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VINTAGE RADIO
By RODNEY CHAMPNESS, VK3UG
The AWA R154 Battery Console
Intended for use in country areas without mains
power, the AWA R154 battery console was first
sold in 1935. It operated from three different
battery types and there were no less than 11
battery leads to hook up to the chassis.
Back in April 2001, I wrote about
Keith Lang, an enthusias
tic vintage
radio collector in Western Australia.
Recently, I had a chance to renew our
association during a trip to the west
in late 2002.
Keith has many fine examples from
the bygone era of Austra
lian-made
radios. I asked him which set was his
favourite, to which he replied: “I have
no particular favourite but my favourites are the Australian made sets”.
The AWA R154
One of Keith’s favourites is an the
AWA R154 console that takes pride
of place in the lounge room. This set
(and the re-badged Bandmaster 365B
version) appeared on the market in
1935. It had an RF stage and as such,
was intended to operate in remote
country areas.
The R154 and sets like it used a 2V
lead acid accumulator (A supply),
three 45V batteries (B supply), a 9V
tapped bias battery and a 4.5V bias
battery (C supply). It was a bit of a
nightmare connecting all the batteries
into circuit, as in this case there were
11 leads. Thankfully, they were all
The AWA R154 receiver featured a large round dial mechanism. It not only
indicated the tuned station but also the tuned frequency (in kilocycles) and the
wavelength (in metres).
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labelled (see photo).
For the unwary owner, there was the
ever likely chance of connecting the
leads incorrectly, with the possibility
of burning the valve filaments out.
The 2V cell (battery) was charged as
necessary by the mechanic at the local
garage, while the B and C batteries
were simply replaced when they
went flat. In practice, the 2V cell had
to be recharged several times before
it became necessary to replace the B
and C batteries.
In fact, the C batteries often lasted
their shelf life, as negligible current
was drawn from them in most receivers.
No mains power
Not many farming communities
had access to the 240V AC mains
supply back in 1935. This meant that,
once outside the perimeter of the
townships, you were very much on
your own when it came to providing
electrical power. The “well to do”
often had their own power supplies
which usually took the form of a 32V
lighting plant. However, most farmers
couldn’t afford that luxury, hence the
use of battery receivers.
For example, my parents lived about
4km from the nearest town with 240V
AC power. This meant that, in 1948,
when they replaced their “Wimmera”
console (similar in power requirements to the AWA R154), they chose
a 6V HMV vibrator receiver.
In fact, my parents relied on kerosene lights until they installed a 32V
lighting plant in 1949. But even at that
stage, not many 32V sets were available and most people either relied on
battery sets such as the R154 or the
later vibrator powered sets.
R154 circuit details
Fig.1 shows the circuit of the R154
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Above: the top of the set carried the controls and dial
scale. The set is a good performer and is well worth
restoring.
Right: this photo shows Keith’s fully restored AWA R154
console. This particular unit has been converted to mains
operation, to avoid battery hassles (see text).
– it is quite conventional with one or
two unusual quirks.
For example, the tuning gang is
mounted on rubber insulation which
isolates it from the chassis. This is necessary because the gang is nominally
at -4.5V with respect to the chassis
(this is the bias applied to the two 34
valves). AWA did this with a few of
their sets but the reason for this and its
advantage, if any, is unknown.
The various stages within the
receiver have the appropriate voltages applied to them via taps on the
battery supplies. There is very little
in the way of decoupling between
stages but the receiver is stable in its
operation just the same. That so little
decoupling was used is an indication
of the relatively low gain of individual
stages. In addition, the battery supply itself was used as a decoupling
medium.
RF stage
The input stage is a conventional
tuned radio frequency (RF) stage using a 34 valve, followed by a 1A6 as a
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converter. It covers the tuning range
from 550-1500kHz, as can be seen on
the dial scale.
The intermediate frequency (IF)
stage operates on 175kHz and uses
another 34 as the amplifier. The IF
output is then fed to a 30 triode which
is used as a diode detector. Its output
is applied to volume control R4 and
from there to a 32 which functions as
the first audio amplifier stage. This is
then followed by a 33 audio output
stage, which gives about 0.5W of output – quite adequate with an 8-inch
loudspeaker mounted on a substantial
baffle board. A tone control (R9) is
included between the 32 and the 33.
The purpose of R2 across the volume control is not clear at first glance.
Usually, the C battery positive goes
directly to chassis as happens with
the bias battery (a). However, this set
has two bias batteries and the second
one (b) applies -4.5V to the front end
of the receiver as a standing bias via
R2 and R4.
In operation, the detector develops a
negative voltage across R3 and R4 that
increases with the signal strength. This
voltage is effectively in series with
the bias voltage and so the RF and IF
valves have their amplification controlled via the automatic gain control
(AGC) circuit.
Apparently, designers hadn’t solved
the problem of minimising the number of batteries and tappings on the
batteries at that stage. As mentioned
earlier, there are 11 battery leads in
this set – a recipe for disaster in the
hands of non-technical users.
Restoring the R154
There’s no risk of the chassis falling out of the cabinet in this set – it’s
secured in place using 6mm-diameter
bolts! Before removing the chassis, it’s
first necessary to remove the knobs,
the various battery cables and then
the chassis mounting bolts.
Because the chassis is mounted almost vertically, removing the last bolt
(or refitting the first bolt) can be rather
difficult. The way around this is to lay
the set on its front on a blanket. That
way, the chassis will remain in place
April 2003 85
Fig.1: the circuit diagram for the Bandmaster 365B is the same as for the AWA R154. The set used six valves: a 34
RF stage, 1A6 converter, 34 IF amplifier, 30 detector, 32 first audio stage and a 33 audio output stage.
