Released in 1960, this valve radio has always held a prominent place in my grandparents’ living room. I spent countless hours retuning it to discover radio stations beyond the BBC broadcasts they favored. With its long, medium, and VHF wavebands, there was a plethora of stations to explore. I was gifted this radio sometime in the late 1980s, and to this day, I still possess it, and it continues to function flawlessly.
The front glass is broken, but fortunately, the larger missing piece shown in this picture is safely tucked inside. I aspire to one day replace the glass; although I’m unsure when it was broken, I distinctly recall the cracks around the dials from my childhood days.
The label on the back indicates it’s a B3G 9U, but I haven’t been able to find any reference to that specific model; only the B3G99U seems to match. There’s a noticeable mark where the other 9 should be, suggesting that over time, it has somehow faded or disappeared.
The sticker on the inside of the back cover displays the layout and model numbers of the valves.
As much as I would love to obtain a replacement glass and refurbish the radio to its original glory, given that it still functions, I’m hesitant to make any alterations. Moreover, restoring it to a like-new condition might entail replacing some of the original components with modern equivalents, which doesn’t quite sit right with me.