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Old 10th Mar 2018, 9:49 pm   #461
Paul Hart
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

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Originally Posted by Phil G4SPZ View Post
In the early 1970s I was a regular customer of Electrovalue Ltd of Egham, Surrey, and I still have some of the E12 series 1/2 watt resistors I bought from them! Luckily they don't deteriorate like Hunts capacitors
I used to order from Electrovalue too. I remember a catalogue with a pale yellow cover.
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Old 11th Mar 2018, 12:45 pm   #462
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

I dont think I have mentioned a Mr Jack/John Annakin of Otley West yorks before. He didnt have a shop as such, he dealt Ex Gov surplus from his home, in Ilkley Road Otley.
Jack would visit auctions at various times and sold his wares from the cellar via magazine adverts..I met Jack in about 1958, and he became my mentor. I learnt a great deal from Jack, whose day job was an instructor at the GPO training school in Otley. His home construction was 2nd to none, using all the best WW2 parts available. He had callers most saturdays from 1pm, and some evenings.
I remember the day when I arrived to see a Thames Trader flatbed lorry stacked with Radio equipment.. It was the SCR522 transceiver set. Jack thought he had bought one item at the sale........ wrong... it was a lorry load. how we ever got that lot onto his place I still wonder to this day. All gone now.... Jack has passed..... I am sure a few of you members would have traded with Jack..
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Old 11th Mar 2018, 11:11 pm   #463
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

Ah, A chap at uni mentioned a surplus place in Otley His description of the stuff they had was enticing, but I never got over there or tracked it down. This may well be what he spoke about.

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Old 12th Mar 2018, 6:28 pm   #464
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

Probably Jack.. David. Only one I knew. We helped form the Otley Radio Society in 67 I think...and Jack was really helpful in getting us into other places, from his contacts. One such place was a barn, just off Greenhead road in Keithley ....the guy was not open to the public as such... only by appointment...... again lots of ex WD but damp... in fact quite damp. Long gone...
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Old 13th Mar 2018, 1:45 pm   #465
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

I remember 'J E Annakin' from my childhood, most of my pocket money would often find its way to him in return for a very interesting parcel.

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Old 24th Mar 2018, 1:05 pm   #466
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

In Southport Merseyside the main street (Lord Street) big wide shops one side gardens etc the other was an art-deco Regal Cinema and in the street behind was sort of radio shack called Roger's From sometime in the early 1950's I would visit this place which was a corrugated iron shack crammed from front to back with ex WD stuff from WW2. On the frontwall of the building was a sort of robot made from bits and pieces of scrap gear. The place was often referred to as "The Mechanical Man Behind The Regal"

You could get almost anything mechanical or electronic there he also did Radiospares stuff.

In the mid 50's I bought an Ex WD Radar unit complete with 6" green phoshor CRT VCR97.

I was (ambitiously ) Intending to build a TV receiver. Needing a source of EHT I asked if he had a transformer. He had! 7 shillings and sixpence; big; heavy; EHT winding plus a 2v lots of amps winding for an EHT rectifier valve. I asked what voltage EHT it produced. He said " I don't know but you can get a ****** great spark out of it!!"

Any way did some construction and got a nice bright spot on the screen. It is a wonder I didn't kill myself.

Sadly no places like that anymore.
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Old 6th Apr 2018, 1:14 am   #467
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

I remember Rogers, from around 1970. There's a mention somewhere in the dim and distant past of this long thread, along with the various shops in Liverpool and Preston.
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Old 6th Apr 2018, 6:38 am   #468
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

The wonderful shop you and rontech are referring to was to give it its full name called 'D M Rogers', it was run by a gentleman called Jack Bigland and when he died his son took over and eventually moved to another Southport location where I believe he is still trading doing TV repairs, it's still called 'D M Rogers'.

John
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Old 10th Apr 2018, 1:14 pm   #469
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

What a fascinating thread when I was at college in Leicester we used to buy our bits from Jarmans (I think) it was on Newalk near the museum and then moved to Cobden Street.
In 1980 I went to work for "HRS" in Brasshouse Passage, Birmingham.
this business was originally Higate Radio Supplies owned by our then MD George Beesley, when CES packed up he bought their stock and employed his rep "John Moore"
Many of the companies mentioned were eithr customers or competitors of HRS.
I remember PV Tubes in Accrington very well it was staffed exclusively by ladies led by the amazing Shelia Cucknell.
Previosly in this thrad someone mentioned Peterborough & Crowland these were shops owned by "Ivan Dow"
Finaly does anyone remember "Taurus Electronics on Nottingham Road, Loughborough.

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Old 11th Apr 2018, 1:51 am   #470
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

Hi Kevinb

I don't personally remember them from Brasshouse Passage, but my daughter worked for them when they were in Great Barr Street Bordesley and they moved from there to Garretts Green Lane Sheldon where to the best of my knowledge they went out of business.

