The VTR103 was first introduced in 1961, the radio offered VHF as well as the standard Medium and Long wave  stations.

The coverage was from 88 to 100 Mhz and was the first VHF British portable radio. For the first time the AF series of transistors were introduced as these offered improved HF performance over the O.C range, though of course we all know the issues with these Alloy-Diffusion transistors. I find some radio's have real issues while other do not with these and I can only come to the conclusion that production issues were involved. This radio being the early version means it was first introduced in 1961, due to the low serial number I would say the first 16 months of production, the difference in this model is the colour scheme of a red Rexin that I have fitted to the body, i feel it compliments the red tuning dial to the front..

The radio works very well as all the capacitors including most of the electrolitics have been replaced, the Tuner and I.F have been set up with a spectrum analyser , well above Bush's original specification and the original telescopic aerial is present with the red tip. As always with few exceptions the band select switches have faded a little due to use, for some reason unlike the 2 band TR series the 3 band VTR switches were not embossed so unless the radio was often used on one band the lettering would wear.

Technical point of interest is in the VHF side, unlike most radio's of today Bush used a mute system when no signal is present similar to Hacker inter-station mute, but always on. Often these radio's on VHF can be of low gain and the fault can be found to be due to de-coupling components in the Audio stage which at first you would think was odd, so you can have great medium and long wave performance with low output on FM , if you have an issue please call me for advice on how to re-solve it.

Comes complete with 1 years gurantee and the PP9 battery required.

The popular DAC 90 series started off with the 90 and was produced from 1946, though i cannot find a month when production started. As the A version was produced in 1950 these were soon upgraded and the reasons why are offered here. First of all the larger mains dropper was installed to the rear and perhaps this was to reduce in the Bakerlite case the heat given off by this, and therfore reducing stress. The valves installed at this time had lower heater operating voltages so clearly the mains dropper resistor to reduce the voltage down would have to be quite large in size, within a short period higher heater voltage valves were produced and helped to aid in the reduction of the size of this resistor and was installed in the new A series away from the rear cover. The tuning control is fitted on the right hand side and is fitted to the tuning capacitor via its long shaft through the MW and LW aerial so pending stray capacitance from your hand it is possible to notice a slight alignment movement of the signal as your hand moves away from this, though slight,perhaps on weak stations this might be more noticable. These first models have the speaker connected to its chassis, and later to aid in production costs the A series had this fitted seperatly, again the speaker grill here cloth in this model was replaced with a punched out metal grill, (more cost effective). And just a matter of interest , the pilot lamp used for the display was fitted in the centre only, while the A series models had two one either side.

That aside of the historic development, how does this radio compare today. It was a hit then and these little radio's are still sought after today, it works just as any DAC90A can, and having an early example is also of historic interest.

This radio is finished in Ivory, quite rare. The correct name as it is light is Catlin similar to Bakelite, but more known for cracking, this example is very good with only a very minor stress impression, to the rear, (its not a crack) see photo. Often due to heat the tops fail, this is perfect as can be seen. Also this model was produced in 1949 so close to the end of production before the A series was introduced in 1950

This radio came to me un-touched since it was first produced. The radio has had all the valves tested, decoupling components replaced, wiring where needed re-newed, I.F and rf re-aligned and she works a treat, with the original 2 pin plug also included, you have a nice example of these most popular Bush radios. Comes complete with 12 month warranty.

The second generation of the PYE P series of radio's , using the MK2 circuit with a I.F 470 Kc/s due to the refined performance of Pye's V6 series transistors and now variable tuning on the LW broadcast band.

The original idiosyncratic i.F transformers have now been updated as well as the transformer coupled detector stage being removed, though many parts are still resembing its sister the PAM 710 in many ways.

This radio represents the early days of transistor design in the UK and its nice hearing the sounds coming from such an iconic period again. The radio's are reflective of their design in as much the money was spent  in my opinion inside rather than what the client had to look at. We have to remember owning one of these portable transistor radio's with good volume was like having the latest smart phone or Ipad today at a cost of around £23.00 these were really expensive.

