Richard, F4WCD/ZS6TF has found this brochure ” Proof of Eddystone Supremacy ” dated 1934 which lists Testimonials from Stratton customers world-wide (including some very exotic places), stating how pleased they are with their purchase of Eddystone All Wave receivers. The back page has a list of 105 countries which have purchased Eddystone receivers. I have filed is in the Technical/Technical Information folder.
Howard Turner, of Centre Electronics, now silent key.
Howard Turner, known to many of us as the owner of Centre Electronics in Birmingham and as a dealer in vintage Eddystone radio receivers and valves, sadly passed away this October after a short illness, aged 80 years. Over the past several decades, many of us met Howard at the numerous radio rallies held throughout the country, or at his shop in South Yardley, Birmingham which was a cornucopia of electronics treasures and where a bargain was always to be had. Howard is survived by his wife and business partner, Maureen, and son Christopher. His Funeral Service was held at St Giles’ Church, Exhall, near Coventry on 22nd November 2021 and was attended by family and friends, including some of his old customers. There were numerous floral tributes including one from the Eddystone User Group.
Howard was born in 1941 near the village of Catherine-de-Barnes, Solihull. Eventually the family moved to Balsall Common and at aged 15 years, Howard left Lode Lane School and started work as a cabinet maker in a local furniture factory. However in the early 1960s the factory closed down and Howard found employment with a local builder and thus learnt his trade as a bricklayer/builder which was to be his main occupation for the next 20+ years. However in the 1980s, Howard become disillusioned with the building industry and decided to start a new venture.
Since the age of 10, Howard, with the encouragement of a local farmer, Mr Arthur Blaymire, developed an interest in Electronics and Radio. Howard was self-taught, reading books and magazines, asking questions of anyone who could help and sometimes servicing his friend, Mr Blaymire’s, television. Mr Blaymire and his brother Percy were amongst the early pioneers of radio in the 1920s so like many of that generation, were equipment was experimental and often self-built, they were good teachers to Howard.
Eventually Howard put his vast knowledge to good use by starting a brand new venture in the 1980s with Maureen, dealing with radio and test equipment and electronic parts at a shop in Stockfield Road, South Yardley, Birmingham. Thus Centre Electronics was born. With the help of their friend, Paul Bicknell, G8KFW, they gain a contract for servicing and repairing radio equipment for the London Fire Brigade. Simultaneously with the shop business, Howard and Maureen would be regular stall holders at radio rallies up and down the country and sometimes overseas, selling Eddystone and other rare sets and parts. It was at these rallies that he would meet Eddystone collectors, many of whom were to become his customers and, not a few, firm friends for life.
I first met Howard around 1990, when I was managing director of Eddystone Radio in Birmingham. We had already started to support the Eddystone User Group and Howard heard through a friend of mine that we were going to close down our service department for sets more than 15 years old, which meant that we had a large quantity of radio valves for sale. He came and saw me and we struck a deal for him to buy them and we would direct future customers for them to Centre Electronics. Looking after the valve business was largely in the hands of Maureen who shipped them to customers all over the UK and world-wide. For me that was the start of a life-long friendship with Howard and Maureen.
In 1993, Tony Sale, and other experts, were proposing re-building the Mark 2 Colossus computer at Bletchley Park, secret home of the war-time Codebreakers. Colossus was the world’s first programmable electronic computer. Its sole purpose was to help decipher the Loren encrypted (Tunny) messages sent between Hitler and his top generals during the war. Churchill had decreed that all machines, plans and drawings of Colossus, which was designed by Post Office engineer Tommy Flowers, should be destroyed after the war for security reasons. Thus the challenge that Tony Sale and his team set themselves in 1993 was enormous. Howard and Maureen responded to Tony’s request for help obtaining valves and rare components through their numerous contacts and were able to help Tony with this important project which was eventually finished in 2008. It is on permanent display at Bletchley Park. Howard and Maureen carried on the business at Centre Electronics until Howard’s retirement in 2004.
After his retirement, Howard pursued his other interests, one of which was restoring vintage and classic cars. This hobby was inspired, when as a boy walking along the lanes with his mother, one of their neighbours, who was a doctor, drove past in his brand new Jaguar XK120 sports car. Howard told his mother that “when I grow up I am going to get myself one of those “. Howard restored many classic cars from his retirement, right up until his passing this year. I well remember him coming to the Eddystone factory several times in a Jaguar which was his favourite marque. He was also a “black powder” enthusiast, collecting, restoring and shooting flintlock muskets with a group of friends.
Sadly in February 2021, Howard was suddenly struck down with an illness that which was diagnosed as Mesothelioma (also known as asbestosis), most likely contracted all those years he was in the building industry. Once diagnosed Howard’s health declined very quickly despite the best efforts of the NHS and he was eventually admitted to the Marie Curie Hospice where he passed away on 31st of October. Howard was a real character, who will be fondly remembered by many of us. RIP Howard and be assured that your life made a difference and the world was a better place for you being in it. You will be missed.
