Classic Eddystones

'Some of the Highlights of the Fascinating Eddystone Story'

2002 version

Introduction

The Eddystone story begins in Birmingham in 1898 with the firm of Jarrett & Rainsford, pin-maker. Jarrett & Rainsford produced wire products, many for the fashion industry.

In 1898 Jarrett & Rainsford recruited a 15 year-old office boy, George A. Laughton ('G.A.L.'). In 1904 the company expanded into hairpins (hair clips) as fashions for pinned-back hair grew. Laughton was given a job as an assistant manager in 1904, and in 1911 became a full manager of a part of Jarrett & Rainsford. Some of Jarrett & Rainsford's components were supplied by an inebriate, near bankrupt manufacturer: supplies were variable, so Laughton bought him out, using his own money and then formed a new firm called Stratton & Co. A year later (1912) Laughton became a director of Jarrett & Rainsford, and in 1920 Jarrett, Rainsford & Laughton was formed.

Jarrett, Rainsford & Laughton began the expansion of products into jewellery, home crafts kits, fancy goods, etc. But changing fashions in the early 1920's, notably the 'Eton Crop' (a women's short hair style) had a serious effect. In a very short period, hair-pin production fell from 6 tons per week to virtually zero.

Some time around 1920, Laughton's son, a wireless enthusiast, suggested that the firm could begin producing wireless components. There were many amateur experimenters building their own receivers even though there were very few commercial or national radio services on the air.

In Britain, before the BBC, there were a few small commercial wireless transmitters broadcasting to local radio hams. In particular, The Marconi Company operated two stations, 2MT at Chelmsford & 2LO at Marconi House on the Strand in London, and pioneered public service broadcasts. Within a few years many companies had obtained broadcasting licences and had begun limited public transmissions. But Dutch & U.S. services were growing rapidly and could easily be heard in Britiain.

By 1923 Strattons' Balmoral Works in Birmingham was manufacturing radio components, like resistors, tuning capacitors and coils, which were sold world-wide. The brand name 'Eddystone' was chosen, to reflect the renowned solidity and endurance of the famous lighthouse.

1924: The Start of the BBC

In c.1924 'The Eddystone' wireless set was introduced; probably a TRF MW kit using their own, plus bought-in, components. From then on the name 'Eddystone' became interchangeable with Strattons.

In Britain, the General Post Office had the responsibility for post and telecommunications, including conventional and 'wireless' telegraphy services. In 1922 the GPO had rationalised the licensing of the independant radio companies and, through amalgamations, forced creation of the British Broadcasting Company.

By 1924 there were many companies producing wireless sets and many kits were on sale. Eddystone's first wireless (produced in 1924 - probably as a kit) was followed by the 'Eddystone Twin', a medium wave TRF (tuned radio frequency) receiver. This wireless featured 2 triode valves and plug-in coils (it probably also used a bought-in Ferranti transformer). Also in 1924, Eddystone produced the 'Regional One', a one valve receiver, designed specifically to receive the regional BBC broadcasts on Medium Wave.

With the wireless industry expanding rapidly, Strattons decided to capitalise on its popularity and in 1924 set up a national chain of shops, named Webb's Radio Shops, selling a wide range of Eddystone Products.

By 1925 the BBC had a comprehensive Regional Network in place, with much of populated areas Britain being served by medium wave transmissions. However, initially there was confusion about the use of particular wavelengths across Europe. This was later regularised by a Broadcasting Convention.

For many people, early public broadcasts on Long Wave received on crystal or 'cat's whisker' sets. These were built from kits bought for few shillings (now [in 2000] about £20 or $45). Although the new BBC domestic service was growing in popularity, its programmes were rather unexciting. They were often of 'middle class' appeal, and included plays and much classical music.

By this time, short-wave broadcasting was developing quickly, particularly in North America. Also, many of the programmes which could be heard from abroad included popular dance music, not heard often on British radio stations. This resulted in many enthusiasts building or buying equipment which could receive foreign stations.

