Radiophile Teaching Workshop 12-13 December 2015

[Phil G4SPZ]

A two-day Radiophile Teaching Workshop will be held at Gnosall Memorial Village Hall, Gnosall, Staffordshire ST20 0ET over the weekend of Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th December. One-to-one tuition is provided by several experienced engineers and restorers, and small components are provided free of charge. Each day starts at around 9am and concludes at around 6pm. The cost has been pegged at £30 for either day, or £50 for the full two days. The workshops are suitable for all participants, including beginners, and no previous experience or skills are required. Bring a packed lunch, your tool kit, a soldering iron and two or three sets to work on! The aim is to get everyone's sets working by the end of the day.

To my knowledge, these workshops are the only available examples of hands-on tuition in vintage radio and electronics repair. For further details and to book a place, please contact The Radiophile by telephone on 01785 284696.

I have no connection with The Radiophile other than as a very satisfied customer of one of these workshops some time ago, and a volunteer engineer at these events for the past few years.

[Boater Sam]

I would have loved to attend but will be 8000 miles away!
This is a special opportunity to get real hands on experience for those that are keen to advance their skills or even to begin servicing radios etc.

Could I mention that on 2 other forums, namely Golborne Vintage Radio and Radio-TVs Forum, there are several people who are struggling with some aspects of repairs, and that they could very well be interested in joining in on this occasion?

Would it be an idea to post this on these forums, or am I out of order?

[Station X]

The moderators here have no objections to members here joining and contributing to other forums. There's no reason why we should have.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Thanks for the suggestion, Sam; you could always pop back for the weekend I know that several members of this Forum are also active on others with a similar theme. Personally, I only have time for one!

Thanks also to Graham for clarifying the Moderators' views. I'm in the process of registering with both suggested Fora and will post an identical message on each.

Phil

[ex 2 Base]

I think the workshop is a brilliant idea, I only wish it was nearer to Scarborough. I wonder if there are enough experts and would be "students" in the Leeds,York and Hull area or perhaps further up North, Teeside or Newcastle to hold such an event. Ted

[AC/HL]

You'd have to check that with Radiophile themselves. Might be worth asking.

[Martin Bush]

I'm in a similar situation to Ted. Attending would mean a 200 mile round trip for me, yet I reckon its worth it if I can get there. I picked up some old Radiophiles on eBay and as a novice I have got a lot out of them.

But I'm also wondering if there's anything going on down this way too?

[Sean Williams]

At the moment Radiophile run the only radio repair workshop, There was/is one at Golborne at times.

I ran a couple down this way, but they took an awful lot of time, and I no longer have that time to do any more.

If you consider one of the expert assistants at Radiophile workshops travels all the way up from Bodmin in Cornwall a 200 mile round trip really isnt so bad! - its about a 250 mile trip for me - if I have the spare time that weekend I will cetainly go up to offer what assistance I can.

Its not really a true teaching workshop, in that there is little or no theory dealt with, but there is lots of practical advice and hands on help - a good number of sets usually leave working, or diagnosed to the point of knowing what needs to be done to complete the set in question.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Originally Posted by Sean Williams

...It's not really a true teaching workshop, in that there is little or no theory dealt with, but there is lots of practical advice and hands-on help...

True. I admit that the word "teaching" was probably my addition, to help describe the function of the day - Chas Miller merely describes it as a "workshop". Whilst it's true that there is no formal tuition in the form of lectures, the theory is always referred to during the hands-on help sessions. I always provide participants with a run-through of the operation of the circuit that they're working on, and I've found that a small audience often gathers nearby. Introducing the theory bit by bit in this way, and expanding on it where necessary to help the participant understand the "why" and not merely the "how" of fault diagnosis and repair, seems to be quite successful in practice.

Some other benefits of the workshop approach include the ready availability of circuit diagrams, service sheets, components and test equipment which, as Sean says, enables the vast majority of sets to be brought into working condition on the day, before the participants leave the session.

[Martin Bush]

Hi all

I was just wondering if anyone was going along to this event? I am planning to go so will hopefully meet some of you.

Martin

[Phil G4SPZ]

I'll be there on both days, Martin! As one of Chas's little helpers...

[Sean Williams]

I am likely to be at work sadly, otherwise I would have come to lend a hand

[Martin Bush]

It will be good to meet you Phil, as well as anyone else from here who's going.

[Radiocruncher]

I'd love to go to this. I am trying to self teach myself radio alignment and fault diagnosis and I am struggling to get to grip with the test gear I have acquired. I've not attempted a valve radio yet but I have several in my collection. Is this mainly for the older valve radios or will there be chance to have a look at transistor sets as well?

[Martin Bush]

My guess is just valve, but hopefully someone on here can confirm. I will be calling chas to pay tomorrow hopefully so could ask if I remember.

[Sean Williams]

The workshops are mainly valve related, however anything up to around 1965 has appeared in the past.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Fault diagnosis on transistor sets is similar to that used on valve sets, in terms of locating the stage in which the fault lies, although the techniques differ in detail. Transistor sets, in my experience, suffer from fewer 'stock faults' than valve sets and as a consequence can be more challenging and perhaps more interesting.

By all means, bring transistor sets along, with some good batteries of course! As time goes on, I would expect to see more of them. The only issue could be the availabilty of spare parts on the day - many 'valve-era' components are readily available, but the smaller size and lower voltage ratings might mean that we could pinpoint the fault but not have the exact components to execute a permanent repair. Bring your own test gear along too; help and advice on how to use it will be available.

One thing worth mentioning; whilst service data is made available for many sets, if participants can try to bring the service sheets appropriate to their sets with them, it saves time. It's not essential but it helps!

[Brian R Pateman]

Originally Posted by Phil G4SPZ

One thing worth mentioning; whilst service data is made available for many sets, if participants can try to bring the service sheets appropriate to their sets with them, it saves time. It's not essential but it helps!

Shameless plug;

Don't forget that you can obtain service data here and support the forum at the same time.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Indeed, Brian. I never fail to mention the enormous benefits of BVWS membership in general, and the Forum in particular!

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Phil G4SPZ

I never fail to mention the enormous benefits of BVWS membership in general, and the Forum in particular!

This forum is not and never has been part of the BVWS. The only connection is that I run the forum and am also BVWS webmaster.