1936 Rogers Majestic "The 11-13" 13-Tube Console Radio 6R1331
Here's the sister "The 11-13" with chassis 6R1331 of "Queen Mary" made by Rogers Majestic in 1936
In a Nutshell
Dial Split in 720 parts, 2x6F6 Push-Pull 20W Audio, 13 Tubes, Huge 15" Magnavox Field Coil Speaker, you want more?
- And you get more - since I got a second Queen Mary waiting for restoration
Introduction:
Some time ago I had restored a "Queen Mary" 13-tube console radio (ref.1), built as 1936 top-of-the-line flagship by Rogers Majestic in Toronto. Since then I was able to find the radio's shy sister, Rogers' "The 11-13", that is presented here for the first time. And I also bought another "Queen Mary" that is now waiting to be restored too. Chassis numbers of the Rogers 11-13 and Majestic Queen Mary are 6R1331 and 6M1331, respectively, the leading "6" standing for 1936, and the "13" for 13 tubes. Very often also DeForest Crosley had built radios with the same chassis, which would have been a 6D1331. Instead we find a 6D1231 chassis in DeForest Crosley 1936 consoles "Jupiter" and "Grand Star", that has the two type 80 rectifier tubes substituted by one 5Z3, but otherwise is the same. Their cabinets, however look very different.
The 11-13 and Queen Mary definitely excel in their technical specifications:
• extra 6K7 RF amplifier, like in RCA's Magic Brain
• powerful 20W transformer-coupled push-pull amplifier with two 6F6 tubes
• large 15" Magnavox (model 5412) field coil speaker with exponential membrane
• variable bandwidth IF amplifier as part of tone control
• switchable and variable inter-station noise suppressor
• powerful power supply with two type 80 rectifiers
• extremely spread-apart vernier dial
• beam-of-light short-wave loupe with 1 mark equalling 1/720th part of full scale
• 24V bulb tuning help, dimming on station
The differences between the two radios are:
Rogers 11-13 (6R1331)
Majestic Queen Mary (6M1331)
• larger and "romanesque" cabinet by George McLagan, Stratford, ON
• colored back-lit 3-band rolling pin dial
• two 24V bulb tuning helpers left and right of dial
• curved glass lens over dial
• pull-out Rogers scroll on Hartshorn spring shade roller
• leaner and more "gothic" cabinet by Daniel Knechtel, Hanover, ON
• static back-lit 3-band tri-sected slide-rule dial
• one 24V bulb tuning helper in center of dial
• flat plastic lens over dial (frosted and replaced by glass)
• no scroll
The RF front-end looks very similar to RCA's "Magic Brain" from 1934. "Magic Eye" came one year later, but other tuning helpers were still en vogue. Variable filter bandwidth and noise suppression are quite unique for these high tube-count Rogers Majestic consoles, whereas the transformer coupled twin 6F6 push-pull audio stage has been also used in some other sets with less tubes. The field coil speaker bears a date code of the 18th week of 1936, and features an incredible 1½" voice coil and an early exponential cone cross section, enhancing treble in such a big 15" cone. The colorful rolling pin dial of the 11-13, gives a glimpse of what is going to come in 1937 -38, with those colorful reverse painted glass dials (refs.4-6). Finally, the "Rogers Radio Logging Scroll" is something I have not seen in any other radio before: it can be pulled out from the cabinet through a slit above the dial and lists US, Mexican and Canadian broadcast stations as well as short-wave stations around the world together with their frequencies and call letters. The scroll is pulled back by a spring shade roller patented in 1864 by Stewart Hartshorn, the founder of the planned community Short Hills in N.J., USA. Both of my radios are now in the inventory of world's largest virtual radio museum (ref.s 2,3)
About my radio:
The radio has not been refinished, only having had a few unoffending scratches. It retains all four of its original wooden knobs. The speaker cloth is new, with a slightly larger diamond pattern than the original. A closed circuit phone plug has been installed allowing to also connect other devices like CD- and mp3 players. It exhibits 7 of the original 11 sprayshield tubes, including three rare and expensive 6F7M tubes. The two rectifier type 80 tubes are Rogers too, and the two push-pull 6F6M have been substituted by a high gain and matched pair of General Electric 6F6G. The original Rogers Radio Logging Scroll had two burn marks (pict.s 35-40). They have been completely restored with the help of ref.7. It scrolls as Harthorn intended it to do.
I treated all moving parts with contact spray, removed the bias cell after an unsucessful try to rejuvenate it, and equipped the corresponding tube with a cathode resistor (700 Ohm, pict.s 25, 45). The radio plays loud and clear on AM/BC and receives SW stations (watch youtube video by clicking on pict.47, or going to ref.8). Please understand that here in Chilliwack (in the "valley") we have next to no AM stations left. Please e-mail
me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français. Please note that you have the option to buy the sister Queen Mary, which will be restored next.
For the techies only:
Some historical remarks and technical details for tubes and bias cells, are under techies for the Rogers console 7M931 (ref.4), that is sold. A word about the beam-of light tuning loupe of this radio (pict.20): A loupe is mainly used to find stations on the densily populated short-wave bands. 72 transparent film marks are distributed on a half circle fixed on the shaft of the main tuning capacitor. A bulb projects and magnifies part of this film onto a matt screen with 20 scale divisions, such that the light spot advances by one division, when the tuning capacitor is rotated by 1/4 degree. 12 revolutions of the coarse tuning knob, or 72 revolutions of the fine tuning knob are necessary to rotate the tuning capacitor over its full range of 180 degrees, so effectively splitting this range into 720 divisions. This is comparable with the red "split second re-locator" of Zenith's famous black dial radios, where one second corresponds to 1/6 degree rotation of the tuning capacitor. These techies update also the ones of ref. 1.
Here are the specifications:
Technical Description of Item
Manufacturer
Rogers Majestic Corp. Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Model
11-13, chassis 6R1331
Type
13-tube MW, Police, SW Superheterodyne console radio receiver
Production Year
1936
Serial Number
chassis 4587
Cabinet
multi-tone wood
Dial
Reverse painted colored plastic rolling pin dial illuminated with 2 bulbs
Knobs
4 original wooden knobs, one of which push-pull
Speaker
15" field coil speaker and push-pull audio transformer
