Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

MarkyP123 · 24th Mar 2018, 4:08 pm

Hi,

I'm new to this forum & joined because of what I bought at an auction this morning for £20, and would like more information. I won the auction for 3 portable radios.

They are an Alba 101, an Ekco portable red/cream transistor radio, and the subject of this thread, an Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio.

I have no idea if any of these work as I don't have the right batteries. The Ekco seems quite popular but can't find much info about the other two (apart from on Radio Museum website). The Sky Monarch does not have a back on it unfortunately. Any info would be appreciated. TIA.

AC/HL · 24th Mar 2018, 4:24 pm

Hi Mark, and welcome.
The Sky Monarch is quite a rare radio I believe, there weren't many valve portable FM radios made here. You're in the right place for information and help with it though.

The other two are fairly common, separate threads (with pictures if possible) will keep things straight forward.

MarkyP123 · 24th Mar 2018, 4:35 pm

Thanks, I will do that.

MarkyP123 · 24th Mar 2018, 4:55 pm

Here are a couple of pics of the Sky Monarch. Not in the best of conditions, but everything seems to be in place, except no back. All dials still work including the wavelength dial, though that is a bit stiff. Can't test it as I'm aware these batteries are no longer available. I've heard of people stringing 10 9v batteries together, but i'm not risking it. Will probably sell on.

TonyDuell · 24th Mar 2018, 5:27 pm

I've heard it jokingly (?) said that the Sky Monarch was made so that Ever Ready could sell many (Ever Ready) batteries for it. I suspect with that number of valves that battery life was not that long.

More seriously, 10 9V (pp3 type) batteries in series is a perfectly good replacement for the HT battery in such radios. The main risk of damage to the radio comes from an incorrect LT battery. This was almost always 1.5V in battery-only sets (often consisting of several cells in parallel) and supplies the filaments of the valves. If a higher voltage is used, or the HT battery is incorrectly connected to the connections fo the LT battery then all the valve fillaments will burn out, ruining the valves. About half of the (much simpler) portable valve radios I get have suffered from this.

If you want to get it going (and I think it is worth it) then I am sure people here will help you do it with no danger to you or the set.

Cobaltblue · 24th Mar 2018, 5:32 pm

Hi Mark

The Sky Monarch AM/FM is indeed a rare set.

Could you advise me of the serial number please.

A member of other forums has been collating the serial numbers of these sets I think this is the sixth one known

Mine can be seen on this page.

http://www.cossor.co.uk/about-me-and...r-battery-sets

About half way down on the left.

Cheers

Mike T

MarkyP123 · 24th Mar 2018, 6:03 pm

Thanks for the help so far. It's serial number is V 1945. So pleased to know I now have the 6th one known to exist.

kalee20 · 24th Mar 2018, 8:15 pm

Flipping heck! A Sky Monarch for £20! On eBay it would have gone for 10 times that!

Can you get any history of it, who the original owner was, etc? At the time they were made, VHF/FM coverage was not widespread. And by the time it was, most places had mains electricity anyway, so the market for sideboard battery FM sets was rather small - isolated houses and farms.

I have one, it works well. I'm running off batteries (of course!) via a stabilised converter.

You'll have a few Forum members green with envy...

Ed_Dinning · 24th Mar 2018, 8:26 pm

Hi Mark, you can, as has been suggested run the set on PP3 batteries, but if you have the skills there have been numerous designs for mains units to power battery sets such as this. It comes out much cheaper.

Ed

MarkyP123 · 24th Mar 2018, 8:46 pm

If I use PP3 batteries for the 90v HT, what about the 1.5v LT?

MarkyP123 · 24th Mar 2018, 8:51 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalee20

Can you get any history of it, who the original owner was, etc? At the time they were made, VHF/FM coverage was not widespread. And by the time it was, most places had mains electricity anyway, so the market for sideboard battery FM sets was rather small - isolated houses and farms.

I knew nothing of this radio when I bought it. Thought I made a massive mistake. I thought the transformer was missing until I found out it is a battery operated. It has no back, but I suppose this is easily fixed if necessary. I will try to research who owned it. I think it was a collector of battery radios, seeing as the other 2 I got are battery ones.

Cobaltblue · 24th Mar 2018, 8:52 pm

You can use a couple of D cells in parallel.

You can get away with one the LT current is around 300mA

But longer life with 2

Cheers

Mike T

60 oldjohn · 24th Mar 2018, 9:07 pm

I would suggest getting the 1.5 v LT sorted before connecting the 90v. A wrong connection here could destroy an expensive set of valves in a fraction of a second. With a new set of PP3s you may get away with 9 batteries I would expect the set to run on 80 v measure the voltage when on load. A new PP3 is around 10v

Philips210 · 24th Mar 2018, 9:11 pm

A very interesting and rare set.
I notice it has a DM70 tuning indicator (magic eye) quite an unusual feature on a battery only receiver.

