unknown: Dynamo Solar Radio - collectable?!

ID: 253312
unknown: Dynamo Solar Radio - collectable?! 
04.May.11 06:38
21

Paul Reid (USA)
Articles: 71
Count of Thanks: 6

About 30 years ago, my wife bought a "Dynamo & Solar radio" for "about ten bucks" ($10 US) from the catalog of the company now known as "RealGoods".

RealGoods is primarily a solar energy company and installs roof panels, but they also had a catalog of solar-related stuff like clothes-lines, inverters, geo-thermal pumps, and this radio. Later they has a web-store. (Their online store is currently off-line for renovation?)

RealGoods
RealGoods History

Holding it, it is clearly a standard AM/FM "transistor radio" built longer to hold a crank, gears, and motor (generator), with a solar-cell on top.

It has stood on the window sill for years. I do not remember putting batteries in it, although the batteries in it are a brand/model from the last 10 years.

2 years ago we packed the house and moved to the coast of Maine. While most of our stuff was still in (dark) boxes, the power went out and didn't come right back on. We dug this radio out of the box to find out if Something Happened. (We lived through the Great Blackouts of 1965, 1977, and 2003, also the events of 9/11, so we like to know why the power is off.) It played poorly. Turned the crank for a minute and it got better, left it in the sun and it played well. All the radio stations were on the air and playing their usual bland music. Never did find out why the power was out.

The house we moved to "needs work", more than I can handle, so we have contractors here many days. When Dana is here we put the radio out so he can sing along with the oldies while hammering and painting.

We don't see it as "collectable", it is just 'the radio". Its relative age and unique power do make it noteworthy. I've uploaded a photo and am adding these personal comments.

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Dynamo Solar Radio 
04.May.11 09:59
21 from 3085

Howard Craven (GB)
Articles: 110
Count of Thanks: 6

Hello Paul,

I am curious about the claimed date of acquisition of your windup radio, you state that it was bought 30 years ago but then on the model page it's dated 1990 +/- 1 year ie: it's only 20 years old.

It would also appear to precede the Baygen windup radio released in 1995 which up to now was believed to be the first wind-up radio ever built, its windup motor being a patented design of Trevor Bayliss.

Regards ......... Howard

 

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04.May.11 19:46
61 from 3085

Paul Reid (USA)
Articles: 71
Count of Thanks: 5

> I am curious about the claimed date of acquisition
> on the model page it's dated 1990 +/- 1 year ie: it's only 20 years old.

The model page says "1990 ?". Does "?" imply +/-1yr accuracy?

That is one reason I posted. I clearly remember it in the house we owned 1983 to 1990, and the radio was not new when we sold the house. So it was bought mid-1980s. Say instead "25-28 years ago, and memory is imprecise". "Late 1980s" would touch the "1990?" date. We may never know for sure.

Inside: there is no maker-mark and no date-code that I see, except the chip and battery.

I was surprised to learn it has an internal NiCad, in addition to the obvious two AA cells, and that the low-price NiCad still holds charge. The NiCad probably has a maker-mark and maybe a date-code. However it is soldered to the PCB, the markings extend to the side I can not see, the radio is in daily use, I will not remove the PCB until the radio stops working.

It also has one IC chip which seems to be the total radio active device. While AM radio-on-chip existed in 1980, AM/FM requires better chip process which suggests a later date. The chip has a SONY logo and there are some numbers. The ink is small and faint. I will post my best-effort close-up in this message and add more inside-photos to the model page later.

The chip is Sony but the radio clearly is not made by or for Sony. The PCB is the usual low-low-cost stuff found in transistor radios 1960 onward. The case and the clear cover over the solar cell are probably from typical low-cost transistor radio tooling.

The crank gearbox is better made, and may have been produced by one of the better motorized-toy factories. Gear sizes are not optimized for the wide range of torque over this very high gear-ratio, suggesting that existing tooling or even stock gears were available. The "dynamo" is of course the standard 99-cent toy motor, often seen with "Mabushi" brand but this one appears to be unbranded.

> the Baygen windup radio released in 1995 which up to now was believed to be the first... 

The Dynamo & Solar is older than 1995. And they do not work the same way. The Baygen uses a large "clock spring" for storage. The "Dynamo & Solar" uses a generator and battery for storage. The Baygen appears to be much better made and surely more expensive. The Baygen may have been aimed at a higher class of consumers (early-adopters, gadget-lovers, and collectors) while the Dynamo.. is a conventional cheap radio plus a crank-motor and solar cell.

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04.May.11 21:51
75 from 3085

Paul Reid (USA)
Articles: 71
Count of Thanks: 6

> the Baygen windup radio released in 1995 which up to now was believed to be the first... 

The Dynamo & Solar is older than 1995. And they do not work the same way. The Baygen uses a large "clock spring" for storage. The "Dynamo & Solar" uses a generator and battery for storage. The Baygen appears to be much better made and surely more expensive. The Baygen may have been aimed at a higher class of consumers (early-adopters, gadget-lovers, and collectors) while the Dynamo/Solar is a conventional cheap radio plus a crank-motor and solar cell, not pretentious.

The chip is probably Sony CXA1191, which has its own page here.
It appears Sony sold-off the rights to this chip when it became old and low-profit.

CXA1191 was used in several radios (probably more than we will ever catalog), including this one which I can believe was made by the same people:
 

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