Retro Electro Workshop (Yesterday/UKTV)

[Andrew2]

That Atari was overpriced, especially as it wasn't working correctly - those flickering, jumping characters in the Pacman game were not right at all.
Generally I wasn't impressed, and got the feeling that *some* of the repairs were more like quick bodges.

[beery]

Hi Folks
Well I enjoyed it!
I was not expecting much technical depth. The fact that the narrator attempted to explain about electrolytic capacitors was actually a pleasant surprise even if the details were not all that correct.
As for the Pinocchio thing, well there's no accounting for taste!

Some may feel that this doesn't go into enough detail, but I found it better than I expected because:-
It focused on electronics/electro mechanics rather than general antiques,
There were no hugs, tears or sob stories,
Nothing got turned into a lamp or cat bed or painted green,
The repairs were of a good standard,
It shone a light on our hobby

I shall definitely be tuning in next week

Cheers
Andy

[Beobloke]

Originally Posted by The Philpott

Belt and braces soldering in of components made me grin, reminiscent of a forum member's comment along the lines of 'you're not mooring the Lusitania'

That's brilliant - I may 'recycle' that!

[CambridgeWorks]

Stevehertz, post 29, all he needs to do is give a strong warning that there is a part within every radio (etc.) that will require replacing before applying power, otherwise serious and costly damage may result.
I used "that cap" as this is about the only forum uses that expression.
I agree, nobody with a "new toy" of any valve gear will be the slightest interested in checking to see if there is specific advice online about first powering up.
Plug in and see is what they will do.
Rob

[dave walsh]

Yes John. In the instructions, my Marconiphone 292 Radiogram [1935?] recommends 130' of aerial wire.

Dave

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by beery

Some may feel that this doesn't go into enough detail, but I found it better than I expected because:-
It focused on electronics/electro mechanics rather than general antiques,
There were no hugs, tears or sob stories,
Nothing got turned into a lamp or cat bed or painted green,
The repairs were of a good standard,
It shone a light on our hobby

That sums up my thoughts well.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Hunts smoothing bomb

I did find this programme a little worrying as any complete novice who was watching who is interested in this field and has never attempted to repair anything like this could go delving straight into the workings of a valve set with lethal mains and HT voltages as no warnings were given at all.

Cheers

I don't see as the programme could be blamed for that. Every day thousands of unqualified people disassemble electrical items in an attempt to fix them. The programme is not a tutorial, it is not telling anyone to do anything, and ironically if it did give out warnings then it could be wrongly construed as to be suggesting to people that they could fix things without having enough knowledge and as a result get a shock.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by robinshack

Stevehertz, post 29, all he needs to do is give a strong warning that there is a part within every radio (etc.) that will require replacing before applying power, otherwise serious and costly damage may result.
I used "that cap" as this is about the only forum uses that expression.
I agree, nobody with a "new toy" of any valve gear will be the slightest interested in checking to see if there is specific advice online about first powering up.
Plug in and see is what they will do.
Rob

I agree with your revised statement. Yes people do plug things in and see if they work, item descriptions on Ebay say that all the while; "it powers up but doesn't seem to work" (?!).

[stevehertz]

Rob told Shamil to buy the Atari anyway as it could be fixed - taken to mean it was fixable, so buy it. Then when he got it he suggested that it could possibly only be chucked in the bin. Or words to that effect in both cases.

[HG MICKE]

The program in itself was reasonably entertaining and the chap doing the Radio repair was obviously competent, but why would he keep tested hard to come by fragile Valves loose in a plastic crate that he had to rummage through for the one required.

Colin

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by HG MICKE

The program in itself was reasonably entertaining and the chap doing the Radio repair was obviously competent, but why would he keep tested hard to come by fragile Valves loose in a plastic crate that he had to rummage through for the one required.

Colin

The fragility and potential danger is only as bad as they are handled. I keep my (catalogued) valves 'loose' in labeled, lidded plastic cartons. Never had one break because I don't shake it up.

