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Old 5th Dec 2021, 9:42 pm   #1
g4wim_tim
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Default Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

A while ago I posted that I was looking for a vintage amatuer rx.

By good fortune I was informed there was an Eddystone EA12 for sale and it was only 5 miles away from here.

I will likely be looking for advice on how to renovate it - assuming it needs it.

73 Tim
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 10:36 pm   #2
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits....

Congrats, was this to go with your TX?

Adrian
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 10:45 pm   #3
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits....

Hi Adrian,

yes it is - I posted a thread about a year ago that I was seeking an EA12 and this one dropped into my lap.

Hopefully it's complete (full set of valves etc) and recoverable. Seems it came from a local SK, can't help but wonder who the previous owner was.

Anyway it will make for an interesting Winter renovation project.

Regards Tim
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 11:31 pm   #4
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits....

If you need any valves just ask and I will see if I have any to help.

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Old 6th Dec 2021, 1:08 am   #5
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits....

You'll have to get used to tuning up the band backwards....

Lots of little paper capacitors to change...

I'm rather fond of mine.

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Old 6th Dec 2021, 9:40 am   #6
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

This is one of the best and worthy of a complete restoration, I have one here. Very sought after I add.
Caps and reses are all highly suspect.
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Old 6th Dec 2021, 9:50 am   #7
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Thanks guys,

not sure if this is the right thread or sub forum but never having worked on one of these before I'm going to need some guidance as to what's important to look out for / change etc.

From the pictures the mains inlet socket is broken and likely the mains lead is missing - question keep it original and try and source required two pin connectors or update to a filtered IEC 'kettle' type ?

When I go to it collect I plan on giving it a quick once over to make sure it has a mains transformer and is complete with major sub assemblies etc.

73 Tim
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Old 6th Dec 2021, 11:35 am   #8
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

I had the shortwave version of this (FM bands), which was free of charge. The front looked great, and it had been stored in a dry equipment cupboard at Imperial College.

Underneath it was a nightmare. A forest of components tightly packed around the valve bases - many of which, entirely buried under other parts - were small brown tubular Hunts paper caps. Lots and lots of them. All of which had cracked and split cases. Restoration was going to be such a nightmare, I flogged it to someone who fancied a big component-level rebuild.

I don't know what the regular comms band EA12 is like in that regard.

Craig
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Old 6th Dec 2021, 12:16 pm   #9
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

There seems to be some confusion afoot.

The EA12 is a specialised, amateur bands (HF-MF) only receiver and also pre-dates the 'WARC' bands. It supports CW-AM-SSB only.

Eddystone made a number of general coverage receivers, and one of them has the same cabinet styling as the EA12, but that's where similarities end. The general coverage sets are 'shortwave' (LF, MF, HF), up to 30MHz and don't include FM.

Eddystone also made a range of VHF sets, which did demodulate FM and covered the VHF 'FM band' but they didn't cover shortwave.

The EA12 has the unusual quirk that clockwise rotation of the tuning knob DECREASES frequency (and moves the pointer rightwards on the scale).

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Old 6th Dec 2021, 5:15 pm   #10
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Ok, so I have it in my hands and I must say it's much better cosmetically than I expected. Considering it's age I'd give it a nine out of ten. No marks or signs of wear on the case and front panel. Just dusty and a bit grubby.

Internally quite dusty but hasn't been 'improved'. Full set of valves. The dial cord has come off and might be broken.

The HT PSU has a couple of 120 ohm wire wounds in series with the two rectifiers - both resistors have cracked ceramic casing but do not appear burnt - maybe just in rush surge ? Rectifiers check out ok and no obvious shorts on the HT.

I need to finish another project before I can give it a good going over but first need to find a mains lead for it.

The previous owner was G3HKU and the seller has a lot of his old gear from a house clearance.
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Old 6th Dec 2021, 7:24 pm   #11
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Power-connector wise, ther 2-pole sockets that fit onto a length of flex are long since obsolete [unless you're happy to sacrifice your firstborn].

