The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?

On 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:

> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
> about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
> people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?

I recently bought one of these https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9162578
but it doesn't come with a mains adapter. I work it with 4xAA
rechargeable batteries.

--
Max Demian

On Thu 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:
> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
> about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
> people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?

Probably the best are Sony units, any of the Eton or Sangean brands are
cheap and usually effective, and don't forget Roberts and Philips.

On 20/10/2022 14:12, Woody wrote:
> On Thu 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:
>> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
>> about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
>> people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?
>
> Probably the best are Sony units, any of the Eton or Sangean brands are
> cheap and usually effective, and don't forget Roberts and Philips.

As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced). I
wouldn't say that it ate the two AAs that it used, but they didn't last
that long. Also, you couldn't use rechargeables - alkalines were
required. In contrast, an ancient (1976) Hong-Kong AM/FM radio still
works for around 3 months on four NiHM rechargeables. That's for about
45 minutes a day on average.

--

Jeff

On 20/10/2022 14:53, Jeff Layman wrote:
> On 20/10/2022 14:12, Woody wrote:
>> On Thu 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:
>>> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
>>> about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
>>> people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?
>>
>> Probably the best are Sony units, any of the Eton or Sangean brands are
>> cheap and usually effective, and don't forget Roberts and Philips.
>
> As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
> hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced).

Lovely little frequency scanning radio that before the internet went
everywhere with me all over the world. I had the capacitors replaced as
I didn't have the confidence to tackle it myself. Two problems. One
was finding someone who would do a little soldering job these days (due
to health and safety concerns if done commercially apparently) and the
other was having to accept somewhat oversized capacitors because the
originals were so small. That didn't bother me though. Now works
perfectly.

On 20/10/2022 14:53, Jeff Layman wrote:
> As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
> hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced).

I don't that only applies to 'digital' radios. Watch The Repair Shop
and the first thing their electronics man does is to change capacitors
even with 'steam' radios.

On 20/10/2022 15:09, Norman Wells wrote:
> On 20/10/2022 14:53, Jeff Layman wrote:
>> On 20/10/2022 14:12, Woody wrote:
>>> On Thu 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:
>>>> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
>>>> about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
>>>> people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?
>>>
>>> Probably the best are Sony units, any of the Eton or Sangean brands are
>>> cheap and usually effective, and don't forget Roberts and Philips.
>>
>> As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
>> hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced).
>
> Lovely little frequency scanning radio that before the internet went
> everywhere with me all over the world. I had the capacitors replaced as
> I didn't have the confidence to tackle it myself. Two problems. One
> was finding someone who would do a little soldering job these days (due
> to health and safety concerns if done commercially apparently) and the
> other was having to accept somewhat oversized capacitors because the
> originals were so small. That didn't bother me though. Now works
> perfectly.

I did look into changing them, but I was put off by not being able to
get the radio apart at the start, as Sony had hidden a screw under the
volume control! It took ages to find it as I didn't have the service
manual. Also, I had no experience of soldering SMDs; in fact, I was
amazed that they had been used in such an "old" radio. I too used it in
several continents - South America, South Africa, and Australia. I also
used it as an alarm "clock", although it didn't have that function. It
could only turn on a station at a pre-programmed time - there was no
tone generator to make a sound. The problem with that was that if you
were listening to a local radio station in the evening, you had no idea
what time it started broadcasting in the morning, or even /if/ it
broadcast in the morning. So if the station came on at the
pre-programmed time, it might have been silent! Not reliable enough for
getting to an airport on time.

I think that capacitor replacement kits are still available.

--

Jeff

On Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:08:06 +0100, MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:

>On 20/10/2022 14:53, Jeff Layman wrote:
>> As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
>> hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced).
>
>
>
>I don't that only applies to 'digital' radios. Watch The Repair Shop
>and the first thing their electronics man does is to change capacitors
>even with 'steam' radios.
>

Likewise Mr Carlson, and all the others who restore old radios on
Youtube, though Mr Carlson actually measures the electrical
performance of the old capacitors, using measuring equipment he has
built himself, in order to show us why they need replacing.

Then there's Alex at Northridge Fix, also on Youtube, who does
electronic microsurgery on modern surface mount circuitry (computers,
games consoles, electronic keyfobs etc), and evidently has to replace
a lot of fairly new capacitors. The first thing he does (after a
visual inspection of course) is to get the meter out and check at
strategic points on the board for short circuits. If it's not a MOSFET
it's usually a capacitor.

