What's your focus?

[stevehertz]

My 'vintage wireless journey' has ebbed and flowed and meandered too.

I started in 1978 with vintage wireless (a McMichael 808) progressed to include vintage TVs in 1979, added vintage video (1700 format) in '83, and in around 1984 I got into vintage valve hifi (Quad). After 1990 my activities wained for a decade or so then in 2000 I got into vintage video again, all formats. From around 2003 onwards I was in the doldrums again, and in 2012 I rekindled my interest in VW. In 2014 I got into vintage hifi receivers and tuners.

So now, my interests are vintage hifi of all components, early palm and portable transistor radios and large wooden FM capable valve sets with good quality sound.

What's your story and do you have a particular focus now? It's great that VW has so many aspects, there's always something new to take interest in!

[G6Tanuki]

I've always been a 'radio' type - from building 1-valve regenerative receivers using 1S5 and 1T4 valves scavenged from a rubbish-tip as a 10-year-old, through various ex-military receivers [TCS, CR100, PCR, R209, a couple of AR88s and a RACAL RA217/MA323 RTTY setup] and then once licensed as a G6 I did a lot with Pye gear [I was also running a small specialist mobile-radio business at the time].

There was a small diversion in the late-70s/early-80s into building indestructible guitar-amps [pairs/quads of 807s in zero-bias class-B] - the sale of which helped pay my way through university.

My emphasis has always been on functionality/performance rather than appearance or originality - things have to work as well if not better than when they were made or they have no place in my collection!

These days my focus is still very much radio - I'm currently fettling a Pye MX290 and associated F290 base-station desktop-unit to put it on 2M with CTCSS and channel-scanning, Somewhere in the attic is a Pye FM900 MOULD radio awaiting 4M conversion. I've also got an AEL3030 [1970s crystal-controlled HF SSB on 80M] and a couple of Clansman PRC320 transceivers which get regularly exercised on 80/60M.

Apart from that, I like to experiment: I've lost count of the number of small valve/transistor HF radios, amplifiers, transmitters etc I've built over the years - almost invariably they look a total mess but the satisfaction is in getting them working - once they do what I expected of them I promptly dismabtle them and use the parts for the next project!

My focus varies day to day, sometimes a vintage radio 1920's onwards to SDRs (software defined radio) a bit of mechanics, all sorts of things. Love them all.

[Cobaltblue]

Focus? What Focus.

Although I already interested in Electronics and Radio in Particular my interest in Vintage Radio really started in 1968 two things happened in weeks of each other.

My English teacher who lived in a Victorian house found a load of new and boxed 1920's parts in his loft and gave them to me and a friend, The second was that several 1930's radios were dumped at Stoney Bridge Pengover Rd Liskeard.

One of these was the quite rare A36 which unfortunately I took apart a few years later a metal cased 2 valve kit set (2 triodes) and a PYE 25C were amongst the haul.

I collected more than 20 pre-war sets but most were lost when my parents moved whilst I was working away and a mis-communication meant that most were dumped along with my Rogers Amplifier and Garrard 301.

I then started re-building my collection in 1978 when I moved to Torquay.

And it moved up a gear when I joined the BVWS in the Mid 80's

For a while I concentrated on PYE and Murphy until around 2000 I started to collect Cossor for two reason they were not very common and no on else seemed to be doing it.

Unfortunately I am still in full time work and a lot of other projects on the go and my web site still has many hole to fill.

I currently have around 400 sets around half of which are Cossor.

I also really enjoy post war battery valve sets especially portables.

The sheer quantity is now become a problem.

I am reducing the number of non Cossor and Non battery portable sets but its not easy

Cheers

Mike T

[electronicskip]

My focus really started in the mid 70s joining the School electronics club , then begging old Tvs from my local TV shop.
From there it became radios ,especially CB Radio , then gradually as home computers became affordable those took over.
In the last few years the focus has really drifted back to radios,CBs and now video recorders.

[ChristianFletcher]

I don’t have good focus probably explains why I am not very good at anything.But i do know a little bit about everything enough to be dangerous as they say. Television at the moment but next week it will be something else. But I do always come back to radio.

[AdrianH]

Hobbies are strange things, they can have many different facets and still come under the same common banner.

I am trying my best not to be a collector as I do not want to end up with rooms of valve radios, TV's or what ever I can find. I like to undertake the odd challenge for myself, building a couple of audio amps, (listening to one now), get a bit more of an understanding fixing up the odd thing as I go and then probably pass it on later.

I can remember some of the early sets I have played with RA 17 and MA 79, CR100, (dam heavy thing that did my back in). Murphy B-40, Larkspur R210, ( I would like to get one again ) etc.

Valves have always carried a fascination with me from playing with radiograms from around 10 onwards to being the first sets I was entrusted with at PYE Ardwick Manchester, PYE Ranger, Cambridge, Vanguard and even the old Reporter many of these were old back then.

