RadiolaGuy Info Page
Date your radio
how old is that radio?

Want to date your radio? You will need to know what "Sams" or "Rider" service data volume or folder it's in. Riders covers the years 1920 to about 1952, Sams covers the years from about 1940 to present.

PLEASE NOTE: This bit of information is for informational purposes only. I make no claim to be 100% accurate, I welcome corrections and or additional information.  

  Be aware that the model year precedes the actual year of introduction. The new models were usually introduced in the fall, i.e. the 1940 line was introduced in the fall of 1939. The service data lagged the model years by about a year, i.e. the service data released in 1941 would cover models made and introduced prior to 1940. With this in mind you can see why it is not always possible to determine the actual date of manufacture by the service data index. There is also some overlapping of the years covered and sometimes a recent release would cover a model that was actually introduced several years earlier. With your index to the service publication, find your radio's model number and use the table below to determine the approximate date of manufacture.

Riders  Volume#

covers years:

SAMS Folder#

date issued:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

1920 - 1931
1930 - 1932
1931 - 1933
1932 - 1933
1933 - 1934
1934 - 1935
1935 - 1936
1936 - 1937
1937 - 1938
1938 - 1939
1939 - 1940
1940 - 1941
1941 - 1942
1942 - 1943
1943 - 1946
1944 - 1947
1946 - 1948
1947 - 1949
1948 - 1950
1949 - 1951
1950 - 1952
1951 - 1953

1 - 10
11 - 30
31 - 52
53 - 80
  81 - 118
119 - 154
155 - 189
190 - 225
226 - 261
262 - 301
302 - 341
342 - 382
383 - 425
426 - 468
469 - 512
513 - 560
561 - 611
612 - 671
672 - 731
732 - 791
792 - 857
858 - 929

1946*
1947*
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967

* covers some of the radios made prior to the war back to about 1940

determine the era of your radio by the tubes used

if tubes used are:
(these are some examples of just some of the common tubes used)

UX or UV 201A, 301A or 01A, it would be a mid 20's design

UY224, 24, 27, 26, 71A or 45: late 20s

UY235, 35, 51 late 20s to early 30s

41, 42, 56, 57, 58, 59, 78, 79, 6C6, 6D6 early to mid 30s

6A8, 6K7, 6K8, 6Q7, 12A8, 12K7, 12Q7, 25Z5, mid to late 30s

12SA7, 12SK7, 12SQ7, 35Z5, 50L6 late 30s to early 50s

12BA6, 12BE6, 12AT6, 35W4, 50C5 late 40s thru the 50s

GRADE YOUR RADIO

Your comments, corrections and additional information are welcomed.

RadiolaGuy.com
© C.E. Clutter.
All rights reserved.

Hit Counter