My radio collection, May 2014

Since I bought my first vintage radio just over a year ago, my collection has grown much bigger than I had originally intended. I've been meaning to post some pictures and details for a while, so here they are.

Ekco A104, 1949/50

I bought this in non-working condition for £15. My first project, this set is now fully restored and in daily use in my workshop.

Pye P75, 1953

This Pye P75 was my second project, and was a much easier job than the Ekco. The original Celestion speaker had seen better days, and was replaced with an identical unit in good condition. I have done the usual component replacements but I've left the cabinet as I found it.

Bush DAC90A. 1954

I paid £35 for this in May 2013, it was sold as working but needed a re-cap and  re-wiring, especially around the mains dropper which runs fairly hot. Now fully working, this one gets used fairly regularly.

Ferranti 545, 1954.

Another auction item, this time won for £15. This lovely little set needed the usual re-cap and attention to the wiring to get it back to full working order. The painted parts of the cabinet had to be redone, but fortunately the veneered areas were almost perfect and were left as original.

Wartime Civilian Receiver, 1944.

I wrote about my restoration of this set elsewhere in this blog. Now fully working, this set is displayed in my living room alongside my 1940s bakelite phone.

Bush SUG91, 1947

This has just been finished, and is currently on test in my workshop. This set has been my longest and most expensive restoration project so far, but the end result is worth the effort. It's probably the best sounding AM radio I have ever heard, due largely to its 10" speaker and huge console cabinet. I bought this with the intention of selling it once restored, but I like it too much!

GEC BC-5645, 1956

This is the most recent addition to my collection, and is still as I bought it. I'm looking forward to restoring this one as it will be the first one with VHF FM. I paid £10 for this set, which was very reasonable given its excellent condition.

No doubt there will be more added in the future, so if you are interested please come back again.

Keep listening!

Back to Life

It's been a while since I was able to spend some time in the workshop, but today I managed to set aside an hour or so to look at the Bush SUG91 chassis again.

After a bit of coaxing, it's now sitting on the bench playing Smooth Radio on 1332kHz. The wave change switch is very intermittent though, even after a good dosing with Servisol.  

The only slightly worrying thing is a significant frequency drift. In the last 20 minutes or so I've had to re-tune it slightly several times. I suppose that this might be due to the dodgy switch, (or perhaps because because I gave the oscillator section a good soaking with switch cleaner!)  I'll see what happens if I leave it on test for a while. 

At least I'm one further step towards finishing this one. The restored cabinet has become a permanent fixture in the kitchen, but fortunately my wife likes it.

Keep listening!

Another project

 I did say that I wouldn't buy any more radios, at least until I had finished ( and possibly sold) the current projects.

However, following a trip to a Bank Holiday car boot sale, I now have a GEC BC5645  from around 1956 to add to the 'to do' list!

At £10 it was a pretty good deal; it looks like it's complete, and without any damage to the bakelite or plastic. It's also got VHF FM, which none of my other vintage radios have.

Keep listening!