ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Old radios

Scott,
I studied thyratrons many years ago (the Van Valkenburgh "Basic Electronics", originally written for the U.S. Services if you've ever seen them), but I've had little to do with them. I think they had some in the positioning control gear for the #1 antenna at Goonhilly when I started work there in 1982, but it was due for refurbishment then and of course the modern replacements are SCR or thyristor. (Goonhilly #1 is the original dish erected for Telstar in 1962.)

Tex,
That sounds an interesting machine, as most of the domestic variety of the time were designed only for horizontal use. The inclusion of the 7-1/2 ips speed (19cm/s) does also suggest a higher-spec machine, as many of the cheaper units were 1-7/8 and 3-3/4 ips only (4.75 & 9.5cm/s -- I can't get used to those cm figures!)

I have a Brenell tape recorder that I picked up at a junk shop for £10 ($15) a couple of years ago. That will take 7" spools whereas most of the domestic models would only go to 5-3/4". It also has a 15 ips (38cm/s) speed for real high-quality work, and as you mentioned above it has 3 separate motors.

Phillips and Grundig were also popular models here. I remember playing around with a Grundig (TK14 if I recall correctly) about the same time as I had that old Telefunken.

Vice versa with me- It's hard to get used to work with both inches and cm. I always have to calculate around.
This tape machine sure was a strange animal.
If i remember it correctly it would only take 5-3/4" spools. There was a tape on it, Soundcraft brand, with mostly german, some french songs and some recordings of a crying baby and probably his/her parents talking and singing. It was pretty funny. The mother was talking to the baby, the father was only mumbling about the rec level getting too high.
Grundig TK 14 must be pretty old. My Mom got a TK 147 christmas 1967.
I have a TK 46 stereo 3 speed set up ready for use.

I think the TK14 was an early 1960s model; I probably have the date of release somewhere. I also acquired quite a few old tapes with the machines that were given me. Several were Sunday afternoon recordings of a show here that was called "Pick of The Pops," and from the hits they were mostly recorded 1962 and 1963. (By the way, collecting old records is another hobby of mine!). I think I still have a couple of tapes of old school plays and things like that.

Paul,

Your Forum is really doing well!!! Need to post here more.

As to the Audio System mentioned in this thread, I was wondering if the Cartridge is a Ceramic type [hot signal] or Magnetic type [low signal].
I would imagine it to be a Ceramic type Cartridge with a large Stylus, so the Preamp gets a nice hot signal [Voltage in the 35 - 50 mV range at least].

Haven't seen a Tone Arm like that one since the 70's!

Scott S.E.T.

I was wondering if the Cartridge is a Ceramic type [hot signal] or Magnetic type [low signal].

for a really low signal you had to carve the needle from Bamboo

Chris

Scott,
The magnetic cartridge was mostly confined to high-quality equipment in the 1950s (real audio enthusiasts, broadcast, etc.).

Almost all of the regular domestic units were fitted with a crystal or ceramic cartridge (also called a "pick-up" over here). This one contains a BSR "ful-fi" type, and like most of those around at the time is the turn-over type with 78 and microgroove stylii (generally sapphire rather than diamond on these cheaper types). The full turn-over types with two separate stylus/cantilever assemblies were gradually replaced with the fixed body type and the stylii mounted on opposite sides of a single cantilever, so that only the stylus assembly was turned.

The output of these crystal types is actually up in the 300mV range. This was high enough that some of the really low-cost portable players (the valise-size units) just fed the signal straight into a single pentode amplifier stage (often an EL84) which drove the speaker directly. These portable players then often had opnly two tubes, the second being a rectifier (often an EZ80).

Thought I would post this link ,I would not like to see a fire happen because of misuse of Extension cords http://www3.telus.net/radiomuseum/

I happened to know someone that is in the same building so I updated the link

Doug,
Great link -- Thank you!

This place alone looks like a good enough reason for getting a plane ticket to Vancouver!

For Sven and all you other vintage radio enthusiasts.
Here is a link:
http://www.nzvrs.pl.net/
There are all sorts of links and other things on this site, Enjoy!.

[Edited to remove bad URL]

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 09-20-2003).]

Paul,
Just a small aside,
There is a concerted effort over here and in Australia, to try and salvage as many old B&W TV sets, as they believe that these are as much a part of our heritage as the radio, as without these sets, we would not have the HDTV sets that we have today, they are a part of our technological progression through the years.
To quote Rod Champness:
This is why there is a drive on to gather together as many Astor's, AWA and Zenith sets as is possible.
What do you think of this idea, Paul?.