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Old 11th Apr 2018, 8:45 am   #471
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

HRS was acquired by the the Ring Lighting group in the 1980s and later sold on to Connect Distribution (of Birmingham), a major white goods spares distributor, who also acquired Willow Vale Electronics.

HRS bought (from Dixons, who took over Currys in 1984), the Rank Radio International spare parts stock that Currys (actually, their Mastercare service operation) had acquired from Rank when they closed down Rank Radio International (Bush and Murphy) in 1982.
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Old 11th Apr 2018, 12:55 pm   #472
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

I worked for them at Brasshouse Passage, Great Barr Street, Garrats green and Great barr street after they were purchased by Eletopart (later Connect)
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Old 5th Sep 2018, 4:25 pm   #473
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Default Remembering the "old" component shops of Portsmouth

Reading through some of the posts reminded me of the total loss of all the component shops within Portsmouth. My personal favourite was Barkers in Fawcett road, stepping through the door was like taking a step back in history, the two brothers that ran the place were extremely knowledgeable (or at least to a 10 year old lad!) & able to help with just about anything or so it seemed. I remember going there clutching a copy of a book by RJ King I think which had a design in it for a two valve reaction radio (DAF90 & DAF91?). One of the brothers noticed & smiled then said, (Another disciple of Mr. King I take it?", I had no idea what he meant but just nodded dumbly. I left with all the parts required & also advice that Mr. King had made a mistake. They were right too!
Then there was Frasers towards the Southsea end of town, quite a young lad with extremely long hair & incredible BO ran it with his Mum & Dad, that said a very helpful lot & willing to order in for you at no extra cost.
There was another one in Fawcett road but I'm stumped to remember the name. They tended toward the more DIY disco kit when it was actually cheaper to build an amplifier than buy it.
The general demise of these places means the younger ones will never know the sheer delight of parting willingly with pocket money to make something, such a shame.
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Old 5th Sep 2018, 10:44 pm   #474
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Default Re: Remembering the "old" component shops of Portsmouth

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Then there was Frasers towards the Southsea end of town, quite a young lad with extremely long hair & incredible BO ran it with his Mum & Dad, that said a very helpful lot & willing to order in for you at no extra cost.
I always thought they were fairly recent compared to the other places you mention. I must have bought hundreds of connectors from them for the studio and quite a few other things as well. Everything was packed in plastic bags and I still have a few components still in these bags. I think they must have closed around 15 years ago.

Quote:
There was another one in Fawcett road but I'm stumped to remember the name.
I can picture it now (in fact it may still be a shop) but can't remember the name. I think I bought a Baker 12" speaker from them many years ago.
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Old 6th Sep 2018, 7:47 am   #475
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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Gee's is still open on Mill Road but not when we go to the ethnic shops on a Sunday so I don't know what they sell these days
still pop in there on odd occasions not open till 11AM just his Son there now and I think he is living above
still a fair assortment of surplus parts but very little you will not find at a good radio rally
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Old 6th Sep 2018, 2:55 pm   #476
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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still pop in there on odd occasions not open till 11AM just his Son there now and I think he is living above
still a fair assortment of surplus parts but very little you will not find at a good radio rally
Yes, Phil's running it now. I've bought a few things (just electrical accessories and a power supply) from him recently. The shop seems to have rather gone to seed, which is a shame. There must be a business opportunity there in this age of makerspaces, Arduinos and Raspberry Pi, especially in a technology hotbed like Cambridge where both branches of Maplin have closed.

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Old 7th Sep 2018, 8:39 am   #477
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

Just noticed in the local paper that the last R/T shop in Tenby, Jazz Radio is now up for sale. The only original shop in Tenby now that used to sell Record Players is Dales Record shop, still run by Laurie Dale.
Cheers
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Old 6th Aug 2020, 10:22 am   #478
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Default Re: Traders still in existence

Morning All.

Boy those old shops and the smell when you went into them. In the the 60s i would spend hours in them and in the Army stores. The people in them always had time to talk to you and help you out.

Kevin.
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Old 6th Aug 2020, 12:31 pm   #479
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Default Re: Traders still in existence

When we moved from London to Formby, Lancs in 1969 I was worried that there would not be the shops I was used to in Little Newport St and Tottenham Court Road. Fortunately there was Superadio in Liverpool and the marvellous Roger’s in Southport.
Was in Roger’s one day with a school friend when we saw an 18 Set for £2! Not having the money myself I tried to convince my wealthier friend to buy it, he didn’t. However that night his mother phoned me to tell me NOT to try and talk him into buying anything similar as they couldn’t afford it. Fair enough but his dad was a partner in an accountancy firm with the house and car to match....
Peter
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Old 6th Aug 2020, 1:11 pm   #480
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The mention of Superadio in Liverpool is interesting. In addition to Beaver Radio I think there were a number of similar shops in Whitechapel ( Liverpool ) ( 1946 - 1960 ) period.Selling ex WW2 surplus stuff. Communications receivers which I could not afford. I did get a radar display unit with VCR97 CRT and some EF50 red Sylvania valves and think some SP41s.
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