Great job on the metal speaker frame part. Looks original to an untrained eye. That was the most complicated Bluetooth conversion to a tube radio I have ever seen. It seems to play well with the radio now. Your cabinet work is simply amazing as it is like a piece of art and furniture. A beauty of a console radio that can be used as a modern receiver.
Cheers Steve. It was a nice radio to start with, which helps. Yes the Bluetooth turned out to be tricky but that 6L6 output valve really kicks ass, as the Americans would say
Hi Ian Yes I think the best way to preserve these things is to make them useful. The Bluetooth does that and this set's performance, with that 6L6 output valve, makes it worth the effort.
Glad you're adding the finishing touches to this. You've done very well on the restoration of this radio 📻. Happy New Year!! All ya need is a couple of beers 🍻 to top it off. Your friend, Jeff!!
It sounds and looks fantastic Don. Great job. I’m filled regret that my parents cleared out all my electronic gear when I moved in to students’ accommodation in 1974. I had a unit similar to this but with turntable. 😢
Gee what a pity you lost that. I've moved so many times I've sold off everything several times. I guess you can't hang on to everything. Happy New Year anyway!
Wonderful result Don, another radio preserved and working better than new. You always amaze me with your patience and attention to detail especially with the Bluetooth section was brilliant as you didn’t give in and finally got it to function as you wanted. Many thanks again for the 4 part videos and happy new year.
Top Notch restoration. I fit BT in all of mine now as here in the UK more channels are getting switched off on AM and if they finally deadline the date for moving to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) FM too will go quiet on vintage radios. We need more ways to keep these pieces of our history functioning, but respectfully maintain their originality.
32:26 This is why I suggested what I did. Treat the Blue-tooth device as if it were a phono deck(turntable) with the raw audio output fed to the radio via the gram pick-up terminals, then, if wanting Blue-Tooth, switch to "gram", if wanting Radio, switch to B.C.(Broadcast, as that position was often labelled back then).
Well it's new years eve and this was a real treat! What a transformation! I was glad to see that you were able to get that dial glass too. It seems your biggest challenge on this one was the bluetooth. I can't beleive you figured that out! The bluetooth and the radio both sound fantastic. This radio will add ambience and charm to any room. It's beautful! Amazing work! Thanks Don, and Happy new year!
Hi Tyrone and Happy New Year! You're right - that was the trickiest Bluetooth installation I've ever done but it's a good quality radio - well engineered and that 6L6 output valve makes it stand out from the rest.
Hi Harold. Yes I think that would work. A couple of other people have said the same thing. I haven't worked on digital stuff for a long time and I was thinking he counter started at Q1 but I realize now I was wrong. I'll give it a try when I get back from Sydney Cheers
Well done nice job, Mr Carlson had a novel idea of a microswitch fixed to a spare hole on the tuning condenser that activated the Bluetooth when the dial was sent to the left of the scale, rather simple and no alterations to controls. Have a good New Year.
@@Donno308 Good New year, I thought a switch at the far end of the dial travel was a very smart solution he also had a module to kill the radio but it seemed a better than the one you have which I don't think you are to impressed with. Mr Carlson is Good but his bar is set to high for me to jump, I can at a stretch just about reach yours and David's. Jim's Radio Workshop is a nice slow chill and he is a good chap. Best from UK
@WOFFY-qc9te Hi Woofy. Yes I like the pace of Jim's Radio Workshop. Personally I find Mr. Carlson a bit annoying but he's very knowledgeable. I try to pace my videos so they keep moving along but don't become too hectic. My presentation is probably too slow for the US but seems to go well in the UK & Europe. It's difficult to pick the right presentation style and how much to put in.
@@Donno308 Don, I was being tactful, he is very skilled but will spend half an hour telling you what he is going to do in ten minutes. As I said his bar is too high for me but for historic restoration it is fine. You, David and JIm's and the select few are just keeping the old buggers (radios as well) going. In contrast is 'Marks repair workshop" UK, more modern kit but explains his thinking and testing very well and a good watch for those trying to understand "fluffy" electronics used in the last twenty years kit. 'Big Clive' is good fun and a nice watch. American content is a bit formulated, over edited and to fast as some many now have the attention span of a goldfish. More is less with the exception of Project farm who test out stuf and set a very fast but detailed format I playback at %75 then have a lie down in a dark room for a bit. David loves his tech and embraces a new challenge which is good to help bring on the New fixers. Don your channel is "slow" TV, a chum in the shack like JIm, talking through the problems we will all encounter and finding a way around and I am reminded of things and learn more. You don't have to change anything. As for the bluetooth thingy I think as a way forward to standardise a setup that works the one thing in common with all the sets is you can move the dial to trip a switch so on this occasion Mr Carlson probably has the better solution. A good New year to you Don and thanks for your efforts.
Great job Dave. The cabinet looks great. The radio breakthrough on gram issue could also be happening within the 6B8 Several volts of rf and audio are still on the detector plates right near the audio triode. People used to tune off the station when playing records. . In models with a radio-gram switch, the HT to the front-end was usually turned off when switched to gram. I have an almost identical unit halfway through restoration. It’s only a bc model and no rf stage. I wish it was one like yours,I love the magic eye, it really makes the radio look smart . My cabinet will take a fair bit of restoration As it has been coated by brush in a thick layer of what looks like acrylic lacquer. Aaaarh!
