5 valve broadcast band radio
Possibly manufactured under Silver Radio Ltd ownership after the demise of the NZ Radio Manufacturing Co. Ltd who previously made Viking radios, as there is a Silvatone radio that looks very similar with basically an identical dial apart from the brand. However, as Silver Radio purchased the stock and plant of NZRMC they could just as easily have just copied the existing radio and 'rebadged' it. Those who could answer these questions have long since gone off the air, and so we may never know.
A previous owner of this set gave the following description:
Viking Valve Radio, 1934-35, 5 valve, made by 'Silver Radio Co', 90 Worcester St ChCh. Serial NoE5247,collectable radio, size 39cmW. 46cmH 28cmD
Frequency Bands: 1
General Construction Notes for New Zealand Radio Manufacturing Co. Ltd:
Dates are arbitrary for different Viking models displayed here, because there is little or no information on the years of each model they made. There are some clues though.
This is the dating logic we've used for Viking sets - it may or may not be correct, but it should be close.
1933: Peephole dials were just transitioning to arc dials. All peephole sets will be designated 1933 models
1934: Arc dials were in, and they started off with 0-100 on the dial, but soon changed to frequencies (550-1500kHz).
1935: Aeroplane dials were in vogue, so any Viking set with an aeroplane dial will be considered 1935 unless station ID's on the dial suggest otherwise.
Note that Silver Radio Ltd took over the Viking name in 1935 when Viking's parent company, The NZ Radio Manufacturing Co. Ltd, went under - there is evidence to suggest they sold Viking branded radios alongside their own Silvatone brand for a couple of years. It appears that in this time they used Viking as a 'budget' line. Only one has been seen at the time of writing so dating sets from this era is tricky without more information.
MENU
