I miss my TR82. I had one when I lived in London - lovely condition, very loud, with really decent sound quality. Ran the original AF transistors that needed an occasional date with the blunt end of screwdriver, but still. Sold it when I left and I'm still sad abut it.
Yes, it was quite common on British radios to go only as far as 100 because the emergency services were in the frequencies above that. They were cleared in the mid-to-late 80s I think, to allow for more commercial stations and for BBC Radio 1 on FM.
I found it interesting that the newer model has driver and output transformers half the size. I wonder if there is any audible difference between them.
I couldn't hear any difference but (a) my hearing is not what it was and (b) I didn't recap the older model yet so that would probably have more effect on the sound quality. The mk1 has extra windings on the output transformer which seem to be for negative feedback. I've never seen that design elsewhere. The mk2 has a more conventional design and hence a simpler transformer. The phase split transformer is not different in its circuit so I think the newer transformers were just smaller. Also the mk1 uses OC72 transistors in the power stage whereas the mk2 uses OC81s.
@@neilsradios The output power of the OC72 would probably be around 300-400mW from 9 volts but the OC81 series would be 500-700mW. Quite a noticeable update I would have thought, at the expense of battery life if played louder.
The manual states 220mW for the mk1 and 325mW for the mk2. Both of these are quoted at 10% THD which on paper appears to be ... a bit ... pants. However we are looking at a MW receiver with a likely bandwidth of 4.5kHz and a lot of people would have used it with the tone turned way down. The speakers must be quite efficient as both can really make a big and quite pleasant sound.
I do often find the Hunts are out on value by quite a bit even if not cracked, and they usually crack if I try to lift them. Hadn't been aware that the wax ones were not a problem here, thanks (also to @xsc1000)
There is no big problem with vax capacitors in transistor radio, especially with germanium transistors. Those capacitors are leaky, but the leakage current is small. And because all circuits are built with low impedance, it usually didnt cause any problem. Unlike in tube radios because tubes are high impedance devices.
exactly, almost always no need to replace wax caps in transistor sets, or in low voltage low impedance parts of valve circuits like cathode bias decouplers
I would have said they could only get away with this because of the big box, but the TR90 video (which was posted earlier but recorded later) shows the same construction. With more circuitry to fit in PCBs were the only way forward, but early ones had fragile tracks and I imagine it took a while for people to get used to soldering / desoldering them without damage. Unfortunately the TR82 style of construction is not suited to replacement of older components (which had very long leads) with newer ones, so you often have to add extension wires to get new capacitors in.
There is no problem with PCBs used for transistor radio, there were problems with early PCBs used for tubes due to heat. For example first transistor radio from Tesla was build in 1958 on PCB and most of them works till today without any problem caused by PCB. Most problems are caused by dry capacitors, corosion due to leaked batteries or are just mechanical ones like damaged knobs, volume control etc.
I miss my TR82. I had one when I lived in London - lovely condition, very loud, with really decent sound quality. Ran the original AF transistors that needed an occasional date with the blunt end of screwdriver, but still. Sold it when I left and I'm still sad abut it.
I have the VTR 103 with FM added from around 1963. FM goes to 100 MHz . Hand wired too .
The standard TR 82 only has AM which isn't much use now Medium Wave has been emptied off stations mostly.
I recall a family friend, many years ago, had the version with VHF FM but the tuning dial only went up to 100MHz.
Yes, it was quite common on British radios to go only as far as 100 because the emergency services were in the frequencies above that. They were cleared in the mid-to-late 80s I think, to allow for more commercial stations and for BBC Radio 1 on FM.
ooer, but i've come across more than one Bush set with red and black reversed from 'normal', one was a DAC10, cant remember the other
I found it interesting that the newer model has driver and output transformers half the size. I wonder if there is any audible difference between them.
I couldn't hear any difference but (a) my hearing is not what it was and (b) I didn't recap the older model yet so that would probably have more effect on the sound quality. The mk1 has extra windings on the output transformer which seem to be for negative feedback. I've never seen that design elsewhere. The mk2 has a more conventional design and hence a simpler transformer. The phase split transformer is not different in its circuit so I think the newer transformers were just smaller. Also the mk1 uses OC72 transistors in the power stage whereas the mk2 uses OC81s.
@@neilsradios The output power of the OC72 would probably be around 300-400mW from 9 volts but the OC81 series would be 500-700mW. Quite a noticeable update I would have thought, at the expense of battery life if played louder.
The manual states 220mW for the mk1 and 325mW for the mk2. Both of these are quoted at 10% THD which on paper appears to be ... a bit ... pants. However we are looking at a MW receiver with a likely bandwidth of 4.5kHz and a lot of people would have used it with the tone turned way down. The speakers must be quite efficient as both can really make a big and quite pleasant sound.
@@neilsradios yep, many old speakers are more efficient in terms of db per w
The older one had a celestian speaker.
no need to replace waxy caps in transistor stuff, also no need to replace the hunts ones if not cracked...
I do often find the Hunts are out on value by quite a bit even if not cracked, and they usually crack if I try to lift them. Hadn't been aware that the wax ones were not a problem here, thanks (also to @xsc1000)
There is no big problem with vax capacitors in transistor radio, especially with germanium transistors. Those capacitors are leaky, but the leakage current is small. And because all circuits are built with low impedance, it usually didnt cause any problem. Unlike in tube radios because tubes are high impedance devices.
exactly, almost always no need to replace wax caps in transistor sets, or in low voltage low impedance parts of valve circuits like cathode bias decouplers
The fact that these don't use printed circuits have a lot to do with their longevity. Too bad electronics aren't built like this today.
I would have said they could only get away with this because of the big box, but the TR90 video (which was posted earlier but recorded later) shows the same construction. With more circuitry to fit in PCBs were the only way forward, but early ones had fragile tracks and I imagine it took a while for people to get used to soldering / desoldering them without damage. Unfortunately the TR82 style of construction is not suited to replacement of older components (which had very long leads) with newer ones, so you often have to add extension wires to get new capacitors in.
There is no problem with PCBs used for transistor radio, there were problems with early PCBs used for tubes due to heat.
For example first transistor radio from Tesla was build in 1958 on PCB and most of them works till today without any problem caused by PCB. Most problems are caused by dry capacitors, corosion due to leaked batteries or are just mechanical ones like damaged knobs, volume control etc.