So, do we still want to do a radio with our research credit? I did a little bit of research, and we're actually right on time for the first forays into vacuum-tube-radios.
VTR-12 "Ceramah" Radio: The scientific community in Salvios has been going nuts. They are scrambling over themselves to get government contracts to develop technology for military applications. This is probably due to the fact that doing so gets them access to classified materials such as Gavrilium, Caelium, and Myomer. That the army pays even better than Merchant Lords for useful inventions doesn't hurt either.
Anyway, we've been approached by a team from Dawai Labs, who have presented a device called a 'vacuum tube'. Whilst these devices have been around for many years, they have been naught but scientific curios, only useful for obscure experiments in theoretical physics. But just this year, there has been a breakthrough which could very well change the world. A vacuum tube containing three electrodes has been found to act as an "amplifier"- which, to cut a long story short, makes it possible to create effective radio transmitters and receivers of a scale previously unheard of.
The potential utility of an effective radio is not lost on us, and so we have decided to not only bring Dawai Labs on board, but also dedicate our additional funding to the project to ensure the end result is the best possible piece of kit we can create.
The Ceramah comes in three varieties; receiver-only, broadcast-only, and broadcast/receiver. Their size ascends in order. The receiver-only kit consists of two (20?)kg boxes and a 2m antenna, and can be transported by infantry, with a hand-cranked generator to recharge the batteries. The broadcast-only is slightly larger, and has a small Gavrilium generator included to provide enough power to give a decent range of a few kilometers- suitable for installation in small-ish vehicles. The broadcast/receiver unit is quite large, and would only fit on a large vehicle, but has a very respectable range, making it perfect for installation in command posts.
Something like that would probably be feasible. Though like I said, I only did a little bit of research, so if anyone knows more about WWI-era radio and wants to suggests changes, feel free.