So for me understanding the old tech, learn and build is my focus. I do not give two hoots if something can be done easier today with an IC or software code on a PC/RaspPI. I use modern tech yes, but interest in it has waned dramatically, probably due to the disposable world we are in and my last years in employment.

Adrian

[Skywave]

At an early age, radio fascinated me. Spent hours twiddling with the tuning and waveband switch on the family's Philips radio, a TG170A.
I've fundamentally always been an 'R.F' man, although over the years I've tackled all sorts of domestic (and industrial) electronic equipment. These days I find myself designing bits 'n' pieces of electronic items for use around the house. I don't collect radios as such any more, but do collect the odd item of test gear.

Al.

[lightning]

l have always liked pocket radio's as we all had them at school, and l always had a fascination with them.
l've collected a small quantity of them, mainly the ones l had, or wanted, as a kid plus anything else interesting (early or very small sets)

l also like old valve equipment but don't actually collect it. I've got a 1953 TV and 1937 radio.

[David Simpson]

If you take the VR out of the Forum's full title, or VW out of BVWS - i.e. "vintage radio" or "vintage wireless" and you take them to mean the "run of the mill" domestic table top radios from the 30's thru to the 60's, then I'm not really entitled to be a member of these august bodies. As for many years - I hated them ! Reason - during my time in the RAF, working in a servicing bay(workshop), some "Zobbit" (Officer) would appear with a set(or his wife's poolside portable Dansette) and ask the Chief Technician if one of his men could repair it. This was a common occurrence, and for guys trained in SOTA military equipment - jolly demeaning. Mopping-up spilt G & T & replacing subsequent burnt-out components, removing sand from slow running turntables(if there had been a beach party), and so on. Most of the guys swore never to work in a Radio/TV shop upon leaving the service, or have anything to do with domestic stuff, me included.
Even upon taking up vintage electronics as a retirement pursuit in 2007, I've only really taken on sets which strike me as something special - Ferranti 145's, those lovely Murphy 122's/128's etc. with their great veneered cabinets, and so on. Plus several 1920's era TRF's with their lovely solid mahogany or oak cabinets. And, old hard worked marine valve Tx/Rx's.
So my Focus - something old & rare & in need of lots of TLC. Certainly not collecting loads of bog standard 1950's woodies or cheapo plastic trannies. More in-depth focus is the workmanship of the original bench technicians from all those years ago - which I attempt to respectfully replicate. Especially with old test equipment, or in my homebrew projects.

Regards, David

[TonyDuell]

I shouldn't really be here, in that I am not that interested in vintage radio. I've repaired radios of course but I don't think I've ever done a full restoration of a valve set. I am darn sure I could and I have plenty to work on...

My main interest in vintage computing. I am fascinated by computer hardware (much less interested in programming). By which I mean big boards of TTL logic, not microprocessors. I love to be able to watch the 'zero flag' with a logic analyser. Yes I work on and repair/restore microprocessor based machines too of course. But to be honest the modern single-chip things (RPi, Arduino, etc) don't 'grab me' at all.

Strangely I also love HP calculators, handheld and desktop. Of course some of the latter do have processors built from TTL (or even discrete transistors) in them.

My second interest is measuring instruments, the more obscure the better. I have the normal things on the bench and then the odd ones for interest -- logic analysers designed to trace microprocessor firmware, telephone test sets, telephone line testers, etc.

My third interest in tape recorders. I think this is nostalgia, when I was very young my father recorded me speaking on his Revox and then played it back. At that age it was magic to me, but I was fascinated and wanted to understand that machine. The interest has remained so I now collect and repair such devices (but no longer think of them as magic).

What else? I guess further down the list are electric (particularly) clocks, other audio devices, just about any bit of vintage electronics. The thing I am least interested in is vintage TV, although of course I respect those who restore such sets and love to read the posts here about them.

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by lightning

l have always liked pocket radio's as we all had them at school, and l always had a fascination with them.
.

I had black Emerson 888 Vanguard at boarding school in 1961 when I was 7.

It was loaned to me by my uncle and must have been a valuable item to entrust to a small boy.

I remember Cliff and the shads playing "The Young Ones" while I was in the playground.
In fact, it was the subject of my first post on this forum.

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by lightning

l have always liked pocket radio's as we all had them at school, and l always had a fascination with them.

Me too: as a schoolkid who 'knew about these things' I got plenty of fellow kids asking me for advice/assistance/repairs to their little trannies we all used to listen to Luxembourg/Caroline after "Lights Out". The vast majority of failures were either the spring contacts in the 2.5mm jack-sockets used for the earpiece, or the thin-and-weedy flex of the earpiece itself having broken.

