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Old 12th Apr 2020, 7:43 pm   #1
MurphyNut
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Default Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

I’ve always liked the neat compact styling of this radio, it dates from 1948 and I guess it was one of those “second sets” manufactures were encouraging the public to buy. Probably destine more for the bedroom or kitchen rather than the living room where a more expensive and larger set would have had pride of space.
I had owned this set many years so I felt it was time to bring it back to life. The first step was to replace all the capacitors this was straight forward apart from the smoothing capacitor 16 + 16 uf. This had a poor reading so I decided to remove the contents of the can and put the new ones inside. A good reason to do this was due to lack of space in the cabinet. This capacitor is neatly mounted on a bracket on the rear of the loudspeaker separate from the chassis
This got the radios working really well; I’m often disappointed with the sound from small Bakelite sets, they look pretty but harsh in tone. This one is much better than the average and pleasant to listen to. I think in part due to the speaker being screwed to the inside of the cabinet rather than mounted on the chassis and pushed up to the speaker aperture.
The next job was to sort out the very faded tuning scale. This is actually printed onto a Bakelite panel about 2mm thick. The black printed text /images were good but the red (MW) had faded so much it was almost illegible, the green (LW) wasn’t too bad.
Luckily this panel was easily removed, just held in place by 3 screws. I simply scanned the scale and imported the image into Microsoft paint. I zoomed in on the type and replaced the faint lettering with newly typed out station names. As my spelling isn’t fantastic I made a note of each station name before I blanked it out and superimposed the new text over the top. I found a typeface close to the original.
After doing all the red the green type didn’t match as well as I hoped so I redid this as well, one last thing I did was import the new image into a program to adjust the overall colour cast; it just needed to look a bit aged so it was yellowed a little.
I printed it onto a good quality “photo gloss” paper and simply placed over the top of the original panel. As this paper is thick, more like card it sits very well in place held in place by those 3 screws.
I’m very pleased with the result, it doesn’t look new and I feel it would pass as the original that had survived in good condition.
This problem of the faded tuning scale seems to be common with this model. So if anyone has this issue with their set I can print off one for you.
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Old 14th Apr 2020, 1:54 pm   #2
Beardyman
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Default Re: Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

What a brilliant result!
I've got one of these in my collection & there is something about them that makes them quite endearing. When first powered up after the obligatory changing of waxy's etc there came a perfumed aroma not unlike talcum powder!! It must have been in a bedroom or the like, it didn't take long for the dropper to burn off the dust. I must re-visit mine as I remember thinking at the time that it was running darn hot!
Regardless, congratulations on an innovative solution, it certainly looks the part!
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Old 17th Apr 2020, 4:29 pm   #3
IanBland
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Default Re: Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

That's a really nice result, it looks very natural in place.
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Old 17th Apr 2020, 6:38 pm   #4
Nickthedentist
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Default Re: Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

Lovely work! Rare set, I’ve never seen one before.

Well done.
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Old 17th Apr 2020, 11:34 pm   #5
KeithsTV
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Default Re: Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

I had a scrap 47X given to me by the local Radio & TV shop back in the mid 60s. There was no way I could get it to work so stripped down what was left of it. I still have the speaker and knobs since used for other projects.

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Old 18th Apr 2020, 9:20 am   #6
ajs37
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Default Re: Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

Great result! I have been after one of these for a long time, but they rarely appear! Love the tuning scale - well done!
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Old 24th Apr 2020, 9:49 pm   #7
kestrelmusic
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Default Re: Pye Model 47X tuning scale replica and restoration.

I'm impressed! I did one a few years ago for an Invicta 200 which I think has the same chassis and very similar, if not identical, case.
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