Ekco Battery Portable. Which model?

[crestavega]

pls can any/everyone advise me what model this is, and where I might find some tech data? (other than ekco branding and a serial on the chassis I cant find any other data)
I have taken the pic upside down for some reason and also missing are the 2 plastic knurled knobs that secured the pale coloured shells either side of the chassis.
it appears to be a "cheap n nasty" battery portable...

free (postage requested) to anyone that especially wants it.

[camtechman]

free (postage requested) to anyone that especially wants it.

Are you offering it for sale?

[Cobaltblue]

Hi it looks like a P63 "Princess"

Service data available up top.

If you do decide to pass it on I would be pleased to go in the hat (and even pay the postage )

Cheers

Mike T

[Lloyd 1985]

If there is a 'hat' for this, can I go in it too?

Regards,
Lloyd

[Tom_I]

Originally Posted by crestavega

It appears to be a "cheap n nasty" battery portable...

Designed by Wells Coates, circa 1948. Quite desirable, I'd have thought...

[Boater Sam]

I have a few bits left from one of these that had been mightily dropped so would like to go in the hat please as I may be able to fully restore it.
Thanks.
Sam.

[G6Tanuki]

Either that, or a very similarly styled model, had a rather elegant Z-shaped clear Perspex/Lexan carrying handle that fitted across from a knurled-fastener-fitted-in-a-hole on one side of the case to another knurled-fastener/hole diagonally opposite.

At the time this was seen as quite stylish and futuristic! Radiomuseum shows a [nasty green cased] version of the radio with this handle.

[crestavega]

well I never
I had no idea it was evidently so sought-after. so much for my "eye" for a good design.
I wouldnt mind seeing if it would just go.... before I dispose of it.
I note that the HT battery was supposed to provide 69V ... and the LT batt 1.5V.

where the dickens am I going to get 69VDC from

[McMurdo]

Very nice. There's one in the Victoria & Albert museum

[Cobaltblue]

Originally Posted by crestavega

where the dickens am I going to get 69VDC from

I wouldn't worry too much about the HT being exactly 69V

8 pp3's will be 72V which is close enough but you will find it will work pretty well on 63V (7 times pp3)

you will probaly struggle to get more than 7 PP3's inside the case anyway

Cheers

Mike T

[Tom_I]

According to the service sheet, the makers reckoned it would work until the HT dropped to 34 volts or the LT to 1.1 volts, so it shouldn't be too fussy about power supply.

[TonyDuell]

Whatever you do, do not get the HT and LT connections mixed up!. I have a small (by the standards here) collection of valve portable radios, and I would guess about half had all the valve filaments burnt out (before I got them!) by people trying other batteries, or mixing up the connections or something. Get the 1.5V LT right first (you can use a single D cell for this), then try the HT.

[Cobaltblue]

If you're not familiar with these 7 pin battery valves it's virtually impossible to see the filaments glowing except in very low light and the angle just so

Before you do anything I would check the filament continuity since as Tony says a lot of sets will have been in the hands of non technical people who will have tried a PP9 to see if they can get it working

It's such a common problem I have a purpose built little tool to check the filaments with a B7G socket a meter and a C cell.

Cheers

Mike T

[TonyDuell]

The valve filaments are connected to pins 1 and 7 of the valves (the ones at each side of the big gap). The output valve normally has 2 filaments wired 1-5-7. So if you can't get continuity between pins 1 and 7 of each valve then the fillament is defective.

Be warned that some old analogue meters (the AVO 7, I think for example) supply enough current on the lowest ohms range to burn out said filaments in some cases. Any digital meter should be OK though.

At one time you could get a 'pocket valve filament tester'. The one I have is badged 'Eagle'. It consists of a couple of AA cells, a low-current MES torch bulb and a resistor in series (test current low enough not to damage the filaments). The ends of that simple continuity tester are wired to the right pins on various valveholders -- pins 4,5 of a B9A, 1,8 of a Loctal, 3,4 of a B7G 'for mains valves' and 1,7 of a second B7G 'for battery valves', etc. The whole thing is about the size of a tobacco tin. Very useful for sorting out totally useless valves.

[crestavega]

Thanks all
I will string up some PP3's and see what transpires... now I know there is some (unexpected!) interest I may ask for the price of a bottle of plonk plus postage in order to keep the shareholders happy....