Vintage Audio Activities...

[CitroJim]

That was magical Robin, I don't often watch a YT but with your checklist, I made an exception and I'm very pleased I did

I saw a few things I recognised!

[mickthemaverick]

Thoroughly enjoyed that video thanks bobins. Took me back to my Dad's time when Health & Safety was common sense, or not as the case maybe, and engineers were men able to tackle whatever cropped up rather than saying "Oh that's so and so's department"

[Peter.N.]

That Holme Moss film is really nostalgic. Although I hadn't been there at that time my first introduction to the place was on the early 'superhet' or tunable TVs. many had a five channel tuner which covered all the early stations, until that time each set had to be made for the area it was going to as they were 'TRF' only usable on the channel they were made for. The very popular Bush TVs were TV12A and TV12B the 'A' was for Alexandra Palace and the 'B' for Birmingham, A similar set designated the TV22 was of superhet design meaning it could be used anywhere there was a transmitter.

Channel 1 was for Alexandra Palace and much later Crystal Palace I can't remember the order of the others but Holme Moss used one of the other 4 channels so I remember it from the mid '50s as it was one of the locations printed on the metal plate by the tuning knob inside the set. I didn't actually visit Holme moss until some years later and from the site you could also see the Emley Moor mast, the one that collapsed and was rebuilt in concrete 'lighthouse' shaped. I Think there is a film of that being rebuilt somewhere on the net. Emley Moor looked looked quite close from the top of the hill but it was in fact near Leeds, a long way by road.

Peter

[CitroJim]

Thought you might enjoy that one Peter

The Emley Moor Mast collapsed in the winter of 1969 due to heavy icing on its stay (guy) wires. It was a tubular steel tower. Service was restored, at reduced power, very shortly after with a temporary mast whist the new one was rebuilt. The new one has stood the test of time.

A similar design of steel tubular tower at Bilston was destroyed by fire a few years ago. Due, it's believed, to a fire travelling along the coaxial feeder going up the tower to aerials.

Again, a reduced service was back on the air very quickly from temporary facilities. I saw the tower whilst Mick and I travelled the area last year.

[myglaren]

It had been long forgotten but remember my mother explaining about Holme Moss and Emley Moor. I think our TV was from Emley Moor (we were in Whitby, Yorkshire).
Also mention of Pontop Pike.

[Peter.N.]

I remember it well Jim. Remember the 'Transmitter news' every morning, this was the colour TV test era so you heard about everything that was going on. Perhaps not, colour had already started can't remember if the test announcements were still going but they were still opening new transmitters and relays.

Myglaren

There was a very good view from both transmitters in the Whitby direction but I think Emley moor would have been taller and a bit closer. We actually found somewhere to park there last year and had a bit of a look round. It is very low down well it would be by the sea! but I would have thought the VHF would have got there, probably has a relay for UHF.

Peter

[xantia_v6]

In 1986 I got to up the Emley Moor tower, but only to the floor below the main TV transmitters which iirc was filled with microwave equipment and other radio links, one of which used some equipment that I had helped design.

It was a rainy day so not much of a view. I remember the lift being very slow and a number of ugly looking cracks in the concrete structure which had strain gauges across them.

[xantia_v6]

Here is an interesting item that I found in the garage.... It came from my dad's garage, but I have no idea how or when he obtained it.

It appears to be an accessory tone arm dating from the 1930s (or perhaps 1920s?) for retrofitting to a mechanical gramophone, perhaps connecting it to a radio receiver for amplification.
I think that it would not have been fitted to an eclectic gramophone, as there is a volume control lever and rheostat on the base of the arm and a gramophone amplifier would have had its own volume control..
It has a needle mount for a standard 78 RPM needle and is very heavy.
The LS Gordon company of Chicago was around for a long time, but I did not find reference to any product this early.

[bobins]

IIRC, 'Mend It Mark*' rebuilt a similar contraption on his YouTube channel. He might have even rebuilt the coil in it.

* He fixes and rebuilds mainly audio related kit to the point of remaking obsolete components.

[CitroJim]

Here is an interesting item that I found in the garage.... It came from my dad's garage, but I have no idea how or when he obtained it.

Wow! That's quite a pickup

[NewcastleFalcon]

Are the 1960's vintage now?



From the "Retro Electric Workshop" Series 1 Episode 1 as mentioned here

viewtopic.php?p=794936#p794936

This is, a Portable Juke Box....often seen with The Beatles when they were on tour. It has become famous because John Lennon had that very model and apparently in the 1960's he filled it full of Northern Soul and people pay so much money now to replicate John Lennon's playlist.

Neil

[CitroJim]

Intriguing

[Paul-R]

I've never see one of those before. How many records could it hold?

[NewcastleFalcon]

I've never see one of those before. How many records could it hold?

Looks like about 40 from the index panel shown on the vid Paul.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

70's and 80's....Car Radio. lets call it "Vintage" for the sake of this thread seeing as it gets me a place to put this mornings discovery.

Blaupunkt "solved" a period problem of having to manually fiddle about with the controls for their car radios down in the depths of a centre console with the "goose neck". Never heard of it before today, never been in the Blaupunkt in car entertainment world. It was this article here in from the same website the "Single Spoke Steering Wheel" article came from...here it is.

What Ever Happened to the Goose Neck? by Claus Ebberfeld

https://viaretro.com/2018/01/what-ever- ... oose-neck/

Neil