The Repair Shop. BBC TV programme.

[nigelr2000]

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley

Tonight's was a good episode.

A lot of work went into the repair of the Olympic torch.
The burner was mentioned and its heat shield that needed replacing. It looked as if it had been at the "reveal," but it wasn't mentioned again. The end result was impressive, but " no flame." I imagine there were 'elf n' safety concerns.

I wondered why they didn't put some filler between the joints of the planks on the big wooden sign, they were visible from the ground. It's where rainwater had got in and started the rot before.

The jukebox repair, a 1980 Ami R1-3 Jewel, was far more detailed than others they've done before.

It was right that they kept the original hand-written title cards and not run off a new batch which would have been so easy to do.

I shudder to think how much this repair would have actually cost. This era of machines (circa late seventies, 1980s and later) with their computers are often considered unrepairable unless a computer from a donor machine is found.

I was impressed with the selection of records chosen by the original owner of the machine, from the brief look we got of the title cards.

I noticed a few were the same as mine, including this seventies classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmAJUOXBwTQ&t=7s

The mechanisms and electrics in mine, from 1969 and 1976, had hardly changed since the forties.

It was me doing the repair on tonight's juke box and yes the mech's not really changed only the electronics replacing the electro mechanical bits. It was an interesting one as the Juke was imported by a company from up North who saved on import duties by buying them with no amplifier installed so making it a lower tax rate. The downside is they fitted it with an inhouse designed mono amplifier with a really horrible pre-amp without even riaa equalisation. After several attempts at making it work I had to bring it back to the workshop and ended up fitting a phono pre-amp board robbed out of a Cambridge amplifier and a home made simple baxandale tone control, even the power amp was fried, an old ILP unit so we replaced it with a newer mosfet ILP unit that looked the same but was much harder to break. add a quick + and - 15 volt supply and bob's your uncle. Sounded a hundred times better than the original would have. So after weeks filming what did they like the most......soldering a battery onto the cpu board unbelievable we did far more than was shown on the program. pics of the amp here not my neatest job but it was the best I could do in the timeframe ******************************wPx8VB4h7M3ju7rX6

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by nigelr2000

It was me doing the repair on tonight's juke box and yes the mech's not really changed only the electronics replacing the electro mechanical bits. It was an interesting one as the Juke was imported by a company from up North who saved on import duties by buying them with no amplifier installed so making it a lower tax rate. The downside is they fitted it with an inhouse designed mono amplifier with a really horrible pre-amp without even riaa equalisation. After several attempts at making it work I had to bring it back to the workshop and ended up fitting a phono pre-amp board robbed out of a Cambridge amplifier and a home made simple baxandale tone control, even the power amp was fried, an old ILP unit so we replaced it with a newer mosfet ILP unit that looked the same but was much harder to break. add a quick + and - 15 volt supply and bob's your uncle. Sounded a hundred times better than the original would have. So after weeks filming what did they like the most......soldering a battery onto the cpu board unbelievable we did far more than was shown on the program. pics of the amp here not my neatest job but it was the best I could do in the timeframe ******************************wPx8VB4h7M3ju7rX6

I was well impressed with your work. I was certain it wasn't as easy as they tried to make out. The majority of the viewers probably think all the jobs are going on at the same time. "Start in the morning, done in not much more than a day."

Jukebox repairers are becoming hard to find, here in South Manchester, there's no one.

[stevehertz]

Great to have Nigel giving us an insight into the full depth of the work required to complete the work on the Jukebox, very interesting, thanks. The fact that all this behind the scenes restoration would be well above the technical and interest level of the target audience is of course the very reason why it isn't shown. The Olympic batton restoration was a pure joy from beginning to end, the guy was clearly elated at the results.

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

Great to have Nigel giving us an insight into the full depth of the work required to complete the work on the Jukebox, very interesting, thanks. The fact that all this behind the scenes restoration would be well above the technical and interest level of the target audience is of course the very reason why it isn't shown. The Olympic batton restoration was a pure joy from beginning to end, the guy was clearly elated at the results.

Yes, but as I mentioned, more detail was was shown than in previous jukebox restorations, (like the polishing of the chrome in one). The programme is more "show" than "tell" as it has to be to retain an audience.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley

Yes, but as I mentioned, more detail was was shown than in previous jukebox restorations, (like the polishing of the chrome in one). The programme is more "show" than "tell" as it has to be to retain an audience.

