Emereson issued the basic model 888 coat pocket sized radio in seven different models, all with space age themes, and a wide range of colors. Each radio was named after a satellite or rocket from the early space program. The three shown here are a 1958 Pioneer, 1958 Explorer, and a 1959 Vanguard. Other variants include the Atlas, which closely resembles the three shown here, the rare Satellite, which came in a leather covering, and the Titan and Galaxy, with a different style case. Although the chassis in all are similar, they have different chassis numbers and circuit variations. The radios are about 8" high and have very good sound, thanks to their comparatively huge speaker (see chassis photo below).

The black radio at right is a 1959 Emerson 888 Vanguard transistor radio I found at an antique store. I was surprised when I turned the volume control on and the radio, which was tuned to a local station, jumped alive with good volume and very clear and clean sound. This radio was named in honor of the Vanguard missile that launched America's first space satellite into orbit.

When I got it home and removed the back, I found that at some time in the past, the batteries had leaked. A previous owner had removed the damaged original four AA battery holder, and installed a snap cap for a 9 volt battery. While a six volt chassis will work with a nine volt battery, I think the extra 3 volts is probably not that good for some components, and I wanted to get it back as much as possible to its original configuration. I purchased a four AA battery holder from Mouser with the correct configuration.

I had to grind away a portion of the two support gussets inside the battery compartment for the new holder to fit properly. It now has the correct batteries and voltage it was designed for. I did not remove the chassis from this radio, so I don't know if any of the capacitors have been replaced. It is possible that it has been recapped given the excellent performance. This radio is not hand wired, but has a PC board, which was pretty common by 1959.

The red radio, above left, is a 1958 Emerson 888 Pioneer. As Emerson claimed in their advertising that the Pioneer 888 was the world's first eight transistor radio, it would have pre-dated the Zenith 500RD or 500D.

Like the Vanguard, I needed to install a new battery holder for four AA's. Although it played well, it was not as senstive as the Vanguard and the volume is weaker, a sign it probably needs new capacitors. I replaced three of the five electrolytic capacitors, leaving the large can with two 50uF caps alone as it tested good with low ESR (see chassis photo, left). The radio now plays much better with stronger volume.

The white Explorer has a somewhat different chassis (photo, right). It appears to be an OTL (output transformer less) chassis. As can be seen in the chassis photos, the Pioneer has two transformers, a driver and output transformer, while the Explorer only has a driver. This was a common cost-saving device employed in a number of transistor radios. The Explorer chassis, like the Pioneer, was completely recapped.


This is the only radio of the three that arrived with the original battery holders intact. Emerson's battery holder for the 888 radios was a poor design and most did not survive. The upper contact on the Explorer was missing as it had been eaten away by corrosion. I made a new one using pop rivets for the battery contacts.

The Explorer case was almost like new, except for an unfortuante crack down the left side. This probably happened when someone tried to remove the chassis. There is a retaining screw in the upper left hand corner which is obscured by the ferrite antenna, and is easily missed if you don't know it is there. I glued the crack with super glue, and after the glue dried, I reinforced the mend with J-B Weld from the inside. When that cured, I gave it a coat of white paint.

Although the crack is still visible, I didn't want to do any further repair that might require repainting the radio or make it look even worse. These are heavy, rugged, well-built radios. All three are nice looking radios. The Emerson 888's would have competed with the eight transistor Zenith 500 series radios.