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Old 28th Jan 2011, 7:11 pm   #1
davegsm82
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Default Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

I bought this Rad 15 from a local boot sale for about £1, complete with roberts PU9 power supply and some home-made battery-snap adapter.

As you can see from the pictures, it was in an incredibly sorry state. The aluminium on the top had been exposed to Sunlight, chemicals and probably some abrasive cleaner at some point. Due to this, all of the print on the top is fading or missing.

Because of the elements this thing has been exposed to, the clear dial plastic was no longer clear, you couldn't really see the pointer. The previous owner had cut out the aluminium strip from between 2 of the clear bits, the plastic here had also started to cloud over too.

The wooden cover on the back had peeled away to reveal the vent holes in the back of the case, the plastic 'foot' of the radio had been smashed and glued at some point.

Tuning control was tight, vol/tone pots both scratchy, everything generally grubby/greasy and to top it off, someone had tried to lubricate things with something akin to motor oil. This was all over the inside of the case. Clearly it was somewhat unloved.

So then, a member on here kindly offered me a spare case he had laying about. The main bits inside were cleaned up, tuning components greased, pots treated with servisol and all of the buttons/knobs cleaned with 'Ultrasolve'.

Many people wouldn't bother with an old fidelity, the speaker is small, the sound is poor and very unconvincing mainly due to the hollow plastic case and quite possibly the output circuitry which seems to have poor balance on the tone pot.

My grandma had one of these in the kitchen when I was about 10, for whatever reason I ended up destroying it, taken apart and quite possibly made into a crystal radio. I felt bad about this ever since so this is my repayment

The last picture is of where it temporarily resides in my kitchen (admittedly where my R900 sits normally, but thats broken).

Dave.
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Old 28th Jan 2011, 7:45 pm   #2
Mark the Mender
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Well done with this one, actually I quite like the RAD series and have a 15 in the living room.

cheers Mark
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Old 28th Jan 2011, 7:55 pm   #3
Steve_P
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

They do work well and many have lasted. Fidelity stuff does not pretend to be more than what it is. Worth keeping going and well done.

Cheers,

Steve P,
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Old 28th Jan 2011, 8:30 pm   #4
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

It always seemed to me that Fidelity tried to ape the posh 'continental' style like that of Tandberg (lots of wooden slatting and aluminium extrusion), but spending pennies instead of pounds. It tended to look cheap, which it was I suppose.
They worked OK, but I seem to remember a spate of repairs complaining of rustling and crackling or sometimes distorted/no audio, and it was always the tantalum caps.
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Old 28th Jan 2011, 9:22 pm   #5
davegsm82
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Luckily the sound on this one is spot on as far as actual electrical reproduction is concerned, its just slightly disappointing what comes out of the speaker when its coupled with the 'tinny' case.

I think I would like to replace the speaker with something better, however space is a slight issue in the case.

Reception isn't bad, however its weaker than the R900 which is a bit disappointing as it is positioned right up against a wall so you need the antenna fully extended crossing the kitchen window to receive reasonable sound, this looks a little awkward. Not sure if it needs re-aligning or if the performance is simply just a little poor.

Andrew, I cant recall seeing any Tantalum caps in there? only liquorice allsorts and electrolytics.

Dave.
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Old 28th Jan 2011, 11:43 pm   #6
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Dave, perhaps I'm mixing the 15 up with another (possibly smaller) model - was there a Rad 10? 12? Gosh, how memories fade...
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Old 29th Jan 2011, 12:16 am   #7
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Never a 10 - the 11 came first, then 12 (which was a bit smaller, LW/MW only), 14 (quite scarce), 15, 16 and so on with occasional gaps up to something close to 30. Nice to see this one looking good and back in service

Paul
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Old 29th Jan 2011, 1:13 am   #8
Guitarist28
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Well done Dave,
Smashing restoration and only a pound to boot (excuse the pun!).

Regards

Rob
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Old 29th Jan 2011, 2:51 pm   #9
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Nice job! I really must get on with restoring mine, now that I've finally unearthed it

I've also got a soft spot for these - I bought one back in 1983 - also for £1, but I guess that pound was worth a bit more back then (it was my pocket money for the whole week IIRC). Of all the sets that I'd met at the time, it was one of the best - probably my first with FM. It sounded great when fed through my Bush record player! Like you, I also ended up trashing it I'm sure that's one of the reasons why many of us start collecting radios and other things from our childhood.

My step-dad had a RAD21, and I remember that being quite nice - I'd love to find one of those to restore...

It's not surprising that it's a bit insensitive compared to the Roberts, which is full of ICs. Also, the "Lockfit" transistors can go a bit low-gain and/or noisy with age - these were used by everyone at the time, so not really Fidelity's fault.

So, what's next?

Mark
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Old 30th Jan 2011, 1:14 pm   #10
davegsm82
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Next? Fix my R900 I think, then maybe electrically check over the Rad 15 as the volume appeared to be drifting up and down a bit yesterday so I suspect it still has problems. Its still nice to use when i'm doing the dishes though.

I have a little AC/DC PYE valve radio (can't remember the model) which does work, however the FM drifts horrendously, i've no idea where to start with this one even though I have the manual.

It has a knackered grille cloth and no back cover either, as well as a tatty case which has been painted brown, not sure if this is original but in places the paint is chipped and you can see a nice dark black underneath. This might be next.
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Old 30th Jan 2011, 1:30 pm   #11
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Default Re: Fidelity Rad 15 - Restoration/re-case.

Good work Dave

These were cheap and cheerful sets back in the late 1960s so they're not exactly robustly built. I rebuilt one out of 5 scrap sets a few years back and it still works well, which is all that matters.

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