Instagram story viewer> @shitetech> Posts

shitetech

@shitetech

333

followers

188

following

Breathing new life into things that should have been binned decades ago.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

Almost finished with the restoration of this 1959 Dynatron Edinburgh radiogram. This is a very well spec'd machine, fitted with a Garrard RC88 and high quality radio/pre and power amp units. A pair of EF86 are used in the pre-amp with EQ for 78, LP and FFRR records, as well as bass and treble controls for any further fine adjustments.

It's been quite a big undertaking, restuffing the old electrolytic cans as well as the usual recapping and replacement of several out of tolerance resistors. An ECC83 in the LF11 Push-Pull amplifier and an ECC85 for the FM tuner were also needed. The Garrard deck was completely stripped down, cleaned and rebuilt. A Shure stereo cartridge was also fitted, replacing the original mono Tannoy Variluctance.

It sounds amazing for what it is, Dynatron really knew how to build a good quality radiogram before the Philips takeover. This came at a time when such machines started falling out of favour and anybody truly invested in HiFi would have started to look at seperates such as the Quad and Leak amplifiers (which for a similar price of the Dynatron would allow you to buy a full stereo setup). Because of this the Edinburgh model is now a very scarce example of the Dynatron range. by @shitetech

7

0

16 days ago

Next batch just in, fresh from the loft space of what was once a TV repair shop in the 1950s. The Murphy top right is the most special of the lot, their first TV released post-war in 1946 but based on a Pre-War design with mains EHT, weighs an absolute ton.

All are going to be quite a challenge having been harvested for parts over the years, luckily nothing too important! by @shitetech

23

0

22 days ago

Quick repair to this very early Sony Trinitron KV1320UB, a friend brought it over after it started to trip the safety cut-out. After poking around a short on the HT line was found, caused by a transistor on the LOP stage. Transistor replaced and now the set works quite well. Just the tuner to rebuild now as it intermittently drops in gain. by @shitetech

2

0

3 months ago

Capacitor restuff on a Dynatron LF11 amplifier.

I recently bought a Dynatron Edinburgh RG14 radiogram from 1958. This was absolutely top of the range in radiograms when released for sale utilising the Dynatron LF11 amplifier, a radio unit with MW, LW, 2x SW and FM wavebands. The radiogram also had a Garrard 4 speed autochanger fitted with a Tannoy Variluctance MM cartridge.

The radiogram is completely original and unrestored, I purchased it from the original owner who bought it in 1959 for £150. With this in mind I'm ensuring that all the visible areas behind the covers keep their original look. These two electrolytics were way past their best so they've been restuffed to retain the original appearance of the amplifier whilst ensuring that it will remain working at its best. by @shitetech

6

0

3 months ago

A couple of oldies I've just picked up, both utilising a 20" CRT and the BMC Thorn 1500 hybrid chassis, B&W of course. The Ferguson at the bottom dates to c.1974, the Granada is a little earlier and a very scarce set. The survival rate of the Granada being low because it was manufactured solely for the rental market.

Already started on the Ferguson replacing the large dropper from a scrap chassis, other than the vertical hold speed being slow the rest works ok, so only a bit of work to do on this one. The Granada is a much bigger job, I was told the CRT may be low or even have an air leak and there has been a serious fault on the circuit board burning out a few resistors and the main fuse plus a couple of valves missing for good measure. by @shitetech

4

0

3 months ago

Another Pathe Vox projector restored and working beautifully. This time it's a Super Vox dating from around 1939.

It required all the usual work including a complete internal rewire as the fabric cable was crumbling to pieces. The valve (tube) amplifier has been completely overhauled and works beautifully. I built the speaker myself as they're so often missing, using some black Arbetex cloth to cover the case and sourcing a field coil speaker with the correct specs. #cinefilm #vintage #cinema #homemovies #classiccinema by @shitetech

12

0

8 months ago

A boxed 1974 Philips N1500?!

Does it work? - Sort of
Will it work? - OF COURSE!

This was an ex-demonstration machine that was found when Rex Radio in London closed down. It has been stored in its box since 1976! It'll certainly see use once working as I have a huge stack of tapes containing 1970s TV to digitize.

