Bush Transistor 7 - TR114 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

howard · 8th Mar 2006, 11:28 pm

Hello,

I've just finished restoring a little Bush TR114 pocket radio which I acquired off eBay for just £8.80. I had never actually seen one until a couple of weeks ago when this one turned up on eBay. Its a tiny radio, much the same size as the TR104 and almost certainly its successor.

It arrived quite grubby, but virtually unmarked

Its leather case and shoulder strap were perfect. It didn't work at all well, the usual problem with transistor radios of this era, noisy volume pot and dirty waveband switch. I decided to clean it up and get it going properly again.

Its a simple job to take this one apart, one just takes off the back by undoing the single chrome plated screw, and then undoes a single screw in the middle of the PCB and its little PCB comes away. I also took out the loudspeaker so that I could clean the case properly without getting the speaker wet (not a good idea). I cleaned the case as usual with upholstery cleaner and it came up like new, with just minor scratches evident. The top tuning scale had come away from the perspex backing plate underneath, these had been attached by double sided sellotape which had dried out, so I peeled off the old tape and fitted a couple of new strips and stuck them back together again.

I cleaned the off/on/volume pot with a little switch cleaner and likewise the waveband switch, reattached the battery and then tested the 3 AF117s by tapping them gently with a screwdriver handle and surprisingly they were all good, no crackling or breaking up

I reassembled the radio and tested it out. This little radio is remarkably sensitive and picked up stations on both MW and LW that many of my other 1960s radios fail to pick up. And it sounds pretty good too for such a tiny radio

Internally its not as robustly built as its predecessor the TR104 but its still pretty good

So heres my Bush TR114 7 Transistor which has come up almost mint, built around 1966, and another very welcome addition to my collection

Howard

JoshWard · 9th Mar 2006, 5:00 pm

I'm not a big fan of pocket sets but this one certainly looks nice!

howard · 9th Mar 2006, 8:00 pm

Thanks Josh,

And I like it too, it is a nice looking little radio, and considerably better built than those radios of similar size imported from the Far East in the 1960s !

Howard

JoshWard · 10th Mar 2006, 6:05 pm

I might have to get one. At least my parents can't moan about the size of it!

camtechman · 9th May 2008, 7:05 am

Hi Howard,

Yep, I know this reply is quite some time after you posted your original thread but, having just got one of these radios, I thought I'd confirm what a little beauty it is. Nice sound & good sensitivity.

The only problem is that some of the lettering on the tuning scale has worn away, so it looks like a job for sometime in the future.

One thing I would question is the case....the one I have, although it looks like leather & was described as such in the auction, was infact a rexine/vinyl type material but, if you didn't give it a very close look, you would have assumed it to be leather.

A quick water test proved it wasn't leather.

8th Mar 2006, 11:28 pm	#1
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Bush Transistor 7 - TR114 Hello, I've just finished restoring a little Bush TR114 pocket radio which I acquired off eBay for just £8.80. I had never actually seen one until a couple of weeks ago when this one turned up on eBay. Its a tiny radio, much the same size as the TR104 and almost certainly its successor. It arrived quite grubby, but virtually unmarked Its leather case and shoulder strap were perfect. It didn't work at all well, the usual problem with transistor radios of this era, noisy volume pot and dirty waveband switch. I decided to clean it up and get it going properly again. Its a simple job to take this one apart, one just takes off the back by undoing the single chrome plated screw, and then undoes a single screw in the middle of the PCB and its little PCB comes away. I also took out the loudspeaker so that I could clean the case properly without getting the speaker wet (not a good idea). I cleaned the case as usual with upholstery cleaner and it came up like new, with just minor scratches evident. The top tuning scale had come away from the perspex backing plate underneath, these had been attached by double sided sellotape which had dried out, so I peeled off the old tape and fitted a couple of new strips and stuck them back together again. I cleaned the off/on/volume pot with a little switch cleaner and likewise the waveband switch, reattached the battery and then tested the 3 AF117s by tapping them gently with a screwdriver handle and surprisingly they were all good, no crackling or breaking up I reassembled the radio and tested it out. This little radio is remarkably sensitive and picked up stations on both MW and LW that many of my other 1960s radios fail to pick up. And it sounds pretty good too for such a tiny radio Internally its not as robustly built as its predecessor the TR104 but its still pretty good So heres my Bush TR114 7 Transistor which has come up almost mint, built around 1966, and another very welcome addition to my collection Howard Attached Thumbnails

9th Mar 2006, 5:00 pm	#2
JoshWard Octode Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Near Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 1,962	Re: Bush Transistor 7 - TR114 I'm not a big fan of pocket sets but this one certainly looks nice!

9th Mar 2006, 8:00 pm	#3
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: Bush Transistor 7 - TR114 Thanks Josh, And I like it too, it is a nice looking little radio, and considerably better built than those radios of similar size imported from the Far East in the 1960s ! Howard

10th Mar 2006, 6:05 pm	#4
JoshWard Octode Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Near Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 1,962	Re: Bush Transistor 7 - TR114 I might have to get one. At least my parents can't moan about the size of it!

9th May 2008, 7:05 am	#5
camtechman Nonode Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Milton Keynes, Bucks. UK. Posts: 2,552	Re: Bush Transistor 7 - TR114 Hi Howard, Yep, I know this reply is quite some time after you posted your original thread but, having just got one of these radios, I thought I'd confirm what a little beauty it is. Nice sound & good sensitivity. The only problem is that some of the lettering on the tuning scale has worn away, so it looks like a job for sometime in the future. One thing I would question is the case....the one I have, although it looks like leather & was described as such in the auction, was infact a rexine/vinyl type material but, if you didn't give it a very close look, you would have assumed it to be leather. A quick water test proved it wasn't leather.