Full restoration of a very poorly 1931 HMV 501 Radiogram Part 1

[@stephencopeland238]

Just found your channel and thoroughly enjoying it! A cracking good overview and loving every moment of it! Thank you so very much for taking the time to video and share - it's really appreciated 👍

[@vintagetvandwireless]

Thank you. Glad you're enjoying it. The more subscribers I get, I'll hopefully be able to make them a little more professional 👍👍

[@ElectroRestore]

Very well done! I am currently working on a late 1940's Zenith 12h092R AM/FM/ 78RPM Phono with the same crappy wires. It s definingly a job to replace them. The Zenith has long 9-wire cables that have 3/4" braiding on them. They had the same bad wires that I had to pull through and replace. That was loads of fun - NOT! Nice work with the capacitor block. We had a US company (Atwater Kent) that used them all the time back the 1930s too! I actually use a propane torch to get them out of the numerous boxes in those sets! Anyway, new subscriber here. Loved the video! Thanks for sharing it!

[@Drewpot71]

Cannot wait for part 2!

[@andrewensor317]

I haven't seen a Baby Belling for years...

[@kevvywevvywoo]

looking forward to the finish. Crunchy rubber wiring usually has my heart sinking. Lots of fiddly rewiring and trying to keep it all looking genuine.

[@Timothycan]

Fascinating to see how different the components were! I have an Ultra radio from the mid 1930s, and the change around only 5 years later is considerable. Resistors with the colour code ('Body End Dot rather than stripes, though) and discrete capacitors, and a superhet design. So the technology in the 30s was actually progressing at a fast rate.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Nice job and I have like 4 set waiting to replace wire like you are doing I have noticed a lot 1940s sets have that poor rubber wire !

[@tuopeeks]

Always wondered why some early resistor were encapsulated in glass. Thanks for showing that. I have tried the old pencil trick to build up a resistance value but that looks like it was tuned over a candle flame🙂.

[@BrumAdam]

An excellent and informative video - thank you! Now on to Part 2.....

[@vintagetvandwireless]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kennixox262]

Always interesting to see the difference between American radios of that era compared to British electronics. What voltage was used in those days in most homes?

[@vintagetvandwireless]

It varied from region to region. Anything from 200 - 250V. Some A.C....some D.C. Hence, all British built stuff had to have multi volt inputs.

[@HowardLeVert]

@@vintagetvandwireless I'd add some districts were also 110 - 150V. Often if there was a private generating plant for lighting it'd be a lower voltage, plus mains frequency could vary from 25Hz to 100Hz. If you get hold of one of the "Trader" annuals from the 1930s, they often list the supplies by area. I have one of these 'grams too, but mine is a DC-only model using 0.25A valves.

[@drmisfit]

great video and i also enjoyed your talk at NARC i watched it last night on there channel

[@vintagetvandwireless]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P]

you remind me so much of a guy in Norwich that use to have a shop called Bits n Pc's but he had a moustache. any relation?

[@vintagetvandwireless]

No...not me, but the shop name rings a bell! Cheers

[@SwingBandHeaven]

They certainly squeezed a lot into a very small space in that small cabinet! Bet it got hot in there! At 11.40 is that a bit of warped 78 sculpture I spy on top of your oven 😂

[@rossthompson1635]

Very interesting, thank you. I have never seen any of those glass resistors before. Funny that you mentioned Shango... he has plugged in radios with mains leads that are crispier than those wires - absolutely terrifying, even if he is using a series bulb.