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

I own three Aussie sets. Two are solid-state table sets (Kingsley and Astor).

The last is a valve table-top set made by Kriesler. They're all pretty plane Jane ordinary MW only radios. Basic boxes.

I bought them through Ebay and while searching for something affordable and yet semi interesting looking that a Aussie sets seem to go for a lot of money. And there are very few that have survived in entirely intact condition.

Many are cracked, chipped, have missing chunks, seem like they've spent time in the sun, etc.

The two transistor radios I have have slight dings and one has a crack on the side (I've mostly repaired it). But they're still in pretty rough shape.

The Kriesler is in physically pristine condition, although the plastic shell does seem tobe sun-faded.

Wonder why Australians are so hard on their radios?

This isn't to say that you don't also find radios here in the states that loook like someone played football with them.....

Sven,
Because when the Aussies are beating the English in a 5 day Cricket test and the(Oz) wicket-keeper misses an important catch, this is when the radio bears the brunt of the loss.
You should see some of the radio's over here from the last cricket season, the Black Caps(our national side), just weren't good enough!.

If I had a quarter for every time someone in America asked me to explain the rules of cricket.... Well, I'd probably have about $5 , but I don't understand it myself beyond the basic principle of "whack the ball and run back and forth."

I applaud every effort to preserve our old radio and TV equipment for future generations to see. The thing that probably deters many people from collecting old TVs in the amount of space they take up.

For anyone who finds himself in northern England, I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the National Museum of Photography, Film, & Television in Bradford. I went there a few years ago, and they have an excellent collection of TV equipment, ranging from domestic TVs right up to original studio Ampex video tape machines. They have quite a few demonstrations set up -- Great for kids (both real kids and those of us who are "old kids" ).

In the early 1900s, windmills certainly had their place for providing water to many residents moving to the western US. But they also had another purpose. Excerpt from "Windmills That Won the West", Invention & Technology magazine, Fall 2003…

One of the machines displayed at American Wind Power Center is a 1920s model that was developed specifically to generate electricity. A letter from the man who donated it, also on display, explains that it used to provide electricity for his family’s farmhouse, including the radio. One fall he and his brother, fanatical baseball fans, were dismayed to discover that the wind wasn’t blowing on the day of the final game of the World Series. They agreed that one of them would climb up and spin the blades each inning while the other listened to the game in the house, Then they’d change places. The writer complained that he was stuck up on the windmill in the last inning, when a home run decided the game.




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 09-21-2003).]

I fixed the link for the Vintage Radio museum in Vancouver BC

I have a couple Aussie sets myself.

And they are quite happy with American 240V@60Hz, from this outlet
I had to repair the bakelite cabinet of the Healing, the shipper didn't pack it well enough (you have to pack things so you feel comfortable rolling it down a flight of stairs)
No, they do not convert American accents to Aussie accents.