Rod.

Its actually quite hard to find Long wave band these days. Because of this,
a company made a little 1 transistor converter. It sat next to your medium
wave radio, and was able to convert the R4 long wave signal to a spare bit
of medium wave. I had one. It was called Ambitune and ran on a pp3 for ages.
Inside there was a couple of little trimmers to to tweak the station to be
on the wanted blank medium wave channel.
Brian

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<nothanks@aolbin.com> wrote in message
news:jrcnv9F7ql4U1@mid.individual.net...
> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking about
> being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do people
> have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?

You really need a wind up radio. I'd have thought a lot of these should be
around at the moment.

Brian

--

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"Max Demian" <max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:tirdv0$at0u$5@dont-email.me...
> On 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:
>
>> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking about
>> being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do people
>> have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?
>
> I recently bought one of these https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9162578 but
> it doesn't come with a mains adapter. I work it with 4xAA rechargeable
> batteries.
>
> --
> Max Demian
>

In article <jrcnv9F7ql4U1@mid.individual.net>, <nothanks@aolbin.com> wrote:
> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking
> about being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do
> people have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?

I two. One is an ancient Tandberg TP41 that I run off rechargble batteries.
(Can also run from a 12V Car battery.) Snag being they've not been made for
decades. SW/MW/LW/VHF

The other is a cheap kit I run from rechargables, but only gets FM.

Mains powered is my old Armstrong 626. LW/MW/VHF.

I've recently bought more rechargable batteries and some lights that
can run from them. Plus made up an adaptor so I can use a laptop's
headphone output to play into the TP41. (Mono, but will work fine
off its batteries. All just in case.

I've been wondering how many people haven't twigged that their gas
central heating needs electric to run the motor and control system.
We still have a gas fire which may prove handy.

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Sangeam are very good I still have one from the 80s, and although its
switches are a little scratchy now, it still works for ages from a couple of
AA batteries. It also has fm, and several short waves. Hardly very
selective, but good enough for casual listening.
Brian

--

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"Woody" <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:tirhgl$b97i$2@dont-email.me...
> On Thu 20/10/2022 11:58, nothanks@aolbin.com wrote:
>> The recent discussion about emergency transmissions got me thinking about
>> being a little more prepared than now ... what recommendations do people
>> have for reasonably-priced non-DAB battery/mains receivers?
>
> Probably the best are Sony units, any of the Eton or Sangean brands are
> cheap and usually effective, and don't forget Roberts and Philips.

Yes recently a VTX5000 modem for a Spectrum came my way, and several of
those capacitors that look like little bags of epoxy were shorting out or
actually sparked and smoked when powered up. I ofc course would have fixed
it if I had still beensighted, but one has to be realistic as they can now
only connect to themselves anyway!

Brian

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"Roderick Stewart" <rjfs@escapetime.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:klm4lh9qslkcucmh40vhoihn87cifeilfh@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:08:06 +0100, MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>On 20/10/2022 14:53, Jeff Layman wrote:
>>> As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
>>> hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced).
>>
>>
>>
>>I don't that only applies to 'digital' radios. Watch The Repair Shop
>>and the first thing their electronics man does is to change capacitors
>>even with 'steam' radios.
>>
>
> Likewise Mr Carlson, and all the others who restore old radios on
> Youtube, though Mr Carlson actually measures the electrical
> performance of the old capacitors, using measuring equipment he has
> built himself, in order to show us why they need replacing.
>
> Then there's Alex at Northridge Fix, also on Youtube, who does
> electronic microsurgery on modern surface mount circuitry (computers,
> games consoles, electronic keyfobs etc), and evidently has to replace
> a lot of fairly new capacitors. The first thing he does (after a
> visual inspection of course) is to get the meter out and check at
> strategic points on the board for short circuits. If it's not a MOSFET
> it's usually a capacitor.
>
> Rod.

On 20/10/2022 17:56, Jim Lesurf wrote:
> I've been wondering how many people haven't twigged that their gas
> central heating needs electric to run the motor and control system.

Certainly one of my neighbours questioned, on WhatsApp, why their
heating didn't work during a power failure. With our financial services
driven and personal service backed, economy, very few people actually
need to know about how things work.

