08-07-2011, 07:58 AM
I think that the most likely reason that chicken head knob will have been fitted to the tuning cap shaft, which is in the centre of the moving dial cursor disc, will have been due to the tuning drive string having snapped. There are only two knobs on the front of the set - the left hand being the volume/on-off switch, the right hand being the tuning control, coupled to the tuning cap with a short drive cord. I don't know why anyone would fit a chicken head knob (assuming it's the original tuning cap, as it most likely is - why would it not be?) because there's a slot in the shaft of the tuning cap at the front so that it can be turned with a screwdriver if need be.
I've attached some pics of mine, which I mentioned to Joe that I bought cheaply at a Radio Rally 'a few years ago'. It was actually 1985, so I've had it 26 years - almost half of its life! It must have been in a bit of a state when I got it, because I note that I renewed most of the wiring, including opening up the IFTs to fit new wires, but I see a couple of waxies that I didn't change. I recall that I had to respray the dial and apply new lettering, with Letraset rub-down transfers, which matched the font originally used, then I oversprayed the dial with a few light coats of lacquer. A heavy coat will cause the lettering to come loose and float off. Trust me on that! The speaker cloth had rotted, so I replaced it with the nerest thing I could find that didn't look too out of place.
What I find odd about these radios is that they were allegedly designed in the interests of economy, yet they're very heavy, and have a really hefty mains transformer, whereas if we were given a brief to build an 'economy set' we'd surely have used AC/DC techniques, or a small auto-transformer. The chassis is heavy gauge steel, the speaker metalwork is very substantial, and the IF cans too are heavy gauge steel. Yet while glass was probably the most plentiful resource available, and not even recycled back then, apart from milk bottles and pop bottles, there's no glass in the dial, which is only about 2.5" x 3.5". Sure, it uses a 'Westector' detector, which some may argue saved on a valve, but it didn't really, as there were plenty of valves about which incoprorated a diode in the AF amp or IF amp valve. EBL31's (as used in the Ekco A22) are double diode pentodes which take care of th AF amp, detector and AGC. Scarce now - but not then.
In short, this set looks like what it is - a radio designed by a committee, to be made to a standard design by almost 30 manufactuers, with an austere utilitarian appearance to convey the illusion of wartime economy. A bit late in the day as the war was coming to an end by the time it went into production, and any half decent manufacturer - Ekco for example, could have designed a far more economical set.
Furthermore, confining the set to AC only, not only made it more cosly and wasteful in materials, it also failed to serve the needs of DC only customers, of whom there were millions back then. Our house in Nottingham wasn't convered to AC until 1959.
It will be an interesting restoration Joe - hopefully a speaker will turn up from a scrapper from Chris or another forum member, as I'm sure that one will. At BVWS events, often they have batches of valve and transistor radios they offer for £2.00 each from 'estate sales', though I know it's difficult to get to such events for many forum members. At the last Golborne event, Mike Braker had many portable radios at £2.00 each - I picked up a shabby TR82C and Roberts R200, both of which work, and simply need tidying up.
As to chicken head knobs, I've seen them advertised at ludicrously hight prices - £3.00 each, but asd I mentioned recently, Peter at 'JABDOG' sells them at 10 for £3.00 or 25 for £7.00.
I've attached a few pics of mine.
Hope that's of interest.
David
I've attached some pics of mine, which I mentioned to Joe that I bought cheaply at a Radio Rally 'a few years ago'. It was actually 1985, so I've had it 26 years - almost half of its life! It must have been in a bit of a state when I got it, because I note that I renewed most of the wiring, including opening up the IFTs to fit new wires, but I see a couple of waxies that I didn't change. I recall that I had to respray the dial and apply new lettering, with Letraset rub-down transfers, which matched the font originally used, then I oversprayed the dial with a few light coats of lacquer. A heavy coat will cause the lettering to come loose and float off. Trust me on that! The speaker cloth had rotted, so I replaced it with the nerest thing I could find that didn't look too out of place.
What I find odd about these radios is that they were allegedly designed in the interests of economy, yet they're very heavy, and have a really hefty mains transformer, whereas if we were given a brief to build an 'economy set' we'd surely have used AC/DC techniques, or a small auto-transformer. The chassis is heavy gauge steel, the speaker metalwork is very substantial, and the IF cans too are heavy gauge steel. Yet while glass was probably the most plentiful resource available, and not even recycled back then, apart from milk bottles and pop bottles, there's no glass in the dial, which is only about 2.5" x 3.5". Sure, it uses a 'Westector' detector, which some may argue saved on a valve, but it didn't really, as there were plenty of valves about which incoprorated a diode in the AF amp or IF amp valve. EBL31's (as used in the Ekco A22) are double diode pentodes which take care of th AF amp, detector and AGC. Scarce now - but not then.
In short, this set looks like what it is - a radio designed by a committee, to be made to a standard design by almost 30 manufactuers, with an austere utilitarian appearance to convey the illusion of wartime economy. A bit late in the day as the war was coming to an end by the time it went into production, and any half decent manufacturer - Ekco for example, could have designed a far more economical set.
Furthermore, confining the set to AC only, not only made it more cosly and wasteful in materials, it also failed to serve the needs of DC only customers, of whom there were millions back then. Our house in Nottingham wasn't convered to AC until 1959.
It will be an interesting restoration Joe - hopefully a speaker will turn up from a scrapper from Chris or another forum member, as I'm sure that one will. At BVWS events, often they have batches of valve and transistor radios they offer for £2.00 each from 'estate sales', though I know it's difficult to get to such events for many forum members. At the last Golborne event, Mike Braker had many portable radios at £2.00 each - I picked up a shabby TR82C and Roberts R200, both of which work, and simply need tidying up.
As to chicken head knobs, I've seen them advertised at ludicrously hight prices - £3.00 each, but asd I mentioned recently, Peter at 'JABDOG' sells them at 10 for £3.00 or 25 for £7.00.
I've attached a few pics of mine.
Hope that's of interest.
David
