Magnavox AM/SW Tuner

I was fascinated with radio from an early age, probably within minutes of being able to stand and reach the controls of my parents' Magnavox console. This console had a tuner that came equipped with lots of buttons and controls, plus a magic eye tube. While my parents used it mostly for listening to 78 rpm records, I loved radio, especially shortwave and long-distance night time AM.

Unfortunately, I don't know exactly which model tuner we had. Magnavox made a myriad of CR-1xx and CR-2xx series AM/SW tuners in the pre- and post-WWII years, plus the military RCU-2 variants. Our tuner had the medium wave AM broadcast, 1.8 - 6 MHz Tropical/Police, and 6 - 18 MHz shortwave bands, plus at least 8 "preset" trimmer-tuned buttons that worked on the broadcast band without moving the tuning dial. The station labels were decals on the buttons, not above them. The following pictures show representative Magnavox tuners from that era, none of which exactly match my memories but come close.

8 pushbuttons but only 2 bands

8 pushbuttons but only 2 bands

RCU-2 - 3 bands but no pushbuttons

CR-154 - Only 6 pushbuttons and 3 bands

Rich Post has a great page describing a similar vintage Magnavox 342K with AM, SW, and the post-war FM band.

If you know the model with 3 bands, centered tuning eye, and at least 8 pushbuttons, please let me know.