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1 Radiogram Issue 121 August 2012

ISSN 084-6209

Issue 121

RADIO-GRAM

The Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Club of Western Australia

August 2012

News from the Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Club, Perth. WA.

This issue comprises the March to July 2012 Meetings!

Rodney House gave a presentation and dem-

onstration of miniature gramophones at the

April Meeting .

At the March Meeting, Ray Nicholas presented his

experiences in servicing radios in the RAAF during

WW2 whilst at Pearce, Darwin and Borneo.

Rob Nunn with substantial assistance from mem-

bers, presented a Powerpoint show on battery

portable valve radios at the May meeting.

Norbert Tourney presented a show and tell on

a 1924 French tube radio in Items of Interest

during the June meeting.

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VINTAGE WIRELESS AND GRAMAPHONE

CLUB OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Inc.

EXECUTIVE 2009-2010

President: Rob Nunn

51 St Helier Drive, Sorrento, WA 6020

Phone: 0418 922 629 (M) ; 08 94486143 (H)

Email : [email protected]

Vice President: Steve Austin

Secretary: Rodney House,


Vince Taylor (Minute Secretary)

Treasurer: Barry Kinsella


Website: Reg Gauci : http://vwgc.org.au

Email: [email protected]

Committee: Rob Nunn, Barry Kinsella, Andrew

Wakeman, Vince Taylor, Tony Smith, Steve Aus-

tin, Reg Gauci and Len Lewis.

Appointments: Librarian: Len Lewis

Editor: Rob Nunn; Publicity/Website: Reg Gauci

Meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each

month (with the exception of December) at 8pm in

the Veteran Car Club rooms at 6 Hickey Street,

Ardross. Visitors are always welcome!

Although the main interests of members are wire-

less receivers and gramophones (or phonographs)

, many members are also interested in amplifiers,

telephones, musical boxes, tape recorders, televi-

sion receivers and other associated equipment and

memorabilia.

Radio-Gram is currently published twice per year,

in about February and August.

Send articles and advertisements to the editor:

Rob Nunn : 51 St Helier Drive, Sorrento, WA, 6020

Email: [email protected]

Phone : 94486143 or 0418 922 629

Please make sure your ‘copy’ is submitted by the

meeting night prior to the issue month.

Advertisements are placed FREE of charge, but

should be of a non-exploitive nature.

Subscriptions: $25 (payable in June)

(Concession rate: $20)

President’s Report “Radiogram” is our Club magazine,

published twice a year. This issue

No. 121 covers the period from

March 2012 to July 2012. The

magazine complements our Club

Website, which is very ably man-

aged by Reg Gauci with up to date

information on the Club activities.

Our March meeting was addressed

by Ray Nicholas who spoke on his WW2 experiences in

radio with the RAAF at Pearce, Darwin and Borneo. Ray

had some fine stories and photos to show us. Also, Nor-

bert presented an unusual 1961Saba stereo radio with

auto-tuning correction, and AM-FM station memory.

Our April meeting was coordinated by Rodney House, and

Members brought along ultra-portable gramophones to

show and demonstrate. Some 22 very interesting ma-

chines were displayed and the evening was a great suc-

cess.

I was very pleased with the excellent response from Mem-

bers to my request to bring along battery portable valve

radios for the May meeting. Thanks to those who showed

us their old battery portables. 35 in total. Thanks also to

Steve Saville for permission to use photos from his collec-

tion DVD’s.

In June we had our AGM and Monster auction. All existing

Office-Bearers were re-elected. I would like to again ex-

press my thanks to our Committee and all Office-Bearers

for their invaluable support during the 2011-2012 year.

Our Club works well because there are a few people who

are willing to put some time and effort into the Club. If

you have not previously done so, please consider making

contributions to our Website or monthly meetings or

magazine.

I was unable to attend the July meeting due to being away

with family for a week. However I have been informed

that the meeting went very well, with Richard Rennie giv-

ing his interesting talk on the Transition of 6WF to the

ABC, plus a short film by Tony Smith.

You may have noticed that I introduced name badges to

our meetings. I think they worked well. Don’t forget to

leave your badge behind as you leave the cluhouse.

My thanks to Contributors to this “Radiogram” No. 121.

Please keep up the good work, and encourage other

Members to do the same! See you at the 28 August

meeting!

…….Rob Nunn

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The Secretary’s Report

Some very good meetings held during the last few months with excellent participation by a

good number of members.

In April and May we had valve radios and ultra portable gramophones. A large number of

these items were on display and demonstrated with some interesting descriptions by owners.

Also in May a small auction was held, the highlight of which was a valve radio which sold for $600 – which just goes

to show that there are still sought after items and/or bargains to be had. These small auctions are now a regular fea-

ture of meetings where we do not have a guest speaker. I am currently holding 2 wooden cased radios, an HMV and

an STC along with an unusual Hallicrafters multiband receiver in original carton. These will be coming up for auction

at some time in the future.

At the AGM in June President Rob pretty much railroaded all retiring office holders into the same positions for an-

other year and the agony was over in an instant – well done Rob.

At the same meeting a monster auction saw in the order of 100 lots go to mostly willing buyers with some encour-

agement from auctioneer Stephen.

Coming up are a number of activities associated with the centenary of Wireless Hill which are listed elsewhere in this

issue. I would urge as many members as possible to participate in some if not all of these.

I expect the committee will be meeting soon to formalise the programme for the first half of next year, as well as for

the November social, so if you have ideas please make them known to a committee person or at a meeting.

............Rodney

Notices 1. (From Rodney House) It is with regret that I have to advise members of the death of Clive Rutty It was at his instigation that our club was created in early 1983. He assisted at the first meeting of about ten people at a private residence. It was through his insistence that gramophones were included in the club's sphere of interest, as well as radios. The first Club meeting was in March 1983. Clive spoke on restoration at the April meeting. He only participated in the first few meetings and then he bowed out. 2. (From Rob Nunn) I had a phone call from Brian Davis, who is seeking to contact a Charles McLaughlin. They

worked in Govt. and radio some years ago. If you know of Charles McLaughlin, would you please phone Brian

Davis on 93448860.

3. THE COMMITTEE OF THE FRIENDS OF THE ABC CORDIALLY INVITES

ALL FABC MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS TO SHARE AFTERNOON TEA WITH FIONA STANLEY

PROFESSOR STANLEY, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO THE BOARD OF THE ABC LAST YEAR,

WILL SPEAK ABOUT HER NEW ROLE AND SHARE HER THOUGHTS ABOUT

THE NATIONAL BROADCASTER; SHE WILL ALSO TAKE QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR.

FOLLOWING DISCUSSION, AFTERNOON TEA WILL BE SERVED

DATE: Thursday 6TH SEPTEMBER, 2012

TIME: 3:OO PM

VENUE: THE PALMS, ROKEBY ROAD, (corner Nicholson Road) SUBIACO,

ALL WELCOME

NB THIS EVENT IS FREE BUT, FOR CATERING PURPOSES,

KINDLY RSVP TO: PO Box 534 Subiaco WA 6904;

[email protected] or to the President on Mobile Phone 0427 001 793.

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Committee

Tony Smith

Secretary

- Rodney House Treasurer

Barry Kinsella

Vice-President

Steve Austin.

