Large old Radios in working boat cabins.

[carlt]

I'm not sure about pre-war as the sets were either too crude for communal use or too big for back-cabin storage (though don't quote me as post war sets, up to the 60s, are my interest).

 

There is a recent thread, about post war radios and the problems of high voltage accumulators here:

 

Clicky

 

Is it possible that the boatyards recharged the boat radio accumulators, before dynamos became commonplace?

 

 

*Dhutch: I've merged these two posts with the above topic, hope thats ok Roger.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Dhutch

[Derek R.]

Is it possible that the boatyards recharged the boat radio accumulators, before dynamos became commonplace?

 

This rings a bell. I'm sure I've read quite recently some memoirs which included the re-charging of a radio battery at Bulls Bridge, and the most recent memoir I read was that of Mrs. Jean Peters. It would be interesting to know what her Maiden name was, but on re-reading it the only mention of batteries is that which are kept in a partitioned section beneath the side bed (on the butty) and charged off the motors engine. Clearly these (this) would be for headlight and cabin light. So maybe I read it somewhere else or am dreaming it up!

 

I would have thought (perhaps with the exception of early engines like Bolinders) that dynamos would have been de rigeur for most engines. Prior to that, would radio really have been in vogue? Music Hall and the pub, with live music would have survived strongly through the twenties and well into the thirties.

 

I think I may have mentioned it before, but 'The Bargee' has a scene in a 'back cabin' with a bakelite set on the shelf. 'Painted Boats' show a clip of Ma Stonehouse tuning in some music on the butty. Clearly these scenes are reproduced for authenticity, even though the continuity has something to be desired!

 

Where are the links to the past when you want them? Six feet under.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Derek R.

[Roger t' Bodger]

The 1930s were a period of rapid progress and the big old radios that saw the decade in were soon regarded as unfashionable - expensive they may have been when new but I bet the boaters got them secondhand for next to nothing.

 

Yes - I believe there was a healthy circulation of unfashionalble electrical goods of the 1930's as the sudden arrival of Der Style and modernist style, many homes were still edwardian but the latest comsumer durables like radios covered up for a best room still covered with chinz.

 

What happen to my post this morning when I posted the origin of this thread? That was confusing, I'm still wondering about that!

[carlt]

What happen to my post this morning when I posted the origin of this thread? That was confusing, I'm still wondering about that!

Daniel merged the two, similar, threads (explaining his actions in my post, 2 up).

[billh]

This rings a bell. I'm sure I've read quite recently some memoirs which included the re-charging of a radio battery at Bulls Bridge, and the most recent memoir I read was that of Mrs. Jean Peters. It would be interesting to know what her Maiden name was, but on re-reading it the only mention of batteries is that which are kept in a partitioned section beneath the side bed (on the butty) and charged off the motors engine. Clearly these (this) would be for headlight and cabin light. So maybe I read it somewhere else or am dreaming it up!

 

I would have thought (perhaps with the exception of early engines like Bolinders) that dynamos would have been de rigeur for most engines. Prior to that, would radio really have been in vogue? Music Hall and the pub, with live music would have survived strongly through the twenties and well into the thirties.

 

I think I may have mentioned it before, but 'The Bargee' has a scene in a 'back cabin' with a bakelite set on the shelf. 'Painted Boats' show a clip of Ma Stonehouse tuning in some music on the butty. Clearly these scenes are reproduced for authenticity, even though the continuity has something to be desired!

 

Where are the links to the past when you want them? Six feet under.

 

Pre-WW2 , a set in a boat would have used a wet cell for the valve filaments (2v) and a dry battery for HT (90 or 120V), It would not be practical to have a re-chargeable HT battery of the wet cell type. Also, pre-war very few boat engines had dynamos but of those that did, they would have their work cut out just to keep the battery, lighting and starting going. I am fairly sure that "vibrator" supplies for HT didn't come in until there was a demand for mobile radio etc for the military in the war. Dynamotors- a kind of 12v (or 24v) motor combined with a high voltage dynamo in the same unit , used a lot of power , due to poor efficiency and would have been rather impractical (and noisy!) just to power a small receiver.

The development of vibrator supplies in the forties meant that Car radios working off 12v batteries became practical but I would guess that most boat sets would still rely on dry batteries and accumulator. By 1950, much smaller radios , like Carl's Roberts were in mass production using miniature , very efficient , battery valves that gave a reasonable battery life, using dry batteries for HT & LT.

By 1958, portable transistor sets were around but then it gets a bit boring ........

