12-12-2011, 10:55 PM
I went through an Eddystone stage and had most of them at one time or another. The 940 was an excellent general coverage receiver, and the EA12 the top of the range amateur bands only. However, if you do get a 940, or indeed any Eddystone, you need to be prepared to do some restoration work to bring it back on spec. The 940 used a lot of Hunts caps which are small oval shaped and well past their best. Also, the carbon resistors go high in value, as well as generating noise. There is an excellent Eddystone User Group where you can get advice and information on likely faults and weak points, circuits, manuals, help on the nightmare task of re-stringing dials, and so on.
They're very large and heavy, and though they were very well designed and robust, and do give a good account of themselves, there are far better receivers available today with better sensitivity, selectivity and filtering, and with 'product detectors' rather than simple BFOs. But really, people don't buy Eddystones for top performance any more than they'd buy say an MGB car to drive at sustained high speeds for long distances on motorways, when any most modern small family car would outperform it.
Whenever we buy anything old it's not really a rational decision, but a triumph of nostalgia overcoming common sense, from which we derive immense enjoyment in so doing!
Expect to pay £150 - £200+ for a good unmolested 940, and perhaps £250+ for an EA12 (which is a double conversion receiver with crystal fllters). The main problem in getting hold of one is that most are in the hands of Eddystone collectors who hang onto them, and they tend only to come onto the market when someone either passes away, or downsizes. Those that do come onto the market tend to go on e-bay, where it only takes two people to want one desperately enough to send the price over the top. When we buy anything on e-bay, we may be pleased with our purchase and happy with the price we pay, but as with any auction, we pay the highest price that anyone was prepared to pay for that item at that time. Despite the e-bay rhetoric, we don't 'win' anything, we buy it at the highest price going.
The most over-rated Eddystones were the EB35 transistor broadcast receiver, and the EC10, which purported to be a 'communications receiver'. Though attractive, compact and well constructed, a glance at the circuitry will show that they differed little from other standard transistor radios of their day. A 'sheep in wolf's clothing'. They often suffer from serious corrosion due to batteries being left in them when stored for many years.
Good luck in your quest Lawrence!
They're very large and heavy, and though they were very well designed and robust, and do give a good account of themselves, there are far better receivers available today with better sensitivity, selectivity and filtering, and with 'product detectors' rather than simple BFOs. But really, people don't buy Eddystones for top performance any more than they'd buy say an MGB car to drive at sustained high speeds for long distances on motorways, when any most modern small family car would outperform it.
Whenever we buy anything old it's not really a rational decision, but a triumph of nostalgia overcoming common sense, from which we derive immense enjoyment in so doing!
Expect to pay £150 - £200+ for a good unmolested 940, and perhaps £250+ for an EA12 (which is a double conversion receiver with crystal fllters). The main problem in getting hold of one is that most are in the hands of Eddystone collectors who hang onto them, and they tend only to come onto the market when someone either passes away, or downsizes. Those that do come onto the market tend to go on e-bay, where it only takes two people to want one desperately enough to send the price over the top. When we buy anything on e-bay, we may be pleased with our purchase and happy with the price we pay, but as with any auction, we pay the highest price that anyone was prepared to pay for that item at that time. Despite the e-bay rhetoric, we don't 'win' anything, we buy it at the highest price going.
The most over-rated Eddystones were the EB35 transistor broadcast receiver, and the EC10, which purported to be a 'communications receiver'. Though attractive, compact and well constructed, a glance at the circuitry will show that they differed little from other standard transistor radios of their day. A 'sheep in wolf's clothing'. They often suffer from serious corrosion due to batteries being left in them when stored for many years.
Good luck in your quest Lawrence!
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
