Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

BrightEmitter · 30th Aug 2015, 2:22 pm

Hello everyone, I am new and yesterday I bought a battered "Ever Ready Sky Baby" in an indoor market for £9. It is complete and even had the last battery fitted (and all the valves are "Ever Ready" originals), an Exide DM541 which is in good condition but (unsurprisingly) dead.

First thing I did was to connect up 10 x PP3s and a "D" call into a jury rigged battery and connected it to the battery connector using small choc block terminals - the valves lit up but nothing from the speaker. Tests with a meter revealed that the output transformer has an open circuit primary.

Today I removed the core from the transformer (very waxy and smelly - thank goodness it didn't have interleaved laminations!) and unwound the secondary - 56 turns in three layers - and then decided to see how far "in" is the break. If it was buried deep somewhere it'd be curtains. I removed the wax paper from the primary and the break was a small blue blob 10 turns in on the upper layer. Rebuilt the transformer and re-installed it. switched on and I can now receive one station on LW and one on MW - oh after cleaning the rust off the valve pins and holder of the DK96.

My question is - what next to make it better? I have a sound knowledge of electronics but am unfamiliar with this set. What components should I look at / change to get it back working again. It'll always be ugly but at least it could work. Also what's "that capacitor" that I've seen in some posts?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

paulsherwin · 30th Aug 2015, 4:34 pm

Firstly clean the wavechange contacts very thoroughly with Servisol.

Clean the valve pins and sockets with Servisol.

Change all the capacitors betwee 0.001uF and 0.1uF. Any modern types with suitable ratings will do but some look better than others and are easier to fit. 'That capacitor' is the output valve grid coupling cap.

Check all the resistors and change any that are more than 20% out.

If performance is still poor after all that, you probably need to look for low emission valves, which is most easily done by substitution with known good valves.

Battery sets like these do perform reasonably well once sorted out.

BrightEmitter · 30th Aug 2015, 5:34 pm

Thanks!

BrightEmitter · 1st Sep 2015, 12:54 pm

Right - cleaned the valve sockets and pins and re-made the connection to the output valve grid which was poor and now (having replaced no components) the audio output is truly huge on the few stations that I can receive - the set is also very directional but for an early ferrite rod aerial I can accept that. The problem now is one of sensitivity. The stations that I get on LW and MW are reasonably free of distortion and I've adjusted the IF and trimmers for max volume on a quiet station. Any tips for improved sensitivity on this set?

Ed_Dinning · 1st Sep 2015, 9:45 pm

Look at the high value resistors in the AVC circuit and if they have gone high change them as well as caps that might have gone slightly leaky in this circuit. It will certainly pull the sensitivity down.
Any other resistors that have gone more than 20% high should also be changed.

Ed

paulsherwin · 1st Sep 2015, 10:31 pm

Check that the MW and LW coils are positioned correctly on the ferrite rod - there should be an obvious peak as you slide them one way or the other.

These sets were never designed for long distance reception so you should only expect to receive the major stations well. Where you are this will include R4 and RTE1 on LW plus R5, Talksport and Absolute plus maybe some locals on MW.

You should really do a proper RF and IF alignment using a signal generator rather than twiddling and hoping for the best. If you don't have a signal generator, see this document.

BrightEmitter · 16th Apr 2016, 12:28 pm

UPDATE - I have made the best of the Sky Baby as-is and regularly listen to the few stations that it can receive well. I have replaced nothing and enjoy listening to it as it was made in the fifties. Yes it's ugly and insensitive but I'll bet I'm the only person in Cheshire listening to a battery four-valver and the battery life is impressive. The filament battery is two, parallel D cells (Used to be called U2s I remember) and has provided hours up to now of listening. I'll be on the lookout for other sets as they sometimes appear. My "96" valved set was state of the art before transistors I understand so earlier sets will probably be worse battery wise. Ironic that so many early transistor sets are now useless due to metallic hair growth inside their AF117s but my valves glow on...

AC/HL · 16th Apr 2016, 1:53 pm

The period between 96 valves and 11x transistors is quite interesting. There were several UK volume manufacturers of Transistors, as well as the usual Mullard, and all are likely to be either still working or the host radios quite restorable. There were also a few hybrid sets.

16th Apr 2016, 3:16 pm

Quote:

I'll bet I'm the only person in Cheshire listening to a battery four-valver

Maybe not, lets do a 'is there life in the universe' Drake type sum. Here goes...

One in a thousand people collect and use old radios.
A quarter have battery valve sets.
Those that do listen a few times a year (say 1/100th of a year)
There are 86 counties in the UK (say 100 for simplicity)
And 60 million people.

That is 1000*4*100*100 all divided by 60,000,000, about 1.5 people, yes a fair guess.

