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Old 31st Jan 2021, 8:27 pm   #101
Heatercathodeshort
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

A few air bubbles in that 6/6 and who took the top off the EHT box? Great film. John.
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Old 31st Jan 2021, 11:53 pm   #102
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

It’s very interesting to hear discussion about the Here’s looking at you song. For years I’ve been trying to find a complete version of it. I’ve found that there’s a raw recording which is cut and mangled in certain places, which actually shows that there’s a whole part of the intro missing that isn’t on the normal video which seems to circulate around. That and a few additional angles of Helen McKay. (I think peter shared this version in the thread)

I also recently watched a documentary on YouTube about the introduction and development of early television, where they recreated the first pictures which would’ve been broadcast, one of which being a completely different performance of Here’s Looking At You with different singers (a group of men) I’ve not seen any other mentions of this version anywhere!

The television song is also another classic, which I’ve probably heard 20 times over within the past 3 months!

Thanks for the encouragement Andy. I now fear that I have a short in my Tube. I’ve checked the bias resistor and reads ok. I think the best thing for me to do is to find my avo, and see if I can put it into continuity to see if there’s a short between any of the pins.

I’m now back at uni, so the set has been reassembled awaiting a follow up visit from my soldering iron!

The radio has recently lost most of its sensitivity so will follow with voltage checks on valve bases. I have built a signal tracer to use In aid of fixing this as well.

Promising signs! I contemplated doing an alignment on it but quite worried about ruining the fragile cores.

Just a thought. Do those little RF capacitors on the wafer switches go bad?
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Old 1st Feb 2021, 12:23 am   #103
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Thanks for the lyrics Peter [post 96*]. The song and singer have always impressed. They couldn't really have had anything better or more appropriate at that moment in time but I doubt that it was fully understood then ...or now even! Unfortunately we are currently swamped with an avalanche of product and "Boxed Sets" that add to social problems/addictions via globalisation! In the sixties you could watch the Wednesday Play, which might even change things via Parliament and was very popular with ordinary people who would never have gone to the theatre but watched every week as with "That Was The Week That Was" which emptied the pubs on a Saturday night because it showed what was really going on! I was there-under age! The BBC did it's job "Educate and Entertain" but probably not in Reith's monastic/confused version! A sad man.

During the current lockdowns the BBC has brought out token recordings of relatively current plays! That also happened in the first few weeks of BBC4 then it was gone! Why! If the theatre lacks subsidy why not find a bigger audience? Our national broadcaster has the money [our money] to buy in such content.
In "normal" times you can't get a ticket, say in London, without booking months ahead. They actually laugh at you! Eighty years ago [when experiments with sending the audio of a play over telephone lines took place] someone said "Won't it be great, in the future, when you can go to the Theatre without leaving your home?" You can do that "live" in a cinema now [eventually] or via a broadcast recording but still not directly! Why is that? Let's try ONLY showing recordings of sport and see what happens If the theatre always lacks money and TV needs more content/ratings what's the problem? I'm not a major theatrical in any way but I am keen on TELE VISION fulfilling it's original promise ie "Seeing from afar!"

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Old 1st Feb 2021, 11:25 am   #104
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort View Post
A few air bubbles in that 6/6 and who took the top off the EHT box? Great film. John.
Not just bubbles but "Muck & Bubbles".
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Old 1st Feb 2021, 10:22 pm   #105
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

That fragmented footage is fascinating. At one point Hyam Greenbaum looks round and appears to be concerned how the rehearsal is going.

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Oddly, apart from him conducting on film, I can find no images of Greenbaum at all.
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Old 2nd Feb 2021, 5:52 pm   #106
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Quote:
Originally Posted by peter_scott View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort View Post
A few air bubbles in that 6/6 and who took the top off the EHT box? Great film. John.
Not just bubbles but "Muck & Bubbles".
I really should have seen that was coming! John.
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Old 3rd May 2021, 11:20 pm   #107
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Progress update!

The past few months have been extremely hectic with uni, which has meant the 707 had to be put away so the dissertation could get done!

My Marconi 707 is now home in my London workshop. Unfortunately the restorer who offered to do up my cabinet is now unavailable to do the work, so I have thankfully found a local independent cabinet restorer to do the job. The person has done a few radios before, to a high standard so I thought it would be brill to support a local business. Attached are some before photos of the cabinet to compare with once work is complete on it.

Since the last post, no real work has been done on it, however I’ve started restuffing the cardboard wax covered capacitors. Attached is a photo of a few I’ve done so far. I’ll plug the ends with wax before I reinstall them.
I’m currently tackling issues with radio sensitivity at the mo. I’ve put this down to duff valves, specifically V1 and possibly the detector. Mike Barker has sent me a set of good testing valves to substitute.

Will post some real news by the end of the week.
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Old 15th May 2021, 3:26 am   #108
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Another update!

