Marconi CR150 & Other Stuff....

[pwdrive]

This is a seperate thread from the one I started about the Eddystone EA12 on Ebay.

Originally I wasn't going to bid on either the EA12 or the CR150 but come auction finishing time there were no bids on the CR150 and only one on the EA12, somebody else won the EA12 but I won the CR150 for a tenner.
The bloke agreed to meet me half way in a layby as regards collection which was only about 35 mins from where we live.
He also had a couple of other items in the back of his van, he said they were for sale if I was interested, how much I asked....a fiver a piece he said.
One was a Kelvin Hughes (Division of Smiths Industries) TR120 Tranceiver and the other was a Racal RA63G Sideband Adaptor, so I gave him the ten quid for the two.
Both the Racal and the Kelvin Hughes don't appear to have been messed with.
The Marconi CR150 looks all complete and original even both dial cords still work and the reduction gearbox looks in good condition from an initial inspection.

Not sure what variant the CR150 is, it might not even be a variant it might be a straight 150, If anyone can ID it from the photo's then please let me know.
There is no ID plate fitted and there doesn't appear that there ever was one.

It's the rack mounted version complete with cabinet.
It still has it's original (large) HT stabilizer fitted along with the usual quirky Marconi bits and pieces.

All this stuff came from a clearout at RAF St Mawgan after the Yanks had left, a lot of stuff went under the mincer for scrap apparently.

Lawrence.

[pwdrive]

There is a service label attached to the top of the receiver, it reads thus:

"Serviced in E.T.E Lab
Baldock Radio
14-12-62"

I wonder if that's "thee" Baldock Radio....

Decided to whip the bottom plate off, all the retaining screws were present and were all the same type which is usually a good sign.

All components are mainly original as far as I can see.

Plenty of tubulars to sort out though.

The more I look at this the more I think it's a straight CR150, it's definately not a CR150/3 that's for sure.

Pics below.

Lawrence.

[AlanBeckett]

One was a Kelvin Hughes (Division of Smiths Industries) TR120 Tranceiver and the other was a Racal RA63G Sideband Adaptor, so I gave him the ten quid for the two.

I'd have handed over the Tenner and set off as fast as I could go

Alan

[pwdrive]

Yes Alan, as soon as the money was exchanged he had to go off somewhere, he was a very nice chap.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the RA17 sideband adapter, maybe I could knock up a 500 Khz to 100 Khz converter and rig it up to the B40D, maybe even a switched converter so it can be used as an interface between other receivers IF outputs and the sideband adapter.

I will whip the lid off shortly and see what it's like inside, ditto for that Kelvin Hughes Tx/Rx, will take some pics and upload them.

Lawrence.

[Skywave]

You did very well with those purchases, Lawrence - as though you need me to tell you that!

Al. / Aug. 8, '13 //

[pwdrive]

You did very well with those purchases, Lawrence - as though you need me to tell you that!

Al. / Aug. 8, '13 //

Yes, it makes up for other stuff.

Lawrence.

[pwdrive]

Some pics of the inards:

The sideband converter looks untouched inside, I removed the aluminium screening covers off the filters (internals not shown in pics) and they are like new inside so all in all I would say that this unit will be a goer in the end.
Typical Racal build quality, very good.

The Tx/Rx.... Well it's a bit more than yer average CB base station, very well made inside and again appears to be untampered with. It's quite heavy.
It's all discrete solid state inside which kinda leaves me cold except for the two PA valves under the vented screening cover, had a look inside the PA, both valves present but too much hassle at the moment to get an ID on them, some nice coils and air spaced variable capacitors in there although it would be a shame to break it up for them.

I'll hang on to it as it is for the moment, I tried to Google any info on this rig but could not find anything so far.
Anyone heard of it?......Kelvin Hughes a Division of Smiths Industries, TR120 Tranceiver.

Lawrence.

[Andy M0FYA]

Lawrence,
You did extremely well with the Racal Adaptor in particular! They normally change hands for £100 minimum! Lucky chap.

One thing regarding the CR150 which can catch out the unwary, particularly if it's a rack-mounted version. It might seem a silly thing to say, but make sure it has a local oscillator stage. They came in a triple-diversity variant, with multiple receivers operating from a common LO only fitted to one chassis.

Andy

[pwdrive]

Hi Andy it appears to have the 1st local osc intact, do you have any info on the CR150, all I can find free online manual wise is the CR150/3 which the receiver I have definately isnt, there's no provision for diversity connections on it so far as I can see and no user antenna trimmer control.

Am still after a decent example of a CR100 and the rarer CR200 (TRF)

As said earlier, I'm not sure yet what to do with the RA63 as I don't possess a RA17 to go with it, but whatever happens I will fire it up at some stage and service it if need be.

Lawrence.

[AlanBeckett]

At least the RA63 has valves. The FAZ is full of Transistors :-(
RacalRob (Rob Filby) will have a Manual no doubt but ......

Alan