What keeps you interested in vintage wireless?

[clay shooter]

I love working on not just old radio, electronics etc but any thing old that can actually be striped , Inspected components replaced and repaired .
In my day job as a mechanic ( sorry got to be PC, automotive technician) we no longer get to repair anything on a component level , replace and reprogram is the mantra ! So be it a radio , proper pre plastic motorcycle or my beloved pre war shotgun , repairing them all gives me a grin akin to a Cheshire moggy

[cheerfulcharlie]

It's always the space in between that fascinated me ie.the gap. Whether it's prominent in stuff like a CRT or valve or those millions of gaps in our brains that make us what we are.

[raditechman]

Peter N said, regarding old sets

I regard them as proper sets - a bit like steam trains.

A bit OT but I'll try. When there were still many around I liked the old 1930's style cinemas.
I went to a new 14 screen multiplex near me when it opened about 16 years ago and had a tour around. I think I upset the manager by saying it was not a proper cinema! (No circle, no stage, no curtains, organ etc.)

With vintage wireless my interest remains partly because I remember the radios from my youth, and it is lovely to bring an old neglected set back into working order.

John

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by cheerfulcharlie

It's always the space in between that fascinated me ie.the gap. Whether it's prominent in stuff like a CRT or valve or those millions of gaps in our brains that make us what we are.

Must admit, you got me there...

[David Simpson]

Well, I didn't actually join the vintage radio/electronics fraternity till 2008. After taking early retirement in 1998, and my father passing away in 2001, I decided to take up the pursuit of "Family History Research" as an addition to my shooting and small-holding activities.This I completed in 2007 & needed something else to keep the old grey cells active.
I had accumulated some decent test equipment & old marine R/T's over the years, and discovered that the military & marine equipment I used to work on a few years before - was now considered "Vintage" by the VRR&R Forum & BVWS, VMARS, etc. So decided to scramble up into my loft & re-discover my old stuff. But hey - some of it was state-of-the-art back in my younger days.
Gradually, forgotten technology & hand skills started to return(& are still returning), and a collection was started. Much of my enthusiasm was boosted by a number of VRR&R Forum guys who, in those early days, gave me much encouragement & help. Another boon was discovering a wee handful of Forum/BVWS/VMARS/ARS guys up in this northern corner of Scotland. A great help, being so far away from the majority of the vintage fraternity down in England. The rest is recent history, thread-wise. But, I must say, I may have ruffled a few feathers amongst those folk(thankfully a small number) who engage in mercenary wheeling-dealing & breaking up of equipment for profit.
Greatly outnumbered by those who put a helluva lot of work into Swap-Meets, the Museum, etc., & offering valuable services to fellow VRR&R Forum/BVWS members.


Regards, David

[peter_scott]

I can't remember which first kindled my interest. It might have been finding chassis from 1930s radios stored under the floor of my parents' house or it might have been the Science Gallery of the Royal Scottish Museum that had many early telecoms exhibits, crystal sets and an HMV901. Which ever it was the magic of those early moments has never left me.

Peter

[crusher19860138]

Seeing my aunt's Etronic ETA632 back in 1981,and remembering how good it sounded.

[TonyDuell]

I probably shouldn't be commenting here, as vintage _wireless_ (or radio) is not my main interest. But I have an active interest in other vintage technology, and I suspect it's much the same...

For me, it starts with something I read about 40 years ago :

'Any third-rate designer can make a complicated device even more complicated. It takes a genius to go back to first principles'

It's not too hard to solve a problem if you can throw millions of transistors at it. It's a lot harder to do it with 10. And so I find these vintage devices to be very elegant in their simplicity. I find some of the ways things were done (both electronically and mechanically) to be truely beautiful -- for me the beauty is not the case design, it's the internals. I don't desire a round Ekco much, I do desire an HP9880 disk system.

[ToneArm]

A need to feel useful! Love gadgets and gizmos, like fixing things love restoring hopeless cases back to life. Not only radios, could be furniture, lights, used to be cars but no space now. The difference between old and modern stuff seems to be older stuff was actually made to be repaired.
Glyn

[Pilot Mariner]

Well it was the OP stevehertz who introduced me to this hobby in 1986 when we worked at the same place, and I wanted to fix my parents 1952 wedding present radio which hadn't worked for many years. After a successful fix the bug has never left. We still regularly meet at eachothers houses to play "vintage radio"

The wait for it to warm up (mains valve sets of course) after selecting a programme to listen to. I often say to SHMBO "there is a radio programme I want to listen to at 8 o'clock, when do you want tea?" And sit down an listen to it, no interruptions, sheer joy.

[Martin Bush]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

Must admit, you got me there...

I think I get it. If I understand, which I might not, he means the mystery and magic. Which is why I used to stare through the space in the dial of our old AC34 wondering what was there - it turns out I was just looking at some painted metal and dust... but it looked and sounded fabulous.

The same goes for music, it's often the presence of nothing or space alongside the sound that makes a good recording sound compulsive.

Or, I too may have missed the point

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Pilot Mariner

Well it was the OP stevehertz who introduced me to this hobby in 1986 when we worked at the same place, and I wanted to fix my parents 1952 wedding present radio which hadn't worked for many years. After a successful fix the bug has never left. We still regularly meet at eachothers houses to play "vintage radio"

Heyup Pilot. Yep, it's true, we 'play VW' every couple of months, showing each what's new, what's not coming together, helping each other out with parts and suggestions, and talking about what items we're looking for. But of course, it's mainly an excuse to go out for a pub meal or curry..

[ionburn]

I like to keep things going and love old equipment which takes me back to a time.

I can literally jump in mindset between the present day and any time, either in the past or future.

As such I can be reading an Agatha christie and think of my 78's - then put them on for atmosphere - next to microcontrollers and manipulating software for Star Trek and beyond (think information on disk and immediately accesible online nowadays, then the tablets they carry around in the program).

Everything is interesting, from the beautiful wooden cases and lit valves of the past to the power and information available today.

That said, nothing compares to me than receiving the world with a few bottles!

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

Must admit, you got me there...

The synapses?

[Hartley118]

I find it particularly rewarding to revive a radio or record player that probably hasn't played for half a century and awaken it from its long sleep to make music again.

Often enough it doesn't take much effort: an inspection, maybe the odd capacitor, and in a record player three motor suspension grommets. Suddenly it's alive again.

Never fails to excite!

Martin

[crackle]

The feeling of bringing back to life an item that entertained and informed so many in years gone by.
I despise the throw away world we live in today.

Each to their own but TV's dont hold the same fascination for me. Wireless sets were the first means of bring instant communication to the masses, and must have been the focal point of any home.

Mike

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Herald1360

The synapses?

Wikipedia: In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron.

Ok, I'm now getting the 'gap' bit, but it's still a bit deep, a bit off the wall. But I like it.

[Skywave]

Just FWIW: I note that this Thread is entitled 'Vintage Wireless' and not 'Vintage Radio'. That's only an observation: no hidden intents or subterfuge suggestions implied or intended.

Al.

[stevehertz]

There's nothing hidden, no. I simply feel (somewhat subconsciously I guess) that the word 'wireless' is a more old fashioned (and somewhat mysterious) word than 'radio'. For example, in the days of valves, people would have referred to "the wireless", but then in the 60s when transistor portables came along they referred to them as "radios". So to me, 'wireless' is the preferred name when talking about 'vintage wireless'; it suits the genre.