Pye Bantam release date?

[Biggles]

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone knows what year the Pye Bantam set first came into service? Thanks in advance for any info.
Alan.

[AC/HL]

1965 according to this: http://www.pyetelecomhistory.org/pro...portables.html

[Biggles]

Oh right, that's earlier than I thought. I had about 1970ish in mind. Cheers. My Dad still uses one to monitor local air traffic, and I got on thinking about how old it was, after yet another repair recently. It's quite a good performer despite it's age. 12dB s/n @ -107dBm 30% mod.
Alan.

At the PYE training school in the late 70's we had a load come through for crystal removal. Quite a few got nicked causing a bit of a kerfuffle. I remember them being a nice little (for the day) set. BTW I didn't take one home.

[Biggles]

In previous jobs I looked after an awful lot of Pye equipment which was the industry standard even into the mid eighties, and I have a soft spot for most of their comms gear, but strangely I never had anything to do with Bantams. I think the equivalent by the time I started was probably made by Dymar or GEC. The Bantam is of course full of AFxxx type transistors, but so far I have only ever had to replace one. I have a couple of donor sets in reserve so should be ok for a few more years.
Alan.

[Restoration73]

The marine version of the HP1FM was supplied with the Marconi Marine badge.

[G6Tanuki]

I remember a batch of low-band AM Bantams on around 85.3MHz [used for geologists doing field-survey work] that I had to support in the very-very-early-1980s. Even then they were obsolete and getting same-day parts support from Pye was a nightmare - batteries in particular.

[I also supported a load of "Stornophone 500" radios on the same frequencies - these were even worse than the Pyes because their 'slab' batteries never took more than a yearful of daily charge/recharge cycles before failing and Storno's new-battery pricing was usurious].

The Bantam was - in the late-60s - used by Post Office Telephones linesmen to talk between them while investigating faults - the "Pye Linesman" which was recognisable because the microphone connection was a 9-pin diecast "D" plug/socket

http://www.qsl.net/gm8aob/images/PYE...20162_6295.jpg


They were also used by the GPO Radio Investigation Service when investigating radio interference complaints against radio-amateurs!.

[Biggles]

The only Bantams "in service" I was aware of was some ex Mountain Rescue low band VHF AM ones which were given to me when replaced by some Dymar handportables and transportables where I worked at the time. I never repaired any while they were in use though. The thing that struck me as being unusual was the use of telescopic antennas. The bendy rubber antennas on modern handportables have a hard enough time never mind sectional telescopic ones.
Alan.

[G3VKM_Roger]

My first Bantam (an HP1FM(?) which I crystalled-up for my local 2m repeater, had a miniature Belling-Lee TV style plug and socket with a length of insulated wire plugged into the socket to form a crude wire antenna fastened to the shoulder strap of the Bantam carrying case. I also tweaked a couple of low-band AM sets onto 69.3 MHz, for the local Sea Cadets.

Roger

[WB6NVH-GEOFF]

I have a pair of VHF AM aircraft band Bantams with the antennas built onto the shoulder straps as above. They were used by a state forestry agency here in the USA to talk to aircraft, and have 121.5 and several other frequencies installed. They work well.