On 21/10/2022 10:05, Brian Gaff wrote:
> You really need a wind up radio. I'd have thought a lot of these should be
> around at the moment.
>

The problem with a lot of wind ups is that they really work by charging
an NiMH battery, which has a limited storage life, and also they don't
extract enough power from the winder to charge in a reasonable time.

The original Bayliss ones did use clockwork for energy storage, but even
they abandoned that design. I don't know what their wind time to play
time ratio was.

Also the Bush one I have has been cheaply made and the controls make
poor electrical contacts. Something seems to have completely broken in
the torch circuitry.

On mine, I did discover that you can get at the NiMH pack, which is
probably cordless phone one, to replace it, but decided it wasn't worth it.

On 21/10/2022 10:59, David Woolley wrote:
> On 21/10/2022 10:05, Brian Gaff wrote:
>> You really need a wind up radio. I'd have thought a lot of these
>> should be
>> around at the moment.

> The problem with a lot of wind ups is that they really work by charging
> an NiMH battery, which has a limited storage life, and also they don't
> extract enough power from the winder to charge in a reasonable time.
>
> The original Bayliss ones did use clockwork for energy storage, but even
> they abandoned that design.  I don't know what their wind time to play
> time ratio was.

Did they have a "going barrel", so you could wind and listen at the same
time?

--
Max Demian

On Fri, 21 Oct 2022 10:52:19 +0100, David Woolley
<david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:

>On 20/10/2022 17:56, Jim Lesurf wrote:
>> I've been wondering how many people haven't twigged that their gas
>> central heating needs electric to run the motor and control system.
>
>Certainly one of my neighbours questioned, on WhatsApp, why their
>heating didn't work during a power failure. With our financial services
>driven and personal service backed, economy, very few people actually
>need to know about how things work.

They'll soon learn what doesn't work without electricity.

I hope if deliberate power cuts are planned, they will be done to some
kind of timetable with advanced warnings, with instructions on which
items need to be properly shut down in advance, otherwise there may be
a lot of technology that doesn't work properly when restarted.

Computers come immediately to mind, but heating systems and some ovens
include fans that continue running after switch-off to ensure that hot
components cool down at a proper rate and heat isn't concentrated
anywhere, and I'm sure there must be other examples too.

Rod.

On 21/10/2022 in message <4315lh90thjuc0d66g0ejmtjhlfg6tf41t@4ax.com>
Roderick Stewart wrote:

>I hope if deliberate power cuts are planned, they will be done to some
>kind of timetable with advanced warnings, with instructions on which
>items need to be properly shut down in advance, otherwise there may be
>a lot of technology that doesn't work properly when restarted.

They seem to be planning things:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11329425/Government-documents-reveals-blackouts-managed-starting-three-power-cuts-week.html

Be careful, it's the Daily Mail, click in the wrong place and goodness
knows what you might see.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
I take full responsibility for what happened - that is why the person that
was responsible went immediately.
(Gordon Brown, April 2009)

On 20/10/2022 16:08, MB wrote:
> On 20/10/2022 14:53, Jeff Layman wrote:
>> As long as they aren't digital. I have a Sony ICF SW1 (although it
>> hasn't worked for years - it needs to have the capacitors replaced).
>
>
>
> I don't that only applies to 'digital' radios. Watch The Repair Shop
> and the first thing their electronics man does is to change capacitors
> even with 'steam' radios.

See "Restoration" section here:
<https://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/sony/icfsw1/index.htm>

--

Jeff

On 21 Oct 2022 12:48:12 GMT, "Jeff Gaines"
<jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>On 21/10/2022 in message <4315lh90thjuc0d66g0ejmtjhlfg6tf41t@4ax.com>
>Roderick Stewart wrote:
>
>>I hope if deliberate power cuts are planned, they will be done to some
>>kind of timetable with advanced warnings, with instructions on which
>>items need to be properly shut down in advance, otherwise there may be
>>a lot of technology that doesn't work properly when restarted.
>
>They seem to be planning things:
>
>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11329425/Government-documents-reveals-blackouts-managed-starting-three-power-cuts-week.html
>
>Be careful, it's the Daily Mail, click in the wrong place and goodness
>knows what you might see.

I've since seen a video by the Blackbeltbarrister (Youtube) where he
gives a direct link to the government web page where you can download
the original PDF document.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-supply-emergency-code

Unfortunately, although it shows details of how various scenarios
would be handled, it doesn't make it easy to guess which, if any, is
most likely to occur.