I kept a stock of replacement earpieces sourced from Salop Radio in Shrewsbury; I also bought ten-packs of "Flying Bomb" PP3 batteries from a market-stall and sold them on to fellow students at a tidy profit!

[avocollector]

As a kid in the 50's and 60's I fiddled with old radios, got shocks, read books, repaired a few things for rels and enjoyed electronics/learning about it, although everything was horribly expensive when 2/6d was your weekly pocket money. Recall reading in Practical Electronics in the late 60's about all the lovely surpluss army radio gear (19 sets) and avos etc but at 14guineas they were way out of my league. Kept the electronics going over the years, rels always wanted things fixed (and almost never wanted to pay!!) and had vague ideas of collecting old valve radios.

This changed sometime in the 80's when I went to an estate auction and saw all this fabulous gear that someone had collected - and left in damp sheds for years. I swore then never to get so much I could not look after it properly so limited my radios to one or two from every decade 1930-1970.

But after this in the late 80's and early 90's all sorts of test gear started appearing at estate auctions then on the internet - everything I'd ever wanted to posess - and cheap to boot (Avos for 10 quid for example). So all of a sudden I could have all the test gear I'd lusted after as a youth and of course, like any kid released into a candy shop, I went banannas.

So current focus is mostly fixing/repairing old valve test gear (for example the current project is an old Eico 460 scope) and then my older radios, a few valve guitar amps (have a red knob Fender twin reverb valve amp that is very sick for example). Collecting and buying is now very reduced as even this stuff occupies space and once you are hovering around 40+ avos (at last count) there does not seem a lot of point in expanding the collection!!

[Joe_Lorenz]

I got to admit I do not seem to be focussed at all. As long I can think I have tried to fix almost anything - my interest spreads from old radios no matter how old and all other electric/electronic stuff to automotive automatic gearboxes, engines and bodywork as well. It has always been of great satisfaction to see something working properly again that make others raise eyebrows.
I have been employed in the mining business and there you frequently must find an ad-hoc solution to fix a broken anything - discard it and wait until UPS delivers something new is often no option at all.
Yes I got introduced to computing via "Algol" on a Zuse Z 25 computer back in the late 70s, but I am not happy when one of my youngsters shows up with his cell phone - screen broken - and ask me "Can we fix it now, I have a new screen here!" Yes, we can, but I prefer restoring a Tektronix 575. Not much easier, the second task, but it has valves, many of them!

One last statement: I have never bought or rented a TV set. There has always been a "skip find" that I have been able to repair. In the hey-days I was able to exchange secretly the Nordmende B/W set against a Nordmende colour but leaving the same ultrasonic remote there in the living room. In the evening my wife was more than astonished that the old TV suddenly was able to show colours!

[mark_in_manc]

Originally Posted by Joe_Lorenz

In the evening my wife was more than astonished that the old TV suddenly was able to show colours!

I think my wife would be unsurprised if I pulled that trick...in the opposite direction

[Richard_FM]

I've been concentrating on 1970s - 80s smaller sets, mostly due to the limited space in my flat for storage.

I've also got a few older radios as they don't take up as much space.

[David Simpson]

Referring to post 13, G6Tanuki mentions "Salop Radio" - Salop is the original name of "Shropshire". It was still in use BMD records-wise & Census-wise well into the 20th century.
The very first "chassis" I acquired as a schoolboy was out of a roadside tip between Lee Brockhurst & Wem(to the north of Shrewsbury). As all my summer holidays were spent at the old family cottage near Lee Brockhurst.

Regards, David (half-Salopian)

[MurphyNut]

My focus is very much on collecting 1930's radios, particularly Murphy and just learning about how they work and how to get them going again.
Something that has surprised me recently as a change is fixing a couple of 1960's Bush record players and buying old LP's to play on them, having a great time doing this.
As with so many collectors space always seem to become an issue at some stage.

[Beobloke]

Not really into radios (sorry!) but I’ve been a hi-fi fanatic for as long as I can remember. When school friends were buying comics with their pocket money, I was buying hi-fi magazines. And, yes, before some wag says it, I realise that some of those were comics, too!

However, my focus is, always has been and probably always will be turntables. I can’t get a enough of the damn things and love buying, repairing, restoring and servicing virtually any sort, from cheap plastic things that are just too tidy to throw away to rebuilding top end Japanese designs that have been destroyed by couriers on their journey from Japan to the UK.

Garrard turntables hold a place in my heart and I’ve probably owned pretty much every deck they made from the early 1970s until their demise but these days I’m mainly into high end classic Japanese direct drives.

I currently own 35 turntables and am gently trying to thin the collection down a bit, but not very hard!

And then of course, as you might have gathered from my username, the half of my house that isn’t full of turntables is full of Bang & Olufsen equipment, promotional items and collectibles.

And I’ve got quite a lot of Yamaha equipment...

And a very tolerant wife...