Golborne Vintage Radio

Another homebrew item of simple but versatile test gear I built back in 1982, so it’s just 30 years old. Not really ‘homebrew’ in the fullest sense of the term, rather it was home constructed from a magazine article, as most of my ‘homebrew' projects have tended to be. It harks back to the days when the content of ‘Practical Wireless’ magazine was just that – both practical, and about wireless. Sadly, over the last twenty years or so, it’s morphed into a magazine that is wholly about amateur radio – a different hobby altogether.

I built this useful item – the ‘PW Testmaster’ mostly from recycled bits and pieces culled from old radios – the IFT for the 465 KHz alignment oscillator and the speaker for example. Each little module was separately built and tested, then wired up. It consists of a transistor tester, an R/C substitution box, R/C Bridge, 465 KHz, 1 KHz and 1 MHz oscillators, signal tracer/audio amp, and Ohmmeter and a battery substitute. I guess that if I were building something like this today, I’d use close tolerance resistors and caps in the bridge, but at the time I used what I had to hand, which were quite adequate for hobby purposes.

I can remember building this as if it were yesterday, but can’t remember where I put my car keys! Scary eh?

Hope it’s of interest.

Wow! That does indeed look handy, especially in the pre-e-Bay days when test gear was more difficult and expensive to get.

- Joe

Very neat and tidy!

I'm guessing some of those carbon composition resistors might have drifted high with age. But, it would be a shame to disturb the beautiful wiring in there

Would love to see the original article, if anyone still has a copy.

I've just tried Googling for it, Mark. No luck. Definitely one for The Archive if it turns up.

- Joe

Nice job David.
you don't happen to have the article anywhere do you?

cheers Mark

Very nice David keep em coming.

Lawrence.

A bit more convenient than my Pye Workshop Service Worshop Rack which needs a Sack Truck to move it about

Alan

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I'm sure that shed of yours is a blue police box Alan.

Lawrence.

(20-08-2012, 06:25 PM)Mark R Wrote: [ -> ]Nice job David.
you don't happen to have the article anywhere do you?

cheers Mark

I've got a photocopy, but not the original magazine. I've scanned it in (6 pages), but each page is about 2MB, so I'll drop an e-mail to my 'IT Consultant' (AKA 'Joe') and ask how best to get the article uploaded to the forum. One shortcoming is that the breaks in the tracks of the stripboard on which the modules are built are indistinct, but with a bit of thought and reference to the circuits, it should be apparent where to cut the tracks, should anyone wish to build any or all of the modlues. It used four of that wonderful NPN transistor, the darling of its day - the 2N2926, which often featured in the delightful PW series 'Take 20' - no more than twenty components, costing no more than twenty shillings.

Thanks for your interest guys, and for your kind comments.

Lawrence,

I wish it was. That would be magnificent.
The Test Rack is at the bottom of a big pile. Well, it's not easily squashed

Alan