BBC TV: The Repair Shop

[Ed_Dinning]

Wait and see what it is like, but my money is on a nice homemade case with a commercial radio chassis and a gram deck.

I t might even be Mullard Unilex and contiboard !

Ed

[barretter]

Nope!

[Dave Moll]

But what was the purpose of that PP3 battery in this valve-based radio(gram)? By the way, I couldn't see a record deck other than a brief glimpse of a separate one during the repair job.

[Electronpusher0]

The tuner seemed to have 2 Mullard modules on top of it, perhaps the battery was for them. They seemed very rusty.

I also noticed the very exposed terminal strip with mains on it on the right hand side.
I was hoping to see the same view of the inside at the end as we got at the beginning but they very carefully avoided showing us much, just the glowing valves. No indication as to whether he sorted the rust or what he did with the mains connections.

I think the deck we saw briefly was from a previous radiogram "repair", the one where they put a new chassis in.

I did notice that that the front panel had a switch for phono so presumably there was a deck with it at some time.

The build quality was excellent. Probably deserved a better restoration.

Peter

[nigelr2000]

There was no deck fitted the tuner was a transistorised one with Mullard modules with electric varicap tuning via a long slider and yet again Mark ends up looking stupid via the cutting room, "now I will check the tuner" he says followed by shots of him servicing the pre-amp unit. He said he did enjoy making a lot of noise with the sig genny to annoy everyone he told me when we had a chat last week.

And as always he only got 2 days to do it all in whilst having to stop and wait to be filmed wielding a soldering iron or screwdriver.

[Radio Wrangler]

The radio tuner looked to use some modules, probably the Mullard ones, so part of it was transistorised.

The knobs are definitely Eagle ones so they're from the middle sixties onwards.

I wonder if the programme makers have been reading this forum The treatment of electronics seems to be an awful lot better than I remember from the odd couple of things I've seen in the past.

The enduring picture I got left with is of a wheelwright knocking spokes into a hub with a two-and-a-half pound ball-pein hammer, though! Still, it did the job.

David

[dave walsh]

Well as far as the R Times and Guardian listings went [post 516] they merely served to illustrate how little anyone understands what the terms Radio or Radiogram actually mean already. Whilst very well built, this was neither [the Gram was missing] and as shown, closer to a tuner amp! Of course there is a lot of artistic license involved as the object is entertainment not primarily education but as usual, the appreciation of relatives was very genuine-even if rather predictable by now.

The comments and the markings on the front seemed to suggest a superior HF audio range. The large size of the case reminded me of my neighbour in Dukinfield [Gtr Manchester] that I got to know during the Energy Crisis and 3 Day Week in 1972. [he was all electric-we weren't, we had gas heating and cooking-always diversify!]. "Switch Off Something Now" was the Orwellian Government message on TV at the time. He had an amplifier [made by his father] in a similar sized wooden box which, to my surprise, was Transistorised but simply laid out in a loose "bread board" style on a piece of wood inside. No valves in sight

The extended HF range meant that the treble controls always had to be turned down somewhat or the hiss from the master tapes [used to produce the vinyl LP] would intrude when a record was played. When I asked why it hadn't been reduced in size, given it's solid state construction, he said that his father had worked for Philips Electronics somewhere in Cheshire [adjacent]. Every time he'd tried to do that he couldn't maintain the spec. I found it an amazingly good listen. It was a bit of an audio Rolls Royce.

Dave W

[Beobloke]

Originally Posted by Superscope

I can't wait for the backlash on this Forum later tonight!
Ian

Sympathetic restoration, judicious component changes and the item was brought back to life gently and in a controlled and safe manner.

No complaints from me this time - nice job!

[Herald1360]

^^^WHS^^^

Surprised no warning was offered about accessibility of high voltages unless it was known that it normally resided in a cabinet or console of some description.

[Radio Wrangler]

Maybe that autochanger we got a passing glimpse of filled the big hole in the top?

It would be odd to make a cabinet and forget the top.

David

[G4XWDJim]

I was impressed by the quality of the front panel lettering, done it would seem with white paint and a fine brush.

There was a fleeting glimpse of a control perhaps the band switch labelled 160-80-40 and probably 20 although I couldn't actually see the final numbers. That could mean that it contained an amateur band receiver so was the builder a radio amateur or SWL. There weren't enough views of the front panel to see what the other controls were labelled as.

Later I particularly enjoyed the construction of the wooden cartwheels and the accuracy of the fit.

Jim

[stevehertz]

For my money it was lovely a programme, the radio amplifier had been loving built by the lady's father, the restoration was sympathetic, and most of all, the lady was thrilled to emotional tears with the final job. I mean, what is there to knock? Are we so stuck up our rear ends that we could have done a better job? to point out in detail that the original job wasn't that good? That the production team didn't satiate the needs for a large dose of nerdery? And finally, that our hobby somehow should be 100% technical and zero percent emotional? To me, old radios have a large dose of romance and emotion.

[HamishBoxer]

I will second that Steve.

[John10b]

I never realised that the Term “Tyre” came from “tying up a wheel.”
I do enjoy the program generally and the skill of the various people, I’ve picked up some good tips.
John

[M0FYA Andy]

The owner of the amplifier said at the start of the item that it had always had an open top with no cover.

Andy

[Radio Wrangler]

I'd interpreted that as meaning no cover over the record deck, assuming that one was fitted because there is an on/off power switch for it on the right hand side of the control panel.... But then there would have to be access to keep replacing that PP3, unless it just hung out the back on its wires.

This could have been one of those things which never got finished? The footage which could have told us never made it past the edit.

David

[Valvepower]

Hi All,

Firstly, I’m typing using one finger of my left hand as I had a Carpal tunnel release op on my right on Tuesday – ouch!

I saw 2x EL84’s, ECC83 and an EZ81 although I couldn’t see an EF86 though, however I feel the amplifier could be a 5-10 with 2 or 3 valve 'Mullard' preamplifier?

Having lost both parents within 3 months of each other in the last couple of years and recently ‘done-up’ and extended (again!) their old house thus making it ours - so to speak - and moving into it (I’d helped my Dad do extension work on the house when they first moved in back in 1978 ), I can completely buy into the emotional side and I have to say, occasionally the show hits a tearful nerve for me, and I have to retire to the workshop for a reflective moment – if you see what I mean

Time allowing, I wonder if the chap doing the work would have liked to have built a small power supply to replace the battery?

Regards
Terry.

[Aub]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

For my money it was lovely a programme, the radio amplifier had been loving built by the lady's father, the restoration was sympathetic, and most of all, the lady was thrilled to emotional tears with the final job. I mean, what is there to knock? Are we so stuck up our rear ends that we could have done a better job? to point out in detail that the original job wasn't that good? That the production team didn't satiate the needs for a large dose of nerdery? And finally, that our hobby somehow should be 100% technical and zero percent emotional? To me, old radios have a large dose of romance and emotion.

As often, the voice of reason shines through. Well said matey.

Aub

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by John10b

I never realised that the Term “Tyre” came from “tying up a wheel.”

I always take such statements of word origins with a pinch of salt.

According to Chambers dictionary, the origin is from an archaic term for a headdress and is also related to "attire". It also indicates that the metal rim is more correctly spelt "tire" rather than "tyre".

[barretter]

Originally Posted by John10b

I never realised that the Term “Tyre” came from “tying up a wheel.”

It didn't, that's just what is called a "folk etymology". It actually comes from an old word "tire" which means a headdress.