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Old 17th Oct 2013, 5:11 pm   #21
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

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Originally Posted by ThePillenwerfer View Post
I wonder if they'll start to do pseudo 'Round Ekcos?'
Nice idea but as has been said earlier in this thread frequency changer and IF valves aren't made any more. I suppose an audio pentode could be pressed into service for those requirements (and another for the oscillator).
 
Old 18th Oct 2013, 12:43 pm   #22
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Although not Chinese but Korean it's curious to see valves making their way back into contemporary products like the Samsung DA-E750. It is trading on the 'amplified sound [that] is so popular with audiophiles and professional musicians' but would it really produce the same 'tonal experience' from our digitised gadgets with compressed audio streams?
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 3:55 pm   #23
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Intriguing product line- someone obviously thinks there's a market for them, though there's some odd stuff that emerges from that vast manufacturing juggernaut, almost on a "no-one else seems to have tried this, let's give it a go" basis.

Having said that, I've always been a fan of the table radio concept- a straightforward, decently performing set with a half-decent mono speaker in an inherently damping (i.e. wood, MDF etc.) cabinet. I'd far rather that than a nasty, glitzy, short-lived, plasticky so-called "micro-stereo system" with a couple of cheap speakers randomly placed. Poor Alan Blumlein must be spinning in his untimely grave! I'm sure I recall some modern (Philips?) table radios being mentioned somewhere, with solid state innards and '50's retro styling. They weren't cheap- but quality isn't and the production volume can't be vast. Unfortunately, Joe Average Consumer has had decades of exposure to cheap, high-turnover tat and doesn't expect anything else.

I get the impression that there's a standard MW/2xSW/VHF-FM solid-state module (the wide-ranging SW means we'll get plenty of CRI exposure ) in many of them, possibly even SDR-based? Shame there's no mention of ECH81, EF89 and so on but, as others have said, there's probably no new production and coil pack/bandswitching/IFTs would horrify production engineers/bean-counters. I'm not so convinced we'll be seeing many of these somewhat pastiche hybrids- but I could be utterly wrong!

All the more reason for us to keep the old-timers going, or for those who have the bits, the time and the ability, to brew our own.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 4:04 pm   #24
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Though having peered at the spec/pictures more closely, the "analogue tuning scale" might be implemented old-style (varacter? polyvaricon?).
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 4:22 pm   #25
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Well, you've heard of the iPod, the Itunes, the iPhone the iPad and maybe even the iWant. Now here comes the ... iTube!

http://www.fat-man.co.uk/

Guess where its manuafactured. No! The UK!
The v202 uses KT88's and 6N3's and probably costs a bit more than the Chinese counterparts. Sorry. No radio.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 5:49 pm   #26
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

These sets have no long wave,so limted use to start with.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 6:22 pm   #27
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Are FatMan items really made in the UK? I seem to recall that they look surprisingly similar to Chinese valve jewellery.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 7:05 pm   #28
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

You have to hand to the Chinese, if they see a gap in the market, they're on it in no time. Good luck to them I say.

I rather like the idea of a return to 'retro' using valves and vinyl - maybe there's some hope (and more work) for us old fogies yet!
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 7:16 pm   #29
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Hmm, and it would have to demodulate DPSK in each of those IFs, and then there's the error correction process.

1536 different crystal oscillators !536 phase shifters, 3072 mixers in the demodulators. To say nothing of the synchronisation issue.

Then there's error correction and the decoder. Were enough EF37As ever made?

More than Colossal

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Old 18th Oct 2013, 11:21 pm   #30
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

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More than Colossal
Should that be "Colossus" ?

Or should I just




Keybounce?
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 12:45 am   #31
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Ah, no, orders of magnitude larger than Colossus. But I did give the adjective a capital for fun. Extracting complex FFTs of 1536 bucket-pairs... with valves.

I can see why the fashion is for adding one token valve to a CD player or DAB radio rather than going the whole way.

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Last edited by Radio Wrangler; 19th Oct 2013 at 12:46 am. Reason: added a bit
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 10:47 am   #32
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

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Originally Posted by happytiger View Post
These sets have no long wave, so limited use to start with.
Indeed: which implies that the primary target for these radios is the U.S.A.

Al. / Oct. 19, '13 //
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 11:51 am   #33
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Or South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Australia and Asia....

Even in Europe, long-wave broadcasts are distinctly thin on the ground, and getting thinner as time goes on. I doubt "Not having long-wave" will be of concern to more than a very small percentage of possible purchasers of these radios.
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 10:34 pm   #34
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

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Originally Posted by turretslug View Post
Shame there's no mention of ECH81, EF89 and so on
Yes - it may have meant they intend to start making them!
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 11:48 pm   #35
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

Or you could get a Bush or Grundig or similar.
It will have an ECH81 in it, it will have that "Valve" sound, it will have a decent speaker in a decent cabinet, and many other comments above.
It will be cheaper (well free if you count the Country's balance of payments) it will keep one out of landfill and give you something to occupy a few winter evenings. Win Win
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Old 20th Oct 2013, 1:09 am   #36
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

I suspect these radios are targetted at the Chinese domestic market, where there is no cultural memory of such radios but lots of rich people who want to impress their friends and colleagues with something 'different'. It's a bit like those Chinese urban developments that try to emulate the look of English, French or Italian towns.
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Old 20th Oct 2013, 1:29 pm   #37
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

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Originally Posted by G8HQP Dave View Post
Are FatMan items really made in the UK? I seem to recall that they look surprisingly similar to Chinese valve jewellery.
Fatman are a brand of TL Audio. In the 'About TL Audio' section on their website it says:

"With a UK factory of highly skilled assembly and test staff, and a Worldwide network of highly effective distributors and dealers, TL Audio has become one of the most respected names currently manufacturing Pro Audio equipment."

I had taken that to mean that all their producs, including the Fatman brand are made in the UK, but I concede that may not neccessarily be the case.
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Old 20th Oct 2013, 7:52 pm   #38
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Default Re: New Chinese valve radios

I guess it depends on exactly what is meant by 'factory' and 'assembly'.
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