When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? - Page 4 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

G6Tanuki · 28th May 2020, 8:34 pm

I always liked the Radio1 247 jingles; years of following the Radio1 Road Show around coastal towns like Lowestoft, Filey, Paignton, Weston-Super-Mare - and once actually getting on-stage to guess the "Smiley-Miley" mileage contest [photographic evidence exists of me-and-DLT to support this, but I failed to guess the right mileage] must have damaged me.

Pragmatically, I always wince when radio-stations announce themselves as "97 to 99 FM" without specifying the units.

Richard_FM · 28th May 2020, 11:50 pm

Reading confusingly had a radio station called Two-Ten FM, which was the frequency in metres of the original ILR when it started on MW.

mark2collection · 29th May 2020, 9:08 am

Without wishing to hijack, I suppose another question to add to the original post could include, when did some FM receivers have 'Log' on their dials?

I don't have one to hand, but at work my daily driver in the lab is a Leak 2000, which for FM I think goes from 0 to 10(?) it also has the usual units we're familiar with today. Curiously, not all Leak 2000's had this feature on the dial.

Another unit, not to hand, is the only music centre I have, a Winthronic 'President' which also has a Log scale. Perhaps a 70's thing?

Mark

Herald1360 · 29th May 2020, 10:34 am

More of a throwback to the early days of wireless when the only scale was a logging one. Often 0-100, sometimes 0-180 (degrees of condenser rotation). You could record station dial positions in your reception log for posterity or at any rate convenience- especially if the set was one with multiple (unganged) tuning stages!

The HRO was a notable logging scale only (0-500) set though it did provide frequency conversion graphs on the individual coilpacks.

Graham G3ZVT · 29th May 2020, 4:45 pm

A random page from an old logbook of mine showing the logging scale degrees and position of the band-switch of my R107 receiver.

G6Tanuki · 29th May 2020, 5:05 pm

Yes, 'logging' scales are part of pretty much every communications-receiver; for example my Eddystone 840A has two!

One being a linear scale (paradoxically calibrated 0 to 2500) along the bottom of the main tuning-window, the other being a small rather higher-geared circular one visible through a small cutout in the top of the tuning-scale, which is calibrated 0 to 100

So you can set the linear one to, say, 650 as a rough indicator then keep on tuning to get the little one to read 85....

28th May 2020, 8:34 pm	#61
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,998	Re: When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? I always liked the Radio1 247 jingles; years of following the Radio1 Road Show around coastal towns like Lowestoft, Filey, Paignton, Weston-Super-Mare - and once actually getting on-stage to guess the "Smiley-Miley" mileage contest [photographic evidence exists of me-and-DLT to support this, but I failed to guess the right mileage] must have damaged me. Pragmatically, I always wince when radio-stations announce themselves as "97 to 99 FM" without specifying the units.

28th May 2020, 11:50 pm	#62
Richard_FM Nonode Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK. Posts: 2,002	Re: When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? Reading confusingly had a radio station called Two-Ten FM, which was the frequency in metres of the original ILR when it started on MW. __________________ Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again?

29th May 2020, 9:08 am	#63
mark2collection Hexode Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Royal Berkshire, UK. Posts: 471	Re: When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? Without wishing to hijack, I suppose another question to add to the original post could include, when did some FM receivers have 'Log' on their dials? I don't have one to hand, but at work my daily driver in the lab is a Leak 2000, which for FM I think goes from 0 to 10(?) it also has the usual units we're familiar with today. Curiously, not all Leak 2000's had this feature on the dial. Another unit, not to hand, is the only music centre I have, a Winthronic 'President' which also has a Log scale. Perhaps a 70's thing? Mark __________________ Slowly turning the 'to-do', into 'ta-dah'

29th May 2020, 10:34 am	#64
Herald1360 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK. Posts: 16,535	Re: When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? More of a throwback to the early days of wireless when the only scale was a logging one. Often 0-100, sometimes 0-180 (degrees of condenser rotation). You could record station dial positions in your reception log for posterity or at any rate convenience- especially if the set was one with multiple (unganged) tuning stages! The HRO was a notable logging scale only (0-500) set though it did provide frequency conversion graphs on the individual coilpacks. __________________ ....__________ ....\|____\|\|__\|__\_____ .=.\| _---\__\|__\|_---_\|. .........O..Chris....O

29th May 2020, 4:45 pm	#65
Graham G3ZVT Dekatron Join Date: May 2010 Location: Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 18,713	Re: When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? A random page from an old logbook of mine showing the logging scale degrees and position of the band-switch of my R107 receiver. Attached Thumbnails __________________ -- Graham. G3ZVT

29th May 2020, 5:05 pm	#66
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,998	Re: When did tuning dials change from Metres to kHz? Yes, 'logging' scales are part of pretty much every communications-receiver; for example my Eddystone 840A has two! One being a linear scale (paradoxically calibrated 0 to 2500) along the bottom of the main tuning-window, the other being a small rather higher-geared circular one visible through a small cutout in the top of the tuning-scale, which is calibrated 0 to 100 So you can set the linear one to, say, 650 as a rough indicator then keep on tuning to get the little one to read 85....