Trying to identify 'schools' radio

[yestertech]

Many, many years ago, my primary school , like may others, had the traditional schools radio system. The speakers were the traditional Clarke and Smith units in fine oak cabinets with sloping fronts and a switched volume control underneath. The were connected into the system by unusual Bulgin plugs and sockets with 3 flat pins.

I had always assumed that the radio unit was also C & S but it could have been a Marconi.
The casing was grey crackle finish, with louvres in the top. The from panel was curved at the top edge where it met the louvres.
The front panel had two instrument handles, the usual 'quadrant' shaped tuning dial aperture with wire cursor and military style knobs with skirts There was a large red pilot light (like 19 set ) on the RHS mirrored on the opposite side by the tuning indicator.
What struck me was the use of switches instead of pots for the functions - the volume control was stepped ,as you could clearly hear the metallic clank - clank when teachers altered the volume. There was also a jack socket on the front for the 'gram' input, another C & S oak box containing a single record deck ( Collaro ? ) which would come out of the cupboard for country dancing sessions !
To this day I've never come across another of these radios. There was another C & S unit in the lower school building ( looking much like a comms receiver ) which occasionally surfaces but this one remains a mystery ....

Does it ring any bells with anyone I wonder ??


Andy

[Simon Gittins]

Sound Sales radios were used in schools.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ead.php?t=9424

[Stylo N M]

I can remember at my junior school, having these sloping front speakers that the teachers carried arround from classroom to classroom, the volume control was a steped switch on the side of the actuall speaker.

My friend gave me a similer unit that was very similer to something i remembered, i restored it and it's working. But since i restored it my mate has managed to swindle it back into his possession, i'm visiting him tomorow so i will try and see if i can upload some pictures of it.

Paul

[McMurdo]

We had Grampian equipment at our school, I think some of those had 3 pin signal connectors

[TonyDuell]

Slightly off-topic, those Bulgin speaker connectors are shown in my 1939/1940 Bulgin catalogue (but were almost certainly made for many years after that, so this is no help in dating anything). The plugs are P.83 (3 pin) and P.81 (4 pin), there are chassis mount sockets P.85 and P.84 and surface mounting 'wall' sockets P.82 and P.80 respectively.

It says that 'British Standard Specification 666 covers such articles, plugs, jacks, etc...' but I have not been able to track that down.

[peter_sol]

The switches were used instead of pots as it was a 70V line system.
Resistors on the switches kept the load constant.
Yes some schools used 3 pin speaker plugs but most used jacks.
I would think the unit you refer to was a C & S.

[unitaudio]

It sounds the same as the one at my junior school. It was still in regular use when I was there in the 70's. It was fed into sloping baffle speakers in each classroom but also out to a huge profoundly ancient hi fi speaker on top of a cupboard in the assembly hall.

I never knew what make it was but there was a plaque on the wall saying it was installed by such-and-suchabody in 1951.

Regards,
Paul

[Stylo N M]

Here are some images of a school radio unit, that was in use at my junior school in Mickleover Derby year 1970-1972.

I assume that this would be about its last run, before new ideas and systems were brought into force. The valves are two ECC40s and the output valve is an EL41 I can't remember what the other valves are.

I remember being a little concerned, that the plugs on the end of the speakers, appeared to be the small 5 amp round pin mains plugs (if I'm remembering correctly).

The radio was housed in the staff room at my school.

Paul

[Clydeuk]

They used the 5 amp round pin plugs in my primary school as well. I always thought they were the power and the mystery was where the sound came from. I remember the radio in one of the staff rooms but can't remember what it looked like.

[Graham G3ZVT]

I remember those common in-line 5A connectors being used, with one of the pair fixed to the woodwork, perhaps the side of the blackboard, with a screw, but I have a very clear memory that the "pins" were swapped between the two half's so there was one male and one female on each.
I doubt very much the polarisation was to maintain speaker phasing throughout the school! I can only imagine that the idea was you could plug it into a live mains socket, but at least you didn't complete the circuit and blow the speaker.

