I DON'T REPAIR RADIOS, BUT YOU CAN REPAIR YOUR OWN.
Hi, I’m Ray. Many of you reading this will recall listening to your own or your parents' valve radio in the lounge and enjoying Listen With Mother or an evening drama or short play. There were a lot of short wave listeners in the old days, and I was one of them. Many early radios covered the short wave bands and it was great fun tuning around during the evenings listening to broadcasts from far away lands. If your old wireless covers short wave, you might try putting up a decent aerial and having a tune around the shortwave bands.
The golden age of radio isn’t dead – it’s just covered in cobwebs. There are still many people who appreciate listening to the wireless, and I’m one of them. One aspect of old valve radios that intrigues me is the thought that the BBC Home Service would have emanated from the loud speakers during the war years. Churchill would have spoken to the nation during the war, and a host of interesting programmes entertained families during the forties and fifties.
Imagine a beautiful radio with a highly polished wood or Bakelite cabinet taking pride of place in the lounge back in the 40s and 50s. I can picture the man of the house sitting in his armchair, smoking his pipe and listening to the Suez crisis in the 1950s while the children played with tin toys on the floor. Housewives’ Choice, Mrs Dale’s Diary, The Billy Cotton Band Show, Music While You Work, The Goon Show, The Clitheroe Kid, Round The Horn, ITMA with Jack Train, Ken Dodd, Sing Something Simple… All these programs and more would have been listened to on tube radios. As I child, I had an old radio on my bedside table. The dial lamp glowing in the dark, I’d listen to a play and lose myself in the plot. Great stuff.
LEARN TO REPAIR YOUR OWN VINTAGE VALVE RADIOS
Have you ever thought about repairing and restoring vintage radios as a hobby? I’ve created a members' website where you can watch over 650 informative videos and access a host of information relating to antique radio repairs. Also in the members website, valve information and substitutes, learn to identify radio components, capacitors, resistors, inductors, transformers, variable condensers etc. Aerials for short wave radio, listen to stations from around the world, and so much more.
From over 7,500 service manuals, sheets and schematics to weekly videos and technical advice, I share my radio experiences and knowledge of some 60 years in the members’ website. There's a mine of information about old valved radios.
The Amplion Delegate Valve Radio
This is a beautiful example of a vintage valve radio. The Amplion Delegate covers the long, medium and short wave bands. Back in the day, radios like this were part of the furniture. If you have a vintage radio lurking in your attic or garage, why not and clean it up and give some thought to restoring it?
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