Kerosene Powered Radio Receiver! Yes, that is correct. There really was a radio receiver that was powered by the flame from a kerosene lamp.
This is the story. During the month of May, 2020, there was a series of messages exchanged on the internet, regarding the possibility of operating a radio receiver powered by a kerosene lamp. The question was asked: Is this story true, or is it just a figment of wild imagination? The answer is that yes, there really was a kerosene operated radio receiver, and it was manufactured and sold commercially.
Now back in the middle of last century, kerosene refrigerators were available in South America and in Australia where electrical power in rural areas was not available. These kerosene refrigerators operated with a burning kerosene flame; they cooled down the contents of the refrigerator though nothing was cold enough to be frozen.
The well known American international radio monitor Don Moore states that he was familiar with the kerosene refrigerator during the era when he was serving as a Peace Corp volunteer in Honduras in the 1980s. They were occasionally in use in small country stores.
Similar consideration back in the middle of last century was given to what is known as Peltier cooling; that is the passing of a direct electrical current through a series of dissimilar metal junctions that produces a reduction in temperature. This cascade effect does indeed produce a reduction in temperature, but it is insufficient for refrigeration.
Back in the era after World War II, a radio receiver was manufactured in Moscow specifically for use in rural areas of Russia and also in Middle Eastern countries. This unique world band radio was also in use in country areas of Siberia and China. One of the major purposes for the production of this unique Russian made radio receiver was so that different peoples living in many widely scattered areas could tune in to the programming from Radio Moscow.
An electrical current for the radio receiver is produced when a group of metal junctions is heated by the flame in a kerosene lamp. This mild current is sufficient to heat the filament in the radio valves, and to power a vibrator with an output of 90 volts. A quart of kerosene would power the radio for a dozen hours or more.
The Russian kerosene radio receiver contains 7 tubes with four switchable bands running from the European longwave band, 175 kHz up to 12.3 MHz shortwave. The powerful 5 inch loudspeaker, with push-pull audio, can tune distant radio stations (longwave, mediumwave and shortwave) at a good room filling volume.
The radio receiver is housed in an attractive commercially-made table-model cabinet, and it features two pairs of concentric rotatable knobs. The two concentric knobs on the left are for tone and volume, and the two concentric knobs on the right are for tuning and band switching. A separate vibrator with power cables and a voltmeter are attached externally to the console receiver.
This radio could also be run with suitable size batteries, and also from local electricity if available. There was also a headphone jack, thus enabling private listening. This radio receiver weighed 20 pounds, and it was sold at a subsidized price for approximately $45.
The unique kerosene radio captured the interest of people in the United States. The August 1958 issue of Radio & TV News featured a full page story of the Russian kerosene radio, together with three large photos of the receiver and its associated equipment.
Radio authorities in the United States also showed an interest in this unique radio receiver. One particular radio company in Baltimore, Maryland procured one of these Russian made kerosene radios and studied it for its possible wider usage.
The Russian made kerosene radio was not the first in using high heat to power a radio receiver. Similar experiments were conducted in England in the middle of last century, but they were abandoned as being too clumsy and too unreliable.
In commenting upon this information the also equally well known Horacio A. Nigro in Uruguay stated that the Russian made kerosene radios were imported into some areas in South America during the 1950s. Then in the 196's, a small quantity were assembled in Uruguay itself. However, as he concludes, they are today no more than an unusual curiosity.
(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 593)
(photo/Pinterest)