Minutes Secretary

Vince Taylor

President

Rob Nunn

EXECUTIVE AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Webmaster and Committee

Reg Gauci

Committee

Andew Wakeman

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS EDITION

Fred Franklin

Richard Rennie

Rodney House

Tony Smith Vince Taylor

Norbert Tourney

Phil Oxwell Merv Thompson

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Recent Events

March 27, 2012 : Ray Nicholas spoke on his ex-

periences servicing radios in the RAAF at Pearce,

Darwin and Borneo during WW2.

April 24, 2012 : Rodney House spoke and demon-

strated miniature Ultra Portable Radios, some dis-

guised as cameras

May 22, 2012 : Valve Portable Radios. Rob co-

ordinated this presentation, and members brought

along many portables of interest.

June 26, 2012 : AGM and Auction

July 24, 2012 : From 6WF to the ABC. Richard

Rennie presented the story of the ABC in WA.

Coming Events

August 28, 2012 : Trevor Kelly will tell of his ex-

periences working at the ABC.

September 25, 2012 : Brian Peachey will present

his experiences working for C.H Baty and as pro-

prietor of a record store in Perth.

October 23, 2012 : a demonstration of a variety of

internal horn Edison phonographs.

November 27, 2012 : Annual Social Evening, start-

ing at 6.30pm at our Clubhouse.

December— no meeting in December.

Richard Rennie

Ray Nicholas

Rodney House

Rob Nunn

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Front view of “5214” as it came to me

off the verge

A Restoration Story by Tony Smith

5214

A friend called to see me one day with a radio tucked under his arm.

"I found it on a verge waiting for the Council rubbish pick-up" he said. It had obviously been out a fair time as the

cabinet was very much the worse for wear because the plywood of the cabinet was starting to split and there was a

lot of dirt inside.

Looking at the set it became obvious that here was a very interesting item. It was made in England, branded HMV

model 5214, and is an AC/DC set with "live" chassis. It features a most unusual valve line up, all valves being la-

belled MARCONI, a brand I had not seen before. All had the heaters rated at .1 amp.

These are the valves installed, with a numbering system foreign to me -

RF. W107. Converter X142. IF. W142. Audio DH142. Output N142. Rectifier U142.

The European equivalents turned out to be -

UF89 UCH42 UF41 UBC41 UL41 UY41

and the American equivalents -

? 14K7 12AC5 14L7 45A5 31A3

At this stage the age of the set is unknown, but one would suggest it being made just after WWII. In spite of this

strange line-up the set has some interesting features that were ahead of it's time.

The cabinet has a removable bottom with the set being so designed that all general servicing and alignment can

be done without removing the set from the cabinet.

The whole chassis is mounted on four large rubber grommets which are in turn mounted on two steel runners

screwed to the cabinet. The hold down screws under the cabinet are thus not "live". There is a calibrated drum fitted

to the tuning capacitor which enables alignment to be done without having to look at the dial from the front of the

set.

Insulated sleeves are on each control shaft to prevent any chance of touching the shafts between the knobs and

the cabinet. A thermistor was factory fitted to the series ballast in the heater circuit (will explain later) The speaker

is mounted behind a very impressive four piece glass dial system, the printing on which has perfectly withstood

around 60 years. These dial glasses are three bandspread shortwave and one general shortwave/ medium wave.

The set has provision for six dial lights and the original dial cord is still OK.

Rear view of “5214” as it came to me.

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Now to the strange items.

The RF valve is mounted up on a little sub chassis, almost looking like an "add-on". The rectifier valve

socket is mounted up off the chassis by means of spacers - why? Whilst the dial cord and pulleys are on the

chassis, the large vertical pointer is mounted on runners attached to the cabinet (shades of Philips sets!)

Now to get it going.

First was to clean the chassis and get rid of all the dust and dirt that had accumulated over the years and from the

roadside verge. The valves were carefully taken out and their pins cleaned. Thank heaven the heaters were intact.

How would you find a 45 or a 31 volt valve today?

The next was to come to grips with the ballast system and the heater circuit. It turned out that part of the ballast sys-

tem incorporated the dial lights. To my mind this is not a good idea because a change in the globes, or a failure can

alter the heater line-up voltage. The decision was made to remove the dial lights from the ballast system and adjust

it accordingly with a parallel resistor the value of which was calculated. As we have no DC power anymore a small

transformer from an old transistor set would do the job for the lights.

Having a thermistor in the heater circuit as part of the resis-

tive network is an excellent safeguard to the heaters. A ther-

mistor has a reverse heat/resistance feature where the resis-

tance drops as it heats up. This feature prevents any damag-

ing surge in the heaters when first switched on. The only

drawback is that the warm-up time for the valves is some-

what longer than normal.

The set was fitted with stand-off electrolytics. These were

automatically replaced with some good secondhand ones

as a precaution. Originally fitted was a switch-pot for the vol-

ume control. The switch had failed, possibly because switch-

pots do not like DC! As the shaft was quite long and not stan-

dard it was decided to forgo the switch on the volume and leave

the set to be turned on and off at the socket.

Taking precautions so as to not touch the chassis it was time to try it out. The old trick of a small globe in series with

the mains was installed, and the set switched on. While monitoring the heater circuit the wattage of the series globe

was then progressively increased until it appeared safe for the set to go direct to the mains.

Showing the removable cabinet bottom

The stand-off RF end and tuning drum

The ballast, thermistor and raised rectifier

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The finished set

The HT came up and then would you believe there came some static from the speaker, and with the turn of the tun-

ing in came the AM stations! I found it hard to believe that this set, chucked out onto the verge, maybe 60 years old

and with very obsolete valves, would come to life. The volume control would not turn the set right down, and this

turned out to be because of a open circuit cathode electrolytic in the audio amplifier circuit. A new one fixed the prob-

lem.

With the exception of one SW all bands were working, and as

later found out the eventual performance at night meant that it

appeared unnecessary to touch the alignment. And by the way at

night the six dial lights are spectacular!

The peeling sections of the cabinet plywood were glued down and

then the whole cabinet sanded down to bare wood. Three coats of

a satin varnish and the cabinet looked as though it had just come

off the showroom floor. A set of knobs and some new speaker

cloth and that was it!

My friend could not believe it - he may have been sorry he gave me the set in the first place!

…………...Tony Smith

Minutes of Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Collectors Club meeting held at clubrooms Tuesday

March 27th 2012. 26 members present, 3 visitors.

8.10pm. Meeting commenced.

The meeting was opened by President Rob Nunn. Apologies were given for Secretary Rodney House and Treasurer Barry

Kinsella. A welcome was extended to visitors Trevor Kelly, Ray Nicholas and John Doust. A motion was asked to pass

the previous meetings minutes. This was put forward by Richard Rennie and seconded by Len Lewis. Passed.

Secretary’s Report.

There was no Secretary’s report available.

Richard reported that a letter of appreciation had been received from the City of Melville for the clubs help in the assess-

ment process of the Wireless Hill Collection. Richard also tables a copy of Radiowaves Magazine.

Treasurer’s Report.

There was no Treasurers report available.

General Business.

Tony Smith- Reminded the Club that May is Valve Portable night. Bring in your Valve Portable for a mega show & tell.

Tony has info on the kits that are available for powering portables. Tony is also looking for a Collaro crystal pick up car-

tridge for someone who is repairing an old radiogram.

