A.R.C. -- THE NATIONAL PUBLICATION FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS
OF OLD RADIOS AND RELATED ITEMS -- PUBLISHED MONTHLY

BOOK REVIEW:

The Locator
By G. Larsen

REVIEWED BY RICHARD C. FOSTER

From Antique Radio Classified
(Copyright 1998 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

Another good reference is G. Larsen's The Locator, which covers 2- through 8-tube AC and AC/DC sets in Rider's I-XXlll, with a supplement for Volume I at the end. This 8 ¹/2" x 11" volume proceeds some-what in the manner of the old tube socket guide with vertical tables that make you turn the book sideways. The tables are arranged in the following order: output tube, rectifier, RF, mixer, IF, 2nd detector, etc., except for TRFs.

The pages are grouped by number of tubes so that if you have a 5-tube set, you go quickly to the "5" section and scan that. You don't have to go through all the numbers in Mallory, which can be a real chore in the case of an Emerson or Wells-Gardner, even if you find delightful surprises along the way.

The Locator provides the manufacturer, the Rider's reference, the filter capacitors, and the power used, as well as the story on ballast tubes and line-cord resistors. One omission is the model number, which you then have to look up in Rider's. Unlike any of the other books I have, this one goes all the way to 1954, since it covers Volume XXIII of Rider's. It is a boon for collectors because so many have sets of Rider manuals.

The Locator seems to assume that you have the chassis in front of you. Therefore, its perusal value for an evening's entertainment is less than that of other books, but as a tool, it is most useful. As a reference it is right up there with Mallory, except that it goes only to 8-tube sets and doesn't give the model numbers. It must cover 80 or more percent of radios, but skips Philco 90s, Scott radios, or monsters by Emerson, Midwest, Ward's, etc. Restricted to sets in Rider's, it skips the additional sets not in Rider's that appear in Gernsback and Mallory. We don't see those sets very often anyway, and as far as my experience goes, 99 percent of those have 4 or 5 tubes.

Surely someday someone will scan all this stuff into a computer and we'll all have virtual reality helmets with all the known references in the solar system. For now, books like The Locator and Radio Diagram Sourcebook are a great supplement to your reference library.

The Locator is available at $14.95, including shipping, from the author, G. Larsen, 7841 W. Elmgrove Dr., Elmwood Park, IL 60707.

(Richard C. Foster, 12 Shawmut Ave., Cochituate, MA 01778)