Johns Ltd, in the early 20s, sold radio kitsets, imported Hammmarland parts , and made up radios from kitsets for people who didn't wish to do it themselves. By 1928 they had radios of their own design. That year they established a separate factory, Wellmade Ltd.

In 1929 their Ace models were using Westinghouse metal (copper oxide) HT rectifiers, instead of valve rectifiers.  They even set up their own radio station in 1930. It was 1933 before the name Companion came into being.

This is a 1937 5 valve broadcast model. Instead of having an actual dial pointer, there are two bulbs mounted on the back of a moving disk. The light shines through narrow slits on the disk, to represent the pointer. There are also two other bulbs that light up the dial. The system works very well,  but when it is turned off, it's virtually just a black glass plate! It shows up reasonably well in the photo due to the flash.

At the moment, there is some sound from the speaker, but no actual radio. Something in the front end, I guess! One day we shall have a look and see.

Now it is working well. A couple of light bulbs, 2 capacitors and a trim, plus aerial wire, and a bit of a clean up. The dial looks fantabulous when lit up, especially at night!  Some very knowledgeable radio friends have seen this, and they've not seen anything like it before.

Click on pictures below for large versions.

This has a 5 valve broadcast chassis. It is supposed to have an 8 inch speaker, but that is missing. However, it does go, but still needs some work.  The cabinet has quite a lot of borer in it, unfortunately. This shape is generally known as a Bullet.

1936    59KB	Late 1940s?    127KB

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