Richard Rennie- Wireless Hill Centenary Celebrations. New dates for events are;

Sunday July 1st…. Transition of 6WF to ABC, Presentation 2-3pm Katajini Hall, Kitchener Rd

Sunday September 30th … Club Display & Demonstration at Wireless Hill.

Sunday Oct 7th… Wireless Information Day, 10-12am Wireless Hill…

James Wemm- Is looking for spare parts for Denon Amps.

Items of Interest

Norbert Tourney- A top of the line AM/FM Saba Radio receiver. 11valve Frieburg 7, c.1957.

Meeting closed 8.20pm.

Ray Nicholas gave a talk on his reminiscences as a Radio Technician with the RAF in the Pacific from 1941-46.

9



May 22nd 2012. 26 members present.


The meeting was opened by President Rob Nunn. Thanks were made to the club members who bought their Battery Port-

ables along tonight with approx 35 examples on show. After the show and tell there will be a coffee break and then a small

auction of donated items. Rob also reminded members of Richards talk on 6WF to ABC on 1st July. A motion was asked

to pass the previous meetings minutes. This was put forward by Richard Rennie and seconded by Len Lewis. Passed.


The Centenary of Wireless Hill celebrations are coming along. An application has been lodged with City of Melville to

cover the costs of Richards talk on July 1st. Rodney has sent an expression of interest for the club to join the Wireless Hill

exhibit day on Sep 30th on the proviso that we have adequate shelter for the exhibit. The club has registered to once again

exhibit at the Seniors Have A Go Day on Nov 14th. Len Lewis spoke to Peter Waltham and Jenny Seaton who will be

happy to promote the club on their remote radio broadcast that day.


There was no treasurer’s report available.

General Business.

Tony Bayliss- Gramophone and Radio collector John Crossland has passed away. Items from his collection are for sale,

see Tony for details.

Richard Rennie- Is looking for radios of the 1929 -32 era to display at the Transition of 6WF to ABC talk on Sunday July

1st.

Andrew Wakeman- Suggested that a sticker with the purchasers initials be placed on club auction items immediately upon

sale. This will avoid the problem encountered lately regarding uncollected items.

Items of Interest

Tony Bayliss- 1928-31 Phillips 25/10 radio receiver.

Barry Kinsella- 1973 Barlow Wadley XCB30 Mk 2 Transistor Portable.

Meeting closed 8.20pm. A show and tell was held with club members examples of battery portable radio receivers.

Minutes of the VWGC meeting held on the 24th of April 2012 at 6 Hickey St Ardross The meeting commenced at 8:00 pm with Rob Nunn in the chair Attendance, apologies and guests were recorded in the attendance book. Rob reminded members of the coming events connected with the centenary of Wireless Hill, 1st of July from 6WF to the ABC — Richard at Kadidjini Park and repeated at the July Club meeting. 30th Sept Display and demonstrations of 1920s radios Valve radio information day Richard's book launch and cocktail party Rodney reported on the programme for the second half of the year June AGM and monster auction July Richard - From 6WF to the ABC A illustrated talk based on the scrapbook compiled by Wally Coxon Aug. Trevor Kel ly Former ABC worker Sept Brian Peachey Assembled radios for C. S.Baty and later ran a record store Oct Amberola night N o v S o c i a l No Treasurers Report as Barry is overseas . General Business.

Tony Barb. Suggested name tags. Rob has blank ones and will bring them to the next meeting They are to be left at the Club and collected and used each meeting. Steve Austin reported that needles were available, and also styli Tony Barb enquired whether auction items needed to be paid for on the night — yes Business having concluded, there was an expanded show and tell of ultra portable gramophones coordinated by Rodney. Some 22 machines were on display brought in by several members, and quite a number were played. After the show a small auction was held.

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June 26th 2012. 24 members present.


The meeting was opened by President Rob Nunn. On this our last meeting for the financial year thanks were extended to

the executive and committee for their work running the club. Special thanks to Steve Austin, Reg Gauci, Richard Rennie

and Rodney House. Also to Northern Territory Member Fred Franklyn for his contributions to the club magazine. The

order of business tonight will be regular meeting, AGM and then an auction after the break. Subs are due tonight and

members must be paid up to bid in the auction.


The club has been given access to the cottage for the domestic radio exhibit at Wireless Hill on Sep 30 th. Next Sunday

(July 1st) Richard will present his talk 6WF-ABC at Katajini Hall. Richards encyclopaedia of Western Australian Radios

and Gramophones will be launched at Wireless Hill 10.30am 7th Oct. The Secretary’s report was passed as correct by Jim

Moore and seconded by David Littley.


The treasurer’s report was tabled as a separate document. The club has about $2000 in the bank and $5500 in the term de-

posit. The Treasurers report was moved as correct by Steve Austin and seconded by Reg Gauci. Passed.

General Business.

Tony Smith- 2 radiograms have been donated to the club. One is a blondwood lowboy Phillips valve turntable, tape and

TV (can be delivered in the metro area). The other is a HMV lowboy transistor receiver with BSR turntable.

Items of Interest

Norbert Tourney- Locally manufactured TRF receiver c.1924-26. A copy of a European model, Reinharts reactive radio.

AGM

In absence of nominations or resignations the executive and committee stands.

President- Rob Nunn.

Vice President- Steven Austin.

Secretary- Rodney House.

Treasurer- Barry Kinsella.

Minutes Secretary- Vince Taylor.

Website Manager- Reg Gauci.

Magazine Editor- Rob Nunn.

Meeting closed at 8.30pm. A club auction was held.

Norbert, closely supervised by Coleen, shows

a 1924 Reinharts reactive radio

Some of the members present at the June

AGM and monster auction.

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July 24th 2012. 17 members present, 1 visitor.


The meeting was opened by Vice President Steven Austin. Apologies were given for President Rob Nunn and Treasurer

Barry Kinsella. Welcome was extended to visitor Stewart Harrison. Notice was given of the passing of Clive Rutty who

was one of Perths finest French Polishers and taught a number of people in the club. Proceeds for tonight are the regular

meeting, guest speaker and then a short film from Tony Smith. An auction of donated items will be held after the coffee

break.


There are 2 copies of the Altronics catalogue to give away. Incoming correspondence was an acknowledgement from the

Seniors Recreation Council of our application to the Seniors Have A Go Day. There was no outgoing correspondence.


No Treasurers report was available.

General Business.

Richard Rennie- His talk on The Transition of 6WF to ABC (Sunday July 1st at Katajini Hall) was very well received with

65 persons attending.

Steven Austin- Gave the talk on Pathe’ he presented at the club to the Motion Picture Historical Society.

Items of Interest

Phil Oxwell- Bought in pictures and information on a radio he recently purchased. 1935 16valve Midwest Radio

(American manufacture 1920-56). A beautiful one owner top of the line console model that took 40hrs in preparation and

restoration.

Meeting closed 8.15pm. Richard Rennie gave his talk on the Transition of 6WF to ABC.

2012 Wireless Hill Centenary Activities

OLD VALVE RADIO INFORMATION DAY

The Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Club of W.A. invites the public to bring their old valve radios to Wireless

Hill where members of the club will be on hand to assist with identification and dating. They will also give advice

on the care and conservation (and restoration) of these radios.

The club members in attendance will have appropriate reference material on hand. The club will also provide a

small exhibition of radios and components to illustrate their advice. They do not give valuations.