Er yes, that's the very point I've been making for months, but people aren't getting it, they seem to think that it should show much more detail, should not 'gloss over' problems that are obvious to the likes of us 'experts', and should not show peoples' emotions. The latter being a fundamental part of the programme's 'design' and the reason why the entry 'qualifications' are not just for someone to get a freebie restoration; there has to be an interesting, historical background story. Personally I'm quite able to take off my pure technical hat for the duration of the programme, sit back and enjoy it, and as a matter of fact, also learn some restoration techniques, which I always do. It's a lovely programme. And don't forget, there are a lot of worse programmes on the TV, be careful what you wish for, let's be glad for this one that ticks a lot of boxes!

[em536716]

Just adding my personal thoughts about the repair shop in this thread

I’ve seen some very questionable things regarding non electronic item repairs, on the show, but mostly the electronic stuff, including a few, in my opinion, awful conversions…

Surely an interstage transformer is easy enough to replace, on its own? I’m sure the chap who does these repairs, is talented in his own field but I feel as if some of the diagnosing doesn’t occur, when it would make one’s life easier, and just blanket changing parts takes full swing instead. I was taught to ensure all parts to an extent first before you spent hours changing capacitors and so on.

An example of this was a small transistor radio which had a few breaks in the rod antenna. He repaired an obvious break, then did not bother to check the whole resistance, then spent hours changing capacitors in the hope that it would just work, only to did that the same antenna was still open in a different spot. I imagine he must’ve spent hours on this in real life. I understand we all make mistakes but surely sometimes it’s easier to repair and make do with equipment, rather than just, in this case throwing a whole different chassis in it?

The whole feeling of the repair shop gives me a very sad vibe whenever electronics are involved. I personally would love a go at repairing equipment on there. All you need is sound bites, and to look good with a multimeter and soldering iron in hand!

There was a vintage street lamp which was converted to electric years ago which was sent to the repair shop that had rotten away. Whilst most materials were rusty and beyond saving, I’m sure in remembering back that nearly the whole thing was rebuilt and to compete it was a very cheap plastic bulb holder in place of the nice brass one originally - paired with braided flex not suitable for outdoor use tied to a plug. Maybe I’m a moaning miserable fart but it just seems difficult to watch at times

[Radio Wrangler]

The repair shop programme goes on and on, and only a fall-off in viewing figures will stop it. The producers must be quite satisfied that their formula works and they're not going to change it. It is formulaic, like the same plot getting used over and over again in a western or space opera, We can expect the same schmaltz to keep being repeated.

The people bringing things keep changing, the objects keep changing, there's a fairly fixed set of primary repairers, but the weepy aspect stays the same along with the artificially-induced cliffhanger.

It's a bit like living in that oh so perfect little village with the weekly murder rate.

Easy viewing, easy programme making. Easy to moan about.

They prioritise things which make good pictures, things surrounded by stronger emotions, human interest, tension (artificial or real). Technical things are rock bottom of the priority list.

Our opinions aren't going to change a thing. It's not made for us. It does seem to work as entertainment for the people it is made for and they don't seem to moan about it.

It's a problem soluble by stopping watching it. It's so formulaic you know what sorts of things are going to keep coming around and around.

The arty-crafty sorts of repairs seemed to be done less contentiously than the electronic ones, but is that a phantasm of my own specialisation? Or is it that electronics operate invisibly, further outside the ken of the public and of TV producers?

At least it serves as a pointer showing Joe Public that things can be repaired and restored.

But the programme will continue indefinitely, and so will this thread with mostly the same criticisms being repeated. Occasionally, someone will ask themselves 'When was the last time something new was said?'

People won't put in the ever-increasing effort to check back in the ever-growing thread to see if a similar comment to what they're about to post has already been made.

It's a sort of 'Groundhog Day' circular programme, and it's inducing 'Groundhog Day' circular criticism here.

David

[stevehertz]

"it is not made for us"? Surely that's only true if all of us are only concerned with pure technical accuracy and that the past history and what items mean to families is seen as superfluous to the programme. I suspect that a great many of "us" enjoy the Repair Shop for what it is. The audience is a broad church, not just technophiles, as are we here.

[John M0GLN]

It's certainly better than a lot of the stuff on TV, what I do find a little frustrating though is when the final touches are being applied to whatever, leather, wood, metal etc the restorer reaches for a container of some anonymous elixir and then replaces it with the label obscured, I know it's the BBC which doesn't usually show ad's but other BBC programmes do, Chris Packham and his team on the Watch Series are all clad in waterproofs and fleeces emblazoned with manufacturers logos.

John

[Valvepower]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

It's a problem soluble by stopping watching it. It's so formulaic you know what sorts of things are going to keep coming around and around.

Hi,

As I said previously, I used to watch the Repair Shop, but don’t anymore, although I still have respect for the people doing the work – even had a soft spot (no pun intended) for the Bear Ladies. Going by what’s been said It’s not the easiest of gigs for the folk doing the work with the editorial constraints being placed by the format and the production requirements of the programme.