More restuffing progress. I have done this cardboard 8uF capacitor, along with cutting the EHT cap apart and emptying out its guts. Just waiting on the appropriate capacitors for the EHT can before I fill with epoxy and re install.

I also took the time to remove, and clean up the audio output transformer, along with replacing the wires. Attached is a couple photos of my efforts here.

My next job is to focus on the 2 32uF cans. I’ve currently have the old ones disconnected and new types floating underneath for testing.

I have also replaced the 23(?)ohm resistor which connects to the focus control as this was O/C. I have done this using an NOS part that’s of a similar age.

more cleaning

I’ve done some more chassis cleaning. Here are my efforts. I think I’m satisfied with this.

Unfortunately I accidentally snagged the drive string for the dial pointer. I attempted to replace this temporarily with a cloth string covered in wax to make it a little more compressed. This snapped after 5 minutes! Any good dial cord replacement recommendations welcome.
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Old 15th May 2021, 8:26 am   #109
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

It doesn't look right but mono filament fishing line works surprisingly well.

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Old 16th Jun 2021, 11:16 pm   #110
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

June update!

I didn’t get off to a good start this month with my Marconi 707. Whilst rebuilding the smoothing box, I started having HT issues. To cut a long story short, the centre tap of the HT supply was the problem.

Whilst problem solving I tore apart the power supply a good few times, and replaced a lot of rotten wire, and cleaned up my work. C65 64 are also now rebuilt too!

I asked Mike Barker if he could send me a set of good testing valves in aid of problem solving the lack of gain on the radio side. Whilst not perfect, reception is slightly better then before. Need to do some more investigating with this.

Finally had a chance to reinstall the rebuilt EHT smoothing capacitor(s), and got started on trying to get a picture... it was all going so well until the EHT transformer decided it’d fail with a nasty smell, and smoke!

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get any photos, but take my word folks, my Emiscope tube is fantastic. Whilst there wasn’t sync in the picture, I could see the test card, brightly!

Also, the restorer who took on my cabinet has just sent me a video of it. Finally it’s done! Here’s a couple screen grabs for you to look at.
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Old 17th Jun 2021, 7:57 am   #111
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Looks a good job, but it seems to be a matt finish?
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Old 17th Jun 2021, 8:55 am   #112
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I think that’s more the quality of the video/screenshots. I’ll be picking it up on the weekend so will provide better photos then.
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Old 20th Jun 2021, 6:36 pm   #113
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Yes, more photos will be interesting. For example, what's happened to the Marconi transfer and is the area round it patchy? Careful and thorough preparation before the new finish goes on is critical.

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Old 25th Jun 2021, 8:05 pm   #114
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Yes, more photos will be interesting. For example, what's happened to the Marconi transfer and is the area round it patchy? Careful and thorough preparation before the new finish goes on is critical.

Steve

Will provide photos once I collect the can next week Steve
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Old 28th Jun 2021, 1:43 pm   #115
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Photos of the cabinet

Here’s some pics of the cabinet. The compression on uploading the files here aren’t doing it justice. Completely night and day compared to how it was before.

She’s done a good job on the top of the cabinet, which was all peeling away. Looks completely original now. A good job at keeping the logo. You can barley see the patchwork.
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Old 28th Jun 2021, 2:39 pm   #116
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

What has been done to the cabinet? I gather it's not a complete strip and re polish? I'd be interested to know what was the process(es) were/was.
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Old 29th Jun 2021, 4:34 pm   #117
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What has been done to the cabinet? I gather it's not a complete strip and re polish? I'd be interested to know what was the process(es) were/was.
Here are some photos she sent me of the top whilst she was stripping. The sides were left alone as they were untouched and perfect, but the main concern was all the rotten veneer on the top. She also said it was filled with wood worm so she had to treat the cabinet.

Most of the original dye (or finish) on the cabinet had to go as it had started cracking and becoming discoloured and just looked horrible.

She had also replaced various pieces of veneer on the front side, and top of the cabinet.


There’s also some comparison photos which I’ve attached. Overall I’m very happy with the work. Whilst it probably isn’t showroom quality, it looks absolutely stunning!
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Old 29th Jun 2021, 5:19 pm   #118
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Default Re: My newly found Marconi 707

Here's the story of what was done to another pre-war EMI television with veneer problems... starts 7 pictures down... The link is HERE.

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Old 29th Jun 2021, 5:53 pm   #119
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Here's the story of what was done to another pre-war EMI television with veneer problems... starts 7 pictures down... The link is HERE.

Steve

Very good work there Steve! Very impressive. I’ve read through this restoration before, an eye for detail indeed.
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Old 29th Jun 2021, 6:23 pm   #120
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Thanks Ed. It should be recognised it's not an easy task, however it's tackled.

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