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G4EBT > OLDSET 28.12.07 21:22l 118 Lines 4008 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 907436G4EBT
Read: GUEST DL1LCA
Subj: Re: No 19 Set - Sten ZS6CFC
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<ON0AR<GB7FCR
Sent: 071228/1915Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:56119 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:907436G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : OLDSET@WW
Sten, ZS6CFC wrote:-
> Ah, David - even interested in garden birds... Well, keep
> it up...for packets sake.
I try Sten.
I'm very trying at times:-)
> But in a read to Vintage radio? I myself am astonished which
> interest (vibrance is too much a word yet) is given to -
> best expressed as the WS 19 syndrome.
> This is probably the best known set - and at the time of
> need - No, not the Military , BUT the Hams...
Yes, there were untold thousands of 19 sets, which sold well into the late
1950s in the UK, and there many articles on adapting them to amateur use.
Also 1155 RXs and 1154 TXs, CR100s, AR88s and "walkie talkie" 38 sets etc.
There's a lot of this stuff about at Vintage Radio fairs, but often modded
or in battered condition. I think that most collectors prefer them to be
restored to original condition rather than for everyday practical use.
I once gutted an 1155, put in more modern valves, removed the DF section,
installed a PSU, re-wired it and re-sprayed it battleship grey. The
performance and appearance improved immeasurably, but the value of the
set was nil!
The thing that horrified me about the 1155 was that the circuitry was no
better than that of a domestic radio, but perhaps it didn't need to be.
It was all aluminium to keep the weight down, but rugged enough, and well
enough made, but only made to last about 19 weeks - the average life of a
Lancaster Bomber.
Makes you think a bit!
I'm reading a book at the moment called "Bomber Boys" about the RAF
through WW2. I was surprised to read that at the start of the war they had
to be careful only to bomb strategic targets such as docks and railways,
and that anyone who killed civilians was subject to disciplinary action.
It didn't take long for that outlook to disappear.
I hadn't realised that bomber crews were looked upon as "baddies" as they
dropped bombs to kill people, whereas fighter pilots were looked upon as
the gallant "goodies" as they tried to stop the bombers.
Back to radio:
There's a Vintage Military and Amateur Radio Society in the UK at:
http://www.vmars.org.uk/
If you go there you'll find a write up and pics of each of the following:
Wireless set No. 19
Station Radio type C11/R210
Rx type R209 MkII
Rx type AR-88D
Wireless Set No.88
KW Vespa
Heathkit HW series
The Last of the Valved Manpacks; A510, HF156, SR128
Rx type R308
The AN/GRC-106 (and GRC-106A)
Receiver R206 MkII
Receiver type R107
The B70 link equipment
An Eddystone GDO
Looking at the old magazines from the 1950s, the ex War Dept radios look
very cheap by today's standards, but really, they weren't. In Feb 1956
Practical Wireless magazine R1155s were from œ6.00 - œ9.00 each.
œ6.00 was about half a week's wages for a working man, (two weeks wages
for me as a second yr apprentice, aged 16). Prices back then were often
shown in guineas rather than pounds to make them look cheaper than they
were.
A guinea was no longer a unit of currency - it meant one pound, one
shilling. The same PW magazine advertised an 8-valve radiogram chassis
for 22 guineas - in reality, 23 pounds and 2 shillings.
You could buy it on "easy terms" - 51 shillings and 4 pence a months
for nine months. (Interest free).
I rather like looking at these old magazines - the one I've quoted from
has a picture of a man stood at a workbench with a vice and drilling
machine, and a soldering iron, working on a radio chassis.
He's wearing a smart double-breasted suit, with a white handkerchief
in his top pocket and a bow tie, a white shirt and cuff-links.
I guess that in those days, it was important to "keep up appearances" but
he looks dressed for a wedding (or the installation of the 2008 RSGB
President:-)
How times change!
Best wishes
David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
British Vintage Wireless Society Member
G-QRP Club Member, No: 1339
Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 19:14 on 2007-Dec-28
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