Vortexion WVB - Question and Parts Wanted.

[Kat Manton]

Hi,

I've finally got around to peering around inside one of my more recent acquisitions and I seem to be missing a speaker.

What's supposed to be in there? 3.5" x 7" elliptical going by the holes, 15 ohm judging by a WVA schematic I have.

Paul's offering a 15-ohm Elac which would probably suffice; I think I'll put my name on it as it looks like it'll fit and it's the right impedance.

I'd have thought, though; that Vortexion might have used Goodmans or Celestion?

Also - parts required (so far):

Both lid catches.

Grille for the speaker - I'd guess this is the same expanded metal stuff used over a couple of other holes.

Regards, Kat

[Kat Manton]

Hi,

I've had it in bits and looked at it more closely now and gently powered it up briefly after the usual checks and precautions. Amazingly there's signs of life, crackles from the amp when controls are moved; all the bits that are meant to go round, go round... I can even hear very faint audio when attempting to play a tape.

Anyway, a couple more bits to add to the "Wanted" list:

1 green "chicken head" knob (one has a chunk missing.)
1 green round knob (one is cracked.)
WVB schematic - I have one for the WVA, which will doubtless help.

I will get this working; I've wanted one of these for a long time

Thanks again to ukcol for offering it here and for lugging it along to the NVCF earlier this year. This is perhaps going to be a long-term restoration, but it'll be fun

Regards, Kat

[reelguy]

I was watching an episode of Miss Marple about a week ago, And in the opening scenes they showed a man using a Vortexion recorder. Nothing
strange with that but it showed him using a Grundig { Bakelite]
microphone with it. .Whatever next?

Good luck with you restoration Kat..

Peter W Reelguy

[duran]

Hi Kat

I've just sold a WVA on E*** to a nice chap in Surrey and it used a Goodmans speaker (if that's any help)

dave durrant

[ukcol]

Hi Kat

It's nice to hear you're starting to restore the WVB. I was aware, as were you, that there were some parts missing but I did not realise it was missing a speaker.

This is probably because most of the reel to reel recorders I have seen don't have a speaker because they are designed to feed a Hi Fi amp.

I shall keep an eye on the success stories section for your report.

[reel-to-reel-man]

I was just clearing out some draws and I found a pair of knobs, the chicken head one and the green knob for the bias, there are 2 latches somewhere around here, just trying to find them (In a box of interestings somewhere). Still hunting, there is loads of stuff here.

[Kat Manton]

Hi,

Colin - I wasn't entirely sure I was missing a speaker; not having had one of these before. I wasn't really expecting there to be one, but tracing the loose wires on the WVA schematic shows there's supposed to be one and that's where the stray wires go. Sound exits through a slot much smaller than the speaker in the "front" (machine in the horizontal position). I guess it's only there for cueing and monitoring. My Leevers-Rich has a large elliptical one hiding underneath for the same purpose.

Originally Posted by reel-to-reel-man

[...] I found a pair of knobs, the chicken head one and the green knob for the bias, there are 2 latches somewhere around here.

Ah, thanks Those would be appreciated.

There's a lot of work to do; I think I'll get the transport vaguely operational; it's not far off working "sorta ok-ish" anyway; then "de-Hunt" the amplifier. There's a couple of cracked ones in there along with others which look ok but are probably shot.

I'm half-tempted to borrow the transport out of my Ferrograph Series 4 as it's in much better condition. In the meantime the original transport will be stripped down completely as a friend has offered to respray the main deck plate, control escutcheon and head cover as long as they're prepared first. I think if I can get them I'll replace all the externally visible screws as well.

One thing's for sure; it will live again

Regards, Kat

[ukcol]

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

One thing's for sure; it will live again

That's what we like to hear.