When: 7 October, 2012 10 am to 12 noon

Where: Wireless Hill Museum Cottage

Contact: Richard Rennie 9330 1636 Rodney House 9364 6912

EXHIBITION OF RADIOS

The Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Club of W.A. presents an exhibition of historic radios and associated

memorabilia. There will be demonstrations of domestic radios from the 1920s to the 1970s. Club members will be

on hand to discuss with the visitors the history of domestic radio in Western Australia.

When: September 30. 10.00 am to 3.00 pm


Contact: Richard Rennie 9330 1636 Rodney House 9364 6912

BOOK LAUNCH

The Encyclopaedia of Western Australian Wirelesses and Gramophones.

The Encyclopaedia of Western Australian Wirelesses and Gramophones documents the companies that

manufactured wirelesses and gramophones in Western Australia in the period 1900 to 1960. It also provides a

detailed catalogue of Western Australian-made wirelesses and gramophones. It also contains information

obtained in interviews over many years with people; many of whom are now deceased. The launch will be held in

conjunction with an exhibition of rare Western Australian wirelesses and gramophones.

When: 14 October at 10.30 am


Contact and RSVP: Richard Rennie 9330 1636

12


A CRYSTAL SET

A construction story by Fred Franklin

Crystal sets or crystal radios

are, generally, the place where

radio enthusiasts start. These beaut little receivers are easy and cheap to

build and operate. They consist of a coil and tuning capacitor, diode and

ear plug or high impedance head phones. All parts except the earplug

are mounted neatly on a piece of wood or other insulating material. In

this case, ebonite. There is no danger from high voltages as they run off the few micro-volts coming down the aerial and

you can not blow them up and they cannot blow you up for that reason. You can build a simple valve or transistor ampli-

fier and add it to the crystal set to become a little basic radio.

The name comes from the old days when a crystal of galena was used as

a diode to half wave rectify the incoming radio signal and present it as a

listenable music or speech signal. The crystal was held in a holder and

the end of a fine wire pushed gently against a spot on the crystal where

there was a conductive area and the signal flowed. The fine wire is called

the "cat's whisker". These were troublesome. Thankfully, manufacturers

were able to make this part into an enclosed, small and reliable "small

signal diode" using germanium and other crystals.

This crystal set was home made during the 1920s. It uses a variometer for tuning the station, a cat's whisker detector and a

knife switch that switches the aerial signal either straight to the variometer or via a 0.002uf mica aerial matching capacitor.

There is no tuning capacitor.

The incoming signal from the aerial passes through a small knife switch

that selects either a path through an aerial matching capacitor or straight

to the variometer that is connected between the aerial and earth termi-

nals, then to a "cat's

whisker' diode and high

impedance head phones.

The variometer is a circuit

tuned to the desired radio

station. It is an insulator to the station's signal and the signal must flow on to

the rest of the apparatus. All other signals are short circuited to earth.

The variometer is made of two coils one inside the other. The inside coil can

be revolved from vertical position to horizontal position to select the station.

The outer coil former is 8.5cm diameter and 4.25cm wide. There are twenty-

eight turns of cotton covered 21 thousands of an inch copper wire neatly wound onto it.

The inner coil is 6cm diameter and 3.5cm wide. It has twenty-six turns of 21 thousands of an inch cotton covered copper

wire neatly wound onto it.

The windings are in good condition, but the flying leads had severe corrosion between the strands and the metal

"bootlace" sleeve and the crimped on 1/8 inch lug. These wires were replaced with modern cable and soldered lug and no

"bootlace" sleeve to minimise future corrosion. Where the winding wire is terminated under screws, the rusty 1/8 inch

screws were disposed of and replaced with modern zinc plated screws, nuts and washers.

13


Some more rare and novel minatures

Merv Thompson demonstrates his

miniature portable gramophone

Minature gramophones on display at our April

meeting

After all had been done I made up a small quantity shellac varnish and re-varnished the coils. The varnish holds the wind-

ings together and on the coil formers. On the front panel the wiring is square busbar and is hooked around various termi-

nals as required. All parts were dismantled and given a good scrub with a small wire brush and re-assembled. The existing

parts of the incomplete "cat's whisker" were re-installed with an OA261 diode installed across it.

All that is left is to do is make a wooden base of radiata pine for it to sit on and it is finished. The base was varnished with

clear Wattle estapol varnish. Happy collecting and restoring. ..............Fred

More amazing minatures

National all-in-one!

Ultra-Portable Gramophones on display at April Meeting coordinated by Rodney House

Telescopic horn ultra-portable gramophone

14


HEADPHONES

A story by Fred Franklin, Darwin, NT

No crystal set or low powered radio is complete without some headphones to

listen to it with. Although headphones have many other listening uses too.

A pair of S. G. Brown Limited Type F headphones came my way.

These headphones were made in England by Sidney (sic) George Brown

who specialised in electro-mechanical sound reproduction equipment dur-

ing the 1920s to1960s. He made headphones, microphones, telephone

receivers and other acoustic equipment.

The headphones in question are probably from the fifties. The terminals

for the leads are inside the body of each phone. Each phone appears to be

made of a black Bakelite or similar material.

The lead wires are extremely flexible to allow for the movement of the

wearer's head and prevent breakage of the wires due constant movement.

The conductors are a mix of cotton and copper strands for flexibility. This is hard to solder or terminate. To terminate the

ends they are neatly bound by winding a fine copper wire around them. Each core is cotton insulated and the pair of cables

are sheathed in a woven brown cotton sheath with black checks woven into it.

After unscrewing the top cover of the head phone the diaphragm should be removed by placing two fingers flat on it and

sliding it sideways until it is removed. Do not pry it up from the edge and peel it back as if opening a can of beans as this

action will bend the diaphragm and it will not work again.

Inside, there is a small "U" shaped magnet that provides a small inwards distortion

of the diaphragm. Wound around each pole is a small coil of many turns of very fine wire through which the signal current

passes to create a pulsing magnetic field that opposes the magnet's field and causes movement of the diaphragm and,

therefore, a sound.

After inspection, all parts were found to be clean and near new. A test with a digital multimeter, set on resistance, each

phone showed a resistance of 2,000 ohms. The phones are connected in series to give total resistance of 4,000 ohms. Re-

assemble the diaphragm by sliding it back into place and screwing the cover back on.

If an analogue ohm meter, set on thousands of ohms, is used to test the phones a small scratchy clicking noise will be

heard in the head phones

The original diaphragms appear to have been changed at some stage to Richard Thomas and Baldwin ferrosil number 24

diaphragms. Ferrosil is an alloy of iron and silicon with the amount of silicon varying from 15% to 90% depending on the

use. This may have given a more flexible diaphragm and therefore a louder or more tuneful sound. One of the diaphragms

appears to have been trimmed to fit into the phone.

Richard Thomas and Baldwins was formed in 1948 after a merger between Richard Thomas & Co. and Badwins Ltd. Both

companies were manufacturers of sheet metal products.

By way of a bit of fun, connect the hones to the input of an amplifier and talk to them. They work well as a microphone.

Happy collecting and restoring.

Fred

15


Clockwork Radio : Wins BBC Design Award

British inventor Trevor Baylis,

Creator of the world's first clockwork radio, recently won the BBC Design

Award and has been endorsed by more than 20 international humanitar-

ian organisations.

Built to withstand most climatic conditions, The radio, which requires no

batteries, Gives 30 — 60 minutes of clear listening time after only 20 sec-

onds of winding.