Hi Robert. These were great radios in their day. Not sure if they all had the 6L6 output valve but if yours has it will sound great. Some automotive paint stripper will take care of the brushed on varnish. Don't bother with the rubbish you get from Bunnings. They are nice looking cabinets and worth the effort. Cheers
@@Donno308 hi Dave thanks for the tip on the cabinet restoration. Mine only has a 6v6 output valve. Mind you when I fist got the radio it had an EL33 instead. Definitely not the right valve but I used it in the air zone A4141 which had a 6v6 instead of an el33. So that worked out well, since el33 s are rare and expensive. I rummaged through my big collection of old potentiometers looking for a genuine replacement for yours, I thought it would be nice for you to have an original. But no luck. That’s a good idea putting the 47k resistor at the earthy end of the volume control. Works well. The ball bearings on the tone switch on mine have fallen out. I saw your video where you replaced them in one radio. I’ll try that otherwise I’ll try a new switch cutting the shaft like you did. Godpsh I had never thought of doing that. Brilliant!
@@roberthart8933 Hi Robert You could probably salvage a suitable ball bearing or 2 from a scrapped chassis or switch. There's different sizes but you might get lucky. If not, a bicycle shop will have every size ball bearing imaginable or, as a last resort, you can get them on EBay. Good luck with your radio. A 6V6 output is still pretty damn good. I'm sure you wouldn't but I've gotta say it - please don't go anywhere near the cabinet with an electric sander. Cheers Oh and by the way, it's Don, not Dave.
Hi Don, another beautiful result. Your patience still amazes me. Happy New Year to you and your family from the UK, and I look forward to watching more restorations from you in 2025.
Thought there would have been another series to finish this one off Don, well done, interesting to see how you methodically found where the feedback was coming from, haven't seen the second diode hooked up like that before, almost looks like some sort of a regenerative set up. With the design of the BT board I took preference of BT coming on first mainly for ( hey I am BT equipped & and BT in the future would be used more frequently as more am stations disappear from the band -- sad, however easy to make that an option on future boards. Cabinet work --awesome - great to see it come back to its original glory, doing some cabinet restoration myself I know the time & effort involved. Anyway Don. all the best for the new year enjoy your holiday, looking forward to see what interesting places that you come across. Cheers, Regards, Reg.
Hi Reg Now I've got the radio up & running it doesn't bother me at all that the Bluetooth comes on first. My logic was that it is a radio first and foremost and I liked the way the bluetooth was "hidden" and not apparent unless you knew what to do. "Secret Bluetooth" if you like. That's also why I didn't want the led flashing all the time. As it is, I would be using it on Bluetooth most of the time, in fact I've been doing just that for the past few days. I was also a bit puzzled why grounding the radio audio via the cap wasn't effective. On the face of it, it should be fine and it worked fine on the radio in your workshop. I guess you're back from your holiday now. I knew you were away, otherwise I would've given you a call. All in all this is a great Bluetooth conversion. Very quiet - no hum or noise at all. I guess I just picked the wrong radio to try it out on lol. Cheers and Happy New Year!
That's a beautiful restoration, with great results. Maybe the ants sabotaged your bluetooth solution? They're not big enough to start soldering though. There were some beefy ones trying to haul your radio chassis out I noticed :-) Your "that's enough of that" on some of the awful foreign music had me in stitches. A great result, and a pleasure to watch. Thank you and Happy New Year!
Cheers and Happy New Year to you and yours! I didn't notice the ants until I was editing the video but you have to wonder... 😅 Anyway now I've got rid of the little blighters!
Great detective work and a radio to be proud of. May I wish you and the missus a very happy and healthy New Year. Thank you for the entertainment and instruction over the last year and I'm looking forward to any adventures (radio and travel) that you care to share in 2025. 🥳🎉
Great restoration, especially the cabinet, looks like new. Pity you couldn't get the Bluetooth to do what you wanted this time around, am sure there's a solution somewhere. Should get many more years of use out of that upgrade. 👍
Cheers! The radio wasn't too hard in this case but the cabinet took a lot of time. It was far worse that I expected and a lot of the joints were loose and panels warped / shrunken. I only showed about 1 % of it!
Turned out fantastic. I wouldn't be bothered about what mode it switched on in, easy enough to just turn off and on again, although I though your hex invertor was a pretty neat solution. Not sure what caused it to fail - maybe just because it's CMOS and may have been weakened with static damage at some point between manufacture and using. Looking forward to next year and seeing what you have in store for us all. Happy New Year Don! 😊
Hi, Yes I'm still puzzled about why it failed. As you say. CMOS stuff is prone to static damage. Maybe I should've used a coupling resistor between the decade counter and the inverter. TTL is more reliable but the decade counter is CMOS and the whole show runs on 12V via a voltage doubler out of the transformer so... Anyway, Happy New Year to you & yours too. Cheers
That looks fantastic - great job! And great to see the troubleshooting of some modern stuff in there too... I don't think I would have thought of using an inverter on the counter - that seems like a great solution, and I'm still wondering why it ceased working on you - static damage maybe? And another great solution to the radio bleeding through - often you see the gram switch cutting power to the RF valves, which is pretty effective. I love how it looks finished - all that work on the veneer was totally worth it, it's stunning. Cheers from over the ditch, Steve
Hi Steve. Yes, I'm happy with the result. I haven't worked on anything digital since I was fixing video games in the early 80's and I'm a bit rusty. A few people have pointed out that I could have just connected the relay driver transistor to the Q0 output of the decade counter (instead of the Q1). Yes probably static damage or overloading stuffed up the inverter chip but the Q0 solution looks better anyway. I'll give that a go when I get back from Sydney. Cheers
Beautiful restoration, Don. I was very impressed by your intricate detailed work on the veneer, which I would not have the patience for. I just had one question/suggestion... I agree that the radio should come on initially, not bluetooth. That would be a high priority for me. I was wondering if you could modify a long-lead IC chip socket that could plug into the board between the 4017 and its socket. The inserted socket (between the 4017 and its existing socket) could criss-cross the Q1 and Q2 outputs, and pass through the remaining leads, basically reversing the function of the 4017. I have no idea if that would work, but that was my initial thought as something I would have explored as a possible solution. (However that doesn't solve the problem of suppressing the flashing LED, which would still need to be explored.) Thank you, I love your channel.
