Bush was one of the major British manufacturers, and produced a wide range of sets. There are more Bush sets in my collection than any other make, and they are definitely my favourites. From my experience the majority of their sets (from the mid-40s onwards) were well designed - but there are a couple of notable exceptions!

Chas E. Miller said:

Bush introduced the idea of series-heater valves in chassis that could readily be adapted for either AC or AC/DC operation in the late '30s and early '40s but the idea got really into its stride just after the war. The great advantage from the manufacturing point of view was that all that had to be done to make an AC/DC set into a nominally AC-only set was the substitution of a small auto-transformer for the dropper and a small alteration to the dial lamp wiring. The auto-transformer was no bigger than a standard output transformer and obviously much cheaper to make than a standard mains transformer.

Incidentally, from about 1946 to 1950 the same basic circuit was used in nearly all Bush domestic sets from the DAC90A through large table sets to radiograms. Shorn of the mains power supply components it even appeared in a battery portable set!

N.B. Bush was one of the better manufacturers, especially before the war and the firm's sets were made with honest workmanship. It originally belonged to the Gaumont-British Film Co. and later passed into the hands of the Rank Organisation.

A recent message in the forum requested information about reproducing the Bush logo. Peter Hughes kindly scanned a page from a book showing the dimensions etc., and emailed it to me. Please click here to see it.

AC11 (and DAC11)

Wavebands - SW, MW, LW Valves - UCH42, UF41, UBC41, UL41, UY41 Date - 1949 Status - Contributed photo

This photo was kindly supplied by James Coles.

Despite the use of series-heater valves, the AC11 is an AC only set. The heaters are connected in series and operated from a suitable tapping on the secondary of the mains transformer. The full secondary voltage is half-wave rectified by the UY41 to give the HT supply.

The reason for this arrangement, according to the Trader service sheet, was that it allowed the set to be modified for use on DC mains by replacing the transformer with a suitable dropper resistor. The modified set would then be a DAC11.

Since DC mains was not common in 1949, I would be surprised if very many sets were actually modified in this way (I certainly have not come across one). I suspect that the real reason was so that Bush could use the same valve types as their other sets of that period, while having the advantages of an AC only design (such as higher HT voltage and cooler running).

The set does give good sound quality (certainly better than the DAC10 and DAC90), and the cabinets generally seem to survive the years better than some.

AC31

Wavebands - LW, MW, SW Valves - ECH42, EBF80, EL41, EZ41 Date - 1952 Status - Contributed photo and description

Colin Carmichael provided the photograph and the following description:

The chassis in this set appeared in many other Bush sets in the 50s. For example the AC41. The only notable difference being the dial layout and the extra control at the front. There are AC/DC versions too.

Typical Bush with good build quality and performance. Short wave is reasonable for a short superhet. Nice cabinet too!

AC34 (and DAC34)

Wavebands - SW, MW, LW Valves - UCH42, UF41, UBC41, UL41, UY41 Date - 1953 Status - Shown for information only

This set is similar in appearance to the AC41 below, the main difference being the recessed area of lighter coloured wood around the controls. Internally it is one of the sets mentioned by Chas above, which use a series-heater valves with a transformer. It could be made as an AC/DC version with very few changes. The AC/DC version is the DAC34.

This photo was taken from the Past Times Radio website

AC41

Wavebands - SW, MW, LW Valves - ECH42, EBF80, EL41, EZ40 Date - 1954 Status - Contributed description

Mark Else provided the following description:

A fairly standard 3 band superhet until it is used with a gramophone pickup. When this is selected ('Gram' on the wavechange switch), the triode section of V1 (the local oscillator when used in 'radio mode') is configured as a preamplifier for the pickup. The amplified output from the anode is switched to the top of the volume control for passing to the AF output pentode. Also unusual is the use of a double-diode pentode, incorporating the detectors with the IF amplifier.

AGC is generated by its own diode section in V2. Oddly, although a full-wave rectifier valve is used to provide the HT it is configured in a half-wave manner.

This photo was taken from the Past Times Radio website

AC91

Wavebands - MW, LW Valves - CCH35, EF39, EBC33, CL33, CY31 Date - 1946 ? Status - Repaired one for a customer

This uses the same cabinet as the DAC90 below, but with an AC chassis. Consequently it runs cooler and doesn't suffer from the DAC90 problem of heat damage to the back.

Many AC91s have a moulded speaker grill, like the one in the photo on the right. There seems to be a lot more DAC90s around than AC91s. Presumably the DAC90 was cheaper to make and therefore cheaper to sell? Or maybe customers did not like the moulded grill?