Baylis developed the radio so that it could be used in areas with no elec-tricity. He based his initial ideas on the way that old — fashioned wind — up gramophones work. He had been moved by television reports about the spread of AIDs in Africa and suggestions that vital health information could not easily be spread there because of the cost of batteries.

The radio works on a similar principal to an alarm clock, except that— unlike the clock— when wound for about 20 sec-

onds, electricity is generated and the radio stores and distributes the power constantly over a period of time. The BBC's World Service, realising the Importance of the invention, helped to get it featured on the BBC — TV programme

"Tomorrows World" which looks at innovations from all over the world. Financial support for the project was given by the British Governments Overseas Development Administration and approval for it came from the President of South Africa,

Nelson Mandela.

In 1997, the new generation Freeplay® radio rolled off the production line in South Africa. Smaller and

lighter than the original model, the new radio has been designed specially for the Western consumer

market and runs for up to an hour after only 20 seconds winding.

The year has also seen Trevor take part in a Sky TV programme "Beyond 2000" featuring his inven-

tions. He has been awarded the President's Medal by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and ad-

dressed the Conference of Commonwealth Ministers in Botswana for the British Council.

In October, Trevor was awarded the OBE by The Princess

Royal at Buckingham Palace, where he was also surprised by

Michael Aspel and whisked off to be featured in an edition of

"This Is Your Life". Trevor continues his tireless work to pro-

mote the concept of 'personal power', as well as his campaign

to establish a Royal Academy of Inventors.

(Thanks to Merv Thompson for this story)

Merv Thompson demonstrates his

clockwork (wind-up) radio

16


A HISTORY OF THE CAR RADIO

(With thanks to Cathy Day, Gina Capes (Wireless Hill Project Curator) and

Richard Rennie, Rodney House for sending it to the Editor)

SUNSET

One evening, in 1929, two young men named William Lear and Elmer Waver-

ing drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River

town of Quincy, Illinois , to watch the sunset. It was a romantic night to be

sure, but one of the women observed that it would be even nicer if they could

listen to music in the car.

Lear and Wavering liked the idea. Both men had tinkered with radios (Lear had served as a radio operator in the

U.S. Navy during World War I) and it wasn't long before they were taking apart a home radio and trying to get it to

work in a car. But it wasn't as easy as it sounds: automobiles have ignition switches, generators, spark plugs, and

other electrical equipment that generate noisy static interference, making it nearly impossible to listen to the radio

when the engine was running.

SIGNING ON

One by one, Lear and Wavering identified and eliminated each source of electrical interference. When they finally

got their radio to work, they took it to a radio convention in Chicago . There they

met Paul Galvin, owner of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. He made a product called a "battery eliminator" a de-

vice that allowed battery-powered radios to run on household AC current. But as more homes were wired for elec-

tricity, more radio manufacturers made AC-powered radios. Galvin needed a new product to manufacture. When he

met Lear and Wavering at the radio convention, he found it. He believed that mass-produced, affordable car radios

had the potential to become a huge business.

Lear and Wavering set up shop in Galvin's factory, and when they perfected their first radio, they installed it in his

Studebaker. Then Galvin went to a local banker to apply for a loan.

Thinking it might sweeten the deal, he had his men install a radio in the banker's Packard. Good idea, but it didn't

work -- Half an hour after the installation, the banker's Packard caught on fire. (They didn't get the loan.) Galvin didn't

give up. He drove his Studebaker nearly 800 miles to Atlantic City to show off the radio at the 1930 Radio Manufac-

turers Association convention. Too broke to afford a booth, he parked the car outside the convention hall and

cranked up the radio so that passing conventioneers could hear it. That idea worked -- He got enough orders to put

the radio into production.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

That first production model was called the 5T71. Galvin decided he needed to come up with something a little catch-

ier. In those days many companies in the phonograph and radio businesses used the suffix "ola" for their names --

Radiola, Columbiola, and Victrola were three of the biggest. Galvin decided to do the same thing, and since his radio

was intended for use in a motor vehicle, he decided to call it the Motorola.

But even with the name change, the radio still had problems: When Motorola went on sale in 1930, it cost about

$110 uninstalled, at a time when you could buy a brand-new car for $650, and the country was sliding into the Great

Depression. (By that measure, a radio for a new car would cost about $3,000 today.) In 1930 it took two men several

days to put in a car radio -- The dashboard had to be taken apart so that the receiver and a single speaker could be

installed, and the ceiling had to be cut open to install the antenna. These early radios ran on their own batteries, not

on the car battery, so holes had to be cut into the floorboard to accommodate them. The installation manual had

eight complete diagrams and 28 pages of instructions.

HIT THE ROAD

Selling complicated car radios that cost 20 percent of the price of a brand-new car wouldn't have been easy in the

best of times, let alone during the Great Depression -- Galvin lost money in 1930 and struggled for a couple of years

after that. But things picked up in 1933 when Ford began offering Motorola's pre-installed at the factory. In 1934 they

got another boost when Galvin struck a deal with B.F. Goodrich tire company to sell and install them in its chain of

tire stores.

By then the price of the radio, installation included, had dropped to $55. The Motorola car radio was off and running.

17


(The name of the company would be officially changed from Galvin Manufacturing to "Motorola" in 1947.) In the

meantime, Galvin continued to develop new uses for car radios. In 1936, the same year that it introduced push-

button tuning, it also introduced the Motorola Police Cruiser, a standard car radio that was factory preset to a single

frequency to pick up police broadcasts. In 1940 he developed with the first handheld two-way radio -- The Handie-

Talkie -- for the U. S. Army.

A lot of the communications technologies that we take for granted today were born in Motorola labs in the years that

followed World War II. In 1947 they came out with the first television to sell under $200. In 1956 the company intro-

duced the world's first pager; in 1969 it supplied the radio and television equipment that was used to televise Neil

Armstrong's first steps on the Moon. In 1973 it invented the world's first handheld cellular phone. Today Motorola is

one of the largest cell phone manufacturer in the world -- And it all started with the car radio.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO

The two men who installed the first radio in Paul Galvin's car, Elmer Wavering and William Lear, ended up taking

very different paths in life. Wavering stayed with Motorola. In the 1950's he helped change the automobile experi-

ence again when he developed the first automotive alternator, replacing inefficient and unreliable generators. The

invention lead to such luxuries as power windows, power seats, and,eventually, air-conditioning.

Lear also continued inventing. He holds more than 150 patents. Remember eight-track tape players? Lear invented

that. But what he's really famous for are his contributions to the field of aviation. He invented radio direction finders

for planes, aided in the invention of the autopilot, designed the first fully automatic aircraft landing system, and in

1963 introduced his most famous invention of all, the Lear Jet, the world's first mass-produced, affordable business

jet. (Not bad for a guy who dropped out of school after the eighth grade.)

Sometimes it is fun to find out how some of the many things that we take for granted actually came into be-

ing! It all started with a woman's suggestion!

