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Old 17th Nov 2016, 9:07 am   #21
greenstar
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

My first experience of the mystery was at my grandparent's cosy little terraced house in Leigh, Lancs, a small mining town. Would be the late 50's. My grandad still worked in the colliery engine room doing odd jobs, sweeping up etc, subsisting on condensed milk sandwiches and drinking tea, with epson salts, out of the saucer. I would stay over at my Gran's when I wasn't well, mum was a teacher. The radio lived in the front parlour on it's own table, and in the evening grandad would take both table and radio through into the back room by the fire (green enamelled corner fitted, with an oven over the top where they heated bricks for bed). I loved this radio, like a household god, but have never been able to identify it. Must have been late thirties, pushbuttons, circular bronzed disc in square tuning dial, tombstone. Eventually stopped working and was relegated to the bathroom, where it resided into my teens. I was allowed to strip it (by mum and dad), but not take the whole thing home, which I wanted, and eventually the cabinet was put out (by mum) for the bin men, with a tip!
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 9:25 am   #22
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

We didn't get a TV until about 1960. Before that we listened to the radio. I remember my father listening to the commentary of some horse race. As the horses approached the finishing line there was obviously a lot happening in the race and the commentator talked faster and faster until there was a continuous stream of words, far too fast for a young boy to understand. It sounded like he was just making a load of incomprehensible noise and I thought "I can do that as well". So I did and my shouting drowned out the radio. My father got very annoyed because he then didn't know which horse had won the race. I much preferred "Listen with mother". "When the music stops Daphne Oxenford will be here to speak to you".
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 12:24 pm   #23
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

As a very young child in the mid-1950s, the centre-piece for entertainment and information was a Philips TG170A valve radio; T.V. hadn't arrived then. I distinctly recall wondering just how a little man managed to get inside the radio! Yes, silly, I know now - when looking back - but the imagination of a 5-year old can be very powerful.
And perhaps that was the start of it all . . . .

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Old 17th Nov 2016, 12:46 pm   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluepilot View Post
I much preferred "Listen with mother". "When the music stops, Daphne Oxenford will be here to speak to you".
As yes! I remember it well! "Berceuse" from the Dolly Suite by Faure.

A few months ago, I had cause to attend Southmead Hospital in Bristol. On the way out, I passed a foyer where a lady was very skillfully playing this, the full version:

http://www.televisiontunes.com/Listen_With_Mother.html

I just had to stop, watch, and listen. And all the memories came flooding back.

Al.
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 1:14 pm   #25
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

My first memory of radio is our Regentone radiogram in the mid 50's. This sat on a small table in the dining room (I still have the table). The speaker grille was of gold coloured expanded mesh behind which was a 4 or 5 inch diameter speaker. The lower part of the front (including the speaker mesh) was a drawer which pulled out to reveal the record deck (and the back of the speaker). I remember peering through the grille looking at the black cone of the speaker wondering where the sound came from; I assumed that there was a very thin annular gap between the cone and the dust cap and the sound came from there. The radio used the 8 pin valves in the 7xx series. (I can never remember the correct base designation). It eventually fell into my hands in my teens and got taken apart!

The other radio is my grandmother's Telsen; That too ended up subject to my tender mercies. The illness started early.
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 1:32 pm   #26
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

My first memories of TV are vague. The single channel Vidor set arrived before I did. My parents had bought it for the Queen's Coronation - they always claimed there was only one other household in the street with a set - and regaled me with the usual stories of having the neighbours round and mother spending all her time making cups of tea. Picture Book (which IIRC was on a Monday) is probably my earliest memory. I remember being told off frequently for getting to close to the screen - dad said that the radiation was dangerous... It was found when I went to primary school that I needed glasses. The other thing I remember is the Vidor's propensity to roll a lot. When I was a bit older I found the preset on the back of the set that would put a (temporary) halt to the problem.

First memories of 'the wireless' are clearer. This would be 'Listen with Mother': "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin:". This was was followed by a programme the title of which baffled me: 'Woman Czar'. Brought up in the industrial midlands, Received Pronunciation, especially the rather clipped version that we called 'BBC English', was not in use locally. Oh, I nearly forgot - the set was a KB Rhapsody. There was also a non-working Pye model P woody in the shed that I liked to play with by twiddling the knobs and watching the dial go around playing my imaginary games. This is probably where it all started...

