New Acquisitions

A local auction purchase

Eddystone 358X Receiver

 

 I had a query email last week (end of Jan 2024) from a chap who'd seen my website asking if I could identify his receiver. I told him it was an Eddystone 358X but without its plug-in coils it wasn't worth much and therefore it was a strange coincidence that on looking at our local on-line auction I spotted the above Eddystone complete with all its coils. It cost me £60 but but as it was my first go at an on-line auction I'd made a trial bid on an earlier item. More than 60 "Train Books"; so I guess the 358X now owes me an extra £20, although I reckon the books could be worth more than I paid (the paperback version of one hardback is selling on Amazon for £397.99 !).

Click the picture to see more

 

 

Another rather distressed Type 88 Receiver (R1475)

This one in a large box was kindly bid for on my behalf and delivered by Alf, G3WSD. "Distressed", because it had been dismantled.

click to see all the bits

 I had intended to use this one for parts but it looks to be better than my first example below, so I may use it as a guide to make missing parts for the latter and hopefully I'll end up with two in fair condition.

 A rather distressed Type 88 Receiver (R1475)

Click to see more of this receiver

 

 Not only missing a guard receiver but also missing the associated controls as well as the metal protective bits.

 

 

 

 

 

 McMichael Model 364

 

 This old radio arrived here with a number of other items but got overlooked at the back of the museum. The design dates to 1936 and is typical of sets made around this time, when lots of virtually identical radios in terms of performance vied for attractiveness in the eye of the public. This example uses octagons to catch the eye. No shortwaves, just medium and long waves but it would have provided excellent service with its valve line-up.

These were AC/VP1, AC/TP, AC/VP1, V914, AC2/PEN and either a UU3 or UU4 depending on its date of manufacture. It uses an RF stage, mixer, IF amplifier running at 128.5KHz, audio amplifier and output valve.
 

 Although the cabinet looks pretty tatty and the chassis looks to be loose in the case it looks eminently restorable.

Looking at the picture on the right it appears to have had an escutcheon, but other pictures of this model show no such thing so either this falls off easily and all the pictures show restored sets minus the escutcheon, I don't know.

Fortunately all the knobs are present as their design, like those used by many other set makers, are unique.

I plan to take a few more pictures of the radio showing the interior views once the weather warms up (it's currently mid March 2023) and I can work comfortably in my workshop.

 
 

 Rohde & Schwarz SMS

 

 This is a signal generator from 1980 and has the maker's code SMS 302.4012.26 and as you can see covers 100KHz to 1040MHz

Advertised at £290 for repair I offered £95 and this was accepted (much to my surprise as this price included the postage)

Unlike many of my bargain buys, looking only fit for a skip, this example looks to be in excellent shape and hopefully only requires a handful of capacitors. It's due here in a few days so we'll see what attention it needs then.

It arrived three days early so I started to take it apart...
 
 
 

 WS19 Variometer (Sept 2022)

 

 This cylindrical object was used in tanks for matching a whip aerial to the WS19 aerial terminal. By rotating the black knob one could optimise the RF output of the set and improve reception.
 

 As you can see this example dates from 1962 and if you look carefully the right hand end which was designed to mate with the base of a whip aerial has been fitted with a PL259 connector. The drawing below shows how it was connected to an installation,
 

 

 

 
 

 

 Left, what the mechanism inside the case looks like and above the circuit diagram. Note the Westector rectifier (W1A) which is the "missing part" needed to produce a deflection on the WS19 meter.

 See a selection of WS19 equipments starting with the version loaned to Russia in WW2.

 

 Pye Radio

 

 This fine old Pye radio, dating from 1930, was kindly donated to the Radio Museum by Mortimer Rhind-Tutt, G4BSK, who came over with his XYL Janet, from Bridgwater to deliver it. The label on the back (below) proclaims its rather elevated status.

The model is the AC4D Twin Triple (= twin HF tetrodes.. state-of-art in 1930 with a 3-gang tuning condenser .. clearly a meaningful thing back then), which claims to be "transportable" but, because it's a mains set and weighing in at 41.4 pounds (or over 18kgm), the term puzzles me slightly. Admittedly it has a pair of handles built into the woodwork, but moving it around nowadays would require a health and safety label demanding a "two-woman" lift because the legal defintion of a maximum weight lift per person is set at 16kgm for a woman but 25kgm for a man. Obviously mankind has become weaker over the last 92 years

 

Click it to see more

Click to see another radio supplied by Harrods
 

 Hewlett Packard HP8640A

 

 Due to be delivered in a couple of days is this example of the 8640 signal generator. It looks infinitely better than the very distressed 8640B barn find I worked on a few years back and as you can see above the mains lamp is litand the RF lewvel looks to be nominal. Said to include Option 2 (extended frequency coverage to over 1GHz) it is better in that respect to my refurbished 8640B below.