[terry123]

Although C&S were by far the larger supplier to schools for many years in fact thay dominated the scene, there were others and in particular, Coomber who are still going to day. However, the schools set that seems to fit the desciption is the ULTRA SRA (Schools Radio Amplifier). My example dates to around 1950. This particular one was orginally supplied to the LCC.

The plug and socket arrangement in the early days was on belling lee fittings and I certainly recall seeing these in at least two of the old victorian built London schools I attended during the 1960s/70s along with Clarke and Smith equipment. C&S supplied and installed much of this kit at the time and some of it may well have worked alongside other makers equipment. Although a bit off topic, I wrote the history of clarke and smith some years back for the BVWS Bulletin and it can be downloaded from here.
http://www.ferrographworld.com/c&s.html


Back to the Ultra schools set, I think this may have been a one off production run as Ultra don't appear to have produced anything else . They must have sold a few though as I saw one a couple of years back at the DDRC rally and more recently still one appeared on Ebay.


My one works beautfully, but if anyone has a makers circuit diagram, I'd be greatful of a copy.

[Biggles]

I have a radio identical to the one in post#8. It was the actual unit that I used to listen to schools broadcasts on while at the junior school around the early seventies. Years later when the school was being re purposed to form the new village hall, I was asked if I wanted any of the old stuff they had found in a cupboard. Of course I was round there like a shot, and took the old C+S equipment away. The radio/amp was trolley mounted, with a large speaker on the front. I also came away with a C+S record deck with internal p-p amp using ECL82s. The amp in the radio used 2 EL41s in p-p and the tuner was fairly conventional. The unusual thing was the tuning indicator which was one of those neon ring types in a 15W pygmy bulb format. It's one of my favourite sets, probably because it has a personal connection.
Alan.

[Graham G3ZVT]

Schools (and factories) often had large vertical monopole aerials for MW/LW reception.

[Herald1360]

That plug looks rather like a Pressac one. At any rate the female cable mounted counterpart or something very like it is often sought for Hacker record players that have lost their mains leads.

Edit..... errr no. The Pressac plug has a vertical rather than horizontal earth pin with the cable entry facing down.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...40&postcount=2

[alanmoore]

I seem to remember a radio ,similar or the same to the Ultra at my primary school which I attended from 1964 to 1970 .There were wooden cased speakers with the flat 3 pin plugs as per the photo.
There was also a large speaker in a wooden cabinet mounted on the wall above the radio installation ,which was in the assembly hall.
Regards Alan.

[michamoo]

My junior school built in 1971 had very meodern looking for the time rectangular wooden loudspeaker enclosures mounted hih on the walls of all the classrooms . Radio and anouncements from the headmaster came over them aswell as fire alarm siren and an end of the lesson/ day buzzer. There were also two larger versions of these loudspeakers in the main assembly hall badged as "Keletron". Never did see the system that supplied it all though.

[yestertech]

Thanks everyone for the useful input.
Paul's pic is 'classic' C & S , of which there seems to be quite a few still in existence.

Terry's ULTRA set looks about the same vintage, and I think it may have been this model that was installed in the lower half of the school.But alas it's not the particular model in this case. The knobs are the same pattern. Is that volume control switched or variable I wonder. The speaker connectors are correct in any case.

I seem to recall one of the knob legends read 'BASS CUT' and the two positions were labelled 'b/w wide' and 'b/w narrow' ? completely meaningless to a lad of nine/ten whose record player only had a 'T' for tone knob.

Andy

[peter_sol]

The volume control on the Amp was not usually switched.
It was at the speaker end either on the cabinet or socket plate.

[Julesomega]

Originally Posted by rambo1152

Schools (and factories) often had large vertical monopole aerials for MW/LW reception.

Wasn't that the Antiference Skyrod?

[IvorBlister]

In Nottinghamshire many of the schools in 60s and 70 had Trix sound equipment installations.