These photos were found somewhere on the Internet

BAC31

Wavebands - LW, MW Valves - DK92, DF91, DAF91, DL94 Date - 1953 Status - Contributed photo and description

Brian Millson provided the photograph and the following description:

This is a 4 valve mains/battery set from 1953. I picked up from eBay for £16. The set has been restored by Tim Pullin and works well. It is a fine example of this genre.

Tim Pullin describes the repair of one of these sets in the Recent Repairs section.

DAC10

Wavebands - MW, LW Valves - UCH42, UF41, UBC41, UL41, UY41 Date - 1950 Status - No longer in my collection

This set has become something of a classic! It features three presets (2 for MW and 1 for LW) as well as manual tuning. The rear panel is Bakelite and has a similar grill to that on the front.

There is a carrying handle behind the tuning scale, but this seems to be too far back for good balance. When lifted this way the set tends to tip away from the hand, and could easily be dropped - which could explain why so many examples seem to have cracked or broken cases.

A notable feature internally is the speaker, which is very slim due to the magnet being positioned inside the cone rather than behind it. A normal speaker would not fit in the cabinet, so replacement could be a problem. Having said that, spares from scrap sets do seem to be available sometimes (I have one if anyone is desperate).

I have repaired a few of these sets, and the sound quality seems to vary greatly between identical sets. This is due solely to the quality of the speakers used; some are quite good while others are rather shrill.

Despite their popularity, I am not particularly keen on the DAC10, and would not buy one unless I was able to sell it on once it was restored. They may be distinctive in appearance, but the performance is mediocre, and I feel the set is overrated.

Details of Tim Pullin's repairs to a DAC10 are in the Recent Repairs section.

DAC70

Wavebands - MW, LW Valves - UCH81, UF89, UBC81, UL84, UY85 Date - 1958 ? Status - No longer in my collection

This low cost (by Bush's standards) set gives surprisingly good sound quality. This is probably partly due to the use of a "proper" pentode output valve (UL84) rather than the combined triode/pentode valve (such as UCL82) used on many cheaper sets. The set also has a wooden speaker baffle board, which would help too.

The main problem with these sets is that the heat from the dial lamp (a 15W mains pigmy bulb) is sufficient to distort and sometimes melt the plastic tuning scale and surround. There is a 560R wirewound resistor in series with the lamp, and this will often be found to be open circuit (or linked out with wire).

The case is identical to the VHF90A shown further down this page.

This photo was taken from the Past Times Radio website.

DAC90

Wavebands - MW, LW Valves - CCH35, EF39, EBC33, CL33, CY31 Date - 1946 Status (black) - Repaired two for customers Status (ivory) - Contributed photo and description

This set is very similar in appearance to the DAC90A below. The way to tell them apart is to look at the position of the knob on the right side of the cabinet. On the DAC90, it is in the centre while on the DAC90A it is towards the bottom.

The DAC90 is an earlier version, and uses international octal valves. The dropper resistor is contained in an asbestos lined shield, and suitable care must be taken if it needs to be disturbed. A common problem with these sets is that the back is burnt and crumbling away in the top corner behind the dropper.

Colin Carmichael provided the photograph of the ivory DAC90 and the following description:

Brilliant little Bakelite sets which give great performance and are equally well made and reliable. This is the rare ivory version.

This was the first version and the later version, the DAC90A (below), was released in 1950. They were also made in brown or black Bakelite (above).

This photo of the black DAC90 was scanned from the book Bakelite Radios.

DAC90A

Wavebands - MW, LW Valves - UCH42, UF41, UBC41, UL41, UY41 Date - 1950 Status - Brown one in my collection

Like the DAC10 above, this set is also something of a classic. The circuitry is very similar to that used in the DAC10, but without the preset tuning. The set uses a conventional speaker, which gives a notable improvement in quality over the DAC10. Given the choice of a DAC10 or a DAC90A, I would go for the 90A every time!

I bought the brown one shown above in the auction at the Summer 2004 Wootton Bassett swapmeet for £50. This seems to be about the going rate for these sets now - unless of course you are buying on eBay! It came complete with the proper Bush mains connector and lead. The cabinet polished up nicely with some Bake-o-bryte. The tuning scale is in excellent condition, as is the back.

Details of the repair of this set are available here.