Definitely Irish— Patrick walks into a bar in Dublin, Orders three pints of Guinness & sits in the corner of the room, Drinking a sip out of each pint in turn. When he had finished all three, He went back to the bar & ordered three more. The barman says, "You know a pint goes flat soon after I pull it .......... Your pint would taste better if you bought one at a time." Patrick replies, "Well now, I have two brodders, one is in America ; & de odder in Australia ; & here I am in Dublin . When we all left home, we promised dat we'd drink dis way to remember de days we all dranktogedder." The barman admits that this is a nice custom & says no more. Patrick becomes a regular customer, & always drinks the same way ....... Ordering three pints & drinking a sip out of each in turn, until they are finished. One day, he comes in & orders just two pints. All the other regulars in the bar notice! & fall silent. When he goes back to the bar for the second round, The barman says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss." Patrick looks confused for a moment, then the penny drops & he starts to laugh, "Oh no," he says, "Bejesus, everyone is fine ! Tis me, ......................... I've Quit Drinking !"

18


Advertisement in the

Sunday Times on 11

February 1923

Alcock’s Escriphone Alcock & Co Pty Ltd

Billiards Experts to Vice-Royalty No 5 Queen’s Place, William Street, Perth

Alcock & Co. (now Alcock, Thomson & Taylor Pty. Ltd. of Prahran Victoria) were and are still the manufacturer of

high quality billiard tables. However in the 1920s they also made a range of gramophones.

In Perth Alcock & Co. had a Branch at No 5 Queen’s Place, William Street.

Of particular relevance is ‘Alcock’s Wonderful Escriphone - Combination Gramophone and Writing Desk’.

Escri = writing

Phone = sound

This unique machine combines a wind-up 78 rpm gramophone and a writing desk. They use a steel needle to play

records.

However Escriphones were probably not really designed for playing records while you were working at the desk.

Opening the gramophone lid would be inconvenient and would disturb things on the desk. Also the user of the desk

would be sitting too close to the gramophone horn and it would thus be too loud. 5

The first advertisements for Escriphones appear in October 1922. “WAIT FOR THE ESCRIPHONE-COMING

SHORTLY.” By February 1923 large detailed advertisements were describing the features of the Escriphones with

models from £15.10.0 to £75.0.0

An advertisement in the Northam Advertiser of December 15, 1923 offers the Escriphone No.4 Special Model for

£59 and the No. 6 Portable Model for £18. Their agents in Northam were C.A.

Robertson Music Store Fitzgerald St Northam.

The last advertisements for Escriphones appear in late 1927. Samson House in

Ellen Street Fremantle contains an Escriphone.

Escriphone No. 4 Model in Samson House,

Fremantle (courtesy of Western Australian

Museum) Alcocks Escriphone needles

Richard Rennie

19


Battery Portable Valve Radios were the subject of the May Meeting. Coordinated by Rob Nunn with great support from Club members

Some of the battery valve portable

radios brought in by Members

A good turn-out of Members attended the Meeting

Hotpoint Band-Master “Ultra-sensitive receiver”

Airporte valve portable Batyphone valve portable

(Right) Norbert gives the run-

down on a battery valve port-

able and need for a modern

electronic power supply

(Left) Andrew talks on a

battery valve portable

Barry with battery valve

portable

20


How to power valve portable battery radios?

Norbert Tourney

How to make early portable battery radios work: for most of these radios, suitable

batteries haven't been manufactured for many decades. The battery-only radios

have become quite useless. I like to see them working again, either as mains oper-

ated sets or as battery sets.

One thing should be considered: is the set to be used as a working display, or as an everyday household radio?

For a working display which is only used to impress my friends and fellow collectors, I prefer a mains power

supply.

The trick is to design a hum-free power supply. The biggest challenge is the filament supply (2 Volts on very early

ones, 1.5 Volt on post-1938 sets). In original contemporary designs, large electrolytic condensers and filter chokes

were used. Often this wasn't enough to get rid of hum; so the manufacturers recommended to leave the batteries

(buffer) in during mains operation. This was fine while the batteries were available - but what now?

My solution to the problem: find a discarded VCR on the side of the road - it's got to be one of the older bulkier ones,

which has still got a mains transformer. These transformers are quite small and fit the radio in most instances. The

35 Volt winding now can be used thru a voltage doubler to produce the 90 Volts for the anode supply. The available

voltage will be 70 X 1.41 = 98.7 Volts. This is the terminal voltage of a brand new 90 Volt battery.

To make a hum-free 1.5 or 2 volt filament supply, a lot more effort is required.

By trial and error, I found the following method, the best - as this method gives you an absolutely hum-free power

supply. Select the 12 Volt section of the transformer, but use only a half-wave rectifier. The filter condenser should

be between 2200 and 4700 uF depending on the current requirement. Following the rectifier and filter capacitor a 3

pin, 5 Volt 7805 regulator should be used.

The reason is as follows: these regulators provide first class electronic hum rejection and are available for $1.50 each

from any Jaycar store. To bring the voltage down to either 1.5 or 2 Volt, a dropping resistor has to be calculated. Ohms

law states: voltage = current x resistance. For example the radio has 4 common tubes, 3S4, 1S5, 1T4, 1R4; in this

case the total current is 100mA, + 50mA, +50mA, +50mA, a total of 250mA. 3.5 Volt at 0.250 Amp has to be dropped.

In accordance to Ohm's law, 3.5+0.25 = 14 Ohm, for the dropping resistor.

In practice, the value of 12 Ohm is appropriate, as allowances for voltage drops in the radio's wiring have to be

made. I usually add a 1000uF condenser after the dropping resistor for extra hum-filtering. This also protects the

filament.

If the voltage needs to be 2 Volt (this usually applies for radios designed for use on farms), the filament current is

rather high; commonly 120mA per tube and 240 mA for the speaker tube. A totally different approach is necessary. I

usually use 2 x 240 Volt to 12 Volt transformers; one needs to be c6iiter tapped, thereby giving me 2 x 6Volt turns.

Now the second transforther needs to be connected back to front, the 12 Volt turns are connected acrosSip 6 Volt

turns of the first transformer.

21


Now if the first transformer is powered up, the second transformer will produce approximately 110 Volt. Recti-

fied and filtered, it produces approximately 145 Volt DC current, which is just about right. These radios normally use

3 x 45 Volt batteries (135 Volt). This is now the anode (plate) voltage.

Because 2 Volt valves are rather power hungry, hum-filtering is much more problematic than with the efficient 1.5

Volt tubes. A total current of approximately 0.8 Ampere is to be expected. A bridge rectifier, across the (so far un-

used) second 6 Volt winding, followed by a large filter condenser (the largest you can find), is to be used. This is im-

portant because a b44e rectifier produces 100 Hertz. Instead of the 7805 regulator a LM309 or similar should be

used, because they are higher-rated and come in a large TO3 metal case. The dropping resistor needs to be calcu-

lated the same way as with the 1.5 Volt tubes.

To get the set 100% hum-free, a large electrolytic after the regulator, and another one after the dropping resis-

tor are essential.

If you are keen enough to drag your 1938, 15-pound portable radio to the beach, an inverter-power supply is re-

quired. This time the filament voltage isn't a problem, because two quality 1.5 Volt "D" type batteries will do the job.

Jaycar sells the battery holders for $3.85.

Twenty years ago, I found it important to use icy 1940 Astor Monarch portable radio for my regular car rallies

(with thy 1939 Austin 8 Tourer- a beautiful convertible car). The radio had to operate off batteries, and off the 6

Volt car battery; an inverter had to be designed and constructed.

