Utility Radio

This meant it was very difficult for the average citizen to get a radio repaired, and with very few new sets available, there was a desperate need to overcome the problem.

[4] The government solved this by arranging for over forty radio manufacturers to produce sets to a standard design with as few components as possible consistent with the ability to source them.

By contrast, the Utility Set was the only consumer radio receiver available for purchase on the British market for much of the latter part of the war.

[6] Starting in June 1942, manufacture of consumer radio receivers in the United States also ceased due to military production needs.

A "Westector" solid-state copper oxide diode was used for demodulation, which saved one valve and allowed use of an available type of pentode for the audio stage.

There were minor variations between set makers; for instance Philips used IF transformers with adjustable ferrite cores (so-called slug tuning) rather than the conventional trimmer capacitors.