Hi A few people have pointed out that I could just connect the base of the transistor to the Q0 output. Silly me - I haven't worked on digital stuff for ages and I forgot the counter starts at Q0, not Q1. I haven't tried it yet but I think it will work. Cheers
Hi Don, what you tried with the chip can be done with one transistor and 3 resistors. First I want to ask you to look at your drawn schematic, where the base of the transistor is directly driven from Q2, is that right or did you forget a resistor there ? The current could be to high if there's no resistor, maybe it blew your inverter chip or so. What you can do with a transistor is: * take a small ordinary PNP transistor, any will do. * connect its emitter to the positive. * connect its collector through a ~1K resistor to the base of the NPN. * connect a ~470K resistor from ground to the base of the NPN. * connect a ~10K resistor between ground and the base of the PNP. * connect Q2 to the base of the PNP. Have a great year Don.
Hi Erik Thanks. I just drew this out and I like that solution much better than using a cmos inverter chip. I will check the board tomorrow but I'm pretty sure Q1 went straight to the base of the NPN. Did you mean connect Q1 to the base of the PNP? Or Q2? Cheers
@@Donno308 Sorry to bother you again, but I made a booboo in this by making a wrong assumption about the supply voltage. You need an extra zener diode. The forgotten problem is that the emitter of the PNP must stay at a lower voltage than the output of Q1 + 0.5V, otherwise you'll never see the PNP closing. I assumed a 5V supply (saw 5V on the board, heard you about TTL), but why should I assume that, this chip can operate from 3 - 16 Volt. So, making up for my error, you can try another schematic with an extra zener diode. Although this is getting larger this way, maybe it is still more useful as that inverter chip. Here I go again, a bit different schematic....: * take a small ordinary PNP transistor, any will do. * connect its emitter to the positive through a ~1K resistor * connect its emitter to the cathode of a small zener diode, with its anode to ground. * connect its collector to the base of the NPN. * connect a ~470K resistor from ground to the base of the NPN. * connect a ~4k7 resistor between ground and the base of the PNP. * connect Q1 to the base of the PNP. About the zener, it is fed by that 1K resistor, and there to keep the emitter lower than the output from Q1. How low I cannot tell because I don't know the voltage from Q1, but a zener of around 3.9V is the minimum value, otherwise maybe the NPN will not go open hard. As long as the emitter of the PNP stays lower than Q1 when activated. So any zener between 3.9 (preferable 4.7) and the output voltage of Q1 is acceptable. You could also use a resistor in stead of a zener, say also 1K, so that the emitter is half the supply. But since I don't know the supply or Q1 I cannot be sure. The datasheet of that chip told me that the output is 0.5 - 2.5 V below supply, depending on the supply. Let me assume less next time... 😶🌫
@@erikdenhouter Hi Erik The supply voltage is 11.5V. The 6V supply runs through a voltage doubler. With the board now mounted in the radio cabinet I can't check it easily but I'll take it out and have another look when I get back from Sydney in a couple of weeks. The inverter idea was just a last minute brain fart and I was in a hurry to finish the video so I didn't properly consider other options. Cheers
Hi Thanks for that. I haven't worked on anything digital since he late 1970's and back then it was mostly TTL so I haven't much experience with CMOS. That sounds right though. As several people pointed out, I could have attached the base of the driver transistor to the Q0 output of the counter. I'll try that too when I get back from Sydney. Cheers
A great series and a lovely looking and sounding radio Don ! And what better to test the bluetooth out with than a bit of Donald Fagan and some classic Al Stewart ! Now Don, am I mistaken or are you a bit of G&S fan on the quiet....I'm sure I spotted the cover from the 1922 acoustic recording of "Iolanthe" pop up on your 'phone briefly ?
Hi, yes I have an original 78 RPM 10 record album set of Iolanthe, all records in pristine condition, acoustically recorded in London under the supervision of Rupert D'Oyly Carte. The picture on my phone is of the album cover. I can't find a recording date but I would imagine 1920's. I do collect 78's in a small way but I mostly favour '30s and 40's jazz. Cheers
Have you seen the latest Mr Carlson's Lab video (Installing A Bluetooth Circuit Into A Radio Receiver)? He has a very interesting way of activating bluetooth in the radio.
Amazing restoration again, Don. What a great radio. Awesome job on the cabinet as well. About the CD4017: I might be missing something here, but isn't it a possibility to simply move the transistor connection from Q1 to Q0?
Hi Kristof Yes I think you're right. I didn't think it through as I was in a hurry to finish the video and to be honest, I was getting sick of this radio. It's a long time since I've worked on anything digital (1970's when everything was TTL) and I was thinking that the counter started at Q1 and Q0 was the final one. You're right of course. When I get back I'll try that. Pretty sure it will work.
