Another Large and Beautiful Short-Wave Console Radio, 7M931 made by Rogers Majestic in 1937, with Beam-of-Light Tuning and Working Original 6X6 Magic Eye

In a Nutshell
The reverse etched and painted glass dials of 1930's Rogers Majestic and DeForest-Crosley radios are unrivaled

Introduction:
With these two radios (see also the 6M1331 on sale) I continue the restoration of impressive 1930's Canadian console radios made by DeForest Crosley (8D991, 9D791, 9D991) and Rogers Majestic (12-126). One more radio, that was made by three Canadian companies under different model numbers: Rogers "12-95", Majestic "797", and DeForest-Crosley "Gaspe". All have a chassis 7X931, where X equals R for Rogers, M for Majestic, and D for DeForest-Crosley. The first digit of the model number stands for the production year (1937), the second for the number of tubes (9). Many of these 1930's radios have very beautiful multi-colored glass dials, where the glass is etched and painted from the back side in several (4) colors, to reflect the light entering from the sides of the glass. This radio also has a very unique beam-of-light tuning pointer. Finally tuning, especially on short-wave, is made really easy with this vernier dial, which has 4 full turns for coarse and 20 full turns for fine tuning. The radio has a phono input with a 1/4" microphone jack, that disconnects the tuner from the amplifier, when occupied. Thus noise-free amplification of signals from turntables, CD-, mp3-, and other players is possible. A 10W amplifier with tone control, a 12" field coil speaker and the huge wooden cabinet lead to a great musical experience.

For the historians only:
Edward Samuel ("Ted") Rogers (1900-1939): kid telegrapher, invented the first A/C tube, in 1925 established "Canada's First Rogers Batteryless" (CFRB) both, as a radio factory and a broadcast station and in 1928 the Rogers-Majestic Corporation, in 1934 acquired Consolidated Industries, which built DeForest-Crosley Radios in Canada, in 1933 created the Spray-Shield Tube which eliminated the need for protective tube cans, and conducted the first public demonstration of television in Toronto, died much too early at age 38. His five years old son of same name was too young to follow his father's footsteps, perhaps to his advantage, since the future President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., who died two years ago on Dec. 2^nd, 2008 at age 75, was the fifth richest person in Canada in terms of net worth. Father and son in 2006, were inducted into Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame.
Lee de Forest (1873-1961): "father of radio" and "grandfather of television", invented the Audion tube in 1906, in 1934 established Lee de Forest, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., supported for Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1959 received an honorary Oscar instead, owned 180 patents, but needed Edwin Armstrong to understand them, and David Sarnoff to commercialize them, married 4 times.

For the techies only:
The tubes used for both, Rogers Majestic and DeForest-Crosley radios, are special developments by Rogers, and have no counterparts from other manufacturers, and are therefore hard to replace. As rectifier mostly two (sometimes 4) 2X3 were used, the magic eye tube was a 6X6, and the other tubes were Rogers spray-shield tubes (see above, they have a "M" added to the tube number). Usually the two 2X3 are substituted by a 5Y3 and a dummy, the 6X6 magic eye (new about $125) by a 1629, and the spray shield tubes by their regular equivalent, if necessary supplemented by a metal shield. This radio still has 4 of its 6 original set of sprayshield tubes (pict.23), and the original 6X6 magic eye tube (note modification to boost brightness (pict.30A). The radio uses a number of other special components, such as 2 Mallory bias cells (ref.2 below). This are small devices, which function like a low power battery, and supply negative bias to tube grids, without necessitating a separate power supply. These cells work with electrolytes and normally have been dried out. They can be rejuvenated (if still there) or substituted by a normal 1.5 Volt battery. The previous owner of this radio has chosen to go the expensive way: create the negative bias by introducing cathode resistors (plus electrolytic capacitors) into the cathode leg of the two corresponding tubes (pict.30B).

Additional information:
   ref. 1.    http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rogerstube_majestic_797_ch_7m931.html
   ref. 2     http://www.antiquewireless.org/otb/biascell.htm
   ref. 3     http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250866659117

About my radio:
The radio has not been refinished, only having a few unoffending scratches on its top, that could be treated with lemon oil (pict.5). The radio retains four of its original wooden knobs. One (inner right for on/off-tone) had to be remodeled (including brass insert with set screw) from its corresponding partner on the left side (pict.28). The reverse painted glass dial and the beam-of-light pointer are in mint condition. The radio exhibits 4 of the 6 original sprayshield tubes, as well as the original 6X6 magic eye tube. This tube is expensive and hard to come by. Have a look at eBay item 250866659117 (ref.3), where $205 have been paid for it. The brightness can be enhanced by increasing the heater voltage and/or by increasing the plate voltage, the latter being the preferred procedure to save this tube without shortening its lifetime (pict.30A).
I treated all moving parts with contact spray, the former owner had replaced the two deteriorated or lost bias cells by equipping the corresponding two tubes with cathode resistors (pict.30B). The radio plays loud and clear on AM/BC and receives SW stations (see 12MB! video by clicking on pict.34). Please understand that here in Chilliwack (in the "valley") we have next to no AM stations left. Please e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.

Here are the specifications:

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