Fancy a new hobby?

[Colin]

Hi,

Well done Logan; at least you keep busy.

Many thanks Ian for your kind comments which I appreciate. Yes being neat is something that was beaten into me as an apprentice and I'm now pleased the engineers were so rough on me; I like being tidy. Thanks for asking; as I became more involved in vintage radio restoration my workshop facilities grew with my enthusiasm; I started with very basic kit like a mutimeter but as time passed by I did lots of experimenting. The test panel supplies lots of voltages in both AC/DC; the bottom row of switched sockets are supplied from a large computer PSU (power supply unit) these being regulated. The mains radios were easy to power up but for my own safety I added an isolation transformer/ 100W test lamp and also a Variac; the variac was very useful in that I could bring up the mains 240V voltage slowly; to plug in one of these old sets that possibly hadn't worked for over thirty years directly to full 240V could prove highly entertaining with the loud bang and pretty blue flashes as components exploded; these old radios are lethal to play around with many having a "live chassis" to pick up one of these with a live chassis whilst it is under power would be the last thing ever done. I've seen 350VAC quite often whilst taking a reading directly from such a chassis.

I was always very careful indeed; my workshop had a dry wooden floor; this was covered by thick cushion floor overlaid by carpet; my metal seat had plastic feet; it was very common for me to hook up lots of capacitors and other components like an output transformer using leads with crocodile clips; I would have the chassis quite open on the bench but coupled up to the Marconi workshop loudspeaker lots of these on high voltage but I always felt safe enough never taking chances and ensuring I never looked directly into the end of an electrolytic capacitor. I progressed into winding my own transformers; field windings and tuning coils etc; an open circuit mains transformer would strike fear into the average restorer because having one of these rewound is expensive so I bought a maual AVO coil winder and started to wind small output transformers and with more confidence started to wind mains transformers; I only made one mistake winding my first mains transformer which was to supply the rectifier valve etc; the rectifier needed 350V so I happily wound the secondaries for 350V but when I installed and powered up I found only 175V on each side of the valve; I had center tapped the winding but hadn't realized I needed to wind for 700V then each side of the center tap would give the required 350V but a lesson quickly learned and easy enough to correct. A Bush DAC 90 output transformer has 3,000 turns of very fine enamelled copper wire; a lot of care was needed not to snap the wire.

I constructed my own PSU giving six voltages allowing me to power up portable battery powered radios; I've rambled on enough but vintage radio restoration is a big hobby incorporating many skills and I stress this hobby could prove lethal so I don't recommend it to anyone who is unfamiliar with electricity.

The pictures below show my coil winders these being the manual AVO and the two expensive German Aumann electric winders also a better picture of the test panel and all the test kit I gathered over the years; most of this has now gone and I no longer restore vintage radio; I enjoyed the hobby for over ten years though.

I converted the radio workshop installing my Jubilee lathe but found this to be a mistake due to dust so I ended up converting the garage into a full time workshop; I sold the restored Jubilee and bought a Graduate lathe which I fully restored and still have; I never let up on my hobbies or work around the home and gardens; it keeps me fit and active.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

What a wonderful workshop! I recently bought a bench PSU to perform similar tasks, but at a much lower max voltage (mine tops out at around 30V/5A). I may borrow your idea of using a computer PSU to provide regulated voltage, as I've got a couple of old ones spare and I frequently need regulated 12V or 5V - so could just knock up an enclosure and terminals for that.

Most importantly, I see you have a radiator in there . My workshop is part of the garage, and boy does it get cold! I've set up a 3kW fan heater in there to take the edge off, as I can give it a quick blast before I start work.

 

[alp]

If someone talks about solar panels, I will certainly follow with hawk's eyes!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Spring and summer......it's all garden related !!

Winter days its a mix of-- reading, knitting, dressmaking, cross-stitch, family tree building ( have reach the late 1600's ), adult colouring, suduko, jigsaw puzzles, word-searches , mahjong, But by January my gardening urge kicks back in and I have to make time for border/ plant planning and then..............SEED SOWING!!!!.......YAY!!!!!
,

 

[alp]

mahjong

Are you serious? We love mahjong! We only play 2p stake and we would BANG the chips on the table and love all the aggression and noise. We had no neighbours to disturb.

