Emerson 555 (1959)

Emerson started life a phonograph company in 1915 by a Columbia records employee Victor Emerson in New York. This radio dates from 1959 and was produced in London and had an extra Long Wave range on the dial for UK & Europe, the front and rear were made in see through plastic and spayed gold on the inside giving it a durable clean look. An identical version was also made under the Marconi name in the UK.The simple tuning dial was like a clock face having also a protective front. I purchased this one quite cheap as it was dead and had a few chips to the underside where the back had been squeezed to hard when changing batteries over the 60 years or so it's lasted.

Using 6 'OC' series Mullard transistors; 3 in RF, and 3 in sound amplification with a 6 volt HT and a positive earth. The first thing I checked as no sound at all from speaker, was the speaker was OK, then the earphone socket speaker switch, they were both fine and so was the on/off switch. Next I checked the HT decoupling components, as if they go open then the oscillator makes the HT unstable and shuts some circuits down. Easily done by putting a 50 uF from R15 100ohm to chassis to check, bingo she sprung back to life. I replaced C19 & C20. Next the bandswitch was jammed, I dismantled it to clean and straighten one bent terminal holding the switch in one spot. To do this the speaker need to be removed from the print 3 screws (one hole left open for back screw) The switch is held together by two bent aluminum bars, once straightened you can pull up contacts for cleaning and access.

50 uf HT decoupling was O/C (left) and Band switch was jammed, but removed by straightening pins as shown

When repairing old stuff you will encounter damage made by previous owners or repair men, this radio was no exception, the lose rear had been held in place by a lump of cold tar (from a roofing contractors bucket I expect) It had gone hard and was as heavy as the batteries, so I removed that. The front was hanging off, two plastic clips had been broken that held it in place, the whole of the loudspeaker was covered by an envelope folded in half? blocking most of the sound from getting out.

Nice gold finish to the rear of the pocket set from 1959. One of the first US transistor designs to see the UK market.

With all it warts removed I re-fitted all the cabinet pieces back together, print is held by clips on the left and 1 screw center right. Battery spring bar stretched to make the battery's fit tighter was done, switch cleaner to the on/off switch and volume control- now all I need is somewhere to display it?