Do you have a cherished wireless that needs a repair ?   Do you have a radio that needs a full ground up restoration ?  You want to put it on display in your house.  You want to turn what some people might call "junk"  into a classic !

Well maybe we can help.

Past Times Radio offers a full repairs and restoration service. 

We operate on a basis that if we take on a job and don't fix the problem,  it does not cost you a penny.  We also give free quotes for work to be undertaken,  your only responsibility is the cost of carriage to and from the workshop.

We carry out all repairs to equipment sympathetically  to preserve authenticity,  whilst ensuring the highest safety standards possible.

All this service is offered for £40 per hour plus parts and carriage costs.  All work is carried out by a qualified electronics engineer with 30 plus years experience in vintage radio and electronics.  Where else in the UK could you get quality electrical repairs for this price ?  We can also work to a quote price if you prefer this.    New for 2019 we can now offer fixed price repairs on certain vintage Roberts, Hacker and Bush radios.  Details to be released soon but if you are thinking of having one of them repaired then please do ask.  Full details to be published soon.

Items repaired and not collected or with an unpaid invoice may be disposed of after a period of 6 months to help recover our losses on the work completed.

We only have one rule,  unfortunately Past Times Radio offers a specialist service and can only deal with Vintage Radio repairs.  Items sent to us should have been manufactured before 1990.  The only exception to this rule is for British made portable transistor radios such as Hacker and Roberts.  We are also quite happy to repair the "revival" range of Roberts portables currently on sale.   No toasters, TV's or microwaves please!

Roberts Radio Technical Services have made Past Times Radio the recommended repair specialist for their entire back catalogue of portable radios.  We are happy to repair all models built in a wooden or covered case, including the R707 and 600 series which many other repairers will not look at.    This is still the case,  some ten years on.

Workshop rates.   Due to the ever increasing cost currently of electricity and fuel in general as of the 1st July 2022 I am having to take the unwanted action of increasing our workshop hourly charge from £35 to £40.

This will apply to jobs booked in after the 1st July 2022.   Items already in the workshop prior to this date will be charged at the old rate of £35 per hour.         
Richard Booth   27/6/22

Box Packing
When you send your radio to be repaired it's very important that you take care packing the box.  First of all you need to get hold of a strong,  preferably double thickness box,  which will give plenty of room all the way around the radio to be packed.  Try your local computer spares shop for boxes  -  they often want to get rid of as many as possible.  The type used for monitors and TV's are perfect.  If you are struggling to locate a suitable double wall box then use two thinner types one inside the other.   

The first thing to do if it's a valve radio is to put a little bit of packing inside the radio case  -  take off the back panel and put some scrunched up newspaper inside the case to help protect the valves,  should they work loose during transport.  One other thing to do is to wind the tuning control so that the tuning capacitor vanes are fully meshed.   Refit the back panel after internal packing.

You should then use something like large bubble wrap and generously wrap the case,  use an excess if it's a Bakelite cabinet.   If it has a glass tuning dial pay attention to this area and give it an extra layer of protection.

Next you should put some packing materials in the bottom of the cardboard box to act as a shock absorbing cushion.   We have an industrial shredder which chews up corrugated boxes into lovely springy material.  You are not likely to have this so I suggest you use some scrunched up newspapers, more bubble wrap or polystyrene chunks.  Put plenty in the bottom of the box.

Always try to pack the radio in the box the right way up, in the same position it would normally be used.  This is important as it reduces possible stresses to the chassis mounting lugs.   There should be no contact at any point between the radio and outer box,  if there is you are asking for trouble ! Pack the rest of it so that the contents are firmly held in place.   

Stick it all down with proper parcel tape,  if you print the address label with an ink jet then waterproof the label with clear tape etc.    Mark it as fragile!

The main thing to remember is that your box is likely to be dropped.  Either by a sorting machine or worse white van parcel man! If you have this in mind when you pack it I'm sure you'll make a good job of it.

For sending packages within the UK without having an contract account we suggest you use www.parcel2go.com for good rates and service.  They use various UK couriers and will collect from your address.  Another useful company with good rates for larger things is www.p4d.co.uk    Another useful parcel booking company is www.interparcel.com   of late we have been using them more often than not.   Good customer service with real humans!

One other thing to mention,  please remove batteries from your transistor radios.

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