For my battery valve receivers, I built this power supply design https://www.vintage-radio.com/projec...y-set-psu.html and find it to be very useful

Regards
Symon

Philips210 · 24th Mar 2018, 9:53 pm

Hi

A couple of pics attached of my battery valve power supply (ref Paul Stenning's circuit in link on post #14)

Regards
Symon.

vinrads · 24th Mar 2018, 9:59 pm

Wow! that is very neat Symon was it a specially wound tx Mick.

Philips210 · 24th Mar 2018, 10:11 pm

Hi Mick.

Thanks for that. The mains transformer is actually a standard 0-15 0-15 12VA type. One winding feeds the LT regulator for the valve filaments. The other winding feeds a voltage multiplier to obtain the 90V HT. The circuit details are in the link in post #14.

Regards
Symon.

Stuart R · 24th Mar 2018, 10:32 pm

I built one of Paul's PSU circuits, the neatest bit was finding a dealer at NVCF* who had some Paxolin sockets that mated exactly with the Ever Ready blue battery plug. Once wired and tested, there's no chance of me accidentally crossing HT and LT connections in my old Ever Ready set.

*Mark, should you be bitten by this Vintage Radio bug, NVCF is a great event to visit for spare parts - or even buy more radios to play with.

SR

Philips210 · 24th Mar 2018, 11:00 pm

Very nice. That's a good idea using the correct polarised paxolin sockets. It's something I could add to my psu to suit the various battery connection possibilities. As you say, it avoids mistakes when connecting to the radio.

Regards
Symon

Top Cap · 24th Mar 2018, 11:00 pm

Service data here Mark:-
https://www.service-data.com/section...-monarch-am-fm
only £1.99 and all goes to help the Forum.

24th Mar 2018, 4:24 pm	#2
AC/HL Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 9,642	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Hi Mark, and welcome. The Sky Monarch is quite a rare radio I believe, there weren't many valve portable FM radios made here. You're in the right place for information and help with it though. The other two are fairly common, separate threads (with pictures if possible) will keep things straight forward.

24th Mar 2018, 4:35 pm	#3
MarkyP123 Diode Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 7	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Thanks, I will do that.

24th Mar 2018, 4:55 pm	#4
MarkyP123 Diode Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 7	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Here are a couple of pics of the Sky Monarch. Not in the best of conditions, but everything seems to be in place, except no back. All dials still work including the wavelength dial, though that is a bit stiff. Can't test it as I'm aware these batteries are no longer available. I've heard of people stringing 10 9v batteries together, but i'm not risking it. Will probably sell on. Attached Thumbnails

24th Mar 2018, 5:27 pm	#5
TonyDuell Dekatron Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK. Posts: 5,208	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio I've heard it jokingly (?) said that the Sky Monarch was made so that Ever Ready could sell many (Ever Ready) batteries for it. I suspect with that number of valves that battery life was not that long. More seriously, 10 9V (pp3 type) batteries in series is a perfectly good replacement for the HT battery in such radios. The main risk of damage to the radio comes from an incorrect LT battery. This was almost always 1.5V in battery-only sets (often consisting of several cells in parallel) and supplies the filaments of the valves. If a higher voltage is used, or the HT battery is incorrectly connected to the connections fo the LT battery then all the valve fillaments will burn out, ruining the valves. About half of the (much simpler) portable valve radios I get have suffered from this. If you want to get it going (and I think it is worth it) then I am sure people here will help you do it with no danger to you or the set.

24th Mar 2018, 5:32 pm	#6
Cobaltblue Moderator Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Exeter, Devon and Poole, Dorset UK. Posts: 6,857	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Hi Mark The Sky Monarch AM/FM is indeed a rare set. Could you advise me of the serial number please. A member of other forums has been collating the serial numbers of these sets I think this is the sixth one known Mine can be seen on this page. http://www.cossor.co.uk/about-me-and...r-battery-sets About half way down on the left. Cheers Mike T __________________ Invisible airwaves crackle with life or at least they used to Mike T BVWS member. www.cossor.co.uk

24th Mar 2018, 4:08 pm	#1
MarkyP123 Diode Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 7	Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Hi, I'm new to this forum & joined because of what I bought at an auction this morning for £20, and would like more information. I won the auction for 3 portable radios. They are an Alba 101, an Ekco portable red/cream transistor radio, and the subject of this thread, an Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio. I have no idea if any of these work as I don't have the right batteries. The Ekco seems quite popular but can't find much info about the other two (apart from on Radio Museum website). The Sky Monarch does not have a back on it unfortunately. Any info would be appreciated. TIA.