The simpler method might be to treat the blue-tooth as if it were a phono pick-up as the set had a gramophone pick-up connection anyway. I once had an old Rayford Hi-Tone radiogram and I could feed the audio from a mono cassette recorder into the radiogram's amp as if it were the turntable by patching a lead from a phono plug to the recorder's earphone jack, to the terminals of the phono pick-up.
Hi Neil. That's pretty much what I did, except this radio doesn't have a switch for the Gram (phono) input. Instead, inserting the plug into the input causes the switching function. Unfortunately, as you saw, that didn't work with this bluetooth setup.
@@Donno308 That strikes me as rather unusual. I'd have thought that even if a radio of this vintage had an option for a phono pickup, then there'd be a switch to select between off-air broadcast and phono.
@@neilforbes416 Yes, it would have made things a lot easier. As you saw, this radio is weird in a number of ways. I think the gram input socket was pretty much a half arsed afterthought. They did make a radiogram version of this chassis and it had a switch!.
Gentlemen. If you study the schematic, you will notice that "plugging in" a grammo audio plug (2 pins), shorts the radio to ground (the bottom pin on the schematic), and the top pin is the audio from the grammo. THAT is your radio/grammo selector switch.
I wonder why the earthing of the radio signal didn't work properly. It seems like there may be another minor issue as plugging in a turntable would only earth that one point. Maybe swapping the pot out did more thing than it may appear... What was the original power switch on it?
Hi. No, the original pot didn't have a power switch. That's why I swapped it out for one that did. Having thought it through, I suspect that the output from the pickups used at the time would have been a lot higher. Probably an impedance matching issue also. It probably would have worked ok with a suitable vintage record player. Cheers
@@Donno308 Yeah, that's likely true. Pity the original pot didn't have a power switch... Was this just controlled by the main switch at the wall originally? You did get it looking amazing compared to where it came from.
Cheers Ted, I ended up getting a copyright claim for the music anyway so I needn't have bothered breaking it up. Don't care. I'm not in it for the money anyway. I('ll check out nico staf - snake on the beach
@@Donno308 - Sorry they snagged you! They're cracking down on us commenters as well. One wrong word, and they delete the whole comment! One time they blocked me from saying anything to anyone for a full 24 hours!
@@tubeDude48 Yep it's getting more ridiculous every day! I got kicked off facebook for a week because the word "tranny" was considered offensive. We were talking about output transformers ffs!
@@ChuckKirchner-se6ib Hi Chuck I finally found your email buried in my Junk folder. Bloody Outlook has a lot to answer for! Anyway I've marked the email as "Never send to Junk folder" or something like that. I just sent you a reply. Thanks, much appreciated!
Отлично! Хотелось бы увидеть,как восстанавливать надписи на стекле шкал радиоприемников. Корпус динамика можно было анодировать,не разбирая,есть способ. ❤
Привет. Анодирование, безусловно, сохранит корпус динамика и будет хорошо выглядеть. В конце концов я повторно покрасил его серой молотковой краской, которая выглядит как оригинал, так что я этим вполне доволен. Не думаю, что я упоминал об этом в видео, но вы можете увидеть это ближе к концу, когда я положу динамик обратно в кабинет. Спасибо за ваш интерес!
Great job on the metal speaker frame part. Looks original to an untrained eye. That was the most complicated Bluetooth
conversion to a tube radio I have ever seen. It seems to play well with the radio now. Your cabinet work is simply amazing
as it is like a piece of art and furniture. A beauty of a console radio that can be used as a modern receiver.
Cheers Steve. It was a nice radio to start with, which helps. Yes the Bluetooth turned out to be tricky but that 6L6 output valve really kicks ass, as the Americans would say
That came up a treat Don. Pretty cool Bluetooth solution as well. You are a clever chap 👍😊
Cheers David. Pretty happy with his one although I did rush to finish it. I need a break!
Great restoration Don, and with the nice touch of having added bluetooth. Have very much enjoyed this series.
Cheers Gerard. Glad you enjoyed it!
Just keep restoring, Donald from the Western part of Australia, brilliant job with the bluetooth module.
Cheers Marcus. Looking forward to a short holiday but I'll be back with more soon!
That is a gorgeous cabinet, great restoral!
That sounds as good as it looks. Bluetooth is a nice addition. Makes it easier to show it off.
Hi Ian
Yes I think the best way to preserve these things is to make them useful. The Bluetooth does that and this set's performance, with that 6L6 output valve, makes it worth the effort.
Great effort with that blue tooth module. Enjoy the break.
Excellent job! You really saved that one! Plus, that's a nice sanitary installation on the bluetooth.
Cheers Dennis and a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Glad you're adding the finishing touches to this. You've done very well on the restoration of this radio 📻. Happy New Year!! All ya need is a couple of beers 🍻 to top it off. Your friend, Jeff!!
Cheers Jeff. Yep, had a couple of beers last night. Happy New Year to you too!
It looks and sounds beautiful Don, Top Marks! you did a fantastic restoration on it.
Cheers Alan. Happy New Year!
@@Donno308 Happy New Year Don!
It sounds and looks fantastic Don. Great job. I’m filled regret that my parents cleared out all my electronic gear when I moved in to students’ accommodation in 1974. I had a unit similar to this but with turntable. 😢
Gee what a pity you lost that. I've moved so many times I've sold off everything several times. I guess you can't hang on to everything.
Happy New Year anyway!
Wonderful result Don, another radio preserved and working better than new. You always amaze me with your patience and attention to detail especially with the Bluetooth section was brilliant as you didn’t give in and finally got it to function as you wanted.
