Arrived today, an Alba transistor radio model 780. Bought it for no other reason that when I opened the shop in 1972 this was one the first radios on sale. I still have other radios which were bought for re-sale about the same time as the Alba.
Because the set has a wood effect cabinet it was a good seller. The receiver was made by Sanyo. Alba's first transistor portable TV set was also made by Sanyo. the model T10.
Till Eulenspiegel.
Its a nice looking radio, the dial shows it’s age with no local stations and max VHF frequency of 104Mhz. Long Wave has BBC2 and MW BBC1 and BBC3. Radio 4 is shown as the regional transmitters.
Unless leaking batteries were left inside they will probably work as well today as the day they were first sold.
Showing the innards of the Alba 780. The set works very well indeed, excellent performance on all wavebands. BBC Radio 4 on long waveband coming in loud and clear. The only fault with this set is the on-off switch doesn't work. The switch is is in the on state irrespective of the position of the volume control. It's a flimsy thing, will try to find a more robust component. It has the usual Far-East splined control shaft.
Like many Japanese radios of this era, the construction looks a right mess. The UK made portable radios were in construction terms much better but more expensive to make and sell.
Till Eulenspiegel.
Would some Servisol or similar get the contacts moving again, worth a try if you have not already done that. It’s only low voltage so no dangers.
The construction, it does look a mess but on the other hand it is still working after all these years.
Yesterday, I attempted to repair the on-off volume control. Using bits from a control removed from a scrap radio the switch was made to work but the volume control track has many dead spots and is unusable. The volume control has ohmic value of 50Kohms and is a log law type.
The 6mm splined control shaft is the usual JIS type.
A replacement has been found on-line.
Till Eulenspiegel.
Replacement volume control arrived today. Fitted it in the set this evening. The performance on all three wavebands is very good but the quality of construction of this made in 1973 receiver is awful. British made portable radios made the same year were much tidier inside.
Till Eulenspiegel.