The radio has been taken apart a number of components updated, with only one transistor requiring replacement. The outer case has been cleaned and the original red banded Seudeen being replaced as often these are either worn or very dirty. Another common issue with these when finding them is the transparent knobs are often cracked or without centrepieces and removing them from the radio can often lead to loses. A nice touch is the cream polthene containers holding the 4 batteries in place. So there you are an early transistor radio who's design started in 1956 and a pleasure to use every day some 58 years later.

What makes this transistor radio historicaly interesting is Invicta is part of the Pye group, so packaging in effect a Pye P123BQ into a Pye PE114BQ valve case gives a clear indication that Pye sales dept were still trying to find a way to dominate the current market place or cynically was it that they had a quantity of the jewel case radio cabinets left over and found away to dispose of them. Either way an interesting radio. The radio is all original and work very well with the second series chassis, meaning that Long Wave is tunable. Condition apart from a stain to the top lid would have been first class, a near perfect time capsule.

The electronics and information about this is on the P123BQ details on this page so i will not repeat them here. What you get is an interesting peice of early transistor history. Comes complete with batteries and full 1 years gurantee

The R77 is quite a rare and sought after radio, the case looking like binoculars to give the country look when out. Its a clever design using miniture valves powered by B126 90 Volt HT and AD35 1.5 Volt batterys inserted in the bottom supplied.

The radio when first presented to the public in May 1957 cost £13 4s 7d, THAT WAS QUITE A LOT OF MONEY AND THE DESIGN ETC REFLECTS THAT.

The radio is a 2-band receiver covering MW 190-570 m and LW 1000 - 1900 metres .

The components that required replacement have been carried out and as standard the RF and I.F stages calibrated.

The condition of the case is  good , not perfect  and the strap shows signs of wear, but that aside a nice radio to add to any collection, typical faults (the zip) works perfectly and inside the top lid you can just make out the original owners details. Comes complete with 1 years gurantee

This radio was built under the collabration with the design engineer Ben Hesketh working along McMichael . These sets were built to a very high standard at the Slough factory and the 135 model was first introduced on April 23rd 1935, it's main feature was the enormous tuning scale which was made to be simply removeable, should any changes to wavelenghts occur, this future proofing was a good sales point as the Lucerne plan just a year before caused a major upheaval of station freqencies. Another feature identifying this is an earlier version is the standard display lamp that was fitted to the top lid was never added and/or the brass logo to the lid as well. The wave station cover also is not the same as the later 135's . I find it hard to consider that this model was produced in the standard date line April as it clearly shows this is trying to find its market place and perhaps feedback received from the dealers and sales team resulted in a number of months later the standard 135 model.

This model is the rare U series for universal AC/DC , yes DC was still common up to the mid 1950's in this country but as can be seen in the sales details of the time the AC version must have been produced first, resulting in the sales team requiring a DC version due to sales demand, interesting is the fact that a lot of radio's would have been AC/DC to ensure good sales plus the advantage of reduced costs in not requiring a transformer, so why this happened in reverse with McMichael and as far as i can tell not so many were in fact produced compared to the AC version.

The overall appeal of the cabinet with its antique look appealed to the traditional instints of the middle-class buyer despite the new aesthetic and art deco movement , British taste was still very conservative.

The radio originally cost £17 17s 0d with a matching stand though this was released in May of that year costing an extra £2 10s 0d if required. In many ways the appeal of this set is allowing it to stand proud alone.

There has been speculation as to the finish availble, as far as i can tell the cabinet was built in Mahogany as standard and in the showroom the client was offered this or Walnut as a finish .

The radio has been stripped down with nearly all the components replaced to ensure long reliability, valves tested and the Pen DD4020 replaced with new old/stock. The RF stages re-calibrated and the I.F re-aligned to 128.5 Khz.

This model has fitted a Philips C1 Barretter , reason for this was to protect the heater in the series chain in case of variation in mains voltages. The cabinet has been fully stripped and restained in Mahogany with a high finish in French polish to complete the look. There are some age related marks etc in the 80 plus years old veneers, but is now part of its history, though you need to look hard to find them.

There are two speakers to the front given a warm sound with high volume if it was needed, interesting the wave band switch to the right has LW and SW, at the time SW was Medium wave band. If you are looking for a mid 30's radio that you could use everyday as well as a talking point look no further. Full 1 years gurantee ensures peace of mind.