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Clubs, Groups and Societies For discussions about various clubs, groups and societies relating to our hobbies, such as the BVWS (incl RetroTechUK), BATC, RSGB, APTS, CLPGS, THG, TCC, BECG, MCR21 etc. This is NOT an official forum for any of these organisations.

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Old 1st Aug 2023, 5:21 pm   #181
stevehertz
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Default Re: Museums

We went back to the Black Country Museum today. There's always something new to see and the aforementioned 40s, 50s, and 60s street is now open including Stantons TV, Radio & records shop. Also, when you visit you get a pass for a whole year, so it was free entry this time.

Prior to today's visit, I got in touch with the Black Country Museum's Radio restoration expert Phil, AKA our own PhilG4SPZ. Phil was working on a Ferranti chassis in the workshop at the back of Griptons, and we spent a while chatting about the museum, sets etc etc. He's doing a great job there. Photos below.

Oh, and there's a Marsh & Baxters in the '60s' street and their huge pork pies are to die for. Not to mention the fish and chip shop.
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Old 1st Aug 2023, 5:26 pm   #182
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The Solon soldering iron is a nice period touch.

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Old 1st Aug 2023, 8:00 pm   #183
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Still got at least 2 Solons, 25W and 15W.
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Old 1st Aug 2023, 9:38 pm   #184
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Museums

It was a great pleasure to welcome you and your wife to the Museum, Steve. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your day and that your homeward journey was less fraught than your drive this morning!

Thank you also for the excellent photos and for the compliments. Yes, Peter, I was using my personal 25 watt Henley Solon which is very effective on vintage wiring. Unfortunately some slightly out-of-period items were visible, particularly the Taylor 40kOPV multimeter that lives in my toolbox. I normally use the Museum’s Avo Model 7, but it does take up a lot of room on the bench.

Maintaining a truly accurate 1939 period appearance is quite tricky. Whilst we were engaged solely in restoring pre-war radios it wasn’t too difficult, but as the workshop is the only reasonably-equipped workshop space available to us, we have of necessity had to use it for the restoration of mid- to late-1950s radios and TVs intended for the newly-opened Stanton’s, set in 1959. So I find myself having to explain away the presence of TV sets and VHF radios that would have still been two decades away in 1939!

As I said, it was good to see Steve today, and I would of course welcome visits from other Forum members. I’m there most Tuesdays, so feel free to drop me a PM if you’re thinking of visiting.
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Old 2nd Aug 2023, 4:06 pm   #185
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I was selling new radios in the '50's but most of the sets we had in for repair were pre war, most of them were fairly easy to work on except the Philips with the Bowden cables.

We charged accumulators too.

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Old 2nd Aug 2023, 5:10 pm   #186
stevehertz
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Phil tells me that the photos above are to be used in Black Country Museum publicity material. You saw them here first.
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Old 3rd Aug 2023, 2:05 pm   #187
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Purchased my first Solon some 63 years ago. A great tool.
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Old 4th Aug 2023, 1:20 pm   #188
Peter.N.
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I think mine might have been even longer ago than that, I was at school at the time, I'm 84 now. By the time I started work we had those 'Primax' instant heat guns with a 'universal' plug with spring loaded pins to fit any of the plethora of different sockets we had then.


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Old 5th Aug 2023, 4:48 pm   #189
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Please don't drift onto soldering irons, they are off-topic for this thread.
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Old 6th Aug 2023, 9:10 am   #190
Peter.N.
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Sorry
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Old 12th Dec 2023, 9:04 pm   #191
David G4EBT
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Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio; Howth, Co. Dublin, is located in a Martello Tower. I’ve never visited, though it looks fascinating, both in terms of the history of the tower itself, and the radio museum. Anyone visiting the Republic of Ireland any time might wish to drop by. The website is here: https://sites.google.com/site/hurdygurdymuseum/home

More information about the museum is here:

https://sites.google.com/site/hurdyg...re-information

I was puzzled as to how the Museum got its name.

Most of us probably know what a hurdy gurdy is. For anyone who may not know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy-gurdy

Some will know what they sounds like. If you've never heard one:

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervie...8C0&ajaxhist=0

So why is a hurdy gurdy museum full of vintage radios and gramophones? Apparently, ‘hurdy gurdy’ is, or at least was, a colloquialism in Ireland for a radio or gramophone, so you won’t find a hurdy gurdy there, which might disappoint some visitor, but be a relief to others.

‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ is a very watchable short documentary about the small museum dedicated to the history of ‘wireless’ and the owner and curator, Pat Herbert. This documentary won a Best Lighting nomination for its Director/Lighting Camera Stuart Duff in the Limerick Film Festival: https://vimeo.com/121019017

There is a little booklet about Pat Herbert and the museum which is an interesting read:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-y...qsICmqp-wBrZsw

Sadly Pat Herbert passed away on the 18th of June, 2020. What a legacy he left for the enjoyment and enlightenment of others.

(The museum has it's own amateur radio station 'EI0MAR' but don't know when or how often it's on air).

Hope that might be of interest.
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Old 15th Dec 2023, 9:41 pm   #192
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David, I inadvertently mentioned Museums on the recent "Decline of interest in 1920's radios" thread ie The Black Country and Amberley West Sussex ones but apart from the Radio museum that you mention, at Dublin there is also one in a Martello Tower at Seaford [No 74 very near Bexhill] that I haven't visited, and which also houses a large collection of Radios and TV's.

There is a photo on their Facebook page [This week's favourite object 2020] of a combined TV and Radiogram. I don't know the make but it's big and 1950's probably. I also have intentions to visit a Distillery near Dublin at some point so I could combine the two sites! It opened as the first new one for 120 years, a few years back. My son sent me a bottle of "Poets Tears" made there because their family name is also Walsh. Sadly, I can't really claim to be Irish but I know from experience that it won't matter a bit, with a surname like mine .

The song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" was a fairly big hit for Donovan in the sixties. I've always thought that it was a sort of Medieval barrell organ [think the original b+w Hunchback of Notradame film]. It was on wheels and you played it by turning a handle or maybe it was across the chest, like a piano accordian. Either way the colloquialism [what a great word!] fits the record player analogy you describe, with the circular movement of the handle and the LP.

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Dave Walsh

Bexhill E Sussex

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