Radio E.A.R (Perdio) with severely decayed PP9!

Interesting - I didn't know E.A.R. made transistor radios. I know them for their record player business - which came about when Collaro sold off the 'Microgram' stuff - and I knew they made a FM tuner, but this is a new one on me. They did make a battery record player in the style of one they already made but mains and valve.

@lloyd Does the black part in the centre of the dial unscrew, the dial then justs lifts off? This was a common way of securing the dial at one time.

@nuvistor

no, on these it just pulls off, I know the ones you mean though, it’s the little Ekco’s with the centre that unscrews. I did manage to finally break off what’s left of the screw holding the PCB in, and then I just carefully pulled on the PCB to free the dial. Sounds brutal, but it works if you are careful!

So with the PCB finally free, the extent of the battery damage could be seen, or at least the lack of it!

The PCB seems to have got away with it, there is a tiny bit of green on the tracks near the crusty screw, and that was it! The tracks on these PCB’s look really substantial, so it would take quite a bit to eat through them.

I fired the set up with the PCB out, and strangely it worked fine on MW?! I was able to pull in Radio Caroline north without any bother, but last night I couldn’t get anything past Talk sport, and that was quiet. Moving the coils on the ferrite rod helped, they are loose, and part of one has started to unravel.

During testing one of the black electrolytic caps started to ooz electrolyte, so a quick dig in the capacitor box found replacements for all 3 of the same type, so they were all changed, the red bungs were beginning to pop out on all 3 anyway.

I have removed everything from the case so I can clean it out now, and clean the exterior too, as it’s filthy! I gave the top a quick squirt of foam cleaner, and it turned a disgusting brown colour almost instantly! It did reveal a nice light blue colour under the dirt though.

I also found a date stamp inside the case, and the inspection tag! Clearly made by Perdio!

Those capacitors were probably the reason sensitivity got a bit better, they probably started to reform a bit. I have often found with long disused Transistor radios that they are pretty 'deaf' at first and then reception improves after a couple of tries or a run. TR82s spring to mind. It certainly is a nice set and it it has found a good home! Antiques fairs are often prowled by up-cyclers, Shudder! It could have ended up with a bulb holder screwed to it! 

It was quite strange how it was totally silent across all but the top end of MW, then it went completely, but was still ok on LW, and then it’s working great as if nothing happened! Hopefully it was just those caps reforming, I’d have left them alone if it wasn’t for that one leaking it’s juices out, there was quite a lot for such a small cap, especially after I’d de-soldered it!

Oh yes, the lamp makers… and the Bluetooth speaker makers!!

 I’m afraid I have to confess that 2 radios were lost at this fair, one was a PYE woody, and the other I think was Regentone, the PYE had its glass smashed, and the regentone had fallen apart, and was well rusty and valve-less. The rubbish collectors got them both 😢 

Perdio went into receivership around 1965 so a fairly late model, wonder if it was made in the Pallion Sunderland factory which was not too far from my home then. Picture of the factory below.

By 1965, Perdio also owned Kenure-Holt Electronics who I'd not heard of and E.A.R.

I think I can call this one finished! The case cleaned up ok, the blue bit was most impressive, the front and back material not so much, it has a few permanent stains, but it’s not so bad that it needs replacing.

It’s been back together for nearly a week, and it’s been playing perfectly, sound quality is good, and it’s able to tune in a good few stations, even pulls in Caroline which I normally struggle with here!

Its a shame Perdio disappeared, looking at these radios, they were pretty good quality, using Mullard mustard caps, Fane speakers, and a really solid looking PCB, and most of these radios will still work now without replacing anything.

Next up, the GEC that I also got from Newark!

@lloyd I think it’s possible they over stretched themselves with the new factory. It was also the time reasonable radios were being imported and rebranded by the bigger names, Pye/ Bush etc and this drove the selling price down. Peridio were mainly at the budget end, still well made but hadn’t the “name” like the bigger firms. The better radios were still made by Pye etc in the UK but even those days were numbered.

Glad it’s working again, an excellent example of the last years of the UK radio industry, built in the UK before most were imported.

I do wonder if what took Perdio down were the later "Portorama" TVs.

@cathovisor That is certainly a good thought. I found this on Gracie’s guide, the delays and costs could have been the Portorama.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Perdio_Electronics

It just so happens that the Sunderland factory was just a short distance from Thorn B & D factories which produced mono CRTs. B factory can be seen at the end of the road in the picture I posted earlier. Delivery charges would have been minimal, I've often wondered if that was the ultimate purpose of the location chosen for larger scale TV production? The original Portarama was quite a nice looking set but what followed were not, never seen one of the later sets in the flesh though.

I'm led to believe the Samwell and Hutton wobbulator we had in our workshop was liberated from the Perdio site after it closed.

@nuvistor You certainly don't see many Portorama IIIs. I noted that Dansette get a mention in the Grace's Guide link - themselves taken over by RBM just a few years later.

The problem with some British manufacturers seems to be the lack of ability to move with the market trends.  Take Dansette as an example, they carried on making the same type of record players which started to look old fashioned, the market was moving away from that style. Fidelity however moved with the times and made the style that people wanted, (crappy) plastic "smoked glass" lid, separate stereo speakers etc and thereby survived a bit longer.

The car industry was the same, Ford changed the body style over the years but the engines and mechanical parts were pretty much unchanged for decades. The same type of engine from the Anglia to the KA. BL were the same, the Maxi wasn't a bad car but it was hopelessly outdated by the end of production in '82. The design was 14 years old! Who wants to buy a new car when there are rusty scruffy versions of the same thing on the road? The SD1 was going to save Rover but unfortunately it was plagued with strikes and frankly terrible build quality early on. Or you could pay a little more and have a Mercedes that was well made, kept going and was worth something when you moved it on... My uncle bought a new Sherpa van, the side sliding door fell off on the way home from the dealership... You then don't buy another!

British manufacturers also couldn't compete on price, reliability or build quality a lot of the time, Ferguson did come close with the TX and then they went and spoiled it all... 

A friend worked for an RBM dealer, they always soak tested T20s before delivery as the failure rate was very high, often faulty from the box. The T26 was much better but by then the reputation was ruined and the writing was on the wall for RBM.

We see the same mistakes being made over and over again, nowadays if a manufacturer does have a good reputation for quality products they then cut costs to increase profits and eventually produce crap with a 'quality' name badge.  By the time the reputation has been ruined and the $hit hits the fan the directors have retired on a nice pension and scarpered.

Just my thoughts, some may not agree...

@slidertogrid Just had a quick look at a Dansette brochure for 1972 and some Bush price lists. The Dansette stuff is very thinly disguised Bush/Murphy.

In 1972, Bush had three portable stereo record players (SRP57, SRP58 and SRP59) where the speakers formed the lid and two "suitcases" - the SRP64 and the RP73. By 1975 they'd all gone, except for the RP73. After that it was separate speakers and a base unit with amp and deck.

EAR Tourist i picked this one up a few years ago nice little sets

Theres not much left of that battery! I had a similar corroded battery, this time a PP3 in a Ferguson TV remote control. It had been there over 30 years! Sadly the remote wasn't savable. Your Radio was lucky!

Nice Save

Paul