27-01-2017, 09:57 PM
Yes, your grandparents' radio appears to be a Bush VHF61 : http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/bush_vhf61vhf_6.html
It was also available in a wooden cabinet - model VHF62.
Bush copied the style from the radios of continental Europe (not just Philips, but Grundig, Saba, Nordmende and other German manufacturers) that were being imported in the late 1950s. VHF FM broadcasting had just started in Britain, bringing higher sound quality. To appreciate the quality, you needed a good radio. Germany had already been using FM for several years and had established a reputation for building high-quality FM radios. The Bush VHF61 was an attempt to compete with those luxury imported radios of similar appearance.
In a somewhat similar story, my grandfather had one of the aforementioned luxury German radios - a Grundig 3028 GB "3D Sound", in a large wooden cabinet with 3 speakers, magic eye tuning indicator and piano-key controls just like the Bush VHF61. By the late 1970s - 1980s these radios were rather old-fashioned and not very desireable, but I was struck by how much better my Grandfather's radio sounded, compared with my pocket transistor radio. This encouraged me to seek out old valve radios in junk shops and jumble sales. Eventually I came across a Bush VHF61 for 10p in a jumble sale, labelled "Not Working". As it looked like my grandfather's old radio, I thought it must be good quality so I took a chance and bought it.
After bringing the radio home, I plugged it straight in to the mains (not considered a good idea these days) but luckily nothing went bang. In fact all the valves lit up, including the magic eye. As I turned the tuning knob, the magic eye seemed to respond, as if the radio was picking up a station. However there was no sound at all, not even a slight crackle or hum. It was definitely not working, as described, but why?
When I looked at the back of the radio, the fault became obvious. The Bush VHF61 has terminals for an extension speaker. Beside the terminals there is also a screw, which when removed, disconnects the internal speaker. The screw was missing, leaving the internal speaker disconnected, thus no sound. Fitted another screw and the radio was working, surprisingly well. I still have that Bush radio and it still works, decades later, though it ought to have some new capacitors now. It should be fairly easy to restore. The components are neatly assembled on tag strips. I'd say this would be a good radio for a beginner to start restoring.
As for my grandfather's Grundig radio, I'm also not entirely sure what happened to it. When he died many years ago now, my aunt claimed the radio, but then she also died some years ago and I've no idea what happened after that. Fortunately I've since found another Grundig 3028 GB radio and restored it. It sounds just as good as I remember the old one did.
It was also available in a wooden cabinet - model VHF62.
Bush copied the style from the radios of continental Europe (not just Philips, but Grundig, Saba, Nordmende and other German manufacturers) that were being imported in the late 1950s. VHF FM broadcasting had just started in Britain, bringing higher sound quality. To appreciate the quality, you needed a good radio. Germany had already been using FM for several years and had established a reputation for building high-quality FM radios. The Bush VHF61 was an attempt to compete with those luxury imported radios of similar appearance.
In a somewhat similar story, my grandfather had one of the aforementioned luxury German radios - a Grundig 3028 GB "3D Sound", in a large wooden cabinet with 3 speakers, magic eye tuning indicator and piano-key controls just like the Bush VHF61. By the late 1970s - 1980s these radios were rather old-fashioned and not very desireable, but I was struck by how much better my Grandfather's radio sounded, compared with my pocket transistor radio. This encouraged me to seek out old valve radios in junk shops and jumble sales. Eventually I came across a Bush VHF61 for 10p in a jumble sale, labelled "Not Working". As it looked like my grandfather's old radio, I thought it must be good quality so I took a chance and bought it.
After bringing the radio home, I plugged it straight in to the mains (not considered a good idea these days) but luckily nothing went bang. In fact all the valves lit up, including the magic eye. As I turned the tuning knob, the magic eye seemed to respond, as if the radio was picking up a station. However there was no sound at all, not even a slight crackle or hum. It was definitely not working, as described, but why?
When I looked at the back of the radio, the fault became obvious. The Bush VHF61 has terminals for an extension speaker. Beside the terminals there is also a screw, which when removed, disconnects the internal speaker. The screw was missing, leaving the internal speaker disconnected, thus no sound. Fitted another screw and the radio was working, surprisingly well. I still have that Bush radio and it still works, decades later, though it ought to have some new capacitors now. It should be fairly easy to restore. The components are neatly assembled on tag strips. I'd say this would be a good radio for a beginner to start restoring.
As for my grandfather's Grundig radio, I'm also not entirely sure what happened to it. When he died many years ago now, my aunt claimed the radio, but then she also died some years ago and I've no idea what happened after that. Fortunately I've since found another Grundig 3028 GB radio and restored it. It sounds just as good as I remember the old one did.
