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 Bush radio

I picked up a Bush SUG91 radio for £10 in December, and its been sitting in my workshop ever since. I believe that this type of floor standing sets were known as 'console' sets. It's a big old beast, but with its 10" speaker and large cabinet I'm hoping it will sound good.

This is the first set in my collection that I have been able to date exactly; a quality control label inside shows that it passed its final test on 27th January 1947.  

The chassis looks very similar to a Bush DAC90, but with the addition of shortwave and a gram input. The SUG91 is an AC only set, but with an auto-transformer instead of a proper double wound transformer. I'm not sure why this was, as the cost saving must have been very small.  (There was also an AC/DC version called the DUG91 which used a dropper resistor)

As with AC/DC sets though, the mains neutral is connected to chassis, so it will need the usual safety precautions taking. There is plenty of space in the cabinet, so I might fit an isolating transformer inside if I can find something suitable.

Bush SUG91 radio

I can't find the photo that I took before starting work, so this is one of a similar set from the internet. The cabinet was in pretty good condition, but there were a few woodworm holes in one side, and an area of damaged veneer on the top left front edge. I don't think there were any live woodworm left, but just to be safe I gave it a good soaking with woodworm killer, wrapped it in a plastic bin liner and left it in the garage for a few days before bringing it into the house.

The chassis came out a few weeks ago. since then it's been cleaned, re-capped and had some wiring replaced. Over the last few days I have stripped down the cabinet, removing the speaker baffle, control panel and the decorative trim round the tuning scale; these all came out easily after removing screws.

Removing the damaged veneer was easier than I expected, but getting the old lacquer or varnish off has been a bit of a problem. I think I'll leave that story for another day.

Keep listening!