Red Star Radio Ltd.
Aston Rd., Birmingham;

The company was founded in August 1930 with an intensive publicity campaign on two low-priced radio receivers with novel technical features of variable screening, variable aerial coupling, and alternative detection methods.

Advertising stated: “RED STAR" Radio Receivers, the greatest money-making proposition in the history of Radio!
"RED STAR" will show you the way to better business and bigger profits for the coming season.

 "RED STAR'S" SIX SCINTILLATING POINTS

1. Entirely British and available at prices that enable everyone to possess a modern radio Receiver.
2. Perfect performance in all districts is obtained with vario-screening, dual detection, and twin-tap coupling.
3. Supplied with clear illustrated instructions which makes the sets simple to use and trouble-free.
4. Built with patented components of the highest quality, including patent drum-drive Condensers.
5. Single control for all wavelengths.
6. Compact and handsome cabinet with space for batteries.[1]

Managing Director A. W. Macnamara believed the greatest proportion of the current market for radio receivers lies among working-class people who can only be reached by a very keen price appeal. He believed that the wane in popularity of the crystal set and the ordinary forms of home construction left a very extensive field for a radio instrument that would provide, at the price of the ordinary home-built set, those qualities of appearance and performance which only the skilled design and factory production could achieve.
He proposed distribution through the wholesale trade and set up a fleet of sixteen commercial vans to distribute the receivers throughout the country from the factory in Aston Road.

Macnamara came from the Telsen Electric Co., Ltd., and Telsen components were used exclusively used in the construction of the "Red Star" sets.

The company was only short-lived and by the end of 1931 advertising had ceased and Macnamara was back working for Telsen.

Marketing advert from Wireless &  Gramophone Trader Aug 23, 1930.

Red Star Radio

The History Of One Of The Most Interesting Developments Of The New Season.

If as we believe must the case the number of people who have made direct enquiries to us is any indication of the interest and curiosity aroused in the trade by the advance "mystery" publicity featuring the name "Red Star," then the new company now coming into the market can look forward to a very successful first season. The principle of "nameless" preliminary advertising is, of course, well known, and it has at various times been used by many of our greatest national advertisers. It has not often, however, been exploited in the radio industry in fact, we can recall only one previous occasion when the method was used on anything like the same scale as the recent "Red Star" effort.

We ourselves have known of the "Red Star" plans for a considerable time since early in the year, in fact, and have watched their development to the point of fruition with very great interest. It is for the trade now to judge the value to them of the merchandise, and the marketing schemes behind it, which these months of planning have produced.

The Basic Idea.

Broadly speaking, "Red Star" radio, as it is now offered to the trade, is the result of an idea namely, that by far the greatest proportion of the existing market for radio receivers lies among working-class people who can only be reached by a very keen price appeal. It was believed that the wane in popularity of the crystal set and the ordinary forms of home construction left a very extensive field for a radio instrument that would provide, at the price of the ordinary home-built set, those qualities of appearance and performance which only skilled design and factory production can confer. This, of course, is not a new conception, but we believe we are justified in saying that Red Star Radio, Ltd., is tackling the problem on a scale that has hitherto not been attempted in the radio industry. Many months have been devoted to translating into commercial form the project which we have outlined. Obviously, the only means of achieving this end lay in developing a suitable design and putting down a plant capable of real mass production, which would enable costs to be reduced to a minimum, so that the completed job could be offered to the public at a figure within the reach of almost anyone.

Actually, two complete receivers are comprised in the first season's production one a 2-valve and the other a 3-valve model the retail prices being respectively £3 3s. and £4 4s. each, exclusive, of course, of valves, batteries, and speaker. Before dealing with the sets themselves, which have several points of particular interest apart from their price, we may outline some of the special marketing plans that have been developed in connection with them.
Firstly, in company with the trade appeal, there is to be an unusually intensive public campaign, starting with a full announcement on the front page of the Daily Mail next Friday, August 29th. This will be followed up by many more large space appeals in the national weekly and daily press, and very considerable sums of money are to be spent in the opening weeks of the Autumn season to arouse public interest in "Red Star" sets.

Now for the sets themselves. They are, as has been said, 2- and 3-valve models, and they have the essential points of construction in common so it is unnecessary to deal with them separately. Both employ simple circuits with no, HF stage and transformer coupling is used throughout, the 2 -valve model incorporating the Telsen 7:1 ratio transformer. Both sets embody drum-drive condensers, and all controls are centralised on the front panel.

Screening is employed in both receivers, and this is applied in an entirely novel manner. Both sets include space for batteries, and the wooden baseboard above this space, on which the components are mounted, carries a metal screen underneath. Similarly, the polished wooden front panel is backed by metal, and the two sides of the cabinet are made of pressed metal. This leaves only the back and top to be enclosed, and a single piece of right-angled metal is supplied for this purpose. This slides into place over the components in specially provided grooves, and it can be quickly and easily removed as the user desires.

The sets thus have a certain amount of screening permanently embodied, while the main screen can be employed or discarded by the purchaser according to the district in which the set is used. For example, those within close range of the twin high-power transmitters at Brookman's Park can use the complete screening to improve the selectivity by reducing direct pick-up, while those who live at a distance can simply slide out the detachable screening and thus gain in sensitivity.

With exactly the same end in view, two further simple adjustments are provided, these being the provision of "dual detection" and "twin-trap" coupling. In the former case, a quick changeover can be effected from grid-leak to anode-bend detection, the first mentioned, of course, giving greater range and the latter better selectivity. A variation of the degree of aerial coupling can also be made in the same easy way.[2]

[1] Wireless &  Gramophone Trader Aug 23, 1930, Page 2.
[2] Wireless &  Gramophone Trader Aug 23, 1930, Pages 187 – 188.