Many thanks again for the 4 part videos and happy new year.
Cheers Dom and Happy New Year to you & yours. Yes that Bluetooth setup was a bastard!
Another fine, do-it-all radio, and excellent furniture as well. I'm looking forward to your next project. Happy New Year!
Cheers Don. Happy New Year to you & yours too!
Beautiful result. A lot of work. Thank you for making the video series, a lot of work by itself.
Отличная работа. Корпус приемника реставрирован очень качественно и выглядит великолепно.
Top Notch restoration. I fit BT in all of mine now as here in the UK more channels are getting switched off on AM and if they finally deadline the date for moving to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) FM too will go quiet on vintage radios. We need more ways to keep these pieces of our history functioning, but respectfully maintain their originality.
Yes I agree. Fortunately analog radio is still alive and well in Australia, but who knows for how long.
Happy new year to you, May God bless you
Thanks! Happy New Year to you too.
32:26 This is why I suggested what I did. Treat the Blue-tooth device as if it were a phono deck(turntable) with the raw audio output fed to the radio via the gram pick-up terminals, then, if wanting Blue-Tooth, switch to "gram", if wanting Radio, switch to B.C.(Broadcast, as that position was often labelled back then).
Pretty cool, sounds great and looks awesome, great job.
Definitely enjoyed viewing this radio restoration series (with Bluetooth installation).
An absolute pleasure! Thank you Don.
Regards, Phil.
Cheers Phil, glad you enjoyed it. Happy New Year to you and yours!
Thank you for your video Don.
Well it's new years eve and this was a real treat! What a transformation! I was glad to see that you were able to get that dial glass too. It seems your biggest challenge on this one was the bluetooth. I can't beleive you figured that out! The bluetooth and the radio both sound fantastic. This radio will add ambience and charm to any room. It's beautful! Amazing work! Thanks Don, and Happy new year!
Hi Tyrone and Happy New Year! You're right - that was the trickiest Bluetooth installation I've ever done but it's a good quality radio - well engineered and that 6L6 output valve makes it stand out from the rest.
Very nice, Don! Well done!
Great job Don. Many thanks from UK.
Great video. You should move the relay driver from Q1 to Q0 on the 4017 it would fix all the problems.
Hi Harold. Yes I think that would work. A couple of other people have said the same thing.
I haven't worked on digital stuff for a long time and I was thinking he counter started at Q1 but I realize now I was wrong. I'll give it a try when I get back from Sydney
Cheers
Well done nice job, Mr Carlson had a novel idea of a microswitch fixed to a spare hole on the tuning condenser that activated the Bluetooth when the dial was sent to the left of the scale, rather simple and no alterations to controls. Have a good New Year.
Hi Woffy,
Hey, that's a great idea! I'll have to watch the Mr. Carlson video.
Cheers and happy New Year!
@@Donno308 Good New year, I thought a switch at the far end of the dial travel was a very smart solution he also had a module to kill the radio but it seemed a better than the one you have which I don't think you are to impressed with.
Mr Carlson is Good but his bar is set to high for me to jump, I can at a stretch just about reach yours and David's. Jim's Radio Workshop is a nice slow chill and he is a good chap. Best from UK
@WOFFY-qc9te Hi Woofy. Yes I like the pace of Jim's Radio Workshop. Personally I find Mr. Carlson a bit annoying but he's very knowledgeable.
I try to pace my videos so they keep moving along but don't become too hectic. My presentation is probably too slow for the US but seems to go well in the UK & Europe. It's difficult to pick the right presentation style and how much to put in.
@@Donno308 Don, I was being tactful, he is very skilled but will spend half an hour telling you what he is going to do in ten minutes.
As I said his bar is too high for me but for historic restoration it is fine. You, David and JIm's and the select few are just keeping the old buggers (radios as well) going.
In contrast is 'Marks repair workshop" UK, more modern kit but explains his thinking and testing very well and a good watch for those trying to understand "fluffy" electronics used in the last twenty years kit. 'Big Clive' is good fun and a nice watch.
American content is a bit formulated, over edited and to fast as some many now have the attention span of a goldfish. More is less with the exception of Project farm who test out stuf and set a very fast but detailed format I playback at %75 then have a lie down in a dark room for a bit.
David loves his tech and embraces a new challenge which is good to help bring on the New fixers. Don your channel is "slow" TV, a chum in the shack like JIm, talking through the problems we will all encounter and finding a way around and I am reminded of things and learn more. You don't have to change anything.
As for the bluetooth thingy I think as a way forward to standardise a setup that works the one thing in common with all the sets is you can move the dial to trip a switch so on this occasion Mr Carlson probably has the better solution.
A good New year to you Don and thanks for your efforts.
Great job Dave. The cabinet looks great. The radio breakthrough on gram issue could also be happening within the 6B8 Several volts of rf and audio are still on the detector plates right near the audio triode. People used to tune off the station when playing records. . In models with a radio-gram switch, the HT to the front-end was usually turned off when switched to gram.
I have an almost identical unit halfway through restoration. It’s only a bc model and no rf stage. I wish it was one like yours,I love the magic eye, it really makes the radio look smart . My cabinet will take a fair bit of restoration As it has been coated by brush in a thick layer of what looks like acrylic lacquer. Aaaarh!
Hi Robert. These were great radios in their day. Not sure if they all had the 6L6 output valve but if yours has it will sound great. Some automotive paint stripper will take care of the brushed on varnish. Don't bother with the rubbish you get from Bunnings. They are nice looking cabinets and worth the effort.