Bill

[Roger t' Bodger]

Whats happened to the posts we are making. They are all out of sequence and I've now found my original post from this morning half way up the second page! Other than that, there are some good facts and speculations arising from this thread that I'm sure Lawrie, who made the query to me, will put to good use.

 

 

Incidentally, I am enjoying Carlt's slow retail slide show Tesco, Harrods, Village shop, what next? order by email for a home delivery?

 

Back to the radios - don't stop now!

[MoominPapa]

By 1958, portable transistor sets were around but then it gets a bit boring ........

Maybe a bit, but an OC45 is a thing of beauty........

 

MP.

[carlt]

Incidentally, I am enjoying Carlt's slow retail slide show Tesco, Harrods, Village shop, what next? order by email for a home delivery?

Not just any Village shop:

[alan_fincher]

Maybe a bit, but an OC45 is a thing of beauty........

 

MP.

WEll, they say it's in the eye of the beholder, don't they !

 

 

But this on the other hand....... (Swoon!...... :lol: )

 

Edited September 3, 2009 by alan_fincher

[Derek R.]

Speaking of radios, before I package my Roberts RT7 with naff transformer off to a repair shop, does anyone have any suggestions for a good 'ol boy living local in Herts. for a fix?

 

Derek

[billh]

WEll, they say it's in the eye of the beholder, don't they !

 

 

But this on the other hand....... (Swoon!...... :lol: )

 

 

Naa,

An 807- those curves and that gorgeous top-cap ( I don't do pictures), and the lovely blue glow working at 500+v

Yes, it's on topic , they can be found in boat-anchors.

OC45? Only any use if you scrape the paint off them and use them as a photo-switch!

Which forum is this? Oh yes, barge, wireless.....

Bill

[MoominPapa]

WEll, they say it's in the eye of the beholder, don't they !

But one of the first bits of electronics I ever built was the Ladybird radio, hence my soft-spot for Mullard glass-cased germanium transistors. There is also something exciting about electronics that can kill you, I will admit.

 

MP.

[alan_fincher]

An 807- those curves and that gorgeous top-cap ( I don't do pictures), and the lovely blue glow working at 500+v

Oh, really ?

 

O.K. then.....

 

 

Used in these, weren't they ?

 

 

(Never seen one of those pictures in a boatman's cabin, though!)

[Chris J W]

Not just any Village shop:

 

Quick OT - When were you in Goathland, Carl?

[billh]

Oh, really ?

 

O.K. then.....

 

 

Used in these, weren't they ?

 

 

(Never seen one of those pictures in a boatman's cabin, though!)

 

I just knew someone would post a picture of one. But you see what I mean don't you?

The "19"set would hold you still at Trent Falls waiting for the tide though.

Coincidentally, years ago I experimented with a 19 set motor generator power unit for supplying a valve amp on the boat , the various bits were in the boatman's cabin, so I could nearly confound you!

I like the URL for the 807- "pinups"

[tomsk]

If you want to see a seriously sexy bit of audio-related electronics, check out my Telefunken U47

 

http://www.boutiqueaudiousedgear.com/Telef...EightInches.jpg

Edited September 3, 2009 by tomsk

[carlt]

Quick OT - When were you in Goathland, Carl?

Just spent 2 weeks in Ruswarp.

[Roger t' Bodger]

If you want to see a seriously sexy bit of audio-related electronics, check out my Telefunken U47

 

http://www.boutiqueaudiousedgear.com/Telef...EightInches.jpg

 

Only F Zappa can make those associations!

[Timleech]

If you want to see a seriously sexy bit of audio-related electronics, check out my Telefunken U47

 

http://www.boutiqueaudiousedgear.com/Telef...EightInches.jpg

 

Strewth, $7000??

 

There was me thinking my old Reslo ribbon mic (never used since I fitted a new ribbon 40 years ago) might be worth a fiver or so, maybe I should just chuck it in the skip!

 

Tim

[NB Willawaw]

I was once a radio officer in the merchant navy and have an interest in such things.

In my collection I have a book from 1923 called Wireless Telephony - a simplified explanation.

 

It takes about the aether rather a lot..

[Timleech]

I was once a radio officer in the merchant navy and have an interest in such things.

In my collection I have a book from 1923 called Wireless Telephony - a simplified explanation.

 

It takes about the aether rather a lot..

 

I've got the Admiralty Handbook of Wireless Telegraphy from 1931 but from what I remember there's a fair bit of stuff which is much more archaic than the date would suggest.

The book was my fathers. Don't know why he had it except that he had a general interest in things technical and electrical.

 

Tim

[radioham]

many thanks for everybody's thoughts,info and quips!