The photo of the white DAC90A was taken from the Past Times Radio website

MB60

Wavebands - MW, LW Valves - DK96, DF96, DF96, DAF96, DL96 Date - 1957 Status - Repaired for a customer

This set looks very similar to the more common TR82C Bush transistor set. The only visible difference is the presence of a mains input connector on the rear panel. The set I repaired had grey sides whereas the transistor versions are generally dark blue or brown.

Unlike the TR82C, the MB60 is designed to operate from mains or internal batteries. Of course, the batteries are no longer available, but mains operation is convenient and the sound quality is reasonable for a set using this series of valves. The set uses a mains transformer rather than the more usual dropper resistors encountered in mains/battery sets, so it runs cool and is more reliable.

Thanks to Past Times Radio for the internal photos.

SUG3

Wavebands - LW, MW, SW Valves - CCH35, EF39, EBC33, CL33, CY31 Date - 1947 Status - Contributed photo and description

Brian Millson provided the photograph and the following description:

Console 4-valve LW/MW/SW set dating from 1947. It has a large speaker and sounds very good. I purchased it from a radio shop in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

VHF41

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - EF80, EF80, ECH81, EF85, EABC80, EL84, EZ80 Date - 1954 Status - No longer in my collection

This was one of Bush's first attempts at a VHF radio, and was released to coincide with the launch of VHF broadcasts in the UK. Consequently, it is not one of their better sets, although it is a creditable effort. This is partly due to the valves that were available at the time - the valves used in later VHF sets (ECC85, EF89) were not yet available.

For best results, the two EF80s and the EF85 need to be in good order. New valves will often bring about an improvement even if the originals test OK on a valve tester. This applies to any set that uses this valve lineup.

The set gives very good sound quality on strong signals, but struggles more than most on weaker stations. Some local stations (which use lower quality transmitters and greater modulation) will cause some distortion even when the set is properly aligned. Connecting a 10K resistor across the primary of each of the VHF IF transformers flattens the response a little, which will bring about some improvement here, at the expense of a bit of gain.

Note that the IF in this set is 19MHz instead of the usual 10.7MHz. An interesting circuit feature is that the AM local oscillator triode is used as an additional audio preamplifier on VHF.

The cabinet is very similar to the AC41 and DAC41 shown above. Thanks to Jon Evans for the photo.

VHF54

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - EF80, EF80, ECH81, EF85, EABC80, EL84, EZ80 Date - 1955 ? Status - Information only

The repair of this set by Ranulph Poole is described in the Recent Repairs section. The cabinet is very similar to the AC34 shown above.

Photo kindly supplied by Ranulph Poole

VHF61

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - ECC85, ECH81, EF89, EF89, EABC80, EL84, EZ80, EM81 Date - 1956 Status - In my collection

This was one of Bush's attempts at a "Continental" style receiver, with piano-key switches and chrome trim on the knobs.

The set is infested with those dreadful Hunts Mouldseal capacitors, all of which will need replacing to get good stable operation on VHF. Even then the performance is a little disappointing - partly due to the small speaker used. Also, the sound level is lower on VHF than on MW and LW, so one has to remember to turn the volume down before changing wavebands.

However I have recently obtained another example of this set, having sold the one in the photo some time ago. My previous set had an RS replacement output transformer, whereas may current one has an original transformer, so it will be interesting to hear whether this has any affect on the performance and sound quality (I suspect it will).

Simon Hockenhull said:

You mention the problem on the Bush VHF61 about difference in volume between VHF and the AM bands. Mine is exactly the same with the VHF volume much lower than that of the AM bands, with fair quality on all wavebands. I checked last night and it looks like the output transformer is the original.

I bought my current example in the auction at the Summer 2001 Wootton Bassett swapmeet for around £18. I spoke to the seller (we were both helping with the auction lots on the stage) and he said it was working fairly well on MW and LW, but noisy and distorted on VHF. I haven't tried it myself yet, bit from his description it obviously needs a load of capacitors replacing.

The main problem externally with these sets is that the chrome trim on the knobs seems to come away. The knobs are made of a fairly soft plastic, and often become slightly distorted over the years. Since the volume control fits partly inside the tone knob with only a millimetre or so of clearance, the two will often stick at certain points.

I have a bit of a soft spot for these sets - since my grandparents owned one when I was a child.

VHF62

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - ECC85, ECH81, EF89, EF89, EABC80, EL84, EZ80, EM81 Date - 1956 ? Status - In my collection

This set is electrically identical to the VHF61 above. The only difference is that the cabinet is wood whereas the VHF61 cabinet is Bakelite.

I obtained this set for a few pounds in an auction some time ago, and have not yet had a chance to repair and restore it. It is missing several major components, including the mains transformer and most of the valves - so perhaps "rebuild" is a better word than "repair"!.

