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Vintage Radio
By RODNEY CHAMPNESS, VK3UG
The HMV B11A 5-valve
battery-operated mantel receiver
Manufactured around 1950, the HMV B11A
is a battery-operated mantel receiver that
was designed for use in rural areas. It was
one of the first domestic receivers to use
miniature 7-pin valves.
B
ATTERY-OPERATED RECEIVERS
made between the mid-1930s and
the late 1940s used valves that required
2V on their filaments and a high-tension (HT) supply of about 135V. This
involved using a 2V lead-acid cell and
three 45V dry batteries.
These batteries were all quite expensive in one way or another. The
2V cell required regular recharging
and this was usually done by the local
radio serviceman or at a local motor
vehicle repair garage. This was not only
inconvenient but also meant that the
household was sometimes deprived of
the use of the radio for a day or two. The
45V batteries could not be recharged
and were expensive to buy.
As a result, battery-operated sets
were usually only turned on when a
specific program was being broadcast,
then turned off. They were certainly
not left on all day as background entertainment, because the cost of running
them was too great. Of course, these
sets were mostly located in rural areas
that lacked mains power, so the batteries had to be conserved as much as
possible.
To lessen the cost of recharging
and replacing batteries, valves were
developed that only required 1.4V
on the filaments and around 90V of
HT. These became available around
the beginning of WWII and used the
octal valve base. Later on, around
1945, 7-pin miniature valves using the
same voltages became available – to
the military at least – and these had
somewhat similar characteristics to
their octal predecessors.
Seven-pin miniature valves were
subsequently used in consumer equipment in the late 1940s and continued
in use up until the early 1960s when
valves gave way to transistors.
The HMV B11A
This is the fully-restored receiver in its cabinet. Automotive cut and polish
can restore old bakelite cabinets to “as-new” condition.
112 Silicon Chip
HMV’s B11A comes in a “chunky”
bakelite case and features a slide-rule
dial scale which was quite typical of
the era. There are only three controls:
off-on-tone, volume and tuning.
The set itself would have been
aimed at the middle of the market. It
is a broadcast band only receiver and
instead of including a radio frequency
(RF) stage as was usual in most 5-valve
battery radios, this set has two stages of
intermediate frequency (IF) amplification instead. This simplified the front
end, as a 2-gang tuning capacitor could
be used instead of a 3-gang unit. This
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also meant that the associated extra
tuning coil and adjustments were not
needed.
One drawback is that the dial scale
has no provision for dial lighting, so
tuning at night requires adequate external lighting. This no doubt was an
economy measure.
The chassis itself was originally
designed to take octal battery valves,
as evidenced by the small plates used
to cover the holes where these valves
were located. The 7-pin miniature
valves use the same locations and so
their sockets are mounted in the middle of these plates.
Circuit details
Fig.1 shows the circuit details of the
set. It’s a fairly conventional superhet
design with no surprises.
The converter is based on a 1R5
which is neutralised via capacitor
C5, with resistor R3 used to smooth
out variations in the oscillator’s output across the band. The 457.5kHz
converter output is then coupled to
the first IF stage which uses a 1T4. Its
output in turn goes to the second IF
stage which also uses a 1T4.
From there, the signal goes to the
detector and an automatic gain control
(AGC) diode in the 1S5. The resulting
audio output from the detector/AGC
diode is then applied to the grid of the
pentode section of the 1S5 via the volume control. This in turn feeds the 3V4
output stage which drives the speaker
via output transformer T1.
The AGC signal is taken from the
top of the volume control and is fed
via R7 to R1, C3 & C11. The receiver
uses simple AGC, as delayed AGC
(DAGC) could not easily be achieved
with the miniature battery valves that
were available. However, this appears
to have little effect on the receiver’s
performance.
The audio amplifier has two negative feedback loops. First, C25 gives
some negative feedback to the screen of
the 1S5 from the voice coil. The other
loop is via C23 when it is connected to
the plate of the 3V4. This capacitor can
be switched to one of three positions
and acts as a tone control.
The 3V4 is the only valve which has
bias applied to it and this is achieved
using back bias resistor R14. The 1S5
obtains contact potential bias due to
the high value of its grid resistor. By
contrast, the RF stages have no standing bias.
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Despite its rather grubby condition, this set was relatively easy to restore
as all the original parts were still in place. The chassis was cleaned by first
dusting it with a paintbrush and then using a kerosene-soaked rag and a
kitchen scourer.
