Hullo All!
Here is my story about a Operatic 45M radio.
I ramble a bit about what the words 'restoration' or 'refurbish' actually mean in the context of radios and conclude that I have actually just tarted this one up to working condition.
For this web site I've done fix-ups, recreations of themes, maybe a refurbishment or two and explored some electronic ideas but not a "restoration" of anything yet. It would be interesting to know what you radio people think about this. Keep in mind I don't know much about the subject I don't have any background in the hobby I'm just having fun doing stuff with valves and am not an "expert" in radio land.
This story covers all the usual ground, making the set work first of all, then pulling it apart and "rebuilding" (there is another word!) while "fixing" or "replacing" bits and tarting the final appearance up. So what I have wound up doing is either, fixing, rebuilding, tarting, refurbishing or restoring it? Is there some official description for this activity? Do you have point systems for judging "restorations" as in vintage cars? Is there some grading system like 100/100 for absolute original down to ? /100 for a fred lever tart up?

Fred.

Operatic 45M Refurbishment

I think you have done well for what sounds like a basket-case. Keep the stories coming, I enjoy reading them

ben

It would be interesting to know what you radio people think about this.

Fred I totally enjoy reading your articles. To see something done with the perspective that you put on these projects is nothing short of fascinating.

Is there some official description for this activity? Do you have point systems for judging "restorations" as in vintage cars? Is there some grading system like 100/100 for absolute original down to ? /100 for a fred lever tart up?

Not that I know of. HRSA VIC may have some such scheme around their various competitions, although the results that I see published in Radio Waves tend to focus on performance factors such as sensitivity and selectivity.

I think most of us appreciate originality, and are not to keen on hatchet jobs. Modifying a rare and collectable (i.e. valuable) set would be plain stupid.

In my case, the goal is to have the radio working. I'm not a fan of shelf radios that are never plugged in.

(PS: I also enjoy your articles.)

One of the things about this hobby is that you can do what satisfies you.

I do not restore the radios to original condition (ie to look brand new) I do the best I can with what I have and try to get original parts if possible. If I can end up with a radio that looks and works like the original but shows its age then I am happy.
I will have a go at any radio, any condition and if it can be saved I am a happy camper.

Fred , I enjoy your articles, so keep them coming please.

Clive

Thanks for comments all. Now I will show my ignorance here, GTC mentions "sensitivity" and "selectivity". With my general knowledge I know what those terms mean but in what units would I be measuring these terms in 2016. I know that the Radio designers handbook circa 1950 talks about a receiver having a sensitivity of so many micro volts to produce a certain level of output in milliwatts which is one way of expressing or do you do it like audio stuff and measure in decibels in to dB out to some reference? Same with selectivity, do you measure as so many dB down at so many Kcs from the nominal frequency?
Sorry about the dumb questions but there is a hell of a lot I just don't know!
Fred.

PS i'll post up a story about refurbishing an Operatic 37MA and i'm working on making a wobbulator for IF alinemnt using all octal valves of course!

in what units would I be measuring these terms

Ah, that's the scientist coming out in you, so pardon the unscientific response.

Personally, I don't bother with such measurements. In the HRSA competitions I mentioned, it would be a case of comparing the entries with a known good performer, or even "by ear".

That's all I do: either the set is deaf or it isn't (with or without an aerial), and tuning is either a noisy rabble or sharply selective.

Fortunately electronic measurements have always been "metric", so whatever you see in those old handbooks is still valid.