I would like to thank Stephen Davies for supplying me with a set of suitable knobs, which he got from a scrap VHF71.

I have now obtained a complete VHF61 chassis (from the NVCF a year or so ago for about £10), which will make the job much easier!

VHF64

Wavebands - SW, MW, LW, VHF Valves - ECC85, ECH81, EF89, EF89, EABC80, EL84, EZ81, EM81 Date - 1957 Status - Repaired for a customer

Costing 47gns when it was released, this was clearly a serious radio for the serious radio listener. It features separate bass and treble controls, and an electrostatic tweeter coupled with a good-sized round main speaker.

I repaired one of these for a customer. The only work required was the replacement of loads of Hunts Mouldseal capacitors and some contact cleaner on the waveband switches.

The sound quality was superb! If anything the bass was a bit excessive for today's broadcasts, but this can be calmed with the bass control. Unfortunately the tweeter was not working (this seems to be a fairly common problem with these devices now). However, the main speaker has a very good treble response so this was not a significant problem.

These sets are still popular, in particular with those collectors who want a good quality set for everyday listening.

This photo was taken from Tony Thompson's Vintage Radio World

VHF70

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UF89, UCH81, UF89, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85 Date - Late 1950s Status - Contributed photo

This photograph was kindly supplied by Will Kemp.

VHF71

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UF89, UCH81, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85, UM80 Date - 1958 Status - Contributed photo

This photograph was kindly supplied by John Bean. Details of his restoration of this set are in the Recent Repairs section.

This set is electrically identical to the VHF72 below, except the tweeter is not fitted.

The cabinet is the same as the VHF61 above. Note the pieces of trim either side of the buttons, to fill in the larger cutout, because the VHF61 has 5 buttons and the VHF71 only 4 buttons. The VHF71 is an AC/DC set so the Gram input has been removed.

The VHF71 and VHF72 are clearly newer (and cheaper?) versions of the VHF61 and VHF62 respectively.

VHF72

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UF89, UCH81, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85, UM80 Date - 1958 Status - Repaired for a customer

The cabinet is nearly identical to the VHF62 shown above, but the chassis is a smaller AC/DC type identical to that fitted in the VHF71 above. The circuit is very similar to that used in the VHF91 below - but then a lot of Bush sets used very similar circuits. You may notice that this set has one less button than the VHF62 - this is because the Gram input has been omitted. The set has an electrostatic tweeter speaker - and surprisingly it was working in the set I repaired (normally they are dead). This model sounds really good when it is working properly.

VHF80 and VHF80C

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UF89, UCH81, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85 Date - 1960 Status - 4 or 5 examples in my collection and workshop

This was the first valve set I obtained, and is still one of my favourites. For an AC/DC set, the sound quality is very good. If you want a set to listen to, rather than to look at, the VHF80 is a good choice. They aren't difficult to repair either, although there quite a lot of Hunts capacitors to replace.

For some reason these sets do not seem to be very popular with collectors, because they often sell for next-to-nothing in auctions. As well as the restored example in my collection, I have a few others in the workshop, waiting to be restored or stripped for spares. They cost me about £2 each in auctions, and I bought them because nobody else seemed interested (they are worth that for the valves alone)! Some parts have already been sent to other collectors who needed them.

The circuit is slightly unusual, in that one of the UF89 valves is positioned before the UCH81 AM mixer-oscillator. This UF89 therefore acts as an RF amplifier on MW/LW and as the first IF stage on VHF. I have not seen this arrangement used elsewhere, but it seems to be very successful in this set.

Being an AC/DC set, it does run fairly hot and the tuning (particularly on VHF) does drift a little as the set warms up. The dial lamps are in the heater chain and, despite the parallel thermistors, become very bright for several seconds while the set is warming up.

The VHF80 has gold trim and a black tuning scale, whereas the VHF80C has white trim and a red scale. I prefer the VHF80C, which also seems to be the more common version. However I now have enough bits to make up a good VHF80 too.

The photo of the gold VHF80 was taken from the Past Times Radio website

VHF81

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UF89, UCH81, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85 Date - 1964 Status - In my collection

Although this set was released about four years after the VHF80 above, it uses the same chassis and circuit. Maybe Bush had a stock of chassis remaining and wanted to use them, or maybe the set was very popular and they wanted to produce a wooden cased brother?

