Vega 22

[crackle]

Does anyone recognise this radio and can you help with maker and any other details.
It is believed to be part of a TX RX set.

Thanks
Mike

[Terry_VK5TM]

Marconi ships Rx.

Some info here https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...72#post1332172

[Julesomega]

Yes, I bought if from Ed and was delighted to submit the details and image to the Radiomuseum. Known pedants, they even had the temerity to ask for evidence that it was made by Marconi, International Marine or otherwise.
Unfortunately there is none whatever, nothing Marconi about it, so what can the manufacturer possibly be? There were various UK companies that made LW, MW and Trawler Band radios for maritime use and this was the Rx from a Transmitter-Receiver pair as shown on the brief paperwork details that came with it. I intend to remove panels and scrutinise for any sign of it having been made by anybody. One unusual feature is that it has a ceramic IF filter at 470kHz, Brush Clevite Ceramic Ladder Filter Type TL8014-470, which is in the form of a metal tube about 8mm dia with the I-P and O-P at opposite ends- must get a picture.
The photocopies from the handbook are unusual in not mentioning the mfr on any page: the parts list has part numbers for every component, in the form 1234-5678. This seems to rule out MIM, Plessey, and Philips, among the few possibles I can think of

[Julesomega]

See the thread Cresta-Vega. Made under contract to Marconi? We have seen that with a few Eddystone models

[crackle]

Coastal Radio, Radio Works, Hope Crescent, Edinburgh. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Coastal_Radio
acquired by by Sydney S Bird in 1966 https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Sydney_S._Bird_and_Sons who also had a presence in Pool.
Which would tie up with the mention of Pool in the WW article.
Mike

[Julesomega]

Further evidence that S. S. Bird is the maker of the Vega II: in the parts list the IFTs and other wound components show S. S. Bird S/A as the manufacturer

It's proving difficult to date this unit: The 15 channel crystals have no date. The TO3 transistor Ti type 2S033 is so corroded that the markings are indistinct, but I can see 2S033 and the Ti logo. The IF Filter has corroded too much to read the fine markings. The Elac speaker is not obviously dated, it is marked
3ST
196

Best hope is the pair of chassis-mount Hunts electrolytics, coded N YS and N YT
We have a detailed discussion of Hunts date codes: Date Coding for Hunts / Erie capacitors

I'm expecting codes for the late 60s, and these two codes can be read as Y-M-W, being 7 10 4 and 7 10 5 so, late 1967

[Terry_VK5TM]

Hard to make out the date code on the 2S033, but pics of the few for sale on the net all seem to date around the same period - 1967.

[crackle]

I am inclined to think the radio should be identified as made by Coastal Radio. The take over by SS Bird was so very close to its manufacture and it is likely that the original name Coastal Radio was retained as the "brand".
Because the manufacturing factory of equipment could be any OEM company anywhere in the world, and the brand is what is seen on the equipment to identify it, in the Radio Museum the brand is often used more frequently as the maker.
Coastal Radio as a maker does not exist in RM at the moment so I will propose it.

Mike

[crackle]

There are various listings in "The Lifeboat" magazine for Coastal Radio.
Mike

[Julesomega]

I've powered the thing up a few times now. At first there was no sign of life apart from it drawing the correct supply current. The total absence of any noise was due to the LS being open circuit. Then there was no sign of the LO oscillating but that was down to good screening of the RF section. No sign of the BFO oscillating was down to it being way off frequency, with the cores of the oscillator coil and the two IFTs being loose and ready to drop out

Someone had snipped a wire to the polarity protection relay, and the regulator circuit didn't make much sense until I realised a connection had been missed off the schematic

The Ceramic filter had drifted about 1kHz off the nominal 470kHz over the decades, and when the IFTs were aligned to the same frequency the unit sprung into life

Unfortunately by the time I tuned it to one end of MW the dial cord had lost its tension and the pointer was sticking. The tuning meter is damaged beyond repair so I have posted a 'want' for a replacement

That's three components that are sandwiched behind the front panel so that will be the next challenge. I shall be completely satisfied when I can hear the two-second announcements every 20 minutes on 2182

[Radio Wrangler]

Those Brush-Clevite ceramic filters seemed to appear on the scene in the late sixties,

David