The overhauled radios are just that,  all that you need to do when you open the box is to find somewhere to place the set,  attach an aerial if needed,  and plug it into the mains or fit the batteries. They work at the very least as well as the day that they left the manufacturers factory all those years ago.  The physical appearance is restored to the highest possible standards.  Safety and reliability are of the uppermost importance in all our work.

All overhauled items that leave our workshop come complete with a full six month guarantee which also includes the valves  and semiconductors.

The project radios are for people with an electronics background who would like to have a go at DIY wireless restoration.  They are checked for completeness,  and for any obvious faults.  It should be accepted that they will need repair and restoration  before they will work reliably.  A full description of the set is given with pictures so that you can get an idea of the work involved.  There is also a difficulty rating, which we allocate to make it easier for you to decide whether or not this project is for you.  If we have the service information for this set,   it will be included with the radio at no extra charge. You can also request a copy of this service information by email.   Scroll down for an explanation of the difficulty ratings we give a project.

We also offer a full or part restoration service on these items,  for example, if you do not feel confident with your electronics ability,  but you would like to do the cabinet and trim restoration to a set we would quote a price to carry out this work.  If you would like us to do a full restoration on a project radio,  this option is also available.

Project Radio Difficulty Ratings


This is to give you a rough idea how much work is involved in the restoration project radios that we sell,  and to help you decide if it's for you.

The one thing you will find invaluable when fault finding on any vintage radio chassis is a multimeter with a capacitance measurement. 

Wax paper capacitors nearly always go faulty with age,  this will save you a lot of time. 

Easy 

Well nothings really easy unless you know how but if you can read a circuit diagram, understand the basic principles of how they work, and use a soldering iron you should be in with a good chance.  When we give this rating to a project,  it means that

• The circuit is fairly straightforward and standard
  
• It uses common valves or transistors that are still relatively easily obtainable.
  
• The service information is available
  
• You need only the minimum of test equipment (usually just a multimeter)
  
• The set is complete and no vital parts are missing
  
• There should be no difficult alignment procedures.
  
• There should be a minimum of cosmetic work required.
  

• The circuit is more advanced,  such as set's with VHF FM stages.
  
• Special techniques may be required for alignment
  
• May need more advanced test equipment - such as signal generators,  signal tracers and so on.
  
• The case may need more cosmetic work,  such as French Polishing,  or waxing.
  
• Service information is hard to come by,  you might well have to do without it.
  
• More bizarre valves to deal with - this makes it more interesting sometimes.
  
• Complex mechanical arrangements,  such as tuning drives
  

Occasionally,  we offer vintage radio items for online auction using eBay.  Often the starting price of the auction is less than the price of the radio listed on this site.  If you would like to take a look at our current auctions,  click the eBay box.  This will take you to our current items for sale at eBay. Check out our customers feedback to see what they think of our service.   

One thing we also need to mention is that several unscrupulous eBay sellers have been using our photographs and descriptions,  in some cases even pretending to be from Past Times Radio to sell their auction items.  If the listing is not in the name of "pasttimesradio" then it most definitely is a bogus auction and does not originate from this company.