Many of the comments about the VHF80 also apply to this set. The sound quality is excellent; the wooden case helps by enhancing the bass response. The top of the cabinet is fitted with some heat insulating material that helps prevent it becoming too hot, and ensures the heat will not affect the finish.

I repaired one of these sets for a customer some time ago, and would have been happy to keep it!!!

I recently (autumn 2003) purchased this example on eBay - I think it cost me about £25 including the postage. The cabinet is a bit tired, but otherwise it is in very good condition. I have not tested it yet.

VHF90 and VHF90C

Wavebands - MW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UCH81, UF89, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85 Date - 1956 Status - I have repaired several

This, in my opinion, is Bush's greatest electrical design disaster ever! I have seen several of these sets, and they all have the same faults - one of which requires a crude workaround to resolve. The problems are all caused by heat - due to the somewhat daft layout of some of the components.

Full details of these problems, as well as the repairs and modifications needed to get one of these sets working again are described in the Recent Repairs section.

If you are tempted to buy one of these sets for restoration - think carefully! You will be buying yourself a load of trouble and frustration - and if the wave change switch operation lever is missing you will have more work trying to fabricate a replacement. However if it is cheap (they normally are) it would be a good source of spare parts - particularly valves, output transformer and speaker which are common to several Bush sets. The VHF tuner module is also a standard Bush assembly, used in most of their radios and radiograms.

The set is fairly common - I have repaired more of these than any other model. It is available in white with a moulded speaker grill and also in black with gold speaker fabric. I think the white version is the nicest looking of the two.

The photo of the white VHF90 was taken from Malcolm Bennetts Vintage Radios website
The photo of the black VHF90 was taken from the Past Times Radio website

VHF90A

Wavebands - VHF Valves - UCC85, UF89, UF89, UF89, UABC80, UL84 Date - 1958 Status - In my collection

This set has the same case as the DAC70 above, but received VHF broadcasts only.

My set was a gift from Jon Evans, who had had it in his collection for many years and done nothing with it. It is fairly dirty and missing the brass trim from the tuning control, but otherwise is on very good condition.

These sets, like the DAC70, normally suffer from a hole or distortion to the top of the tuning scale, due to the heat from the 15W lamp inside. Amazingly, my set has no distortion at all. Someone has fitted a large 1K wirewound resistor in series with the lamp which probably helped. I don't think this is an original factory modification, but is is done reasonably tidily and I will probably leave it there.

Someone has also fitted a coaxial aerial socket to the back of the case. The DC blocking capacitors are mounted on the chassis, on a piece of tag strip. One capacitor has since been linked out. This is all a bit of a bodge and will be removed.

VHF91

Wavebands - MW, LW, VHF Valves - UCC85, UCH81, UF89, UABC80, UL84, UY85, UM80 Date - 1961 Status - No longer in my collection

This is an interesting set. It has a tuning indicator, piano-key switches, a separate Grundig tweeter (high frequency) speaker, and bass and treble controls - all giving the impression of a fairly high quality set. On the other hand, it is an AC/DC set using the U80 series valves that are generally encountered in cheaper sets. This arrangement seemed to become more common in later sets, presumably due to cost (a transformer would be expensive and heavy).

The resulting sound quality is very good, probably due to the speaker arrangement and the use of a good-sized output transformer.

The main problem area seems to be the mains switching section of the piano-key switches. This uses the normal piano-key switch contacts, rather than a proper QMB mains switch section. On my set (which cost just two pounds in an auction) these had been removed by a previous "repairer", and replaced with a horrible toggle switch mounted through the centre of one side. Why are these switches always fitted somewhere prominent, instead of discretely in one corner or at the back? I replaced it with a pair of mains rated microswitches, mechanically linked and fixed to the chassis. A lever was made to operate these from the original mechanism. Repairing the hole in the side of the case was more of a problem.

When dismantling this set, note that the wooden pieces below the chassis should be pivoted out once the chassis fixing screws are removed, to allow the chassis to drop down so that the piano-key knobs will clear the bottom of the dial glass. There are no plugged connections between the chassis and remote components, so if you don't want to unsolder anything you will have two speakers, the output transformer, tape output socket, tuning indicator and MW/LW aerial all attached to the chassis by wires!

VHF94

Wavebands - SW, MW, LW, VHF Valves - unknown Date - Early 1960s ? Status - Contributed photo and description

Brian Millson provided the photograph and the following description:

This set is almost a twin of the VHF 64 of 1957 but dates from the early sixties. It has 7 valves and 3 speakers including an electrostatic tweeter. I got it for £26 on eBay and it was recently restored by Tim Pullin.

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