The simplest solution was a small center-tapped 6 Volt transformer, driven by 2 transistors in a multi -vibrator

circuit. To power the inverter, I used a small 1.3 Ampere-hour lead-gel battery. It was possible to operate the

radio for about 5 hours before the battery ran flat. While driving, the radio was powered by the car battery (also

6 Volt). Despite the extraordinarily simple circuit, it performed well and still works like it did on the first day.

My beloved Akkord Pinguin 59, which I use regularly, has got a high efficiency, professionally-made inverter. This

one was bought on Ebay France some years ago for Jurp 4 It Ciirpe yvith ciPa4ty instructigns, in easy to read

French. When I decided to buy two more, the guy informed me the retail value is Euro 33. He also mentioned that it

was my lucky day, getting one for 13 Euro. Irrespective of the fact that this radio is only 12 years younger than me, it

is a top performer? it has got FM and a very en-ectlye short wave band.

This radio originally came with rechargeable batteries, and an inbuilt battery charger. Originally it was designed

for mains and battery operation. It was a pleasure restoring it to its former glory, and now I use it regularly. Even

though it uses 7 tubes (valves) its current drain is about the same as a similar Australian one with only 4 tubes. The

reason is that most portable radios made in either England or Germany use the power saving 25 mA tubes. As a

result, these radios use half the battery current compared to Australian sets. It appears that batteries were a lot

cheaper here than in Europe. In the US, both the 5OmA and the 25mA tubes have been used.

As Germany had FM radio since 1949, a number of tubes had been designed for FM-only use. England had FM

since 1951 and followed the same way. There are three of those in the D96 series, the DF96, DF97, and DC9O.

They were mostly made by Mullard, Philips and Telefunken. FM was introduced to Australia in 1977, therefore you

won't find any of these tubes in Australian sets.

My Akkord Pinguin uses the DF97 in the FM front end and a DF96 as an extra IF amplifier: this is the reason why 7

tubes are required.

22


The 67.5 to 135 Volt batteries have been a problem since the 1930s, mainly because they are bulky and expensive

to make. The common concept was to make invertors that change the voltage of a low-voltage battery to the high

voltage required by the radio. For economy, only rechargeable batteries were used - usually 6 Volt car batteries.

The main component in those invertors was a mechanical

device called a vibrator. The same concept applies to car

radios. The manufacturers tried to get away from noisy inver-

tors. Since 1957, tubes that work comfortably from 12 Volt

and in the case of Philips, ones that even work from 6 Volt

batteries were manufactured. This made invertors obsolete.

These low voltage tubes never made it into portable radios,

probably because after 1957, transistors took over slowly,

making new tube designs unnecessary. All tube development

ceased after 1974, except in Russia; where a number of ex-

traordinary new developments took place right up to 1990.

In the predawn of modern radios, a thing called a space-

charge tube was invented. These tubes worked comfortably

off a 6 Volt battery. Portable radios were moderately sized

suitcases, then. The best known one of thosespace-charge

tubes was the Telefunken RE074D.

During WW2 the German industry developed the space-charge concept again, for special purpose equipment. Two

of them exist: namely the RV2,4P45 (a space-charge pentode) and the RV2,4T3 (a space-charge triode).

About 20 years ago, in Peter Lankeshire's book about

early portable radios, I found his story about the "Hiker"

kit set. He built this one from a kit sold in New Zealand in

the late 1930s. It uses an American space-charge tube. I

copied the design and found it is possible to make a tube

radio, running of a small 9 Volt battery. I've still got it and

it works surprisingly well.

I've included several circuit diagrams, of some of the

power-supplies which I made for my own radios. The in-

vertor, I have made for my Astor Monarch may be of in-

terest to those who like to copy the design. Its main ad-

vantage lays in the fact that it can be constructed from

parts out of the junk box. It works from either a small re-

chargeable battery or from a common 6 Volt lantern bat-

tery.

…………………..Norbert Tourney

23


The June AGM and Auction meeting proved popular with Members.

White Astor Mickey mantle valve radio Some of the items up for auction—which

proved very popular

Philips Bakelite mantle radio for auction Mantle valve radio for auction

Old-style multimeter for auction Cream Astor Mickey valve mantle radio

Sony record player and control unit for auction More very popular radio bits and pieces for auction

24


1935 MIDWEST RADIO RESTORATION …………………BY PHIL OXWELL August 2012

Act 1 In March of this year I had the opportunity to purchase a 1935 USA Midwest 16 valve

console radio from a person who I had visited to look at a couple of Bakelite mantle ra-

dios. I wasn’t too excited initially as this would have been the first wooden console radio

that I have ever bought and I knew by looking at it that although structurally sound and

in good condition it would take a lot of time /effort /patience and money to bring back to

its former factory presentation standard .Anyway I worked out an acceptable price with

him that he was happy with and we loaded it into the back of my SUV (it took 3 of us to

load it and I think one of the helpers has ended up with a hernia trying to lift it ha-

haha………just kidding.)

Midwest Radio Company started

in Cincinnati Ohio in 1920 and was

originally called The Midwest Ra-

dio Corporation and also had a

brand called Miraco and sold all

their products initially as mail order

catalogue/word of mouth only with

the intention of cutting out the mid-

dle man/retailer to reduce

costs/overheads .They also

evolved into making refrigerators

and televisions at a later time. A

particular year radio chassis could

be ordered and then a cabinet

model selected to go with it, hence

the chassis would generally fit

many models and later made cabi-

nets.

This radio cabinet is modeled on the Empire State Building and also Art Deco Egyptian themes, and it is a 5 band

radio that has several additional premium functions that were very advanced for its day. The speaker is a 12 inch

Magnavox made in Fort Wayne Indiana USA with the original patent sticker applied still in good condition .(The origi-

nal boom box of its day )

It has variable tuning and a system called tunalite whereby when the sta-

tion dial when selected picks up a station the light dims rather than getting

brighter .The dial is very “flash “and lights up like a aircraft cockpit panel

when turned on. In trying to source information from collectors in USA the

radio in this condition would be an extremely rare model and example. In

1935 the average USA wage (according to a 1935 USA census report) was

$1,500 and this model would have been well over $150 plus and at the

height of the great depression. It has the lift up top to have accommodated

a phonograph and It competed in the top end of the market with

Scott/Philco and Zenith radios .The seller advised me that it was originally

his fathers and had sat in his lounge for 18 years since he had passed

away and he was unsure where his father had obtained it from although his

father was an amateur ham radio operator. The radio is a 220-240v model

and advice received is that some were made in this configuration for the

export market.

Act 2 After stripping the radio and sending off the chassis for restoration I then

started on the cabinet after taking several deep breaths .I used a water based paint varnish stripper doing a very

small section at a time and this worked out well and then I started to hand sander the cabinet first with 120 grade

25


then 180 then 220 and finally wet and dry sand paper .As I work full time and sometimes long hours I generally used

to devote a couple of hours on a nightly basis until completed

The only item that needed replacement was the small circu-

lar wooden feet and these were purchased from a wood

workers hobby shop in Bentley. All up to get to this point it

had taken me close to 34 hours of sanding /preparation etc

and I decided then that I would then send the cabinet to a

professional furniture restoration spray shop to have 5 coats

of satin based blended lacquer finish .The colour chosen was

as close to origi-

nal as possible

and was a variant

of Burnt Umber

colour base

which was

sourced over the internet. After 3 weeks it was completed by the furni-

ture shop (I am still not game enough to this very day to tell my wife the

cost of this process!!!!!)