This rear view of the chassis shows some of the non-original valve shields that
had to be pressed into service to complete the restoration.
86 Silicon Chip
when the last bolt is removed and it
can then be lifted out.
Keith found that the antenna coil
had been destroyed by lightning and so
it had to be replaced. The original one
was unavailable, so a midget Q-Plus
car radio type was fitted inside the
original coil can. The set works very
well with a short antenna.
The 1A6 converter was also faulty
but its replacement wouldn’t work
either. As a result, Keith decided to
replace it with a 1C6, which worked
reliably. According to Keith, the 1A6
was always an unreliable valve and the
1C6 was designed to replace it.
Some of the valve shields were also
missing and the correct ones were
unavailable, so it was necessary to
use whatever would fit. These will be
replaced further down the track if the
correct shields can be obtained.
Another job involved the loudspeaker which had quite a few holes in its
cone – presumably due to silverfish.
These were repaired by sticking
medical paper tape over each hole or
tear, then gluing from the back with
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Photo Gallery: Goblin Model
CR Mantel Radio
Introduced in 1947 as the “Time Spot”, this unusual 5-valve 3-band
radio featured an 8-inch Plessey speaker and a clock-timer unit
(lefthand dial). The set is actually a Goblin Model CR and was made
by the British Vacuum Cleaner Company (England). It was obviously
intended for export to Australia, as the dial scale is embossed with
Australian stations.
The clock setting was activated by a shaft at the rear and by a large-diameter thumb-wheel on the front (between the two round dials). A similar
wheel was used for the volume control, a peephole in the dial scale
showing the setting.
This particular unit was been fully restored by its owner, Maxwell Johnson, Kingston, Tasmania. (Photo: Ross Johnson).
water-based craft glue.
Unfortunately, the silverfish had
also attacked the outer rim of the cone.
This damage was fixed using pieces of
tissue paper which was covered with
glue and rolled into shape around the
outer rim of the cone.
The speaker baffle was also replaced
but had not been finished at the time
of writing. The baffle should be matt
black in colour and a variety of finishes
can be used here – either matt black
paint in a pressure pack, or black boot
polish or even good old-fashioned
stove polish (eg, Busy Bee and other
brands).
Cabinet restoration
The cabinet needed some attention
too. Keith has not had good results
with paint stripper and prefers to
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remove the old finish mechanically
using a sharp paint scraper and a
sander. You have to be careful when
doing this though, otherwise the thin
veneer will be sanded through.
Once the sanding had been completed, black Wattyl Crafts
m an
traditional interior wood stain was
used to highlight the edges (as had
originally been done). The cabinet
was then sprayed with clear lacquer
to get the fine finish apparent in the
photographs.
Unfortunately, the set came without
knobs so Keith fitted some general-purpose AWA knobs which should be
similar to the originals.
Alignment
The alignment of the receiver was
accomplished without any problems.
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The chassis was mounted vertically in the cabinet, above
the baffle (not the original) and the loudspeaker. Note the
bunched battery leads and the added AC power supply (in
the black box on the righthand side).
The plate tuning trimmer in each IF
transformer is at 135V with respect
to the chassis, so care was needed
to make sure that no short circuits
occurred during the alignment procedure.
By the way, this set is generally easy
to restore, particularly underneath the
chassis. Everything is well spread out
and there isn’t a lot underneath the
chassis anyway. If only this was true
of other vintage radio receivers – some
of them can be quite difficult when
it comes to gaining access to various
parts.
Like many sets of the era, a large
terminal board was used in this receiver. The components are mounted
in bulk on this board which is then
mounted and wired into the receiver.
Unfor
tunately, some of the components are mounted under the board,
which is fine until service work is
required.
The leads running under these
boards usually have to be carefully
traced, as they don’t always go where
expected. Unfor
tunately, the wiring
in older sets was often run using just
one colour, which made lead tracing
more difficult.
That said, only a few components
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This under-chassis view of the R154 show the paucity of
components and the ready access to the circuit. The only
drawback is that some components are mounted on the
underside of the terminal board.
had been replaced over the life of the
set and none in recent times. It says
a lot for the reliability of most of the
components.
240V AC operation
Although originally designed as
a battery set, this particular set has
been converted to operate on 240V
AC. Keith says that even battery sets
should be able to be used – even if the
batteries to operate them are no longer
available.
As can be seen in the photograph
of the back of the set, a black box has
been attached to the side of the cabinet.
This box contains a power supply that
provides all the DC voltages necessary
to operate the receiver from the AC
mains.
This particular supply was made
from a kit but Keith has also made a
number of supplies to his own design
and all work well. The 11 power leads
are wired to two plugs, so that they
can be easily plugged into the power
supply with no confusion as to where
each lead should be connected.
Summary
The R154 (and the Bandmaster 365B
clone) are sensitive receivers and the
audio quality from them is quite good.
They would certainly have looked the
part in a 1930s or 1940s lounge room
and there is much to like about them.
There are also a few features I
dislike. First on the list is the great
tangle of power supply leads from
the batteries.
The second feature I dislike is the
“floating” gang. It appears to serve no
useful purpose and makes for more
complexity in manufacture. And third,
I’m not too keen on the way some of
the components have been mounted
on the underside of the terminal board.
Some of the valves may now be
unobtainable for a set of this age, so
substitutes may have to be used. For
example, the 33 could be quite easily
replaced with a 1D4 with minor alterations to the voltages applied to it.
A 1L5G could also be used if the
valve socket was changed to an octal
socket.
Substitutes for other valves could
be found as well. It is just a matter of
checking which valves have similar
characteristics to those requiring replacement.
Overall, these are good receivers
which are well worth restoring and
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having in a collection.
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