# Do You Still Use Your Obsolete Skills?



## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

I have never quite been able to get radio out of my sysyem when it comes to valves. Got this for £15 on car boot sale and spent enjoyable couple of months "doing it up."
Bob


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## Kelpie (Sep 9, 2008)

R1155, had one in 1955 I bought from the Barrows in Glasgow when I was fourteen. Ex Lancaster, mostly, bombers. I fitted a convertor that covered 27mgz so as we could check radio control units. Tried fitting a carbon mike instead of the RC box and it worked much to the annoyance of neighbours watching KirkO' Shotts TV on 54mgz. Great set and beautiful flywheel tuning.
Have fun.

Crawford


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

Nice job on a nice set shipbuilder, certainly a bargain, the last one I saw advertised they were looking for around £100 for it. A collectable piece of history.


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## znord737 (May 1, 2006)

*R 1155 Restoration*

Congratulations on carrying out such an excellent job on the restoration.

The 1155 were an excellent receiver , I note that your particular model has the original slow motion drive. There was a later amendment which provided a much better slkow motion drive which was much more precise.

I remember purchasing mine at some junk shop in Lisle Street London for £12 it was still wrapped in waxed paper and had never been used.

The smell when I first switched it on was fuel for the nose , marvellous.
I believe the unit had never been used. I think the only thing I had to purchase extra was a jones plug for the power connector.

I lamented the day that I got rid of it , or rather should I say the wife persuaded me it was junk and did not look good on the bedside table! 

Anyway have many happy hours listening on the airwaves and dont be persuaded to part with it !

Znord737


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

I wish mine was in the condition you started with, Bob.
A tenner in about 1988 for a whole load of radio & ELINT gear from the early 1940s. Including the R115 and a T1154. School jumble sale wanting rid of it quickly and bought unseen in a load of cardboard boxes.
The Tx is now fitted in a preserved aircraft I think and this is about all I've got left.
One of these days I'll dig it out from under the blackout curtain and do something with it. [=P]


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

Thanks for replies. It got a bit tedious getting the cabinet back up to scratch. I removed every bolt and brass stud that I could get off and turned them all up "bright" again in the lathe. The few rusty ones I couldn't get out, I painted black. Replaced a few capacitors. Added a 6V6 output stage and output transformer inside cabinet. The 6V6 replaced one of the DF valves in back right. I unbolted the DF valveholder and folded it back so that in future, the DF could be reinstated if required. Built a new external power unit for it. I found the slow motion drive a bit of a pain as about ten turns of the knob would only move the pointer about 2mm. One could turn the inner knob that was connected direct to the capacitor spindle, but it was quite stiff. Removed slow motion altogether & packed bits in box so they could be put back if required. Found it much better then. It was very lively on all bands, but not much interest to me once it was working. Put it on Ebay and it went for £207, buyer came and collected it same day after a full demonstration and look round the inside it.

If I saw another, I don't think I would get it as it took a long time to restore.

Saw a CR100 some weeks later, for £15, but it was rather heavy and I could see it involving another couple of months work, so didn't bother.

I am at present developing a 3 valve TRF. Got first two stages going yesterday, 1T4 RF amp followed by DAF96 detector. This afternoon I will add a DL96 output. Once it is working properly, I will re-build it on a polished wooden baseboard.

All good fun, but can't keep it up all the time, so will be starting another ship model soon.
Bob


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

Presumably you first had to build a PSU with 90V HT and 1.4V for heaters?


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

Got the circuit for the R1155 from the internet. Gave it the 220V HT and 6.3V LT and left it to sort out it's own biassing arrangements. Worked fine though!
Naytikos:
Assume you are referring to the TRF. I could have used 1.5V battery for LT and 6 x 9V batteries clipped back to back for HT.
But ages ago, I got a variable mains transformer and made a variable power supply that will give me anything between 0 VDC and about 275 VDC - it is very handy and saves messing about with expensive batteries. For LT, I don't bother with regulator circuits or anything fancy - just use a 1.5 V battery!

Had problems with the reaction on the TRF after I added the RF stage. Got it back by adding 2.5mH chokes in both anode circuits. All ready now to fit output stage, but a bit fed up with it at the moment. Going back to miniature iron barque EARL GRANVILLE tomorrow, but may add output stage to TRF over week-end.
Bob


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Mine came in a wooden case. I expect today the case alone would cost about £50. used it for years as a tool box.


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## Derek Roger (Feb 19, 2005)

What is an Obsolete Skill ?? A skill cannot be obsolete can it ? 

Bows are obsolete as weapons of war but are still in use for sport and hunting ; the skill of of bowman is hardley obsolete .