24th Mar 2018, 6:03 pm	#7
MarkyP123 Diode Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 7	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Thanks for the help so far. It's serial number is V 1945. So pleased to know I now have the 6th one known to exist.

24th Mar 2018, 8:15 pm	#8
kalee20 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK. Posts: 7,077	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Flipping heck! A Sky Monarch for £20! On eBay it would have gone for 10 times that! Can you get any history of it, who the original owner was, etc? At the time they were made, VHF/FM coverage was not widespread. And by the time it was, most places had mains electricity anyway, so the market for sideboard battery FM sets was rather small - isolated houses and farms. I have one, it works well. I'm running off batteries (of course!) via a stabilised converter. You'll have a few Forum members green with envy...

24th Mar 2018, 8:26 pm	#9
Ed_Dinning Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, UK. Posts: 8,194	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Hi Mark, you can, as has been suggested run the set on PP3 batteries, but if you have the skills there have been numerous designs for mains units to power battery sets such as this. It comes out much cheaper. Ed

24th Mar 2018, 8:46 pm	#10
MarkyP123 Diode Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 7	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio If I use PP3 batteries for the 90v HT, what about the 1.5v LT?

24th Mar 2018, 8:52 pm	#12
Cobaltblue Moderator Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Exeter, Devon and Poole, Dorset UK. Posts: 6,857	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio You can use a couple of D cells in parallel. You can get away with one the LT current is around 300mA But longer life with 2 Cheers Mike T __________________ Invisible airwaves crackle with life or at least they used to Mike T BVWS member. www.cossor.co.uk

24th Mar 2018, 9:07 pm	#13
60 oldjohn Dekatron Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 3,985	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio I would suggest getting the 1.5 v LT sorted before connecting the 90v. A wrong connection here could destroy an expensive set of valves in a fraction of a second. With a new set of PP3s you may get away with 9 batteries I would expect the set to run on 80 v measure the voltage when on load. A new PP3 is around 10v Last edited by 60 oldjohn; 24th Mar 2018 at 9:13 pm. Reason: Added last sentence

24th Mar 2018, 9:11 pm	#14
Philips210 Nonode Join Date: May 2007 Location: Redruth, Cornwall, UK. Posts: 2,573	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio A very interesting and rare set. I notice it has a DM70 tuning indicator (magic eye) quite an unusual feature on a battery only receiver. For my battery valve receivers, I built this power supply design https://www.vintage-radio.com/projec...y-set-psu.html and find it to be very useful Regards Symon Last edited by Philips210; 24th Mar 2018 at 9:30 pm. Reason: text rewrite

24th Mar 2018, 9:53 pm	#15
Philips210 Nonode Join Date: May 2007 Location: Redruth, Cornwall, UK. Posts: 2,573	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Hi A couple of pics attached of my battery valve power supply (ref Paul Stenning's circuit in link on post #14) Regards Symon. Attached Thumbnails

24th Mar 2018, 9:59 pm	#16
vinrads Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 3,754	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Wow! that is very neat Symon was it a specially wound tx Mick.

24th Mar 2018, 10:11 pm	#17
Philips210 Nonode Join Date: May 2007 Location: Redruth, Cornwall, UK. Posts: 2,573	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Hi Mick. Thanks for that. The mains transformer is actually a standard 0-15 0-15 12VA type. One winding feeds the LT regulator for the valve filaments. The other winding feeds a voltage multiplier to obtain the 90V HT. The circuit details are in the link in post #14. Regards Symon. Last edited by Philips210; 24th Mar 2018 at 10:19 pm.

24th Mar 2018, 10:32 pm	#18
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 693	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio I built one of Paul's PSU circuits, the neatest bit was finding a dealer at NVCF* who had some Paxolin sockets that mated exactly with the Ever Ready blue battery plug. Once wired and tested, there's no chance of me accidentally crossing HT and LT connections in my old Ever Ready set. *Mark, should you be bitten by this Vintage Radio bug, NVCF is a great event to visit for spare parts - or even buy more radios to play with. SR Attached Thumbnails

24th Mar 2018, 11:00 pm	#19
Philips210 Nonode Join Date: May 2007 Location: Redruth, Cornwall, UK. Posts: 2,573	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Very nice. That's a good idea using the correct polarised paxolin sockets. It's something I could add to my psu to suit the various battery connection possibilities. As you say, it avoids mistakes when connecting to the radio. Regards Symon

24th Mar 2018, 11:00 pm	#20
Top Cap Octode Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Watford, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 1,270	Re: Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM radio Service data here Mark:- https://www.service-data.com/section...-monarch-am-fm only £1.99 and all goes to help the Forum. __________________ Whether the Top Cap is Grid or Anode - touching it will give you a buzz either way!