My uncle had a Rover 90 complete with a car radio. Leather and wood and music on the move - the last word in luxury. The first pop song I can remember I heard in the Rover: Ray Charles: "Hit the road Jack". I've no idea what make the radio was but the aerial was fixed at the front of the roof at the centre and sloped to the rear at a rakish angle.

Last edited by Junk Box Nick; 17th Nov 2016 at 1:39 pm.
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 2:03 pm   #27
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

Playing "John Willie at the license office " at 78 rpm , a very small disc, on the huge HMV radiogram the model of which I cannot recall.
It must have been a promo disc I think, double sided but tiny.
I remember that the HMV had a woven brass strip speaker grill, the radio was busted.

Last edited by Boater Sam; 17th Nov 2016 at 2:04 pm. Reason: rmp not rpm
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 2:49 pm   #28
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

No idea of makes or models, but my first memory of TV was watching the BBC CHILDREN IN NEED Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special, aged 3. I am a Doctor Who nut to this day.
I have golden memories of Christmas that same year, receiving a little red Japanese Trannie! Fergal Sharkey from the Undertones and the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" would be so hotly anticipated that records and posters were required for my Birthday the month after!
Great question OP, regards from Bill.
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 5:40 pm   #29
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

A 405 line set around 1980/1,just 2 channels but happy enough as a young man,as I hated BBC2 with boring documentaries on!
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 8:07 pm   #30
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Smile Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

Hi,
My earliest memory of television was watching 'Mick & Montmorency', featuring Charlie Drake and 'Torchy The Battery Boy' on next door's 17" Pam before my parents rented a Ferranti from a local retailer. It had a VHF radio built in which never worked properly because we didn't have the correct aerial.
Radio wise, it was our Beethoven radiogram which sat next to the aforesaid Ferranti. I loved watching (and hearing) the Garrard deck do it stuff!
Alas, the TV is long gone, but I inherited the Beethoven and have it still! The sound of the changer mechanism takes me right back fifty years!
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 17th Nov 2016, 10:08 pm   #31
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

Earliest memory of radio was the family GEC Transistor Seven (BC505) in red; originally mum's 21st birthday present off her generous aunt;her twin sister had the corresponding beige one.
It would be tuned into a jazz programme and put on the telly playing loudly to deter burglars if we went out at night. We still have it.

Earliest TV memory was the Ferguson dual standard . I didn't know it was black and white until our colour TV arrived in the early 70's; it was delivered and set up in the middle of Crossroads.

Here's me waiting for the picture to appear
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Old 18th Nov 2016, 12:46 am   #32
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

My first memory of radio is twofold.

I spent a lot of time at my grandparents (this is late '50's) and one of their favorite programs was the Archers. Everyone would settle down into their seats and grandad would turn on the radio, everyone had to be perfectly silent while the Archers was on.

Can't tell you the brand or model of the radio, but to a 3/4 year old, it was a large wooden box that sat on top of the cupboard in the alcove next to the fireplace. I can still see it in my minds eye, but not clear enough to be able to look at various pictures of radio's and go - 'that one'.

The other side of this story, is that grandad had a lot of radio bits and pieces in the cupboard under the stairs and I was allowed to sit in there play with them to keep me quiet when the Archers was on.

As for TV, I have a vague memory of living in West Wickham (aged 5) and being allowed to watch 1/2 an hour of cartoons in the evening when we got our first tv.

I don't think it made much of an impression, as the next clear impression of having anything to do with tv was watching Kennedy's assassination on tv at my
grandparents place.

Terry
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Old 18th Nov 2016, 12:49 am   #33
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

Earliest radio memories are of a Murphy console set along with a hinged top "pick-up cabinet with records and a Columbia 78rpm turntable sat in it... the one with the big square head. It was before we had a TV (or a car) I would have been 3 rising 4. When I was tall enough to reach in I was shown how to use it, but my records only and how to fit a new steel needle each play.

There was aTV atmy grandparents, and an uncle had a shiny new Ferguson RG377. For some reason the strongest memories were the smell of the record compartment in the RG377.. was it Collaro's grease?

TV at home arrived in the shape of a 'Link' telly.

My first radio of my own was an old KB AR22 battery table-top cabinet set. 120v HT battery and dry cells for heaters (no accumulator in my bedroom!) On it I discovered shortwaves. I got a record player for christmas or birthday... Philips Disc Jockey Junior.

It's all fondly remembered.

Things moved fast, I finished my first oscilloscope when I was 13.

