Bush VHF61
I bought a Bush VHF61 at the BVWS Golborne meeting in November 2011 as it was one of the few specific models that I'd had on my wish list.
I bought a Bush VHF61 at the BVWS Golborne meeting in November 2011 as it was one of the few specific models that I'd had on my wish list.
It worked on MW, albeit not very well, but that was all.
The first thing I had to was replace some of the wiring as getting the chassis out of the case had caused so much insulation to fall off that it wasn't in a fit state to run even for test purposes.
Re-capping improved MW but VHF was still a dead loss. The obvious suspect was the ECC85 but I hadn't got a replacement – it was annoying as I could have got one at Golborne and, in fact, did get a UCC85.
Another possibility was low HT and it was indeed down. As this was proving to be the most hum-free AC set I have I was inclined to exonerate the smoothers so accused the rectifier of idleness.
I also had a non-working Ekco which at that time tried to kill me by sticking HT on its Gram socket so I borrowed the EZ80 out of that.
There was now HT in abundance but still no VHF.
The Ekco had also only worked on AM before developing its murderous intentions so I wasn't optimistic about the health of that ECC85 but there was nothing to loose by trying it.
It half worked in that only the stations at the top of the band could be received. I checked the HT and resistors inside the VHF tuner unit and all seemed well.
Next time I tried it it would work down about as far as Radio Four and things gradually improved until I could get Radio 2. It still wouldn't go down as far as Radio Sheffield (88.6 Mc/s) but I don't want that anyway.
The magic eye was brighter than I'd expected but wasn't closing very well. Changing a few resistors improved that.
It continued to un-reliable on VHF but then I was given a replacement valve and all has been very well since.
The case polished up well with Brasso and beeswax and the speaker cloth washed up like new. I did this in a solution of PoundLand oxygenating crystals. I then folded it in a towel and went over it with the rolling pin a couple of times to get most of the water out.
The first thing I had to was replace some of the wiring as getting the chassis out of the case had caused so much insulation to fall off that it wasn't in a fit state to run even for test purposes.
Re-capping improved MW but VHF was still a dead loss. The obvious suspect was the ECC85 but I hadn't got a replacement – it was annoying as I could have got one at Golborne and, in fact, did get a UCC85.
Another possibility was low HT and it was indeed down. As this was proving to be the most hum-free AC set I have I was inclined to exonerate the smoothers so accused the rectifier of idleness.
I also had a non-working Ekco which at that time tried to kill me by sticking HT on its Gram socket so I borrowed the EZ80 out of that.
There was now HT in abundance but still no VHF.
The Ekco had also only worked on AM before developing its murderous intentions so I wasn't optimistic about the health of that ECC85 but there was nothing to loose by trying it.
It half worked in that only the stations at the top of the band could be received. I checked the HT and resistors inside the VHF tuner unit and all seemed well.
Next time I tried it it would work down about as far as Radio Four and things gradually improved until I could get Radio 2. It still wouldn't go down as far as Radio Sheffield (88.6 Mc/s) but I don't want that anyway.
The magic eye was brighter than I'd expected but wasn't closing very well. Changing a few resistors improved that.
It continued to un-reliable on VHF but then I was given a replacement valve and all has been very well since.
The case polished up well with Brasso and beeswax and the speaker cloth washed up like new. I did this in a solution of PoundLand oxygenating crystals. I then folded it in a towel and went over it with the rolling pin a couple of times to get most of the water out.