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February/March 2014
Issue No. 147
ISSN 0956-974X
The GEC Transistomatic Radio-Camera
Operation Biting – The Bruneval Raid To Steal
The Würzburg Radar
Eddystone 770R/2 Communications Receiver
Masteradio 700 Restoration
www.radiobygones.com
MUSEUM PIECES
The IKEA view of the Masteradio 700 – see the article in this issue
February/March 2014
Issue No. 147
Published 31 January 2014
ISSN 0956-974X
Editor
Mike Kenward
Internet Woes
About a month or so ago we started to have problems with our Internet
connection. Around five in the afternoon the connection would slow to the
extent that it became unusable and this would last until around 10.30 or 11.00
at night. We contacted Orange (our service provider) and BT who supply the
phone line, but both companies said there were no problems and we were
advised to check our wi-fi hub – this checked out ok. The problem went on
for a couple of weeks and was very frustrating as we use email extensively for
business etc.
One night my wife was trying to use the iPad when we retired to bed and the
connection suddenly ‘woke up’ – “just like someone had turned a switch”, she
remarked. Then the penny dropped – what had I just switched off?
Editorial and Subscription
Offices
Radio Bygones
Wimborne Publishing Ltd
113 Lynwood Drive
Merley
Wimborne
Dorset BH21 1UU
England
Telephone: 01202 880299
Fax: 01202 843233
Email
radiobygones@wimborne.co.uk
Website
www.radiobygones.com
China Export
Remember back in
RB137
I rambled on about changing our halogen bulbs
to LEDs? I had changed the six halogen bulbs in the lounge to LEDs about
two weeks previously, turning them off resulted in the wi-fi working again.
The LEDs I had installed were cheaper than the previous ones, were pur-
chased from eBay and supplied by a UK-based company, although they were
obviously of Chinese origin. They were radiating RF sufficiently strongly to
block the wi-fi connection, even with the laptop computer right next to the
wi-fi hub. The LEDs all carried the CE marking, but I note that some people
now suggest this simply stands for ‘China Export’ – enough said.
The LEDs went back for a refund and I informed Trading Standards about
the problem. I notice they were withdrawn from sale soon after I returned
them. They have been replaced by some from Megaman, that have so far
proved to be excellent. For anyone living in an appartment where a neighbour
installed the troublesome LEDs the problem would not have been so easy to
detect or overcome.
Advertisement Manager
Stewart Kearn
113 Lynwood Drive
Merley
Wimborne
Dorset BH21 1UU
Telephone: 01202 880299
Fax: 01202 843233
Email
rbads@wimborne.co.uk
Printed by Crossprint Design &
Print, Newport, Isle of Wight
ON OUR FRONT COVER
The GEC Tansistomatic
Radio-Camera –
see page 3
In This Issue
PRINCIPAL FEATURES
OTHER ITEMS
3
8
The GEC G822 Transistomatic Radio-Camera
by Stef Niewiadomski
Operation Biting – The Bruneval Raid To Steal
The Würzburg Radar
by Brian Austin, G0GSF
Eddystone 770R/2 VHF Comms Receiver
by Phil Moss
Early Developments Of Solid-State Devices
by Bernard Brodribb
Masteradio 700 Restoration
by Doug Postlethwaite
2
14
21
33
News & Events
34
Bookshelf
35
Book Review
36
Service & Valve Data
DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs
Wireless For The Warrior
Feedback
Free Readers’ Adverts
15
22
26
ADVERTISEMENTS
13 On The Air
13 Chelmer Valve Co. Ltd
36 BVWS
COPYRIGHT
© Wimborne Publishing Ltd. 2014. Copyright in all drawings, photographs and articles published in
Radio Bygones
is fully
protected and reproduction or imitation in whole or in part is expressly forbidden. All reasonable precautions are taken by
Radio Bygones
to
ensure that the advice and data given to readers is reliable. We cannot, however, guarantee it and we cannot accept legal responsibility for it.
RADIO BYGONES No. 147, February/March 2014
1
News & Events
For your diary
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YGONES
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Ray Dolby
Ray Dolby died a few months ago.
This piece was originally written by
Barry Fox for our sister magazine
Everyday Practical Electronics.
I met with Ray Dolby quite of-
ten in the early years when Dec-
ca’s studios were pioneering use of
the professional ‘A’ system and the
consumer ‘B’ version was launched.