#vcr #vhs #vintagetv #videocassette #archive #archiving #lostfootage #vintagetech #retrotech #philips #obsolete #videotape by @shitetech

9

2

9 months ago

Been neglecting this page a little lately!

Thought I'd share an interesting restoration project - a 17.5mm Pathescope Home Talkie projector from 1934.

17.5mm was a format that disappeared during the Second World War. It was used primarily in France for Pathe's 'Rural' travelling cinema outfits but was also picked up by British Pathescope who offered the Home Talkie (Pathe Natan in France) for sale in 1934. You'd purchase the projector outright but films had to be rented via a lending library. You were limited by purchasing a stamp book, each stamp allowed you one reel of film within a set period (and a feature film commonly consisted of 9 reels) once received you could hold onto the film for 14 days before returning it to the Pathescope Library. After a few years films became available to purchase outright which helped the format gain further popularity in the UK.

Sadly the format met an end during the occupation of France, German forces outlawed 17.5mm as a non-standard format and ordered film to be destroyed and machines to be dismanted or converted to 16mm. In the UK Pathescope struggled to source 17.5mm stock and quietly abandoned 17.5mm. After the war they sold off their entire library and offered a 16mm conversion service for Home Talkies.

Today these are very rare machines and the films even more rare. The Home Talkie was very rough on film and most is now so damaged it cannot be run. Luckily I have quite a collection of good 17.5mm so I was able to restore this unit and give it a second life without much trouble. by @shitetech

14

3

a year ago

Something new for 2025

I have a couple of these Philips N1500 VCR's dating from 1972, they're considered to be the first Video Cassette machine aimed at the Domestic market. When working correctly they give excellent picture reproduction, as a result of this they were used in-house by the BBC and many European TV stations.

Mechanically they're very typically 'Philips', utilising a very odd string arrangement to drive the tape threading mechanism - this often causes problems. The video heads wear quickly and the drive belts turn to goo. The circuit boards are also prone to warping and splitting and are often riddled with faults.

I'm currently working on one which is now running well but I'm tracing a video fault on the Luminance board. This second unit I have recently acquired will be next. I've already cleaned most of the dust away and I'm about to start on the remaining belt goo before fitting new belts. The heads look very good so I'm sure this machine has a good chance of working again. by @shitetech

7

0

2 years ago

Happy 2025 to all of my friends and followers.

Sorry I've been quiet lately, I had trouble accessing my account but I'm back in now.

2025 is off to a busy start with the revival of yet another Pathescope Son 9.5mm sound Cine projector. I've accumulated a lot of spares for this particular model so restoration has been quite easy. A new motor, rheostat and main mechanism were needed to restore. Luckily somebody had saved me the work of the amplifier, having been restored a number of years ago.

Possibly the best working example I have ever seen of this now scarce projector.

#cinefilm #classiccinema #retrotech #vintage #cineprojector #homemovies #cinema by @shitetech

13

0

2 years ago

Another Pathe Vox 9.5mm sound projector, these things are becoming like busses!

This example has been modified in the past and I'm getting it ready for a guy who wants a working 9.5 sound projector. Sadly, this was recently plugged in at full UK 240v mains as opposed to the 110v it really needs. Luckily it survived quite well but I did have to replace the lamp and also the mains transformer for the transistor amps.

I spent the entire weekend making some further repairs along with cleaning, regreasing and adjusting the main mech and film path, it now works very well.

Not too sure what I think of the modded amp unit, it's been done well enough but I still think the original amplifiers sound much better... by @shitetech

9

0

2 years ago

Currently repairing a round EKCO AD75 radio. It's had a few bodges and yesterday I finally sorted the wiring around the output valve and got that stage working, unfortunately the set was otherwise dead.

Today I started checking out the circuit and found that a winding in the first IF transformer measured O/C. Upon opening the can I discovered that a wire had suffered from green spot corrosion and had detached from the coil. Some careful cleaning and resoldering and the coil is now repaired but the set still remains dead 😂

On the plus side there are now oscillations to be heard in the speaker so progress is being made. Hopefully tomorrow we can have it receiving stations again. by @shitetech

19

0

2 years ago