TV Signal Booster
Anchor 101-100

The model 101-100 "Granger" was the top of the line Anchor TV booster. Introduced in late 1949, it is a "two stage" booster -- essentially two of the 101-75 circuits in series. The two cascaded 6AK5s gave considerable extra gain at a decent noise figure. Anchor advertising literature touts its gain and popularity, and even provides gain versus frequency curves, unique to the industry. The 'dashboard' styling is a little smoother and more rounded than the 101-75, but the operation of the control knob and twin channel dials is the same.

Internally, the layout is rather crowded to handle the extra vacuum tube and tuning coils. A massive 4-section slide switch spans the entire chassis, with various parts connected by levers and cams. Anchor service data states,

Through the use of this ingenious switching mechanism, lead lengths and circuit wiring are kept constant as the tube sockets and circuit components themselves move in and out with the slugs in the coil forms.
Getting the eight tuning coils and trimmer capacitors to track over the wide frequency range must have been a time-consuming process, but since the 101-100 had gain to burn, perhaps it wasn't too important! Despite its relatively high selling price -- $49.50 -- it was evidently a popular unit, since 101-100s show up fairly often 60+ years later.

Updated March 12, 2018