This view shows the front of the chassis after restoration. The dial-drum is
driven by a rubber tyre assembly.
Note that V1 and V2 have AGC
applied to them even with no signal
being received. That’s due to the noise
picked up on the antenna generating
some AGC voltage. V3 has no AGC
applied to it but will develop grid
leak bias if the incoming signal is sufficiently great.
One interesting little circuit quirk is
the fitting of the radio frequency choke
(RFC) CK1 in the filament supply line.
This isolates the second IF amplifier
from the converter and the first IF
amplifier and makes the receiver more
stable. As an experiment, I shorted
out this RFC but found no evidence
of any feedback anywhere across the
broadcast band. Apparently, HMV
wanted to make sure that there was
no likelihood of instability in the IF
amplifier stages.
Dismantling & cleaning
The radio was quite grubby when
August 2006 113
This is the under-chassis view after restoration. The new components are hardly noticeable and this helps to keep
the set looking original.
The chassis is fitted with a roll-over frame and can be tipped
into any position for servicing without damaging other parts.
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it came into my possession, having
been stored for quite a few years after
a nasty accident (more on that later).
The back panel was held on by only
one screw and this was removed, as
were the three knobs at the front.
That done, the two chassis retaining
screws were removed and the chassis
separated from the cabinet.
The first thing I noticed was that the
roll-over frame had four screws missing along the rear of the chassis. This
problem was immediately fixed using
some small self-tapping screws, after
which the chassis was dusted using a
paintbrush to remove any loose dirt. It
was then rubbed down using kerosene
and a kitchen scourer and a most of
the muck came straight off.
Admittedly, there was some
corrosion where mice had been.
Fortunately, their stay must
have been brief, as little damage was caused.
Having removed the grime,
I oiled all the pulleys and
bearings on the dial drive system,
along with the various control shafts.
That done, the dial-drive pointer guide
was cleaned with a kerosene dipped
rag and then oiled sparingly.
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Fig.1: the circuit is a fairly conventional superhet
design based on five miniature 7-pin valves: a 1R5
converter stage, two 1T4 IF stages, a 1S5 detector/
AVC/audio amplifier stage and a 3V4 audio output
stage.
The mechanics of the receiver were
now working as they should, with
one exception: the dial drive was a little “lumpy” in its action due to a flat
spot on the drive rubber. It wasn’t bad
enough to worry about, however.
Next, the speaker grill was removed
(it’s attached to the main part of the
cabinet by four speed nuts), after
which the cabinet (which splits into
two halves) and knobs were given a
good scrub in soapy water. Once dry,
these parts were then polished using
automotive cut and polish and this
brought the cabinet up to as-new appearance.
Overhauling the electronics
With the cleaning done, it was then
time to look at getting the receiver up
and running. Inspection under the
chassis showed an uncluttered layout,
so overhauling the electronics was
relatively easy. In fact, it would be nice
if all receivers were as easy to service
as this one.
The four battery leads had seen better days, so I decided to replace them
with new hook-up wire. There were
no plugs on the battery leads so the
circuit had to be carefully checked
to determine where each wire went
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– connecting the filaments to the HT
lines would not have been nice!
Having done that, I checked for a circuit between the filament positive rail
and chassis. It should have measured
just a few ohms but it was open circuit.
It didn’t take long for the penny to drop
– the previous owner had obviously
connected the 90V HT line to the filaments and in a few milliseconds had
blown the filaments in all five valves.
As a result, I labelled the LT and HT
leads appropriately to avoid making
the same mistake in the future.
Because of the previous owner’s
carelessness, I had to replace all five
valves. Of course, this was also the
likely reason that the radio had been
set aside in the first place.
Fortunately, I have a good stock
of new and secondhand valves, otherwise replacing them would have
been an expensive exercise. In fact,
two of mine were faulty as well, so I
replaced seven valves in all to get the
set operating. These battery valves
have filaments that are rated at 50mA
and are quite delicate. Even when all
operating conditions are optimum,
they have a shorter lives than their
beefier mains-operated cousins.
Before replacing the valves, I
cleaned the sockets with Inox contact cleaner. I then connected my dry
battery eliminator which supplies a
variety of voltages to suit receivers like
this one. The various connections were
then triple-checked before applying
power, to avoid wrecking the valve
filaments again.
