Ever wanted to collect and restore old valve wireless, but have not got any idea where to start or how it works? Well this site is for you. My name is Peter and i am based in bolton lancashire. I have been collecting valve wireless since 1986. I am here to help so if you need any help or advice on collecting and repairing, Why not contact me via the contacts page or my mobile on 07979 290076 and i will do my best to help. Happy collecting !!! AND WHY NOT CHECK OUT MY NEW FOR SALE SECTION, HERE YOU CAN PURCHASE RADIOS, SPARES, AND ALL OTHER BITS AND PIECES AS THEY ARE PUT ONTO THE SITE. GRAB A BARGAIN!!
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a ferranti radio in a pretty poor state! notice the big hole in the speaker cloth!!
rear view of the radio.
showing the general poor condition of the front and rear cloths.
and whats this? a totally unsatisfactory loudspeaker. This one was out of a tv and measured about 23 ohms which was a bit odd.
here showing the dials which need cleaning up.
mains filter capacitor just waiting to explode!!
the classic leaky wax capacitors have been replaced on the l.h.s of the chassis, and the mains filter capacitor has been replaced by a 2000v dc poly capacitor.
and still the problems kept coming.....the audio output transformer has an open circuit primary winding. here i am experimenting with different types of transformer hoping to find a suitable match. wish me luck!!
and yet another problem...yes you guessed it...the ul41 audio output valve was cream crackered. overrun by a faulty coupling capacitor putting positive volts on the control grid of the output valve..not good. this one was totally fused.
well and truly getting stuck in now! i found a suitable speaker off an old radio cassette this one was 6 inch and 4 ohms impedance.
now, doesn't that look better? sounds better too!!
here we see the ever growing pile of components that were faulty in this radio.
the cabinet has been stripped and polished and the surrounds repainted in cream white. a word of advice ALWAYS use goggles when using nitromors because i didn't and got a splash of it in my eye...and believe me it stung!!...a lesson learned.
the finished product, good as new and a superb performer.
When i restore radios i always go for the so called basket cases because they represent a challenge to me and i like to get involved and stuggle with a set rather than have one that just needs a couple of capacitors changing. It gives me a sense of acheivement too. The radio above was restored for a work collegue.