The Repair Shop. BBC TV programme.

[Mike Phelan]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

I saw that edition and anticipated the radio criticisms which are not without merit. After all no one questions whether or not the Japanese paper restorations of the Hindu religious poster were actually correct. Overall, the stories involved with all the jobs were very engaging. Yes it is a TV program but i think that most of us would agree there always seems to be a difficulty when explaining radio/tv restoration to the general public. It could be done better but what does the Cambridge "Producer" know about electronics? Brian Cox is very good [but a little tedious] when explaining the whole Universe and sends himself up wonderfully in the the last episode of Mandy shown on BBC2 on Wednesday! People are now queueing up for a guest appearance!

That said, my interest was in the fact that it was a Ferranti Lancastria Nova radio from the mid thirties. I've always known that the Company produced a few, not necessarily so elegant, examples as a sort of side line to enormous transformers etc but I thought that was mainly in the 1940's at the Moston works near Oldham/Manchester perhaps?
Dave W

For completeness' sake: https://vintage-radio.net/forum/imag...ient_thead.gif

[murphyv310]

The radio most likely didn't work on its return home, a impending bouncer IMHO. No doubt all those components that were tacked on with no mechanical strength and improperly soldered will fall off. The overall workmanship is what you'd expect from a beginner not an experienced professional.

[mark2collection]

It was the wife's comment that brought me into the room ... 'That's horrific!' I heard from the lounge.

We don't know if the repairer had been in dialogue with the owner, something along the lines of 'enormous fees(??), hugely time consuming BUT, I do have access to a donor chassis - to make her sing again'.

Another set saved from landfill, and a cheerful chap who'll no doubt enjoy the visual aspect of the set which will bring back many fond memories, plus knowing if needs be, it can be powered up ...

I'm not sure I could make a nice job of things with someone yelling 'aaaand CUT!' every 3 minutes, whilst someone else is doing dentistry in the background on sheet metal, someone else clouting something heavy, bright lights, a draught around the ankles/neck and knowing there will likely be a few million pairs of eyes watching me ...

Pride of workmanship, yes, which is why I sit in my (usually) quite workshop out in the countryside, carefully/slowly/methodically reworking sets, because I can.

Mark

[HamishBoxer]

The set almost certainly started out as a battery model and ended up a mains one, hence the rectifier sat on top of the mains transformer. The original battery chassis had "collapsed " coils. Or that is what was stated.

End of day, it runs , but not the set that was brought in. In cabinet only.

[McMurdo]

I definitely recommend watching the Mark Stuckey interview linked by Ian, post 41.

Mark is a highly qualified and experienced guy, and his insight into the programme making process, from start to finish I found very interesting, particularly the strict constraints they work under. He also mentioned the Ferranti we saw on Wednesday (but not by name as it hadn't been shown at the time) and the difficulty of the repair.

[Valvepower]

Hello,

I maybe way off base here, and I accept if I am, plus I’ve not yet looked at Mark on YouTube, but it has crossed my mind current Health and Safety and the Low Voltage Directive comes into play here and they avoid showing extensive work with (or even the owner playing with) higher voltage circuits etc., even though they are battery.

In the case of the Ferranti radio, it may well have stuffed dire failure, which I can understand as I’ve had it happen, but I did wonder if restoring it using the batteries it would have entailed building or buying a power supply and fitting it, which would have entailed working with 90V or thereabouts. Even if you were to use modern batteries you would have ten 9V PP3 in series. Using modern standards this voltage is now considered hazardous.

The company who produces the show doesn’t want folks playing with ‘safe’ high voltage batteries or power supplies and being faced with some folk hurting themselves or more serious…. Saying, I saw the bloke on Repair shop use ‘safe’ batteries together (in series) and thought it would be OK… This is a due diligence sort of approach.

I know it ended up being mains which is more dangerous than batteries, but folks see mains as hazardous and leave alone with the back on (hopefully) whereas batteries are perceived as safe (if you don’t connect lots to together), which one has to do with a battery valve set.

I must admit I don’t know what voltage batteries this radio would have originally used.

As I said I maybe way off base here.

Terry

[ms660]

Originally Posted by Valvepower

I must admit I don’t know what voltage batteries this radio would have originally used.

HT battery 150 Volt tapped so far as I can make out..

Lawrence.

[deswradio]

Originally Posted by McMurdo

I definitely recommend watching the Mark Stuckey interview linked by Ian, post 41.

+1. It provided lots of interesting context.

I have to say that I do enjoy watching the programme. It's well-crafted and does its job effectively. A few of the repairs have been disappointing, but all the others seem to have been done with extreme care and skill. I'd love to see a version of the programme without all the sobbing and back-stories - but the audience of nerdy people like me would be pretty small!

One really important aspect of the programme is that it has definitely raised the profile of repair. I volunteer at a repair cafe and quite a few of the people bringing broken stuff in have mentioned the Repair Shop. The desire to mend rather than to replace is, I feel, most commendable.

Best wishes
Des

[mister valve]

I too, enjoy watching the "Repair Shop", but like all Television nowadays - it is designed to entertain the mass audience, rather than inform, educate & instruct.

This is why I am so glad there are such media outlets as "YouTube", and specialist sites like this one, where they often get down to the details & 'nitty-gritty' of the subject rather than just, (with all due respect to them) pandering to an audience of TV Viewers & playing the ratings war game with commercial Television.

