Transistor Radios Around the World

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1963 KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21

Portable radio
9 5/8 x 7 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches / 225 x 184 x 82.6 mm
2-band MW/LW, eight transistors (Texas Instruments, 2x 2G374B, others unknown), superheterodyne circuit, vernier tuning
One very large 4.5v/4.5v battery
Manufactured by Kolster-Brandes Ltd., GB

A great piece of plastic, and scarlet it is — a bright red cabinet offset by a now ivory-colored speaker grille that probably was white in its time. One design problem here is the star motif — those stars belong to the midnight-blue background of the Starlight Rhapsody and they make no sense being here on this red cabinet body.

This Scarlet Rhapsody model apparently is a jazzed-up version of the six-transistor Starlight Rhapsody, — and while this model calls itself "Transistor Super 8", I count only seven transistors — maybe one is lurking beneath the circuit board. Besides the two TI transistors, there are three silver cans bearing only a logo that appears to be for "S.E.C." and function markings ("IF", "MIX") — there's also a silver top hat and a silver can locked inside a copper shield, but I'm not going there....

(August 2019, Mike Edwards commented, "The 8th transistor is a bit of a cheat, it is wired as a detector diode and is located in the 3rd IF transformer. (bit of a marketing gimmick I imagine)" Mike Edwards has a really fine site devoted to KB and ITT radios, The Kolster-Brandes Museum, including a page devoted to the KB Rhapsody radios . Check it out!)


KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21

KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21


KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21

KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21


KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21

cabinet back


KB Scarlet Rhapsody VP21

chassis — click on the photo for a larger image

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