Act 3 final I had sourced via the internet the colour of the cream insert that was

originally applied/painted on the 2wooden tuning knobs and this turned

out to be Art Deco Kyanize Lustaquir light ivory finish. This was repli-

cated as close as possible with a paint finish bought from a craft shop.

As you are reading this you will have picked up that I wanted this radio to

be as close to original as possible, hence all the work involved. Recently

on ebay USA, two of the chrome knobs for this model sold for over $140.

Finally I needed to reline all the interior section where the lid lifts up (it

had a 1950s style record player installed inside which has now been re-

moved) and I did this with a marone coloured baize felt self adhesive

material that I had sourced from a wood craft shop in Melbourne, and

this also worked out well but took up a lot of time. The authentic radio

speaker cloth was sourced from a radio collector in NSW and blends in pretty good and compliments the colour of

the radio cabinet.

After 13 weeks of ongoing effort the cabinet was finally completed enough to have the restored chassis reinserted

and after borrowing a chain block and tackle to lift the chassis back in (hahaha only joking again) the radio now has

a nice home in our living area of our house where it is played and listened to every day of the week.

Would I do it all again???………….yes, but only when I know I would have sufficient time as it took on a life of its

own once I started and was all consuming .If anyone would like any additional info you are quite welcome to email

me on [email protected]. You can also find additional information on the net at www.midwestradiomuseum.com

and http://billsradioden.shutterfly.com/foreign

............Phil Oxwell

26


About 65 people attended Richards

talk at Katadjini Hall

Our Club put on a great display of

antique radios

FROM 6WF TO THE ABC A Summary of Richard Rennies presentation.

Perth science-teacher-turned-history-author and founder of the Light and Sound Discovery

Centre, Richard Rennie, tells the story of how Perth's radio station 6WF became the ABC's

first broadcasting outlet in Western Australia. Much of this is based on the scrapbook kept

by the esteemed radio pioneer and 6WF founding engineer, Wally Coxon.

This talk coincided with the 80th anniver-

sary of the Australian Broadcasting Corpo-

ration, and the Wireless Hill Centenary

Celebrations in 2012.

Richard's presentation featured antique

radios from The Vintage Wireless and

Gramophone Club, to illustrate the equip-

ment available during the pioneering era of

radio in WA. The talk was given on

Wednesday 18th July, 2012 at the monthly meeting of the Australian Mu-

seum of Moving Pictures and Television (AMMPT). The same presentation was made at a variety of venues, as part

of Richard's role as an educator, particularly using his skills to inspire young people and young teachers alike.

In 1924, Westralian Farmers Cooperative Limited (Wesfarmers) began

operating radio station 6WF on an A-Class licence from the top floor of

the company's Wellington Street building. 6WF was initially a long-wave

station with 5 kilowatts of power on 1250 metres, 240 kHz, until the

Australian Broadcasting Company took over five years later and it left

long-wave and moved to 690 kHz on the medium-wave band on Sep-

tember 2, 1929. The chief engineer of 6WF was Wally Coxon, who de-

signed and installed the station facilities, including the transmitter, with

a broadcasting capacity of 600 miles.

In 1929, the radio station was taken over by the Commonwealth

Government with the Australian Broadcasting Company providing

content. The station then moved from the Wesfarmers building to

the first floor of the English, Scottish and Australian Bank (E.S. &

A.) building at the corner of Hay and Milligan Street, Perth. After

three years, the company had increased the licences from 3,900

to 12,500 by 1932.

In 1932, the Australian Broadcasting Commission Act was

passed, following which The Australian Broadcasting Commission

took over the premises from the Australian Broadcasting Company,

and the 6WF transmitter was relocated to Wanneroo (now called Hamersley).

In 1937, the ABC studios moved to the Supreme Court Gardens at Broadcast House, located behind the Department

of Agriculture, now the site of Council House in Perth. In 1960, the ABC moved from Broadcast House, to much im-

proved facilities, on the former site of Rose Hill House, at 191 Adelaide Terrace in Perth.

By 2005, so much had changed with a much reduced work force, that was spread between different buildings, which

were showing signs of age and needed much maintenance. There was a need for a smaller and more cost effective

site, designed to suit a multitasking workforce with TV, Radio and News integrated within the one building, using the

latest digital technology. The proceeds from the sale of the Adelaide Terrace property helped subsidise the digital

installation at the new ABC site in Fielder Street, East Perth.

27


A Story of 2 battery valve portables from Fred Franklin

I picked up a car load of radios as a "job lot" from a mate. His garage was full of all sorts of partly

started "gunna do" projects. His wife had bought a new car and it was parked outside where fruit bats

would crap on it nightly damaging the paint work. She spoke to her husband, as only a wife can,

about the problem of her car and all the "rubbish" in the garage.

Consequently, I got the radios. Amongst the goodies were a couple of portable valve radios.

One is a National in a very plain, box looking affair with a lid that opened to reveal the dial and two knobs, tuning and

volume/power switch. It is clad in light brown leatherette with an eight inch speaker grill in the middle of the front.

The other is a splendid looking Peter Pan clad in dark brown crocodile skin

leatherette. On the front is a fashionably lop sided square speaker grill hiding

an eight inch speaker. The speaker grill has a lance flying a pennant on it. On

the top is the handle, dial, and two knobs, one each for tuning and vol-

ume/power switch.

The National appears to be a cheap version of the Peter Pan as the Peter Pan

is a much better construction with a rigid, pressed aluminium chassis. The

National has a flat aluminium chassis with supporting aluminium parts made

of aluminium sheet metal bent at right angles. The parts are "pop" riveted

together with only one rivet per piece. It appears to have been a good project

for an apprentice.

Upon reading the circuit for each radio, I was amazed at how identical the two

were. Even the parts used were identical.

The main job was to change all electrolytic and dry capacitors along with any

dodgy resistors. The output transformers were mounted on piece of insulation

material with the frame connected to the B+ high voltage rail, presumably to

prevent electrolysis between the primary coil and the frame.

The filament voltage of 1.5 volts is turned on and off by the power switch. When

the switch is off, the valve filament/cathode is cold and the valve does not con-

duct. The 90volts B+ is left "on" to lie around in the high voltage areas of radio.

This includes the output transformer primary winding. Dirt, vibration, humidity

and high voltages cause electrolysis and the primary winding breaks down.

I replaced these transformers with a tapped public address system line trans-

former. They work well and fit well.

.................Fred Franklin

The National portable The National antenna in the lid The National chassis

Peter Pan portable

Peter Pan chassis and antenna

28


Note : Advertisements are placed free-of-charge, but

should be of a non-exploitive nature. (Editor)

INFORMATION WANTED

WALLY COXON RECORDINGS

It was reported in the Sunday Times on May 10, 1936

that Wally Coxon said "I am opening Perth's first

commercial recording studio devoted purely to re-

cording for all commercial purposes.". (See Below)

Has anyone seen a custom record (aluminium or ace-

tate) with a label that mentions the name "Coxon" or

"Recaudio".

Contact Richard Rennie 93301636.

WANTED TO PHOTOGRAPH ONLY

The small crystal set, as shown below

(approx 6.5 in x 3.5 in by 3 in.)

May be leatherette covered.

Photo wanted for inclusion in the

Encyclopedia of Western Australia Wire-

lesses and Gramophones.

Please contact Richard Rennie 93301636

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