Rod.

In article <titq4j$jr58$1@dont-email.me>, David Woolley
<david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
> On 20/10/2022 17:56, Jim Lesurf wrote:
> > I've been wondering how many people haven't twigged that their gas
> > central heating needs electric to run the motor and control system.

> Certainly one of my neighbours questioned, on WhatsApp, why their
> heating didn't work during a power failure. With our financial services
> driven and personal service backed, economy, very few people actually
> need to know about how things work.

....or realise that it may be wiser for them to realise that they *do* need
to.

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

In article <titqij$js07$1@dont-email.me>, David Woolley
<david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
> On 21/10/2022 10:05, Brian Gaff wrote:
> > You really need a wind up radio. I'd have thought a lot of these
> > should be around at the moment.
> >

> The problem with a lot of wind ups is that they really work by charging
> an NiMH battery, which has a limited storage life, and also they don't
> extract enough power from the winder to charge in a reasonable time.

> On mine, I did discover that you can get at the NiMH pack, which is
> probably cordless phone one, to replace it, but decided it wasn't worth
> it.

With mine, I'd made battery packs that are external to the radio. So they
can easily be charged. And easy to have more than one charged set/pack to
swap when the one that's been in use needs to be recharged.

The annoyance is that all the commercial NiMH rechargers I've seen require
the individual cells to be connected and then only charge 2 or 4 at a time.
Pest when I tend to use six or more. But I just use one or more charging
arrangements in parallel as required.

The newest item I got though is both a USB 'store' (can be charged and used
then to charge/power other items that take power via USB) and a bright
worklamp.

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

On 22/10/2022 10:18, Jim Lesurf wrote:
> In article <titqij$js07$1@dont-email.me>, David Woolley
> <david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
>> On 21/10/2022 10:05, Brian Gaff wrote:
>>> You really need a wind up radio. I'd have thought a lot of these
>>> should be around at the moment.
>>>
>
>> The problem with a lot of wind ups is that they really work by charging
>> an NiMH battery, which has a limited storage life, and also they don't
>> extract enough power from the winder to charge in a reasonable time.
>
>> On mine, I did discover that you can get at the NiMH pack, which is
>> probably cordless phone one, to replace it, but decided it wasn't worth
>> it.
>
> With mine, I'd made battery packs that are external to the radio. So they
> can easily be charged. And easy to have more than one charged set/pack to
> swap when the one that's been in use needs to be recharged.
>
> The annoyance is that all the commercial NiMH rechargers I've seen require
> the individual cells to be connected and then only charge 2 or 4 at a time.
> Pest when I tend to use six or more. But I just use one or more charging
> arrangements in parallel as required.
>

I have 2 Tronic chargers from Lidl which will charge AA, AAA and PP3 in
combinations from 1 to (for one of them) 8 at a time - odd or even. Not
designed for commercial use but they have had heavy use here. More
recent versions still appear in Lidl from time to time. And it seems
elsewhere

https://www.batterylogic.co.uk/tronic-universal-battery-charger.asp

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

In article <0ffc9fde-d935-8798-b228-7be05a17ed8e@outlook.com>, Robin
<rbw@outlook.com> wrote:

> I have 2 Tronic chargers from Lidl which will charge AA, AAA and PP3 in
> combinations from 1 to (for one of them) 8 at a time - odd or even. Not
> designed for commercial use but they have had heavy use here. More
> recent versions still appear in Lidl from time to time. And it seems
> elsewhere

> https://www.batterylogic.co.uk/tronic-universal-battery-charger.asp

Thanks. That looks like worth getting as it would save a lot of fuss.

Even better would be one that charges sets in series via a lead. That way I
could keep them in their battery holders. But I guess no-one caters for
that. Too DIY!

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
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Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

On 22/10/2022 15:20, Jim Lesurf wrote:
> Even better would be one that charges sets in series via a lead. That way I
> could keep them in their battery holders. But I guess no-one caters for
> that. Too DIY!

You would be limited to C/10 charge rates, and probably to NiCd
chemistry, as higher rates require monitoring individual cells, and I
have a feeling that NiMH is not so tolerant of overcharging at C/10, and
really needs positive end of charge detection.

I'm not sure how PP3 chargers handle end of charge, although they may
rely on close matching of the cells or on good thermal contact between
the (dV/dt is based on the effect of temperature rises).