Recently on Ebay UK there was a Beo610 / TR26. It was described as sort of working and that it had had a home made power supply fitted to it. As it looked in good cosmetic condition and had its original manual and aerial I thought I would take a chance and have a bid thinking that it would sit in a cupboard and one day get sorted out.

Having a day off today I thought I would have a quick look at it and I put some batteries in it and after a tiny bit of contact spray it works perfectly and sounds really good.

The "home made" power supply looks basically period. If the numbers on the parts are a date then they are from 1968. It seems very good (Im no expert though) and fits in the case perfectly and is not visable. There is also a mains switch and fuse underneath. Although not original, it makes the set much better for day to day use than not having it. The power is connected to the chassis by the correct type of plug as the original power pack would be. Could an original power pack have failed and none been available so this was installed instead?

The Chassis was left totally alone as it sounds good.

On to the outside.

A quick wipe down then a couple of coats of oil had the wood looking great. The dial and surround both in really good order and the leather cloth is perfect. The case has a date of 11th March 64 where as the switches are dated 30th November 63 so the bits were on the shelf for a while. The knobs are undamaged.

And all back together.

Whilst plaing with this I had a thought. These are often said to have been for fishermen because of the shortwave frequencies available, but surely this would have been a bit fancy for a fishing boat. I would have thought it would fit in a lot better in a luxury yacht, especially with the white colourscheme.

Am I happy, YES!

beaker:

Whilst plaing with this I had a thought. These are often said to have been for fishermen because of the shortwave frequencies available, but surely this would have been a bit fancy for a fishing boat. I would have thought it would fit in a lot better in a luxury yacht, especially with the white colourscheme.

I believe the story was that these were rather for fishermen's wives who could listen to the traffic, and perhaps have a clue when to put the kettle on In the boat, you would've wanted a radio that transmits as well.

Lovely to see one of these being taken care of! The power supply seems indeed very much like something that could've been constructed in the 60s. Hard to say from the pictures of course, but to me it seems like it was built by somebody who knew what he was doing - just ensure that the live parts and connections are well insulated and spaced from the low voltage components, and I would expect it to be quite safe to use.

What a nice set and what a truly exceptional condition.
That power supply seems to be built using "B&O"-style components.

Be careful with that rare rabbits ears antenna, it's worth a small fortune, easily more than the BEO. 

Nice restoration job !

Martin

Very nice.  Congratulations.

Beautifull! Wish I had the antenna for my Beo....

Question, is the antenna specially made for the Beo 610?

Dillen:

 

Be careful with that rare rabbits ears antenna, it's worth a small fortune, easily more than the BEO. 

 

Really! Why? Is it that they fit on these slightly earlier bits or is there something else special about them?

Leslie, it was the beautiful pictures that you posted up of yours that made me purchase this. So its your fault

beaker:

Leslie, it was the beautiful pictures that you posted up of yours that made me purchase this. So its your fault

What can I say