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Here's a beautiful, working 1923 Atwater Kent 3945 breadboard radio, better known as the Model 2. This is a home-wired set that came from the collection of the late John Wolkonowicz, who had a large and extraordinary collection of Atwater Kent breadboards and who -- with Ralph Williams and Don Patterson -- wrote what has come to be known as the Atwater Kent bible -- A. Atwater Kent: The Man, The Manufacturer And His Radios.
Built with original Atwater Kent components (a Coupled Circuit tuner on far the left, a Mounted Variometer in the center, and a Detector/2-Stage Amplifier island on the right), the radio includes a good 200A detector tube and two good 01A amplifier tubes. They're the tubes you see in the photographs, and the tubes you see and hear in the video I've posted above.
As was the case with the Model 1 breadboard that I listed a few weeks ago, the Variometer on this Model 2 breadboard is unmounted, which is just how the radio was sold when new in 1923 (see the period AK brochure photos posted above; note, the brochure is not included). If you'd like to permanently install the Variometer on the board, I'll include the screws and sheathed wire necessary to do so. The radio does not require the Variometer to work, however. The Variometer is required only if you wish to add regeneration to the circuit.
In the video posted above, the Variometer is positioned on the board, but it is not wired into the circuit. As you can see and hear, it plays loud and clear regardless.
Condition of the radio is excellent.
Clean, glossy bakelite everywhere, with no chips, no cracks, no haziness, no issues. The engraved numbers and hash marks on the dial of the Coupled Circuit Tuner and Mounted Variometer are still crisp and clear, and there is no damage to the fragile backing plates. The wire on the tuners is still tightly wound.
Board finish is smooth, the paint on the TA island is clean, and the potting tar inside the island is original. Both of the original AF transformers are good.
Brass fittings and binding post assemblies are correct and original, with minimal tarnish.
If you want to operate the set, you'll need a longwire outdoor antenna (ham radio type -- approximately 120 feet long and 20 feet off the ground) and a good regulated DC power supply.
I'm one of 's best known, most highly regarded sellers of antique radios, and I specialize in radio and radio-related items from the 1920's, with a focus on Atwater Kent breadboards. I've been selling and shipping them for more than 25 years. Regardless of what you purchase from me, you can rest assured that your purchase will arrive safely because it's been carefully packed (by me, not by some well-intentioned but nonetheless confounded, doe-eyed teenager working at the UPS store who wouldn't know a radio from a rocket ship), Sure, you can probably get a lower price from Joe and Janet Barn-Find, but when your "bargain" arrives broken, and without any hint of how you might be able to put it back together, you'll realize that you really do get exactly what you pay for.