Read more about this acquisition

 
   

 Saba Meersburg Automatic 6-D

 

  Tim Norman from Ampthill very kindly dropped off this rather fine radio which he'd found in his loft. From the label it's certainly a German import.. maybe brought back to the UK in the late 1950s or early 1960s by a National Service conscript? I hadn't realised it had a motor tuning feature which must have made it an expensive proposition. Our Murphy family radio from the late 1930s had an auto-tune feature but it wasn't fitted in our example.

click the radio above to see its circuit diagram

 

 

 

 
 

 Canadian 52 Set ZE12 Power Supply

 

 

 Purchased March 2022, this is the matching power supply for my 52 Set

 

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 CJD ELF/VLF Receiver

 

 

 I was doubtful when buying this receiver because it didn't look complete. The main clue being a multi-way connector sticking out the back and an apparent absence of valves. There was also its weight. Designed primarily for use in a submarine no expense was spared in exchange for ballast so it tips the scaeles at 97 pounds (44Kgm for our metric friends).

I can see it's going to be a challenge but, having been involved years ago in the design of electronic things supporting the cold war, I feel sort of attached to it. (click and see if this means anything to you)

 To read more about this receiver click its picture.

 R1355

 

 I bought this because it looks reasonably complete (except missing the outer case and painted in an odd blue and yellow colours).

When these receivers came onto the government surplus market in the 1950s they were advertised as being admirably suited for modification to serve as IF amplifiers for home brew TV sets. They are rarely seen in an unmodified state. This example has a mains power supply and strangely, a new set of components.

The chassis is fitted with an RF24 marked with numbers 1-5 which could relate to Band I Channels 1 to 5 except the RF unit tuned to lower frequencies as shown below. For TV use an RF25 would be better but I can see through ventilation holes the RF24 has also been fitted with new components.. so has it also been modified for Band I reception?

What confuses me though.. the components are really new.. too new for Band I TV.. so what's its purpose?

 Channel

Vision MHz

Sound MHz

 RF24 MHz

1

45.00

 41.50

 22.0

2

51.75

 48.25

 22.9

3

56.75

53.25

 25.3

4

61.75

58.25

 27.3

5

66.75

63.25

 29.7

 

Click the picture to read more

 Mystery RAF Radio

 

  I couldn't resist buying this WW2-vintage receiver as I've never seen one before. It turned out to be quite interesting as it's actually a Bendix MN26-C Radio Compass. From what little information I've found these cover 100KHz to 1500KHz in three wavebands so would make a very good domestic radio, which is how the government surplus market handled them. This example has been modified for use as a domestic radio, rather than the alternative advertised use as a car radio, but still maintaining its remote tuning gearbox but with lots of extra knobs and switches dating from the same era as the set. On the top of the case it carries an RAF crown and what looks like the code 10D/401**.

When I have time, I'll open it up and see why it's so incredibly heavy. Originally it was packed full of IO based valves and a dynamotor for 28 volts DC. That dial carries only 0-100 and could do with a good clean.

Click the radio to see more
 

**Below, the only external markings, slightly indistict which Alf, G3WSD has decoded as "110D/401".

See three pages of 1949 Government surplus store offerings (but don't forget £10 was a decent weekly wage!).

 

 

 

 

Teac AG-D200

 
 

 Not an ancient collectable radio, but a replacement for my ageing Teac Receiver/Amplifier which has started to give me a headache. Things started to go wrong when electrolytic capacitors in its low voltage power supply circuits began to fail. Then dry joints started to make their presence felt, and then something inside started to get very hot causing it to cut out. Hours with a soldering iron, then the addition of a computer fan running from the amplifier's internal 12 volt supply (via a resistor to limit the voltage and hence fan speed an acoustic noise) fixed the problems, but not long afterwards the thing would fail to deliver any sound unless thumped very hard on its top. Time to replace the whole thing... and I spotted this much newer Teac being sold with a "staticky" fault. Hopefully I can fix this and then perhaps spend time to correct failings on my AG-15D? The new-looking remote control only responded to a few of its buttons so I took it apart and found lots of syrupy deposits on the circuit board. Considering the circuit board is covered by a rubber layer carrying moulded buttons it's puzzling as to how liquid got under the layer of rubber, but careful cleaning restored 100% of its commands.

 

  The equipment seems to work OK but I looked on the Net for a repair manualand had no luck. I can find an operators' manual but not that for repair. Interestingly, I must have triggered a response because I now get advertising blurb for a new example of the AG-D200... at a whopping £349.99 plus £6.99 postage (opposite). My outlay of £35 for a crackly version seems pretty good! I plugged it in and sure enough I could hear faint crackling on radio reception. The front feet slipped off the front of the bench and the thing bumped down half an inch. I slid it back into place on the bench and the crackles had completely stopped so it looks like an embrionic dry joint or could it just have been poor radio reception?.... I'll lift off its covers and try and spot it. Let's hope it's more repairman friendly than the difficult- to-dismantle AG-10D...

PS. It's just as awkward to take apart as the old model and waggling everything in sight wouldn't make it crackle, although one of the side speaker outputs was quieter than the other and the display is a bit dim.

 Hello Allan Isaacs,

Based on your recent activity, we thought you might be interested in this.

TEAC-AG-D200-7.1-Channel Home Cinema Receiver.PROFESSIONAL.4X HDMI INPUTS
by Teac
Price: £349.99
Dispatched from and sold by D**** (UK).


 

 Mega328 LCR-T4

A magic meter that can seemingly test anything.

Click it to read more.

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