[Valvepower]

Hi,

Ah, 150V, higher than I expected! that’ll need something like 16x PP3’s in series – that’s a lot of batteries if you use PP3’s or alike! Looking at the diagram on Paul’s DVD there is combined 150V and 60V HT battery, 9V grid bias battery and finally a 2V LT battery, that's even more batteries.

I figure there wouldn’t be a suitable power supply available off the shelf and Mark would of have had to make something in the workshop, which I feel the budget and time wouldn’t have allowed.

I figure with the thought of the user replacing a 150V battery – whatever shape that took – or the cost of building a power supply it rather threw a spanner in the works.

I could possibly see when he realized there were more faults than he bargained for he decided to go down the donor mains chassis route as this will achieve the required goal in view of the nature of the programme.

I still like looking at the programme obviously taking on board the goals and limitations to make an entertainment show for daytime and evening TV.

Ps. If Dom was nearby I'd get him to sand blast, paint and chrome the stand for my Clavioline project

Terry

Originally Posted by ms660

HT battery 150 Volt tapped so far as I can make out..

Lawrence.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Valvepower

Hi,

Ah, 150V, higher than I expected! that’ll need something like 16x PP3’s in series – that’s a lot of batteries if you use PP3’s or alike! Looking at the diagram on Paul’s DVD there is combined 150V and 60V HT battery, 9V grid bias battery and finally a 2V LT battery, that's even more batteries.

I figure there wouldn’t be a suitable power supply available off the shelf and Mark would of have had to make something in the workshop, which I feel the budget and time wouldn’t have allowed.

I figure with the thought of the user replacing a 150V battery – whatever shape that took – or the cost of building a power supply it rather threw a spanner in the works.

I could possibly see when he realized there were more faults than he bargained for he decided to go down the donor mains chassis route as this will achieve the required goal in view of the nature of the programme.

I still like looking at the programme obviously taking on board the goals and limitations to make an entertainment show for daytime and evening TV.

Ps. If Dom was nearby I'd get him to sand blast, paint and chrome the stand for my Clavioline project

Terry

That could well have been what happened, and the 'story' about the original chassis blowing up was a production team concoction that suited the narrative. In any case, the main point being that the set was presented back to the owner and he was utterly delighted. I doubt if he even noticed the different knobs or would have even cared if he did. Another happy customer and few million delighted viewers.

[Panrock]

It seems to me likely that it would be expedient for the customer to act 'delighted' in this case... all part of the show. Yes, I could be wrong and please forgive the cynicism.

I just know if any of my old customers had ever professed delight when presented back with a result of this sort, my life would have been a lot, lot easier... and my job satisfaction far less.

Steve

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Panrock

It seems to me likely that it would be expedient for the customer to act 'delighted' in this case... all part of the show. Yes, I could be wrong and please forgive the cynicism.

I just know if any of my old customers had ever professed delight when presented back with a result of this sort, my life would have been a lot, lot easier... and my job satisfaction far less.

Steve

Format wise, a fundamental part of the Repair Shop is that the bearer of the item has a historic and often somewhat emotional connection with that item. Hence the tears and emotion when it is presented back to them, recalling the happy times that they spent with the item and their families. Happy memories brought back to life, nostalgia. They never (I'll stand corrected) restore an item that someone just picked up at a car boot sale (say). So I don't think there's any acting, just sheer joy and happiness.

[dave walsh]

Re my post [at 59*] I ran out of time last night. I was going to say that I was surprised when another set was produced to salvage parts from, especially as I'd assumed there wouldn't be too many Ferranti Radios around in the first place. I didn't spot the Battery angle at first though. The cabinet did come up really well with metal polish. It was a little ironic really, as there are so many threads about methods of reviving Bakelite here. They are usually focussed on the fine pastes originated for GPO telephones, I think? The late great Chas Miller used to sell it. Are there any drawbacks to using a metal polish I wonder?

Hi Mike, I've not seen you for a long time. The link you put up [post 61*] takes me to a photo attachment of the Electroniques Catalogue so I'm not sure what your completeness point is

Dave W

[HamishBoxer]

Dave W, Paste Polishing No 5. That is the good stuff, or Bake O Bryte as Chas called his.

[The Philpott]

Watched the YT video. -I have to say that Mark Stuckey gave away more than was wise at one point; made me quite uncomfortable.
Dave

[Craig Sawyers]

Oh come on - why is everyone so down on the programme? Makes me seriously thinking of submitting a toy stuffed dog that I had in around 1958, that I called dogger, and my son massively enjoyed as a bedroom toy too, in the late 80's

Threadbare, missing eyes and nose, and originally was stuffed with straw, so distinctly unstuffed.

Let's see you get to grips with that. No interest in electronic or electrical skills will get you off home base with that.

Craig

[The Philpott]

Yeah, we enjoy it here for what it is. When MS got onto discussing neutrinos on YT (i actually thought he meant neutrons) it wasn't what i was expecting to hear.
Dave

[murphyv310]

One thing that occurred to me is the originality of the radio has been lost. The original battery set must be quite rare I'd think.
I suppose in this day and age the set is unlikely to get a lot of use and no doubt in a few months pensioned off yet again, that's the way things are these days I suppose.

[McMurdo]

I did wonder if restoring it using the batteries it would have entailed building or buying a power supply and fitting it,

I had a wander around Mark's website earlier. He makes & sells reproduction HT batteries either complete or for DIY construction (and 30's cardboard-cased smoothing blocks).