David
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Old 18th Nov 2016, 10:44 am   #34
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

My parents' first memory of my involvement with television and radio was when I pulled over the large, floor-standing cabinet-mounted TV - nearly, but not quite on top of me - when I was two. I didn't remember a thing! That was the year I put my hand through the wringer (Hotpoint Empress), 'helping' mam do the washing. I was rushed to hospital by a neighbour who had a car and still have the stitch-marks to show for it.

I remembered that.

My first cogent memories were (in chronological order): Dad's old Ever Ready Sky-Queen, listening to a continental station playing a solid-rhythm jazz guitar, (probably Reinhardt / Grappelli) and being fascinated by it. I'd be three at the time. Then 'Telstar' was launched and that became my favourite tune, and I learned how to twiddle the dial to get The Light Programme, where it was likely to be heard.

Of television, it was Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas playing 'Little Children': they all stood on boxes and wore thin black ties. And Cliff Mitchelmore on 'Tonight', climbing up something (a chimney?), his bald head glistening.

Childhood passed by in a flurry of the dismantling of old gramophones and radio sets, donated by family and kindly neighbours. They were my toys. They kept me quiet for hours, seeking those elusive magnets from the loudspeakers. I had a lucky escape from the coiled motor spring in a wind-up gramophone when I eventually got into the casing, and I managed to nip my finger in the wound-up mechanism before dismantling, drawing blood and tears. But this is how we kids built up a risk portfolio.

By this time I'd discovered the innards of the aforementioned Sky Queen and the fun that could be had by getting the girl over the road to touch the 90V terminals by poking hairclips in them.

My musical tastes were moulded and honed between the ages of seven and eleven, listening to my uncle's jazz, skiffle and rock 'n' roll records (Barber, Donegan, Pat Boone, Monty Sunshine, Everly Bros) on my nanna's Regentone radiogram, stacking the 78s up whilst waiting for Sunday dinner to be served.

That old Regentone would be about the last thing I took to bits before I realised things could be put together again!
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Last edited by russell_w_b; 18th Nov 2016 at 10:54 am. Reason: Further memories evoked by writing...
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Old 19th Nov 2016, 11:51 am   #35
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

I remember having control of the TV during the school holidays and discovering BBC Service Information and ITA Engineering Announcements. The former was just static graphics with announcements I think but the latter was a proper programme ('from Crawley Court').

The news of a new transmitter 'bringing colour television to approximately 5000 viewers' and which stations would be ' on reduced power between 9.00 and 3.00 for replacement of guy ropes' was fascinating to this seven year old.
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Old 19th Nov 2016, 3:27 pm   #36
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I had forgotten about the TV engineering programmes, the little chap installing a TV, how to do convergence... I would happily sit for ages watching them, proper telly!
 
Old 19th Nov 2016, 6:04 pm   #37
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

Another TV moment comes to mind from the ear 70s when I was the Saturday boy in the local TV shop,
My task was to replace the line output transformer, un soldering the transformer from a pcb, replacing the transformer and testing, Brian the engineer warned me not to touch the "hot shoe" but never fully explained why, but did show me what happened when an insulated screw driver was placed near the hot shoe,
When he went out for a few moments I thought that I could emulate his experiment , so I picked up a screw driver and merrily poked at the transformer, at this point I realised that I wasn't standing on the rubber mat and the screw driver wasn't insulated ! When he returned he knew what I had done because I had hair like Ken Dodd.
I've never used an uninsulated screw driver since
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Old 20th Nov 2016, 12:22 am   #38
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

We had a Pilot console radio with Long, Medium and Short waves on it. The bands were changed by using piano type keys and also if I remember there was a tone control key as well. I think my parents got it as a wedding present in 1939.
Since I did not come along until 6 years later, the only thing I remember was listning to the death of the King on the radio, and then watching the coronation in 1953 on the neighbours telly.
Shorty after that we had a Bush TV 24C, which was ITV ready, and later on listening to Sputnik on the short wave in 1957
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Old 20th Nov 2016, 7:54 am   #39
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

Radio memory.....taking accumulator down to oil shop to get it recharged for 6d.

TV memory....watching 8 o/clock news upside down on my home built Viewmaster
for the first time as scan coil was wired back to front.

That's why I call myself Viewmaster in memory of that set.
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Old 20th Nov 2016, 8:53 am   #40
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Default Re: What is your earliest memory of radio, tvs etc

I remember Dad borrowing a TV so we could listen to the BBC test stereo radio demonstration in 1961/2. My parents didn't have a TV at home until after 1975. The FM radio we used was the EKCO A274 that sits in my dining room today.

This link refers to the stereo test transmissions https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=10549
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