1954 Murphy U198M AC/DC MW/LW 5 valve midget radio

[howard]

Hello,

One sees lots of these dinky Murphy U198s on the tables at BVWS events, both the U198M two-tone mahogany/ivory model and the plain mahogany cased U198H. They rarely look smart these sets, the ivory paint on the U198M version gets chipped around the edges and cases on the U198H cases often look matt and austere. This two-tone U198M I bought from Paul Stenning when it was offered on the forum here and it was better than average with just minor chipping around the front edges. It had lost its little red plastic indicator behind the on/off/volume knob and also 3 of the 4 soft plastic spacers which fit on the corners of the blue dial background plate inside.

I did the case first on this set, a quick clean with upholstery cleaner and then I touched in the chips around the edges with some acrylic paint which matched absolutely perfectly. I then polished up the unpainted part of the case with Brasso and at the same time rubbed down the repainted edges leaving just about a perfect straight edge all round the front. Unfortunately while I was removing the dial which is stuck to the front of the case, I dropped it and it smashed

I changed the capacitor across the mains and the audio coupling capacitor but the set hardly worked and it had a long tear in the loudspeaker. I changed more of the caps and when Leon Crampin was here looking at my 1935 Pilot X65 he tested a load of my valves and I collected together 5 good ones for the U198M and fitted them but it still crackled loudly and only managed to pick up one local station on MW. A couple of its valve bases were knackered so at Harpenden I picked up a U198H with a damaged case/back cover for spare parts. I transferred the loudspeaker and output transformer, the dial and spacers and the off/on indicator and then noticed that the dial was the wrong colour so I put an ad in the forum Parts Wanted section and Mike Noble very kindly offered me one, complete with a damaged case and original working chassis.

On arrival I replaced all the wax and Hunts caps in the chassis, fitted the set of valves and it worked faultlessly. I then fitted the perfect dial ... job done ... well nearly, I was taking pics of the set and noticed that the back cover which came with the original set was off a U198H, so I fitted the back cover which came with the third set. The dial cord broke while I was testing it so I fitted a new cord.

The original chassis in this set was very troubled but thanks to Mike Noble I was able to build a very nice working set from his damaged donor set. It works really well and picks up everything on MW/LW and sounds good for such a dinky little set, only my Canadian built Philco Transitone mains valve set is smaller than this one. The two-tone U198M version is quite cute but the U198H is too austere looking IMHO.

Howard

PS: I have lots of U198 spares left over if anyone needs anything !

[JoshWard]

I have often seen these sets for sale and have been very tempted before... Maybe if I see one for sale cheaply......

[Nickthedentist]

Hi Howard,

Nice work as usual. The shine on the top of the set is amazing!

I was especially intersted in this particular restoration of yours as this was one of the very first valve sets I bought while I was at school; I think mine cost 20p at a jumble sale in the mid-late 1980s. I restored it cosmetically (very well for a young teenager ), but never managed to get it working... and still haven't got round to it

If you have either a spare back that's not burned to bits, or a wavechange knob, please do let me know.

Nick.

[howard]

Originally Posted by JoshWard

I have often seen these sets for sale and have been very tempted before... Maybe if I see one for sale cheaply......

Hello Josh,

These little Murphys are bargain basement sets, you should be able to find one worth doing up for under £10.

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

........ but never managed to get it working... and still haven't got round to it

If you have either a spare back that's not burned to bits, or a wavechange knob, please do let me know.

Nick.

Hello Nick,

I gave up trying to repair the original chassis, and the second U198H wasn't working either so I suspect they're not the most robust of radios. When they work though they're excellent little sets.

I do have a waveband switch lever and also a mint rear cover although that has "U198H" printed on it. Send me a PM if you want them.

Howard

[mark pirate]

Another set saved! nice job howard these little sets are quite good performers for their size, i got one a couple of years ago for a fiver in
good working order after a good polish it came up like new!

Mark