Cheers
@@Donno308 hi Dave thanks for the tip on the cabinet restoration. Mine only has a 6v6 output valve. Mind you when I fist got the radio it had an EL33 instead. Definitely not the right valve but I used it in the air zone A4141 which had a 6v6 instead of an el33. So that worked out well, since el33 s are rare and expensive.
I rummaged through my big collection of old potentiometers looking for a genuine replacement for yours, I thought it would be nice for you to have an original. But no luck. That’s a good idea putting the 47k resistor at the earthy end of the volume control. Works well. The ball bearings on the tone switch on mine have fallen out. I saw your video where you replaced them in one radio. I’ll try that otherwise I’ll try a new switch cutting the shaft like you did. Godpsh I had never thought of doing that. Brilliant!
@@roberthart8933 Hi Robert
You could probably salvage a suitable ball bearing or 2 from a scrapped chassis or switch. There's different sizes but you might get lucky. If not, a bicycle shop will have every size ball bearing imaginable or, as a last resort, you can get them on EBay.
Good luck with your radio. A 6V6 output is still pretty damn good.
I'm sure you wouldn't but I've gotta say it - please don't go anywhere near the cabinet with an electric sander.
Cheers
Oh and by the way, it's Don, not Dave.
Hi Don, another beautiful result. Your patience still amazes me. Happy New Year to you and your family from the UK, and I look forward to watching more restorations from you in 2025.
Thanks Maurice, and the same to you and yours. 15 minutes to midnight here!
Thought there would have been another series to finish this one off Don, well done, interesting to see how you methodically found where the feedback was coming from, haven't seen the second diode hooked up like that before, almost looks like some sort of a regenerative set up.
With the design of the BT board I took preference of BT coming on first mainly for ( hey I am BT equipped & and BT in the future would be used more frequently as more am stations disappear from the band -- sad, however easy to make that an option on future boards.
Cabinet work --awesome - great to see it come back to its original glory, doing some cabinet restoration myself I know the time & effort involved.
Anyway Don. all the best for the new year enjoy your holiday, looking forward to see what interesting places that you come across.
Cheers,
Regards,
Reg.
Hi Reg
Now I've got the radio up & running it doesn't bother me at all that the Bluetooth comes on first. My logic was that it is a radio first and foremost and I liked the way the bluetooth was "hidden" and not apparent unless you knew what to do. "Secret Bluetooth" if you like. That's also why I didn't want the led flashing all the time.
As it is, I would be using it on Bluetooth most of the time, in fact I've been doing just that for the past few days.
I was also a bit puzzled why grounding the radio audio via the cap wasn't effective. On the face of it, it should be fine and it worked fine on the radio in your workshop.
I guess you're back from your holiday now. I knew you were away, otherwise I would've given you a call.
All in all this is a great Bluetooth conversion. Very quiet - no hum or noise at all. I guess I just picked the wrong radio to try it out on lol.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
Lovely work
Thank you! Cheers!
That's a beautiful restoration, with great results. Maybe the ants sabotaged your bluetooth solution? They're not big enough to start soldering though. There were some beefy ones trying to haul your radio chassis out I noticed :-) Your "that's enough of that" on some of the awful foreign music had me in stitches. A great result, and a pleasure to watch. Thank you and Happy New Year!
Cheers and Happy New Year to you and yours!
I didn't notice the ants until I was editing the video but you have to wonder... 😅 Anyway now I've got rid of the little blighters!
@@Donno308 When I saw those ants, and the magnifying lens, I thought, there's a solution here....
@@Tom-vj7oi Not sure if the lights in the shed are strong enough but worth a try 😜
Great detective work and a radio to be proud of. May I wish you and the missus a very happy and healthy New Year. Thank you for the entertainment and instruction over the last year and I'm looking forward to any adventures (radio and travel) that you care to share in 2025. 🥳🎉
Cheers Bob and happy New Year to you and yours.
Great series Don. Happy New Year and looking forward to 2025 with yourself Dave Tipton ,Baz , Frank and Manuel. cheers mate
Cheers mate! Happy New Year to you and yours, I'm sure they'll keep me busy!
just perfection
Great restoration, especially the cabinet, looks like new. Pity you couldn't get the Bluetooth to do what you wanted this time around, am sure there's a solution somewhere. Should get many more years of use out of that upgrade. 👍
Hi Klumpy. Yes I think I've got a solution to the Bluetooth issue now. Cheers and Happy New Year
Nice restoration, great cabinet work as usual! Well done.
Cheers! The radio wasn't too hard in this case but the cabinet took a lot of time. It was far worse that I expected and a lot of the joints were loose and panels warped / shrunken. I only showed about 1 % of it!
Turned out fantastic. I wouldn't be bothered about what mode it switched on in, easy enough to just turn off and on again, although I though your hex invertor was a pretty neat solution. Not sure what caused it to fail - maybe just because it's CMOS and may have been weakened with static damage at some point between manufacture and using. Looking forward to next year and seeing what you have in store for us all. Happy New Year Don! 😊
Hi,
Yes I'm still puzzled about why it failed. As you say. CMOS stuff is prone to static damage. Maybe I should've used a coupling resistor between the decade counter and the inverter.
TTL is more reliable but the decade counter is CMOS and the whole show runs on 12V via a voltage doubler out of the transformer so...
Anyway, Happy New Year to you & yours too.