 

The query came about as an idea to embellish a working butty's (=brighton) cabin with an authentic domestic radio of ww2 or a later period up to the effective end of commercial carrying.

 

It would appear that in the 1930's and through WW2 a few simple battery sets (and maybe crystal sets before that) as used on the bank several or many years before were in use mainly for entertainment purposes at night or possibly at "gatherings". HT voltage (90v?) from a dry battery and LT (2v) from wet cells (accumulators) whenever charging facilities were available on the bank. An example would be the Cossor Melody mMaker or the Osram Music Magnet----.

 

Perhaps with the advent of 6 or 12v power supplies from the motor of a working pair it is possible that during WW2 ex military "welfare""receivers (which utilised 6 or 12v vibrators for the valve HT supply)were available to working boat people? Examples would be the PCR range or the Hale Electric set--.

 

However by the early 1950's many civilian portable sets would have became available (Pye, Everv Ready, Cossor etc). These used new technology low voltage 1.4v valve filaments with fairly modest dry battery (LT and HT)requirements and would have served up to the end of commercial carrying in the mid 1960's?

 

Fianally-the radio shown in Banstead's cabin (Harry Corbett- in The Bargee) is intriguing!Does anyone recognise the make and/or did BW working boats have 230v ac generators in 1960???

 

thanks to all once again!

 

L awrie (NBT member)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither are that large, the HT ones I've seen perhaps no more that 6 or 8 inches in their largest dimension. (You'll find displays at the Science Museum, Bletcley Park & the like, I'm sure).

 

However if those are 1930s batteries, then 9 shillings represented quite a lot of money in the 1930s, even if they had a long life.

 

I know the smaller ones my parents were buying in the 1960s for a portable 90 volt valve set were pretty pricey to.

 

I'm happy to be told this is what working boatmen used, if that can be established, but it still feels wrong.

 

I don't know, for example, why they didn't seem to have the small portable sets, with presumably lower power demands. Old photos, (few about ?), and descriptions always seem to indicate a big domestic type mains radio, like many of us grew up with.

 

Presumably from the 1960s transistor radios would have quickly become a far more practical alternative ?

 

It's still puzzling me!

[Derek R.]

It is an interesting subject, and I have yet to spy one just like that shown in Banstead. Perhaps Richard might recognise it at Past Times Radio:

http://www.pasttimesradio.co.uk/index.html

 

I think as Alan implies, many would have jumped on the 'new' transistor radios of the sixties. Prior to that, maybe 'word of mouth' was more reliable than batteries!!

 

Derek

 

many thanks for everybody's thoughts,info and quips!

 

The query came about as an idea to embellish a working butty's (=brighton) cabin with an authentic domestic radio of ww2 or a later period up to the effective end of commercial carrying.

 

It would appear that in the 1930's and through WW2 a few simple battery sets (and maybe crystal sets before that) as used on the bank several or many years before were in use mainly for entertainment purposes at night or possibly at "gatherings". HT voltage (90v?) from a dry battery and LT (2v) from wet cells (accumulators) whenever charging facilities were available on the bank. An example would be the Cossor Melody mMaker or the Osram Music Magnet----.

 

Perhaps with the advent of 6 or 12v power supplies from the motor of a working pair it is possible that during WW2 ex military "welfare""receivers (which utilised 6 or 12v vibrators for the valve HT supply)were available to working boat people? Examples would be the PCR range or the Hale Electric set--.

 

However by the early 1950's many civilian portable sets would have became available (Pye, Everv Ready, Cossor etc). These used new technology low voltage 1.4v valve filaments with fairly modest dry battery (LT and HT)requirements and would have served up to the end of commercial carrying in the mid 1960's?

 

Fianally-the radio shown in Banstead's cabin (Harry Corbett- in The Bargee) is intriguing!Does anyone recognise the make and/or did BW working boats have 230v ac generators in 1960???

 

thanks to all once again!

 

L awrie (NBT member)

[boatmanckp]

I think many of them did use dry batteries in series for the HT supply: 120v or so would possible and adequate for low audio power output.

 

There did exist something called a "vibrator pack", (stop sniggering at the back!) which was a crude electromechanical chopper for converting DC to AC which could then be fed to a step-up transformer. I associate that more with early valve-based car radios where they were used to drive HT from the 12V supply.

 

MP.

I have such a car radio in my garage now. CKP

[Nickhlx]

I have such a car radio in my garage now. CKP

 

I had one in one of my first cars - it was a 6 volt, brown steel, circular-cased thing about 9" in diameter IIRC, had a vibrator inside and I think was approx 1950s vintage. Possibly made by Marconi or Mullard ?

 

Nick