Valve Radios

[Fnaar]

Van Morrison had a song once celebrating "The Days Before Rock and Roll", celebrating some of those stations.

I am down on my knee
At those wireless knobs
Telefunken, Telefunken
And I'm searching for
Luxembourg, Luxembourg,
Athlone, Budapest, AFN,
Hilversum, Helvetia

 

[Accy cyclist]

My mum has one of these http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/ferguson-radiogram-1950s/1041128017#photo-content It was her parents.The radio doesn't work due to the valves not working so i expect it'll be worth less than the 40 quid these sellers are asking. Sentimental value they're worth a lot but money wise they're worth a lot less than i expected!

 

[tyred]

Wonderful for warming your hands up on a cold day.

 

[snorri]

I sent in a reception report to Hilversum and got a friendly thankyou post card in reply. The writer had visited my locality on a Dutch naval vessel and his description of the young ladies in our local paper shop left me in no doubt that he had actually been here.
Does anyone remember the corny song they played regularly "I like a nice cup of tea in the morning, I like a nice cup of tea with my tea, and when its time for bed theres a lot to be said for a nice cup of tea etc etc"?.
It may well have been due to listening to Hiversum in my schooldays that I was drawn to The Netherlands for my first foreign cycle tour although it was a year or two later before I got to the city of Hilversum.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

threebikesmcginty thats a lovely old radio, reminds me of the one I had in my bedroom when I lived at home, I brought it at a jumble sale in the mid 1960's I think I paid 10 bob for it, 50p in todays money.

 

[slowmotion]

Didn't they make a "heterodyne whistle" as they warmed up or something, or was that the noise you heard between stations? A lovely noise anyway.

 

[snorri]

I believe this Bush was bought to better hear the forthcoming coronation, (1953).



The memories, 'Top of the Form', 'Journey into Space', Peter Brough and Archie Andrews, 'The Navy Lark', 'Beyond our Ken' and 'Round the Horne'

 

[Aperitif]

I believe this Bush was bought to better hear the forthcoming coronation, (1953).
View attachment 33978


The memories, 'Top of the Form', 'Journey into Space', Peter Brough and Archie Andrews, 'The Navy Lark', 'Beyond our Ken' and 'Round the Horne'

Still listening to all that junk...it was Arthur Askey the other day, Take It From Here etc. The Navy Lark and Round the Horne (with Julian and Sandy bringing up the rear) are classy pieces of the spoken word. And it all sounds such natural good fun!

Good thread, threewavelengthsmcginty!

 

[Flying Dodo]

We used to have a small Bush set, which used the mains cable to drop the voltage, so as well as warming your hands on the valves at the back of the set, you could use the cable as well. That unit has now been donated to the vintage wireless display at the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre. Worth a visit next time anyone's visiting Bognor.

 

[vernon]

Wonderful for warming your hands up on a cold day.

Especial when chopped up and thrown on the fire.

 

[vernon]

We used to have a small Bush set, which used the mains cable to drop the voltage, so as well as warming your hands on the valves at the back of the set, you could use the cable as well. That unit has now been donated to the vintage wireless display at the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre. Worth a visit next time anyone's visiting Bognor.

The wireless display is stunning at Amberley. I last visited it twenty years ago.

 

[Glow worm]

Didn't they make a "heterodyne whistle" as they warmed up or something, or was that the noise you heard between stations? A lovely noise anyway.

You get that when stations are slightly off channel. The Algerians for example are particularly slack in ensuring their transmitters are spot on frequency. That's why you sometimes hear the heterodyne whistle on 252 long wave, co-channel with Ireland's RTE Radio 1, as Algeria use that channel as well.

Radio Caroline used to suffer from similar problems back in the 80's on 963khz. The pesky Tunisians who use the same frequency were forever letting their station wander off channel causing the heterodyne whistle. It would often be weeks before they'd fix it. I once rang them to complain- Explaining 'Tunisia' on my Parent's phone bill a while later to my Dad was interesting to say the least.

 

[slowmotion]

Does anybody remember Radio Geronimo from the late 1960s? They used to send out skins for rolling foot-long joints if you sent a modest contribution. Their adverts on air were spectacularly appealing to hormone-fuelled youths......a young lady huskily breathing " I love to ball with men who listen to Radio Geronimo...." Happy memories...

 

[Glow worm]

Does anybody remember Radio Geronimo from the late 1960s? They used to send out skins for rolling foot-long joints if you sent a modest contribution. Their adverts on air were spectacularly appealing to hormone-fuelled youths......a young lady huskily breathing " I love to ball with men who listen to Radio Geronimo...." Happy memories...

I once heard that a young Richard Branson offered to help them out in the 70s and they told him to Foxtrot Oscar!

Edit- found this link: http://www.radiogeronimo.co.uk/

 

[slowmotion]

I once heard that a young Richard Branson offered to help them out in the 70s and they told him to Foxtrot Oscar!

Edit- found this link: http://www.radiogeronimo.co.uk/

Oh Glow worm! That's a feast! Thank you. Edit: If anybody could post a clip of their intro and outro music, a particularly spacey version of Amazing Grace by "The Bauls of Bengal", I would die a happy man....