Cheers
That looks fantastic - great job! And great to see the troubleshooting of some modern stuff in there too... I don't think I would have thought of using an inverter on the counter - that seems like a great solution, and I'm still wondering why it ceased working on you - static damage maybe? And another great solution to the radio bleeding through - often you see the gram switch cutting power to the RF valves, which is pretty effective. I love how it looks finished - all that work on the veneer was totally worth it, it's stunning. Cheers from over the ditch, Steve
Hi Steve. Yes, I'm happy with the result. I haven't worked on anything digital since I was fixing video games in the early 80's and I'm a bit rusty. A few people have pointed out that I could have just connected the relay driver transistor to the Q0 output of the decade counter (instead of the Q1). Yes probably static damage or overloading stuffed up the inverter chip but the Q0 solution looks better anyway. I'll give that a go when I get back from Sydney.
Cheers
Beautiful restoration, Don. I was very impressed by your intricate detailed work on the veneer, which I would not have the patience for. I just had one question/suggestion... I agree that the radio should come on initially, not bluetooth. That would be a high priority for me. I was wondering if you could modify a long-lead IC chip socket that could plug into the board between the 4017 and its socket. The inserted socket (between the 4017 and its existing socket) could criss-cross the Q1 and Q2 outputs, and pass through the remaining leads, basically reversing the function of the 4017. I have no idea if that would work, but that was my initial thought as something I would have explored as a possible solution. (However that doesn't solve the problem of suppressing the flashing LED, which would still need to be explored.) Thank you, I love your channel.
Hi
A few people have pointed out that I could just connect the base of the transistor to the Q0 output. Silly me - I haven't worked on digital stuff for ages and I forgot the counter starts at Q0, not Q1. I haven't tried it yet but I think it will work.
Cheers
Great job Don. Happy New Year.
Cheers! Happy New Year to you too!
Hi Don, what you tried with the chip can be done with one transistor and 3 resistors. First I want to ask you to look at your drawn schematic, where the base of the transistor is directly driven from Q2, is that right or did you forget a resistor there ? The current could be to high if there's no resistor, maybe it blew your inverter chip or so.
What you can do with a transistor is:
* take a small ordinary PNP transistor, any will do.
* connect its emitter to the positive.
* connect its collector through a ~1K resistor to the base of the NPN.
* connect a ~470K resistor from ground to the base of the NPN.
* connect a ~10K resistor between ground and the base of the PNP.
* connect Q2 to the base of the PNP.
Have a great year Don.
Hi Erik
Thanks. I just drew this out and I like that solution much better than using a cmos inverter chip.
I will check the board tomorrow but I'm pretty sure Q1 went straight to the base of the NPN.
Did you mean connect Q1 to the base of the PNP? Or Q2?
Cheers
@@Donno308 Dead right Don, I meant indeed Q1.
Have a nice vacation !
@@erikdenhouter Cheers Erik
@@Donno308 Sorry to bother you again, but I made a booboo in this by making a wrong assumption about the supply voltage. You need an extra zener diode. The forgotten problem is that the emitter of the PNP must stay at a lower voltage than the output of Q1 + 0.5V, otherwise you'll never see the PNP closing. I assumed a 5V supply (saw 5V on the board, heard you about TTL), but why should I assume that, this chip can operate from 3 - 16 Volt.
So, making up for my error, you can try another schematic with an extra zener diode. Although this is getting larger this way, maybe it is still more useful as that inverter chip.
Here I go again, a bit different schematic....:
* take a small ordinary PNP transistor, any will do.
* connect its emitter to the positive through a ~1K resistor
* connect its emitter to the cathode of a small zener diode, with its anode to ground.
* connect its collector to the base of the NPN.
* connect a ~470K resistor from ground to the base of the NPN.
* connect a ~4k7 resistor between ground and the base of the PNP.
* connect Q1 to the base of the PNP.
About the zener, it is fed by that 1K resistor, and there to keep the emitter lower than the output from Q1. How low I cannot tell because I don't know the voltage from Q1, but a zener of around 3.9V is the minimum value, otherwise maybe the NPN will not go open hard. As long as the emitter of the PNP stays lower than Q1 when activated. So any zener between 3.9 (preferable 4.7) and the output voltage of Q1 is acceptable.
You could also use a resistor in stead of a zener, say also 1K, so that the emitter is half the supply. But since I don't know the supply or Q1 I cannot be sure. The datasheet of that chip told me that the output is 0.5 - 2.5 V below supply, depending on the supply.
Let me assume less next time... 😶🌫
@@erikdenhouter Hi Erik
The supply voltage is 11.5V. The 6V supply runs through a voltage doubler.
With the board now mounted in the radio cabinet I can't check it easily but I'll take it out and have another look when I get back from Sydney in a couple of weeks.
The inverter idea was just a last minute brain fart and I was in a hurry to finish the video so I didn't properly consider other options.
Cheers
That was fANTastic. I never managed to count the ants though.
Yep I had a swarm of the in the shed. Didn't realize until I saw the video lol.
They're gone now 😀
looks good, a clean bench is overrated enjoy your holiday
Don't worry Mack, it won't stay that way long!
If you left the inputs of the unused inverters open, the IC probably burned up from excessive current. CMOS inputs must go somewhere.
Hi
Thanks for that. I haven't worked on anything digital since he late 1970's and back then it was mostly TTL so I haven't much experience with CMOS. That sounds right though.
As several people pointed out, I could have attached the base of the driver transistor to the Q0 output of the counter. I'll try that too when I get back from Sydney.
Cheers
Really niee Don what a great series 👍
The set should have a radio/gram selector switch if it's intended to take a phono pick-up.
A great series and a lovely looking and sounding radio Don !