However, recent ‘life events’ have changed my emotional firmware and I’m unable to watch the reveals, so as Daid aptly put it “It's a problem soluble by stopping watching it” – and this is what I have chosen to do.

Yeah, it’s a Groundhog or Marmite programme.

Terry

[Paul Stenning]

Thank you Nigel for the details and photos. As you say the amplifier still looks mostly original from the outside but internally apart from the transformer and a couple of the smoothing capacitors it is completely replaced.

I'm sure a couple of the shots of the complete jukebox on the programme showed stereophonic labelling but I guess the importers went for a cheaper option assuming nobody would notice or care.

For me The Repair Shop is a good programme to record and watch later so I can skip through the soppy parts and back-stories etc.

The fast that it has moved from daytime (with the likes of Bargain Hunt and Homes Under The Hammer) to evening primetime says a lot for its popularity with a mainstream TV viewing audience, so it's unlikely to be going anywhere or changing significantly any time soon. The formula works!

[Paul Stenning]

One post about Chris Packham deleted. Please stay on topic.

[DonaldStott]

As Radio Wrangler succinctly put it:-

"At least it serves as a pointer showing Joe Public that things can be repaired and restored."

For me that's the main message to take away from the programme which seems to fit nicely with the overall ethos of this Forum?

[David Simpson]

Trouble is, Donald, compared to the "Bear Wifies" & the horologist chap & his sister, the art wifie, etc. - since the first series the "vintage radio mannie" have always come across as a bumbling fool. Thus "Joe Public" will regard us VR enthusiasts in the same vein. Then there is over the top pathos attached to all the poor expectant punters who enter the thatched-roofed pretend mock-up of a daily fully working multi-trade workshop.
I was under the impression that the long-running thread on the previous several series of "Repair Shop" was closed over a year ago. (Good riddance, I said). But now we have another "banging-on" thread harking back to Jan. this year.
It's just a heffing TV "Show", despised, radio-wise, by many genuine VR enthusiasts, mocked by a few more, and just attracts a handful of admirers.

Regards, David

[M0FYA Andy]

David,
If you don't like this thread, and its predecessor, why read it or post on it? The fact that it runs to eight pages demonstrates the interest it generates.
Andy

[Junk Box Nick]

Originally Posted by David Simpson

... since the first series the "vintage radio mannie" have always come across as a bumbling fool. Thus "Joe Public" will regard us VR enthusiasts in the same vein.

Amateur radio enthusiasts (and similar types of enthusiasts) have always been regarded as eccentric*. That goes back to the Tony Hancock The Radio Ham which still rankles many today. “Friends all over the world! – just none round here...”

There is plenty of ‘misrepresentation’ of trades and skills on TV. Talk to anyone with a deep skill in a particular area and they will complain about facts or portrayal or both. I know this about other programmes about subjects we don’t discuss here. Perhaps on some forum about Teddy bear repair people are fuming. At the end of the day, unless a programme is meant to instruct it must be treated as entertainment and consumable by the masses who, by and large, tend to have limited attention span to things they are not greatly interested in.

*Perhaps we are. I’ve learned to live with it. I’ve got a ‘Repair Shop’ full of projects here of all sorts. I like the idea of anything that can be repaired and if the The Repair Shop promotes this idea to a wide audience then fine. I like the idea of items getting another life and cringe when I go to the tip or look in local skips when I see the things people throw away. However, I find it necessary to make a joke about my attitude because it is a fact that I am largely at odds with with the general consensus.

When Joe Public does make a remark about an item of my old stuff soon the same comment arises: “It must be worth a lot of money.” I smile and am non-commital. If I were to tell them the truth they would only conclude that I am more bonkers than they already think I am.

I have found the discussion on here interesting. I have have learned how different people view things and found the background information enlightening in many ways.

Finally, if I don’t like a programme I don’t watch it. There are a few that I used to watch avidly I have given up. My policy is to avoid anything that annoys me.

[David Simpson]

Right enough Andy, from the first thread post back in January through to today - I've totally ignored the subject. Just happened to glance at the number of thread pages - heffing eight! From what I've seen - all just repeats of what has been said before in the previous closed thread. Surely folk can tune their minds to much more interesting GVT subjects. Brighten up our perusal of Forum & Vintage subjects.

Regards, David

[llama]

I'm noticing many more positive comments in this, the current thread, than in previous ones. And I welcome that.
Graham

[Radio Wrangler]

I suspect we're all just coming round to understanding what the programme is for

David

[ms660]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

I suspect we're all just coming round to understanding what the programme is for

Some of us came round yonks ago...

Lawrence.