# In this old-timey transistor radio, what are the small numbers next to the six and the eleven on the dial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662 "2026-02-14T16:15:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662/21 "2026-02-15T17:38:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Back when US stations switched over to digital, the Federal government had a program which supplied free converters to people who had older TVs. At the time I was working at a nursing home, and all of the residents had these old-timey TVs. There was a complication that there could only be x converters per address, and 2021 Saint James Road in Springfield, IL, had about 80 residents, not x. I don’t know how we got around this, but we did. It was at this time that I suggested just getting cable for the residents. I called our cable provider, asked about bulk rates, got a figure of (IIRC) $31 and change for a basic package (in 2006 dollars). Well apparently this was a Very Bad Idea. So inept and resistant to change were the managers of the nursing home, and the guardians of the residents who had guardians, that you’d have thought I suggested installing stripper poles in each room. Eventually we got a decent percentage of the residents hooked up with cable, but it was far too complicated than it needed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662/22 "2026-02-15T18:08:37Z")
As soon as I saw the picture the word CONELRAD popped into my head. I haven’t seen or heard or thought of the word in many decades. Yet I can walk into a room intending to write down two things that I need to remember but only one will be in my head when I pick up a pen. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662/23 "2026-02-15T18:09:20Z")
OK, what’s the smaller 5 next to the bigger 5 about? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662/24 "2026-02-15T18:16:35Z")
That means 5.5. The actual bottom of the AM frequency band is 540Khz. If you look at the numbers in the clear picture in post #4, the numbers are 5.5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, and 16. As you move upwards the numbers are farther apart in value, but not physically farther apart on the dial. With the exception of 16 at the top. You’d expect a 17 there. So why 16? Because 1600 KHz was the top of the AM band. There’s no point in making the mechanical tuner move outside the 540-1600 range. So they labeled the two ends appropriately and put a few other intermediate values in the middle. The nature of how the circuitry worked mean that the change in frequency was larger per unit of motion at the high end than the low. So the numbers got farther apart in value as you worked up the dial. The whole design of tuner faces was non-linear sorta _ad hoc_ adaptation to the deeper realities of the tech of the day. Nowadays such messy details can be hidden under layers of hardware and software so the UI can be straightforward and consistent-seeming even if the actual implementation is not. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662/25 "2026-02-15T19:15:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Tube era TVs (say pre-1970) are 10-15x as complex as tube-era radios. Except [Muntz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_Muntz#Muntz_TV). > Muntz developed a television chassis that produced an acceptable [monochrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monochrome) picture with 17 tubes. He often carried a pair of wire clippers, and when he thought that one of his employees was “[overengineering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overengineering)” a circuit, he would begin snipping components out until the picture or sound stopped working. At that point, he would tell the engineer “Well, I guess you have to put that last part back in” and walk away.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_Muntz#cite_note-pease-14) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662/26 "2026-02-15T20:52:30Z")
Another reason the old TVs aren’t popular is because they don’t have the ports needed for gaming systems, satellite hookups, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-this-old-timey-transistor-radio-what-are-the-small-numbers-next-to-the-six-and-the-eleven-on-the-dial/1027662.md?page=1)