Bush VHF80

[Murphyv310]

There was another tuner on a German set that was very similar except it used a coil spring on a pully for tension. It had to be wound up by six turns for the correct tension and some how locked up. Then you had to align a bar that operated the antenna, coupling and oscillator coils, the cord length was critical. I spent a full day in it, a day wasted as I could have repaired half a dozen TV sets.
When I called the customer to say I'd spent nearly 8 hours on it and it still wasn't complete he blew a fuse. The issue was that he couldn't accept the time taken for a broken cord. I'd normally charge between £15-20 an hour dependent on the type of equipment, I'd even dropped this to £7 an hour and he wasn't happy. Doing this type of repair for your day to day work is just madness, having to pay a mortgage and feed three kids back then meant you had to be selective in what you took in, jobs like that are things you do out of interest and not for profit.
Good luck with the tuner Amie.

[Amie]

I do have a reel of RS dial-drive cord, glass-fibre core (so doesn't stretch) and braided nylon outer - PM me if you would like a length.

(Looking at the diagrams, it does look a so-and-so to work on...)

Thanks Peter!

But.... Cowardice has set in....

The guy who was going to send the genuine Bush cord an' core assembly was asking about the set, and offered to buy it!

It's one of the Black and gold trim ones.

He's offered more than I would have expected for the set in full working order, (because it is mint), so I've decided to pass it on, its actually only going a few miles away.

As we're moving sometime I'd promised mum that I was going to shrink the collection of everything that didn't have sentimental value, so I may as well let someone else have the fun and raised blood pressure. I will still keep the VHF81 woodie because it was dads own set from when he was a teenager....

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.


Amie.

[ppppenguin]

Amie, that's common sense, not cowardice.

Ultimately we all have to shrink our collections. Either we do it ourselves, at times of our choosing, or it's done later, when we no longer have a choice. You are honouring your father's memory; I have no doubt that you will do it well. It's possible that in the future there will be some item where you'll say "I wish I'd kept that" but if you've got it about right overall, there's no need to worry.

[Murphyv310]

I agree with Jeffrey.
For me when Anne passed I lost direction. I took a fair bit in from Norman and regretted it the day after. I then thinned out a lot during 2019 and early this year. I'm glad I'm the main I did but was over zealous I think.

[ppppenguin]

Some people do what you might call bulimic collecting. Acquire loads of stuff, dispose of loads of stuff, rinse, repeat.

This can be OK if it's done with a proper plan. For example you have to buy a ton of tat to get a single gem. Then you dispose of the tat. That's good sense, but if you keep on doing it and it takes over your life it's not healthy. There are also the hoarders, whose houses are so full of stuff that you can barely get in the front door. Many of us know people like that.

Occasionally eccentricity morphs into brilliance. If you've never been to Snowshill Manor, then it well worth the visit when it's possible: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/snowshi...and-garden Or this wonderful museum in Shropshire: http://www.lolcmuseumofpopculture.co.uk/ (they've got an HMV 904 prewar TV among their treasures) . Or look what you can do when you've got space: https://www.oakhamtreasures.co.uk/ (Hint, it's not in Rutland).

All of these are examples of collecting that could easily have been pathological but have become wonderful.

At the BECG we're on the cusp of this. If you've ever visited our base near Lincoln you'll know that there's a LOT of stuff and nothing like enough space. You get a glimpse of it in that programme that was made in 2016 for the 80th anniversary of the TV service. Prof Danielle George visits our base and talks to Paul Marshall, our chairman. One day we'll have a large enough building to house and display our treasures. We hope it's in our lifetimes.

[Amie]

I liked the Bush, it was like the 81 which has identical innards, and a very good performer. It wasn't an heirloom, no family history, dad rescued it from a house clearance guy he knew who was never interested in the faf of selling low value electrical goods. At least it is going to a good home, the guy who's having it has the right idea, he told me he only collects the Bush VHF valve sets in their various case styles.

I did feel a bit hard done by when I was told to have a trim out, its OK when you've room to have all this stuff but its going to be panic stations very shortly, I have someone who wants an RI Airflow that was dads, but due to lockdown he's not been able to come and view it.

I have about 30 sets stored at a friends house and although they're happy to do so its an imposition.

I'll probably end up getting rid of three quarters of it, it's difficult, but has to be done, the process has been going on for over two years now, I have resolved to get it done, only keeping sets that are valuable or have sentimental worth but must admit a few lapses and have taken in a few strays myself