UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Vintage equipment in modern educational settings

TonyDuell · 28th Mar 2024, 4:34 pm

My view is that the original circuit design must be preserved for the unit to be 'original'.

So replacing the mains lead is fine.

Replacing a 12AX7 valve with an ECC83 is fine

Replacing a RIFA metallised paper capacitor with an electrically suitable part which is not going to break down and emit smoke is fine

Replacing a 74LS00 chip with a 74HCT00 is borderline fine

You should of course keep a log book of all repairs and changes.

BUT :

Replacing a valve circuit with one using transistors or ICs is NOT fine

Replacing the internals of a desktop calculator with an RPi running an emulator is NOT fine

Replacing a CRT with an LCD monitor is NOT fine

Replacing an internal linear power supply with a switch-mode one is NOT fine (it's dubious if it's OK to use a different wall wart)

28th Mar 2024, 4:34 pm	#18
TonyDuell Dekatron Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK. Posts: 5,228	Re: Vintage equipment in modern educational settings - opinions My view is that the original circuit design must be preserved for the unit to be 'original'. So replacing the mains lead is fine. Replacing a 12AX7 valve with an ECC83 is fine Replacing a RIFA metallised paper capacitor with an electrically suitable part which is not going to break down and emit smoke is fine Replacing a 74LS00 chip with a 74HCT00 is borderline fine You should of course keep a log book of all repairs and changes. BUT : Replacing a valve circuit with one using transistors or ICs is NOT fine Replacing the internals of a desktop calculator with an RPi running an emulator is NOT fine Replacing a CRT with an LCD monitor is NOT fine Replacing an internal linear power supply with a switch-mode one is NOT fine (it's dubious if it's OK to use a different wall wart)