In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

Very pleased with this one, Ultra FM950, VHF only set from 1957.
I guess the success here is purchasing a radio from a collectors centre that works perfectly with no Hum, no hiss and no distortion.
I don't normally buy radios from such places as they usually seem overpriced for what they are but in this case the set looked in very good condition. I've always rather liked the neat styling and have been looking for a small valve VHF set for the bedroom.
I asked if I could plug it in and give it a listen before I parted with any money. On the label it said it worked and to my delight it did and very well too.
I would imagine it's been stored in ideal conditions so nothing seemed to have deteriorated, looks untouched inside. I've been "breaking it in" gently over the past week, it's been on for a couple of hours today with Radio 3 and I've really been enjoying it.
Much better sound comes from this set than you'll expected for a cheap "second set" radio. I've not even bothered using an external aerial as the internal one wound around the backboard is more than enough for the job.

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

I have one of these. Initially I changed just the larger Hunts caps and it worked fine for about 3 years. Slowly performance dropped off and was restored by changing the final small value ~1n Hunts caps. It just goes to show that Hunts caps can deteriorate in front of your eyes!

Interestingly the grid capacitor on the output valve is a disc ceramic, suggesting that even back in the day Ultra knew Hunts paper type were inclined to be leaky.

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

I was working on one of these a few days ago, unusual to get apart, when you remove the screws holding the back on the front panel comes out with everything mounted on it. Not as easy to work on as it looks though as you then have to remove 2 brackets that go over the chassis and then that is still fixed to the front by 3 nuts.
I have replaced a few of the hunts caps and a couple of electrolytic caps and it actually seems quite sensitive, picking up several of the weaker stations that some sets don't get very well here.
Steve.

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

Would that grid capacitor be the "That" capacitor?

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

That's the one, although I hate calling it that!

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

Thanks for that! ;)

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

I bought one of these at Gnosall in a terrible state as a "scrapper" for the valves. I usually dislike AC/DC sets.
However it has had a reprieve. Performance is really good for such a simple set.
It is never going to look good, the plywood has lost a lot of edges, the back is scruffy, but the tuning knob is fairly good. Worked as soon as power applied.
It will be a long way down the 'to do' pile, about 5 years I think!

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

I bought one of these about 10 years ago. It was brand old stock in its box. apparently it was faulty from new and somehow had been put in a store room instead of being returned to the supplier.
There was a short to chassis on one of the valve bases easily repaired but it needed de- Hunting before it would work...
:thumbsup:
Rich.

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

I have one of these too, not in as good a condition as yours, big sound for a small set. It developed hum and I thought I'd fixed it changing the smoothing caps but it seems to have returned, I'll have to have another look at it.

John

Re: In praise of the Ultra FM950
 

Mine has always hummed a bit, but I put it down to being AC/DC