Murphy U198H.
 

A fairly basic, small ac/dc superhet in a one piece purpl(ish) moulded cabinet from 1954 which cost about £10 when released.
One unusual feature being that it is fitted with a ferrite rod aerial, possibly among the first.

This little set was actually given to me, and sat on the round tuit pile for some time as it didn't appear to be of particular interest, and I'm not especially fond of live chassis sets at any time.

It is a rather basic set in a small moulded cabinet which I initially thought was bakelite, but given the distinct lack of success with Greygate polish on the dull top of the cabinet, I'm inclined to think it is another form of early plastic.

The small size of the cabinet means there is no room on the fascia for a waveband switch, this being relegated to the back of the chassis operated by a lever.

Similarly, the "tone control" is a two position slider switch, also on the back of the chassis.

It's neat little five valve design, using U series Mazda valves and a vertically mounted mains dropper. On opening it up, there was virtually no sign of rust (except a tiny bit on the top edge of the loudspeaker basket), the chassis being coated with a crackle finish grey paint which has survived well.
The chassis was initially reluctant to release it's grip on the cabinet, being held by two channels moulded into the cabinet sides.
The 1.25 inch 250mA ht fuse was missing.
Cold meter readings revealed no unpleasant shorts, the heater chain had continuity as did all sections of the mains dropper.
The audio output transformer has a hum buck tap on the primary and all windings fortunately read intact.
Due to the small design, the op tx is bolted to the speaker basket.
The twin can reservoir / smoothing electrolytic showed no signs of venting or other distress.
All the wax / Mouldseal Hunts capacitors were replaced, each original tested on removal showing significant leakage as might be suspected.
Some required a fair degree on dexterity and dismantling to access and replace as the design is so small.
A moment of injudicious vigorous desoldering under the UL41 valve socket meant I managed to snap a pin off. Fortunately I was able to extract the remains from the McMurdo socket and fit a replacement pin.
The twin pole on/off switch was sound but much to my surprise I found an open circuit live conductor in the mains cable. This was two core vinyl of the period using then standard British colours of red/black.
The cable bore no visible signs of distress or kinks, but the red was most definitely o/c.
I replaced the cable, but curiosity got the better of me as to where the break was in the original... not near the strain relief at the chassis, nor where it had been secured in a plug, but about a foot up the cable, very odd.

I checked my work and applied power initially using an isolation transformer and a variac, gradually winding up the AC to full mains. As the HT hit 175v, the set burst into life; alignment followed, not much off beam.
I left it on Five Live for a bit and pronounced it fit.
Quite an amusing little set.

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Nice one I have a M version I’m changing the hunts and all the waxies. Just got to sort out the sound transformer.

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Hi no name !sorry , I nice write up on restoring the set looks a clean chassis and now good for quite a few years use now , Mick.

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

They are good performers. There was also a wooden cabinet variant using the same chassis, the U598.

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Good job :clap:

There seems to be quite a few around and they’re quite popular.

I have a woody version, last time I looked the case had completely collapsed but I do have all the parts except the lever on the back.

I didn’t realise it has a ferrite rod under the chassis.

John

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

It's an odd place to put a ferrite rod. You'd think that the chassis would screen it, but in fact it works perfectly well.

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Cleaning the valve pins and sockets may improve matters. I had to tweak the MW aerial
trimmer, and after carefully restringing the drive cord tuning is smooth and dial
calibration is spot on.

I prefer this to a DAC90A !

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

My other half has one of these in her workroom at home, its on all day every day! Solid little sets & they do sound good. Once fettled they'll carry on for years. Well done on the restoration, good write up too. Big thumbs up from me!

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Hi. Quite an interesting restoration, well done. I have one of these radios (not sure if it is "H" or "M"). Mine is dead at present, so perhaps the mains live wire is o/c?
I bought mine from a shop (Adams Audio) on Spring Road in Ipswich, Suffolk many years ago. This road once contained a "treasure trove" of second hand shops which yielded many vintage radios, sadly now all gone.
Cheers
Mike

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

A nice write up, thank you. These little compact 1950's valved AC/DC radios can give a good account of themselves.

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Nice report, I always understood that Murphy aimed these to compete at the lower end of the market, so it's good to hear they give a decent account of themselves. I like the dropper heatshield, I'm sure some designers wouldn't have bothered!

Re: Murphy U198H.
 

Like most small 1950s MW/LW radios, they were designed to appeal to the emerging 'second set' market as people bought radios for kitchens and bedrooms, after TVs started to dominate the lounge. Many of them were semi-portable.