With the fresh valves fitted and an
outside antenna and earth attached,
the receiver was up and running but
its performance was poor. Most mains
This close-up view shows the rubber
tyre dial-drive system used on the
B11A receiver.
August 2006 115
This is the old B11A receiver before restoration. It was covered in dust and
grime, having been stored in a garage for many years.
receivers don’t require a separate earth
to achieve good performance as they
are “earthed” capacitively via the
mains. By contrast, a dry-battery set
does not have this “capacitive” earth
and therefore requires an earth for best
performance.
A few quick checks revealed that
the set was drawing normal current
and the voltage readings on all valves
were within specification with one
exception – the voltage on the screen
of the second IF valve was noticeably
higher than it should have been. This
valve didn’t appear to be drawing any
current, so another 1T4 was fitted and
then the set didn’t work at all! The
reason wasn’t hard to find – its filament
was open circuit.
Fortunately, I had another 1T4 and
fitting that made all the difference to
the performance. The set was now
performing quite well, although the
front-end alignment was out, with
stations not quite where they should
appear on the dial.
Alignment
The alignment procedure for this set
is quite straightforward. My first step
was to set the receiver to the 621kHz
mark on the dial, which is marked as
station 3AR (now 3RN). That done, the
oscillator coil slug was adjusted until
3RN came in.
116 Silicon Chip
Next, I tuned to the position for 3AK
(1500kHz) at the other end of the dial
and set my signal generator to run at
1500kHz with tone modulation. The
generator’s output was loosely coupled
to the aerial lead (ie, placed near it) and
I then adjusted the oscillator trimmer
on the tuning gang until I heard the
tone from the speaker.
That done, I rechecked the oscillator
coil adjustment at the low-frequency
end and then at the high-frequency
end again, as these two adjustments
interact with each other. I then tuned
to a nearby relatively weak station at
the high-frequency end of the dial and
peaked the antenna trimmer.
Having completed the front-end
alignment, it was time to align the
IF stages. This should also be done
with the set tuned to a weak station.
However, I found that the IF transformers were all correctly aligned, so no
work was required here. This didn’t
surprise me, as the set appears to have
had very little work done on it under
the chassis.
Finally, the various adjustments
were all sealed using a dab of nail
polish on the trimmers and re-melted
wax (using a soldering iron) on the
adjustment slugs.
Capacitor checks
Some readers may be wondering
why my standard practice of checking
all critical capacitors before switching
on was skipped on this occasion. The
reason is that because the voltages are
relatively low in this battery-operated
set, a few liberties were taken.
However, once the set was working,
I decided to take a closer look. Normally, I would replace audio coupler
C24 and the two AGC bypass capacitors (C3 & C11). In this set, however,
the audio coupler is a mica capacitor
and had minimal leakage, so it wasn’t
worth replacing. And if the two AGC
bypasses have high leakage, it won’t
harm the set – it just won’t work as
well and will probably overload on
strong signals.
I checked the voltage on the grid
of the 3V4 with a digital multimeter
and it was normal. I then tuned the
set to a strong station and measured
-5V at the detector and only -2.5V on
the AGC line. As a result, I replaced
the two AGC bypasses and the voltage
on the detector dropped to -3.5V (the
voltage across the two AGC bypasses
was also -3.5V). The AGC system was
now working as it should and the audio output level was nearly the same
on both strong and weak stations.
Next, I checked the paper capacitors
on the HT line and replaced any that
had excessive leakage (as measured
on my high-voltage insulation tester).
I also checked the HT filter electrolytic
capacitor (C22) and found that it had
dropped to just 1mF. This was replaced
with a 22mF 160V electrolytic, as I
didn’t have the correct value (8mF).
The receiver was now performing
quite well and proved to be remarkably
quiet with no signal coming in. It will
operate quite successfully with the HT
voltage as low as 45V. We often look at
such simple sets and think that they
cannot be good performers. However,
as shown by this set, that assumption
is often wrong.
Summary
The HMV B11A really is a surprise
packet. It’s a rather unassuming little
set but gives a very good account of
itself. It is quite sensitive, has adequate
volume and will work satisfactorily
with nearly exhausted dry batteries.
The design is straightforward and access for servicing is good.
HMV receivers of this era have always impressed me and this one is no
exception. It is a worthwhile addition
SC
to any radio buff’s collection.
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