I love watching period films, a bit of escapism. Also big on murder crime stories and would go to bed shocked at the depth of some human depravity.. I like fiddling with html and css most and creating websites..

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks Ian. Computer power supplies come in handy; if I scrap a computer I always retain the PSU plus the steel cabinet for future use; these PSU's are well regulated and the low voltage works well testing LED's.

My big Laboratory PSU was like yours Ian with the same output and ampage but I designed my own PSU solely for vintage radio work.I've forgotten the details but I do remember I wound two transformers one high tension the other low tension; on low tension I used solid state regulators fully variable up to 32V but in both positive and negative these were needed for grid bias on the valves and this part was easy enough to sort out but the high tension needed to be between 80V & 120V needed for the battery sets.

I think I wound the HT transformer to give 180V; solid state rectifier was used and a pair of smoothing electrolytic capacitors; a power transistor was also used but in order to gain the required voltages I had to be creative so I eventually settled on using a twelve way wafer switch placing Zener Diodes between switch and the power transistor; these diodes gave 10V stepped increments so I had a good choice of voltages between 60V & 160V the diodes were linked to the base of the power transistor via the rotary switch and the PSU worked a treat; I also constructed a nice French polished enclosure as seen below in the pictures. If my memory serves me correctly the transistor used was one of these which are very common;

http://www.semicon-data.com/transistor/tc/b0/B508.html

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/prod...S5vWf2wlLSAAwrcyF5BoCtwsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I've just recalled the regulators I used these being the LM series in both positive and negative.

Strange how these just popped into my head after so long since I built the PSU but it was a very interesting project. I no longer have this home designed/built PSU; I let it go when I sold most of my radio collection.

I'm not trained in electronics or electrical work just learning on a need to know basis and being very careful not to electrocute myself or anyone else. Have a go with your computer PSU Ian; I'm sure you'll find it interesting with the usual warnings to be careful around electricity.

Lots of local houses have solar panels installed to their roof alp but not for me; I want nothing on our roof apart from the chimney stack.

Spring and summer Upsy Daisy completely missed us this year; mostly wind; rain and hail battering us but then this is normal; I can dream though for next year wondering if things will change for the better? You've got winter well sussed out though; I too plan to sow seeds next year but will they need lead weights?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

Colin, You're so cerebral or intelligent.

My new hobby is collecting coins. I have now started to look at coins and got this one in the shop

shame it's not this one

which sold for £4500! @CanadianLori , Imagine what you can buy for your garden with £4500! For me, if I had that money, I would have a feast .. feasting on lobsters, prawns, fish, chicken, duck, and what not! Oops, I stray ..

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks alp for your kind comment.

Collecting coins can be a very good investment alp; I hope I'm rubbing shoulders with you when you make your £second million. I used to collect stamps as a kid and stamps would be sent to me on approval once each month; I would choose and pay for these returning the rest; when I left my parents to marry Bron my stamp collection disappeared so someone stole quite a bit of money from me; keep your coins secure alp and be careful who you tell about them.

http://www.hop-skip-jump.com/

Bron and I enjoyed a visit to the Beatrix Potter attraction about three years ago. I see on eBay there are at least two Beatrix Potter 50p coins on offer at £5,000?

Perhaps not having £4,500 might be a blessing for you alp; I should hate to have you explode. Dreams seldom work out as expected in reality. It's good though to have an hobby for our long winters.

I enjoy making useful items from wood and metal offcuts such as the 2" belt grinder shown below; the belt travels uphill and is used to sharpen tools also it has a leather belt for honing to a mirror finish; the old motor was scrap but when I switch on if I give the pulley a push the motor runs fine and apart from the belts it cost nothing other than time.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

@Colin I nearly fell asleep and so I've come here to wake myself up a bit.

Your family are really a bit of a let down. Or someone around you. What a shame! My ex took his grandad's stamp album to a London stamp gallery, only to be too trusty and let the man take the whole album upstairs to "check"! You know what happened. No need to go there.

What is not yours won't be yours. Nobody is going to explode or cry.. There are so many things to rejoice in life. No point living in bitterness.

 

[alp]

I reckon my father in law would have loved you very much if he had known. He loved making things with his hands and radio was one of his big hobbies. He liked to tinker as well and built his own house.