Pilot Little Maestro 1939

[Mark R]

Got one of these on the bench at the moment, the phantom has been inside!

reports to follow.

Mark

[Joe]

I saw there was one of those on the BVWS stall in November. It's one of the few sets that I still fancy.

Good luck with the exorcism.

- Joe

[Yorkie]

Presumably that's the AC/DC 'woodie' version Mark.

If so, someone - can't recall who - kindly sent me the mod to convert it to a capacitive dropper.

Then the Little Maestro I had turned out to be the post war AC only version with a mains transformer, but I've attached the mod in case it might prove useful for others. (the modifications are shown in red).

A pic of my Little Maestro is attached.

They're often missing the little 'throw-out' aerial stowed in the slot at the top LH underside of the cabinet so I made a replacement for mine.

Good little performers - a nice dial too.

Thought for the day: We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.

[Bushbaby]

Hi All
Ive got one of these too and its the same as Davids. Nice little set.

Regards
Rob

[Mark R]

Thanks for that David. Someone has dropped it to 110v with an external transfomer.

Mark

[Retired]

Hi,

Good luck Mark; here's a bit of information which might be of use; please note I found 5uF almost perfect on mine as a dropper.

http://golbornevintageradio.co.uk/forum/...p?tid=2043

Kind regards, Col.

[Steve_P]

That sounds like the sort of thing that Chas E. Miller would do. It's a small woodie and must have got very hot. Didn't these have a dropper in the mains cable? If this is the case then a 110v Transformer (or a Barretter) is a viable solution.

I would go for a capacitive dropper. Paul Stenning has the details and a calculator on his site : http://www.vintage-radio.com/repair-rest...calcs.html

Sorry for putting something from another site on here, but I use it too.

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Mark, be aware that there were 2 or 3 versions of the Little Maestro pre war and they may need different cap droppers. I did an article for Radiophile about 10 or more years ago entitled "Small Yanks and Class X" that gave all the calculation details.
It is worthwhile adding the throw out aerial, but I would add a Y cap in series with it within the set for increased safety.

Ed

[Mark R]

Some Pics chaps.

                       

[AlanBeckett]

Where does the Bussbar come into the scheme of things? The Service Sheet isn't very clear but I can't see it. Is it an 'Additional feature'?

Alan