And what better to test the bluetooth out with than a bit of Donald Fagan and some classic Al Stewart !
Now Don, am I mistaken or are you a bit of G&S fan on the quiet....I'm sure I spotted the cover from the 1922 acoustic recording of "Iolanthe" pop up on your 'phone briefly ?
Hi, yes I have an original 78 RPM 10 record album set of Iolanthe, all records in pristine condition, acoustically recorded in London under the supervision of Rupert D'Oyly Carte. The picture on my phone is of the album cover. I can't find a recording date but I would imagine 1920's.
I do collect 78's in a small way but I mostly favour '30s and 40's jazz.
Cheers
Have you seen the latest Mr Carlson's Lab video (Installing A Bluetooth Circuit Into A Radio Receiver)? He has a very interesting way of activating bluetooth in the radio.
A couple of people told me about it so I watched it yesterday. The micro switch on the tuning dial was a neat solution.
Super !!!
Amazing restoration again, Don. What a great radio. Awesome job on the cabinet as well.
About the CD4017: I might be missing something here, but isn't it a possibility to simply move the transistor connection from Q1 to Q0?
Hi Kristof
Yes I think you're right. I didn't think it through as I was in a hurry to finish the video and to be honest, I was getting sick of this radio. It's a long time since I've worked on anything digital (1970's when everything was TTL) and I was thinking that the counter started at Q1 and Q0 was the final one. You're right of course.
When I get back I'll try that. Pretty sure it will work.
I told ya that HMV would pump. Wait till you get the new control panel for it.😊
Hi Carl. yep that's just what it needs to finish it off.
The simpler method might be to treat the blue-tooth as if it were a phono pick-up as the set had a gramophone pick-up connection anyway. I once had an old Rayford Hi-Tone radiogram and I could feed the audio from a mono cassette recorder into the radiogram's amp as if it were the turntable by patching a lead from a phono plug to the recorder's earphone jack, to the terminals of the phono pick-up.
Hi Neil. That's pretty much what I did, except this radio doesn't have a switch for the Gram (phono) input. Instead, inserting the plug into the input causes the switching function. Unfortunately, as you saw, that didn't work with this bluetooth setup.
@@Donno308 That strikes me as rather unusual. I'd have thought that even if a radio of this vintage had an option for a phono pickup, then there'd be a switch to select between off-air broadcast and phono.
@@neilforbes416 Yes, it would have made things a lot easier. As you saw, this radio is weird in a number of ways. I think the gram input socket was pretty much a half arsed afterthought.
They did make a radiogram version of this chassis and it had a switch!.
@@Donno308 By the way, *HAPPY NEW YEAR!*
Gentlemen. If you study the schematic, you will notice that "plugging in" a grammo audio plug (2 pins), shorts the radio to ground (the bottom pin on the schematic), and the top pin is the audio from the grammo. THAT is your radio/grammo selector switch.
I wonder why the earthing of the radio signal didn't work properly. It seems like there may be another minor issue as plugging in a turntable would only earth that one point. Maybe swapping the pot out did more thing than it may appear... What was the original power switch on it?
Hi. No, the original pot didn't have a power switch. That's why I swapped it out for one that did.
Having thought it through, I suspect that the output from the pickups used at the time would have been a lot higher. Probably an impedance matching issue also. It probably would have worked ok with a suitable vintage record player.
Cheers
@@Donno308 Yeah, that's likely true. Pity the original pot didn't have a power switch... Was this just controlled by the main switch at the wall originally?
You did get it looking amazing compared to where it came from.
Hi Don, you may want to take a look at Mr. Carlsons Lab. he just did an install of a blue tooth system on a Stromberg Carlson.
Rich
Cheers Rich. I'll check it out.
Don, here's some music that's royalty free: nico staf - snake on the beach
Cheers Ted,
I ended up getting a copyright claim for the music anyway so I needn't have bothered breaking it up. Don't care. I'm not in it for the money anyway.
I('ll check out nico staf - snake on the beach
@@Donno308 - Sorry they snagged you! They're cracking down on us commenters as well. One wrong word, and they delete the whole comment! One time they blocked me from saying anything to anyone for a full 24 hours!
@@tubeDude48 Yep it's getting more ridiculous every day! I got kicked off facebook for a week because the word "tranny" was considered offensive. We were talking about output transformers ffs!
@@Donno308 It's just as well we are not still in the sixties - I used to take my "tranny" to the beach every day! It's what they were called ...
Have you considered answering your emails??
Hi Chuck. Happy New Year! Remember the time difference. Remember I'm in Australia. Gotta sleep some time! 😀
@@Donno308 My friend, I sent the email in early December. I realize the time difference. I have actually been to Perth, also.
@@ChuckKirchner-se6ib Hi Chuck
I finally found your email buried in my Junk folder. Bloody Outlook has a lot to answer for! Anyway I've marked the email as "Never send to Junk folder" or something like that.
I just sent you a reply.
Thanks, much appreciated!
Отлично! Хотелось бы увидеть,как восстанавливать надписи на стекле шкал радиоприемников. Корпус динамика можно было анодировать,не разбирая,есть способ. ❤
Привет. Анодирование, безусловно, сохранит корпус динамика и будет хорошо выглядеть. В конце концов я повторно покрасил его серой молотковой краской, которая выглядит как оригинал, так что я этим вполне доволен. Не думаю, что я упоминал об этом в видео, но вы можете увидеть это ближе к концу, когда я положу динамик обратно в кабинет.
Спасибо за ваш интерес!