Chris Pettitt G0EYO
3/12/2021
It is with great sadness we heard of the recent passing of Howard Turner, lately proprietor of Centre Electronics, Stockfield Road, Yardley, Birmingham. Howard has been part of the Eddystone enthusiasts scene for more than 40 years. Specialising in Eddystone and Racal sets, he was a familiar face for many years at the Radio Rallies held around the country pre-Covid. He was often accompanied by his wife Maureen who also helped him with the business. Howard was diagnosed with mesothelioma (a form of asbestiosis) earlier this year.
Howard’s funeral will be held on Monday 22nd November at 2pm at Saint Giles Church, Exhall, Coventry, CV7 9GZ. The church is close to the M6/A444 Junction but from map it looks like it might be easiest to go via Coventry Building Society Arena where there is also a train station.
Flowers can be sent to Howard’s home or the church. If being sent to Howard’s home they must arrive by 12:00. The family are using: Shellie’s Flowers, Arden Oak Rd., Sheldon, Tel 0121 743 3021
Because Howard was so well known amongst Eddystone Users, we will be posting his obituary to this website after the funeral. RIP Howard.
There was a little excitement on the EUG groups.io forum this week when a member spotted a rare Eddystone S910/1 marine receiver badged as a Marconi HR101. It eventually sold for the amazing sum of £487 which shows both its rarity and the fact that it was hard fought over. Graeme’s G3GGL QRG entry states that “this set is a double superhet with interpolation tuning of first IF stage. Very similar in operation to the 830- series but in general appearance much like the 730-series. Contains 16 valves, 6 bands; coverage 1.5-30Mc/s and 375-525kc/s. First IF 1350-1450kc/s; second IF 85 kc/s. Production run 200. Very rare” Graeme didn’t have access to a picture of the set for the QRG but the seller was kind enough to provide one in his sale offer. The seller Ray G4NSJ from Worthing stated that “the receiver works but is a little deaf. Also, SSB reception isn’t quite right so that will need looking at. It probably needs a good overhaul, alignment, replacing capacitors etc.” The set looks in nice cosmetic condition considering it is 60 years old. Bet someone on this forum knows where it has ended up. 
Chris G0EYO Admin
Ian Nutt M0ECQ, who has provided a “not-for-profit” spares service for the Eddystone User Group for many years, has advised me that he has quite a sizeable stock of component parts for the switch wafers commonly used on Eddystone receivers and has the necessary tools for forming the hollow rivets used to hold the various parts in place. Ian has recently made a replacement wafer for an EUG member which is shown in the photo. The new one is on the right.
Ian tells me he may be able to repair other switch wafers for Eddystone users, (but he can’t guarantee it will always be possible).
Ian proposes the following procedure for those interested in this service
Ian also has quite a few original NOS wafers in various styles including for some of the more modern sets, so it is worth checking with him if you need a replacement
Chris G0EYO EUG Admin
Victor Jenkins, who wrote the recent excellent article on modifying the AGC system on his S940, has also written of his experiences in solving a loss of sensitivity and a tracking error on the same receiver which he tracked down to an earthing problem. His investigation and solutions make a very interesting article which he has shared with us. You can find the article in the Restoration section.
Recent Forum discussions have covered tuning the AGC system on older Eddystone sets and Victor Jenkins has designed a modification which enables you to select a suitable AGC decay time for different modes, i.e. Off/AM/SSB. With encouragement from Gerry O’Hara, I am pleased to reveal that Victor has produced an excellent article on his modifications which, he assures us can be removed in only a few minutes to take the set back to original form. Victor did this work on the 940 but he thinks it could also apply to other sets. The article is in the Restoration section of the website.
The EC10 “Seaguide” variant has been the subject of much discussion in the Eddystone User Group over the years. It was a variant of the EC10 series of receivers but badged for Marconi Marine. Graeme doesn’t mention it in the “Quick Reference Guide” so we don’t know how many were made. There are a few sets, whose existence is known about, in collections and certainly Ben has one in the Military Wireless Museum. Richard GM0OGN kindly provided us with a copy of the Instruction Manual for this set and we have added it to the Service Manual list on this website. The set has a DF facility which can be used with either a rotating loop or Bellini-Tosi fixed loop and Goniometer type antenna system. The set covers the frequency range 150kHz to 22MHz in five bands.
Thanks to Alan Ainslie we have now added Sections 4 & 5 to the 1650/9 Service Manual in the Service Manual & Handbooks section of the website.
Interesting extract from a recent California Historical Radio Society Newsletter sent in by Gerry O’Hara VE7GUH concerning the radio room on the Queen Mary, now a ship hotel in Long Beach. One of the pictures shows the Stratton built IMR54 aka as the Eddystone S700. The article is about Nate Brightman K6OSC, whom the Radio Room on the QM is named after. Nate went SK in 2016 aged 99 years. Nate operated as K6OSC for nearly 60 years and served as president of the board of directors of the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach. The Queen Mary club station W6RO started operation in 1979 and Nate managed it until his retirement in 2013. The picture of the IMR54 in the EUG Quick Reference Guide produced by Graeme Wormald G3GGL (SK) is attributed to Nate Brightman. The article is reproduced with kind permission of the California Historical Radio Society and our thanks to Gerry O’Hara for finding the article and obtaining permission to add to our website in the “Eddystones in Famous Places” section.