30th Aug 2015, 2:22 pm	#1
BrightEmitter Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Chester, Cheshire, UK. Posts: 5	Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? Hello everyone, I am new and yesterday I bought a battered "Ever Ready Sky Baby" in an indoor market for £9. It is complete and even had the last battery fitted (and all the valves are "Ever Ready" originals), an Exide DM541 which is in good condition but (unsurprisingly) dead. First thing I did was to connect up 10 x PP3s and a "D" call into a jury rigged battery and connected it to the battery connector using small choc block terminals - the valves lit up but nothing from the speaker. Tests with a meter revealed that the output transformer has an open circuit primary. Today I removed the core from the transformer (very waxy and smelly - thank goodness it didn't have interleaved laminations!) and unwound the secondary - 56 turns in three layers - and then decided to see how far "in" is the break. If it was buried deep somewhere it'd be curtains. I removed the wax paper from the primary and the break was a small blue blob 10 turns in on the upper layer. Rebuilt the transformer and re-installed it. switched on and I can now receive one station on LW and one on MW - oh after cleaning the rust off the valve pins and holder of the DK96. My question is - what next to make it better? I have a sound knowledge of electronics but am unfamiliar with this set. What components should I look at / change to get it back working again. It'll always be ugly but at least it could work. Also what's "that capacitor" that I've seen in some posts? Any suggestions gratefully received.

30th Aug 2015, 4:34 pm	#2
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,970	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? Firstly clean the wavechange contacts very thoroughly with Servisol. Clean the valve pins and sockets with Servisol. Change all the capacitors betwee 0.001uF and 0.1uF. Any modern types with suitable ratings will do but some look better than others and are easier to fit. 'That capacitor' is the output valve grid coupling cap. Check all the resistors and change any that are more than 20% out. If performance is still poor after all that, you probably need to look for low emission valves, which is most easily done by substitution with known good valves. Battery sets like these do perform reasonably well once sorted out.

30th Aug 2015, 5:34 pm	#3
BrightEmitter Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Chester, Cheshire, UK. Posts: 5	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? Thanks! Last edited by Station X; 30th Aug 2015 at 8:57 pm. Reason: There's no need to quote the previous post in full.

1st Sep 2015, 12:54 pm	#4
BrightEmitter Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Chester, Cheshire, UK. Posts: 5	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? Right - cleaned the valve sockets and pins and re-made the connection to the output valve grid which was poor and now (having replaced no components) the audio output is truly huge on the few stations that I can receive - the set is also very directional but for an early ferrite rod aerial I can accept that. The problem now is one of sensitivity. The stations that I get on LW and MW are reasonably free of distortion and I've adjusted the IF and trimmers for max volume on a quiet station. Any tips for improved sensitivity on this set?

1st Sep 2015, 9:45 pm	#5
Ed_Dinning Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, UK. Posts: 8,195	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? Look at the high value resistors in the AVC circuit and if they have gone high change them as well as caps that might have gone slightly leaky in this circuit. It will certainly pull the sensitivity down. Any other resistors that have gone more than 20% high should also be changed. Ed

1st Sep 2015, 10:31 pm	#6
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,970	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? Check that the MW and LW coils are positioned correctly on the ferrite rod - there should be an obvious peak as you slide them one way or the other. These sets were never designed for long distance reception so you should only expect to receive the major stations well. Where you are this will include R4 and RTE1 on LW plus R5, Talksport and Absolute plus maybe some locals on MW. You should really do a proper RF and IF alignment using a signal generator rather than twiddling and hoping for the best. If you don't have a signal generator, see this document.

16th Apr 2016, 12:28 pm	#7
BrightEmitter Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Chester, Cheshire, UK. Posts: 5	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? UPDATE - I have made the best of the Sky Baby as-is and regularly listen to the few stations that it can receive well. I have replaced nothing and enjoy listening to it as it was made in the fifties. Yes it's ugly and insensitive but I'll bet I'm the only person in Cheshire listening to a battery four-valver and the battery life is impressive. The filament battery is two, parallel D cells (Used to be called U2s I remember) and has provided hours up to now of listening. I'll be on the lookout for other sets as they sometimes appear. My "96" valved set was state of the art before transistors I understand so earlier sets will probably be worse battery wise. Ironic that so many early transistor sets are now useless due to metallic hair growth inside their AF117s but my valves glow on...

16th Apr 2016, 1:53 pm	#8
AC/HL Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 9,642	Re: Ever Ready Sky Baby - what next? The period between 96 valves and 11x transistors is quite interesting. There were several UK volume manufacturers of Transistors, as well as the usual Mullard, and all are likely to be either still working or the host radios quite restorable. There were also a few hybrid sets.