My approach on Eddystone gear fitted with these legaxy connectors is to remove the 2-pin connector from the radio and then either expand one of the holes to take a 20mm cable-gland and fit a captive flex [put a couple of cable-ties around the flex unside of the gland to provide the 'two means of physical retention'] or a Bulgin Buccaneer connector.


The EA12 is a real classic; though to gwt it working well after more than half-a-century you'll need to do a lot of parts-replacement; wax-capacitors, the nasty Erie carbon-stick-in-a-ceramic-tube drifty-resistors, and a few inconveniently-placed AGC-line "Rat-droppings" decou0pling capacitors embedded deep in the coilpack.


Eddystone designed radios wih only 10-15 years expected lifespan; those of us reworking them after 60 years can expect problems!!
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Old 6th Dec 2021, 10:00 pm   #12
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Quote:
Originally Posted by g4wim_tim View Post
From the pictures the mains inlet socket is broken and likely the mains lead is missing - question keep it original and try and source required two pin connectors or update to a filtered IEC 'kettle' type ?
The somewhat incidental nature of the earthing contact on original Eddystone mains connectors worries me- definitely a case of safety first personally, unless it's going to be an unused shelf queen/collector's piece. A non-injurious-to-existing-metalwork solution could be a blanking plate over the mains connector oval hole with a grommet for a short stub of cable with IEC C14 line plug, I've also seen a plate cut for an IEC C6 ("laptop") panel plug used in this situation, this being small enough not to require filing/cutting of the rear panel.
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Old 6th Dec 2021, 10:10 pm   #13
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Re mains connection - one of the pins is damaged so I would need to change both parts. With this in mind and grounding safety issues I think I'll change the mains connector to something more modern / safe - possibly an IEC kettle lead.

I've also discovered the rx doesn't have the 100kHz calibrator module installed - going by the dust foot print I suspect it never had one.

Looking at these comments about having to change numerous components I think it's going to take a while.

The serial number tells me it was built in June 1968 so after 53 years some component drift is to be expected.
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Old 7th Dec 2021, 10:06 pm   #14
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

I've had a closer look at this EA12 and have discovered it is missing a key mechanical piece which couples the main tuning capacitor to the dial.

I've posted a 'want ad' in the wanted section - but have no idea if a spare can be sourced.

It's such a shame as the rest of the set looks so good.
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Old 7th Dec 2021, 10:49 pm   #15
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Tim, I take it as read that you will be using the Eddystone User Group website, but if not just Google for it. They can be a source of spare parts.

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Old 7th Dec 2021, 11:04 pm   #16
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

Hi Andy,

I'm a member of the Eddystone user group have just posted there for help. It seems as though it's a fairly simple part which couples the tuning capacitor lever arm to the rotating tuning shaft. So if I knew the details of the part I could make one. It's the bit which couples these two parts together.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...pictureid=4719

It's also missing the screening cover over the tuning capacitor and valves - again not difficult to replicate.
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Old 8th Dec 2021, 10:21 pm   #17
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Default Re: Everything comes to he who waits.... Eddystone EA12.

A bit of good news - despite being missing a few mechanical parts I took the plunge and powered it up gradually over the space of 12 hours to full mains voltage.

A quick test on 160M showed that it recieves ok and has good sensitivity of at least -115dBm.

I've not made any definitive measurements yet as it could do with a good re-alignment and a few cans of switch cleaner but at least it works to some extent and is not DOA.

The underside looks un touched apart from the noise limiter pre-set pot having been replaced with a fixed resistor.

Interestingly while the pre-selector triple gang variable capacitor looks original a small section of the back plate chassis has been removed to make it fit. edit looking at photo's of other rx's I'm pretty sure it's been replaced at sometime in the past.

Now the hunt begins for the missing bits - in the meantime as suggested I'll convert the mains inlet to an IEC C6.
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