surviving documentation. The WR AC-10 was however, Scott's first truly successful AC set. Many AC-10 sets have survived and the chassis was advertised for a year, with the last ads appearing in June 1930. There are numerous variations of the AC-10, including different tuner and power supply configurations. This fact leads the modern observer to suspect more "factory" production over set-builders, but Scott was still pushing his set builder opportunities in the era of the AC-10. 

A few last items from the "pre-chrome" ear:

A shortwave converter was available for both the SG9 and the AC-10. This is a bit odd, since the SG9 also used plug-in coils and a variety of SW coils have been found for the SG9. The AC-10 was also advertised with a primitive remote control capability. Finally, in Sep 1930, Scott published a short article on an automobile radio they had provided. The article implies several sets (could be wishful thinking), and it also discusses two different tube lineups, so perhaps there were multiple automobile sets produced. None have been found, however.

This concludes the short story of the "pre-chrome" sets. In Nov 1930, a preliminary ad for what is currently known as the Allwave 2-dial appeared in Citizen's Radio Call Book Magazine. While no examples of this set are known (probably a lab prototype), the first chrome chassis Allwave set ads appeared in Jan 1931, and the next era of Scott radios was about to start, and the era of the kit builder came to an end.

End

Thank you for part 3 Kent.  Great info!  The AC9 would be interesting to research if one were ever to surface.  I would like to eventually take a look at any article's you may have mentioning the AC9 if possible.  I am familiar with the variations regarding the AC-10 thanks to what you and Dave have told me.  After inquiring to Norman and reading the patent information regarding the AC-10 remote, my understanding is there are no mechanical items present that manipulate operation.  Norman had also mentioned a special adaptor was included on the chassis for use of a remote.  Have you ever seen this combination since your time with Scott radio's?  Only one or two example exist correct?  It would be amazing to see this combination in operation.  Sure would be neat to see an E.H. Scott automobile radio as well.  Are there pictures of the automobile radio within that article mentioned?

Thanks

Jon

Jon -

Both the AC9 and the auto radio are pictured in the Scott Collector's Guide. There are no articles for the AC9, only a couple magazine ads. Nothing from Scott either on the AC9. I'd guess prototype, if I was a betting guy. I also think it is a little early to be an Ernie Pfaff design (Scott's chief engineer in the very early 30s). Probably something Scott dreamed up but never produced.

Kent

Neat!  Thank you Kent.  I will have to reference the Collector's Guide.  Thank you for the help in understanding the early years!

Jon

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by Kent King.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service