Then came the format wars between
rival types of consumer system;
Dolby B, C, dbx, DNR, ANRS and
Telefunken’s High Com. During this
time I always found him patient and
gentlemanly, never wanting to be too
critical of the rival systems. He just
presented the facts.
I remember his strong sense of de-
cency and fair play. One year at CES
in Chicago he just couldn’t under-
stand why a US journalist had glee-
fully revealed details of what Dolby
Labs was announcing, a few hours
ahead of the official press briefing.
Ray Dolby had a quiet sense of hu-
mour. When he launched Dolby S
analogue noise reduction, he lectured
the UK Institute of Broadcast Sound.
An engineer in the audience asked
him if there were any more, even bet-
ter, systems in the pipeline.
“I like to think we are nearing the
end of the line and can stop design-
ing for a while”, replied Ray Dolby.
‘It must have been like this sever-
al hundred years ago in the Scotch
whisky industry. There came a time
when the blenders said to them-
selves, “hey, let’s stop developing,
and start just enjoying the product.”
And since then, everyone else has
been doing just that”.
More recently, Ray Dolby talked
to the Audio Engineering Society
in New York. Since Dolby Labs was
floated he had retired from research,
but still needed a challenge.
So he said he learned to fly. He’d
flown himself and his wife to New
York from San Francisco in his
eight-seater jet, alone and without
a crew because “that way there’s al-
ways something to think about”.
For local trips, back home in Cali-
fornia, he flew a helicopter. “Aren’t
they tricky things to learn to fly”, he
was asked? “When I was a child I
had no one to teach me how to ride a
bike”, he recalled. “So I just figured
it out by falling off, getting back
on and trying something different.
I don’t want to offend any flight in-
structors, but I found learning to fly a
helicopter much the same”.
Quadruplex video
Before starting Dolby Labs, Ray
Dolby was part of the team at Am-
pex that developed the Quadruplex
video recorder. It was unveiled at
the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago
during the National Association of
Radio and Television Broadcasters
convention in April 1956. Ray Dol-
by had been responsible for the FM
system which Ampex adopted, in-
stead of AM as previously used, and
which made clear pictures possible.
Industry rumours had it that Ray’s
contribution to Quad video had been
undervalued in historical writings.
Years ago I asked him if it was true
that the essential pieces of the jigsaw
had occurred to him ‘like a flash of
light’. Could he explain more? But
he flatly refused to discuss his part in
the team effort, saying “that can wait
until after I’m dead.” So I sincerely
hope he wrote it down for us now to
read.
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MORE ISSUES
Index for
RB1
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RB138
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RB1
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50
and
93
are now out of print.
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CDROM – see our website for details (go
to the ‘Online shop’).
Ray Dolby (1933-2013)
2
RADIO BYGONES No. 147, February/March 2014
DOMESTIC
The GEC G822 Transistomatic
Radio-Camera
by Stef Niewiadomski
Today we are used to ‘integrated’
consumer products, such as iPhones,
with phones, cameras (still and moving),
Internet access, and so on, all built into
a single unit. ‘Old technology’ devices
with combined functions are relatively
rare. I thought this GEC radio with a
camera attached was worthy of buying
on eBay, and when it arrived, of sharing
with
RB
readers.
The radio was released in May 1964
at a price of £17 3s 0d, plus purchase
tax (which I believe was around 25% at
the time) giving a grand total of about
£24. This equates to several hundred
pounds by today’s values, so this radio-
camera was quite an investment.
By clever design the radio itself (see
Figure 1)
looks like a camera, made from
a combination of black plastic, silver-
finish plastic and brushed aluminium.
I was surprised at how big it was when
it arrived: at 9-inches wide by 5-inches
high by 2-inches deep (plus another
¾-inch or so for the tuning dial) and
weighing in at 2�½lbs, this is no pocket
trannie or camera! The radio came with a
sturdy neck strap which hopefully can be
Fig.1. Front view of the Transistomatic G822 radio-camera, showing how
the overall appearance is camera-like. The large central knob is for tuning
and the camera lens is to its right. On the top panel are the On-Off/Volume
control (trying to look like a film wind-on knob) and the bandswitch (the
‘shutter release’ button?). An external aerial socket is fitted next to the GEC
logo, and the headphones/external speaker socket is towards the bottom
left-hand side of the front panel
Fig.2. Front view of the radio with the camera dismounted. The flash shield has been extended and the camera is
propped up on one of its two Ever Ready HP16 batteries
RADIO BYGONES No. 147, February/March 2014
3

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