Sixty years ago, the April, May, and June 1961 issues of the British journal Practical Wireless contained the blueprints and construction details for this ambitious project, dubbed the “Roadfarer.” The set was a completely self-contained portable that would tune the longwave, mediumwave, and FM broadcast bands. It would operate on batteries, but also included an AC power supply to give greater economy when close to the mains.

The magazine promised that the set would be found simple to build, thanks in large part to the use of printed circuit boards. A total of three boards were used, for the AM tuner, FM tuner, and audio amplifier.

The magazine announced prizes for the best constructional work carried out by readers. A panel of judges had been assembled from representatives of the firms whose parts were used in the receiver. Some of those firms kitted all of the parts needed to construct the set, and those were found in subsequent issues of the magazine.

Despite the announcement of the prizes, I wasn’t able to find any listing of winners in subsequent issues of the magazine.