As an engineer I still use that which I know to repair / maintain my boat / car / snow blower and all the other stuff which " she who must be obeyed " demands of me .

The skills are not obsolete me thinks but perhaps " we " are . ???


Just a thought Derek


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

_Assume you are referring to the TRF. I could have used 1.5V battery for LT and 6 x 9V batteries clipped back to back for HT._

I was wondering if you had managed to get hold of examples of the 90V and 7.5V batteries which used to be produced just to power "portable" radios using the 'D' series valves. (7.5V as the heaters were always connected in series).
One of my childhood memories is of putting said batteries beside the hob to dry them out and get a few more hours life.


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

R651400 said:


> Well done JG. I think I'd give you more for your toolbox than a R1155!
> Comments as an excellent receiver?
> I don't think that the UK had a clue on what was quality electronics until Racal appeared on the post war scene, example the RA17.


That case was a work of art, not nailed together but proper dovetailed joints, a hinged lid, and two big handles on the side. It was ironic that previous to that the council had been round and cut off any metal railing and gates for the war effort, I often wonder if the handles were made from our front gate. also bought an 1154, it also came in a handsome case, painted them both green and used for many years after.(K)


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Just found the original receipt. H.P.Radio Services 55 countyy road Liverpool 4 Receipt nr 16016. 1x 1155 receiver £14.14.0. dated 16.5.52.

now I now why my wife despairs of me and hoarding.


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

John, on your receipt does it have on "To be Sold for Spare's only" or was that confined to the purchase of two way radio's? The two way radio's I use to buy from John's Radio at Leed's in the '50's had this written on to keep him in the clear unless you had an A.licence where I suppose it would not be put on. In his Warehouse he had all manner of Surplus Radio's but as naytikos has said getting the dual volt battery pack's was nigh on impossible so it was a matter of soldering all manner of batteries to the multi pin plugs/leads and putting them in the Surplus valve boxes one of which I still have along with a Pilot's emergency beacon/two way radio. Like most Engineer's I tend to hoard things( much to my Wife's amusement) on the basis that I might have a use for them one day.


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

Naytikos,
I do have an Ever Ready 90V battery and a 1.5 V battery as well, but being in excess of 40 years old, they are now "mumified" and and have dried up without leaking. Even on the lowest meter range, neither of them registers as much as a millivolt! I keep them as examples of what batteries those little "suitcase" portables once used. If I ever see a "suitcase" type on car boot sales, I always buy them, but never give more than £5 for one. Have a number of them stacked up in the shed and every so often, I will take one out and repair it. Valves are seldom faulty, it is usually the capacitors that have gone.
Bob


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

I rather liked working on those 'portables'. As mentioned on another thread our family had an Ecko with vinyl imitation crocodile skin over a wooden case. In common with every other similar 'wireless' there was a switch to select mains or battery operation. When we moved to a house with mains electricity I found out the hard way that it was essential to connect the a/c mains supply the correct way round. There being no transformer, only a dropping resistor and selenium rectifier, one side of the supply was connected directly to the chassis. When one came to connect the earth lead to the little screw terminal on the back............! Having fallen out with my grammar school physics master over the question of the direction of electron flow, and the head of mathematics over the method of calculating the impedance of a loudspeaker, I redeemed myself and scored a lot of 'brownie points' by repairing a 'portable' brought in by the music teacher, which had an open circuit resistor in the IF amplifier valve anode circuit, (DF91 if I recall correctly).


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## RobertM (Feb 20, 2009)

Shipbuilder said:


> I have never quite been able to get radio out of my sysyem when it comes to valves. Got this for £15 on car boot sale and spent enjoyable couple of months "doing it up."
> Bob


I am impressed you have made an excellent job of refurbishing the unit, I have fond memories of having an 1155 many years ago used it on the 2MHz band to listen to the fisfone.


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

Thanks, the biggest problem in the restoration was finding enough amperes for all those valve heaters. Eventually, I remembered I had been given an enormous mains transformer by one of our passengers. Far too heavy for normal use, I incorporated it in the R1155 power supply and was pleased to find that it only became warm after half an hour supplying all those heaters.
Bob


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## 3Sparks (Mar 29, 2009)

*3sparks*



Derek Roger said:


> What is an Obsolete Skill ?? A skill cannot be obsolete can it ?
> 
> Bows are obsolete as weapons of war but are still in use for sport and hunting ; the skill of of bowman is hardley obsolete .
> 
> ...


 I still use my 19 40 ts skills on in world wide web and pc programs at 85 i am the family nerd/Ernie Dibb R/O 308090


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Welcome to the radio room, Ernie.
No watches just nostalgia on this ship.
Have a good trip.


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