[Paul Stenning]

It is possible that this was done for the camera at the request of the production team because it looks more interesting than just taking a boxed one from a drawer or shelf.

When the whole repair is edited down to a few minutes most of the real information and context would be lost, and you are left with shots and sound-bites selected by the editors.

[McMurdo]

No doubt Rob, the chappie in the repair shop (forum member Rob77) will be on soon to give us the gossip 'behind the scenes'. !!

[Dave Moll]

Unless, of course, he had to sign a non-disclosure agreement!

I have to say though that it was interesting to watch the youtube interview with Mark Stuckey (of the Repair Shop programme), disclosing as much he was allowed.

[Ian - G4JQT]

Originally Posted by McMurdo

No doubt Rob, the chappie in the repair shop (forum member Rob77) will be on soon to give us the gossip 'behind the scenes'. !!

I don't think that's Mark Stukey from the Repair Shop. I think Rob77 is the owner of The Vintage TV & Wireless Company in Norwich. Maybe this is also the guy from Retro Electro Workshop?

Interesting if it is...

Ian

Edit: I do believe Rob77 is the guy from The Vintage TV & Wireless Company and the TV programme we're discussing! So as a forum member he'll probably be reading these comments!

[Dave Moll]

Just to clarify that my mention of Mark S. was more of a "compare and contrast". Clearly, Rob and Mark are different people.

Incidentally, I was taking McM's reference to "repair shop" (without capitals) as referring to Rob's shop rather than the eponymous TV programme.

I should add that I've not had the opportunity to watch R.E.W., as I will need to sign up to UKTV Play. In the longer term I must sort out my TV aerial that blew down some months ago!

[ricksteptoe]

Having known Rob profesionally and socially for about twenty years, and having spent many hours watching him repair my and other peoples items I can guarantee that all the testing and alignment etc will have been done but has been lost in the edit. It was his encouragement that got me into attempting my own repairs, and his generosity in knowledge and encouragement has given me a small measure of success.

As far as the limited demonstration goes, remember there is major problems with copyright in music, which is why the chap on The Repair Shop only seems to use a pre-electric recording of Enrico Caruso (all possible copyrights expired).

Rick.

[David G4EBT]

Originally Posted by Ian - G4JQT

I do believe Rob77 is the guy from The Vintage TV & Wireless Company and the TV programme we're discussing! So as a forum member he'll probably be reading these comments!

Yes, 'tis him - Rob Howard:

https://www.vintagetvandwireless.com

(Check out the list of film productions he's provided props for!)

He isn't a regular poster on the forum and hasn't visited the forum since 29 Sept 2022.

A breath of fresh air to see a documentary programme featuring grown-ups behaving like grown-ups, without redundant people such as Jay Blades fluttering around, getting in the way, and devoid of mawkish 'tragi-comedy' sentimentality and 'happy ever after' endings.

It's not meant to be a step-by-step tutorial, more a 'fly-on-the-wall' look in the workshop of someone who makes a living from breathing new life into old radios and TVs. Rob is naturally telegenic, self-assured in front of the camera, and knows his stuff. Who among us would invite cameras into out workshop to record our every move, while we give a dialogue about what we're doing any why? Not me, that's for sure!

And what a radio collection was featured too!

For anyone who didn't see it and might want to watch it on catch-up, it can be found here:

https://uktvplay.co.uk/shows/retro-e...p/watch-online

https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/ar...ctro-workshop/

A promising start - I'm looking forward to more of the same.

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by ricksteptoe

As far as the limited demonstration goes, remember there is major problems with copyright in music, which is why the chap on The Repair Shop only seems to use a pre-electric recording of Enrico Caruso (all possible copyrights expired).

Plus the BBC will have the budget to pay royalties for copyright music when it is used on TRS, whereas REW is clearly a much lower budget series. Hence just tuning back and forth over speech stations to demonstrate.

[Kentode]

I recorded it and only watched the radio section.

I enjoyed it.

I'll be watching it again.

'Nuff said.