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Eddystone badge [5K]
840A

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Front View [38K]

  • Released 1955
  • Four wavebands covering 480Kc/s to 30Mc/s
  • 7 Valves (four UAF42's, UCH42,
    UL41 plus UY41 rectifier)
  • A.C. or D.C. Mains
  • Original cost circa £50.
NOTES The model 840A remained in production for some 6 year, being pitched towards the bottom of the Eddystone range. The single-conversion superhet design is not too dissimilar to a typical domestic radio of the era but with an additional RF amplifier stage plus a beat frquency oscillator (for receiving CW transmissions) accounting for the two extra valves.

There are four wavebands :-
Band 1 : 10.5Mc/s to 30Mc/s
Band 2 : 3.7Mc/s to 10.6Mc/s
Band 3 : 1.37Mc/s to 3.8Mc/s
Band 4 : 480Kc/s to 1400Kc/s
These cover both amateur and broadcast bands, with the amateur bands marked on the dial in blue and the broadcast bands in red.

The majority of Eddystones are AC supply only, however this set is an AC/DC design with a live chassis housed in a nice metal cabinet ! Ouch ! By now the majority of domestic households had AC supplies, however this receiver was also intended for use aboard ships, which generally had DC supplies.

Manufacturer's Plate [13K] "Eddystone" was the brand name for Stratton & Co. Ltd. whose manufacturing works were located just a few miles down the road from where I live here in Birmingham.
Slow motion dial [8K]
The slow motion tuning dial is something else ! Opposite shows the amount of movement for one full turn of the tuning knob (hope you wern't in a hurry to retune to the Archers !). It'll be interesting to see if this set has has the level of selectivity to back this up.
SERVICE DATA Came with the original manual ; well, OK, not so much a manual as a single fold-out sheet but all the information needed is there.
CURRENT STATE Original Box [8K]Immaculate inside and out, no doubt helped by the fact that it was stored in it's original packaging. The mains dropper resistor shows no sign of heat damage and the UL41 looks new, so the set must have seen little if any use.

The only minor problem is the instructions. A previous owner decided to re-inforce the edges and folds of the "manual" using selotape, which is now falling off leaving behind stained paper.
WHERE FOUND January 2004 Radiophile auction at Wetwood for £150.

Top chassis view [23K]
Under chassis view [19K]


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Last updated
1st February 2004