Around 1927 George Laughton Jnr saw the future of radio to be firmly in the Short Wave (or 'High Frequency') bands and the company began work on a dedicated shortwave receiver. This was launched as the Eddystone 'Short Wave Two', the first British short-wave receiver and the only one then capable of receiving the new BBC short-wave transmissions. It covered 15-85 metres (3.5-20MHz) and featured 2 triodes & plug-in coils.

1927 The Rise of Shortwave

In September 1927 a Surrey Radio Amateur, Gerald Marcuse, obtained a GPO licence (G2NM) to broadcast short programmes to Australia, using 1kW on the 32 metre (9MHz) band. The programmes included news and music. Interest in shortwave communications grew rapidly, especially in the UK and around the British Empire. On 11 November 1927 the BBC started its Shortwave Service from G5SW situated at the Marconi Works at Chelmsford in Essex. It broadcast on the 25metre (11MHz) band with 16kW of power.

1927 also brought technical improvements. Most importantly, Eddystone created a high-grade 'Scientific' tuning condenser. This had a much more linear characteristics plus better shielding, allowing more reliable tuning than previously. Eddystone produced the 'Scientific Three' MW/SW Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) receiver, with 3 triode valves and plug-in horizontal coils, plus the 'Scientific' tuning condenser.

The next year (1928) Eddystone adopted a screened-grid receiver design which was used in the improved 'Scientific Three' (MW and SW) featuring a RF amplifier, triode detector and pentode output, plus plug-in coils and the 'scientific' condenser.

By 1929, shortwave broadcasting had become very popular, with many Continental stations broadcasting 'popular music' programmes, featuring dance music: several even broadcast in English. Music broadcasts from North America, some featuring soon to be famous bands like Duke Ellington, could be received in Europe. These provided a sharp contrast to the BBC's rather 'stuffy' and formal output which strongly featured classical music and serious plays.

In 1929 further developments included the 'Scientific Four' MW/SW TRF receiver featuring four triodes and plug-in horizontal coils, etc.

For British ex-patriots in the colonies shortwave radio began to provide a means of keeping in touch with news from 'Home' and strengthened their ties with the 'Homeland'.

Modern Era - 1930s

The 1930s saw Strattons achieve major expansion into colonial and government markets.

The 'All Wave Four' LW/MW/SW TRF (Tuned Radio Frequency) receiver was introduced in 1930: it covered 12.5-550 metres (0.5-24 MHz), and featured 4 valves and separate RF & detector tuning. Designed mainly for the overseas market, it had a tropicalised die-cast box. 1931 saw the 'Homeland Four' SW receiver kit for amateur construction, probably mainly colonial markets.

The start of the BBC's Empire Service in 1932 was timed to allow the first ever Christmas Day broadcast by King George V. (The Empire Service transmissions were on various bands between 14 and 48 metres). Within a few months Eddystone and Burndept [another wireless kit manufacturer] were battling to produce Short Wave receivers and to win market share: Eddystone won - just.

In addition, Eddystone's 'Universal SW Converter' allowed shortwave broadcasts to be received on any MW receiver; and its 'Ultra SW Converter' allowed the 5 & 7 metre band (then used for television trials) to be received on a SW receiver. These were followed by the Eddystone 'Shortwave Converter' covering 15-32 metres & 29-65 metres, for use with a MW receiver.

Supersonic Heterodyne - 'Superhet'

Although the supersonic heterodyne system of frequency conversion had been invented 1919, in the UK it was regarded as too complicated, expensive & unstable for domestic receivers. This backwards-looking attitude, plus several other problems that beset the British wireless industry at that time resulted in British designs lagging behind those from American and German manufacturers for many years.

The superhet was rediscovered by the big British manufacturers around 1934. Many radio sets soon went on the market with the words 'super' and 'dyne' in their name, including many models that did not use superhet conversion! Eddystone adopted the superhet design in 1934, using it mainly for home market sets; for overseas use the more 'robust' and easier to service TRF design continued for several years.

In 1936 the 'All World Four' became a turning point for Eddystone. It had a good performance and was marketed widely around the British Empire through specialist dealers. Its coverage was 0.14 - 36 MHz, straight-line tuning; supplied in a die-cast compartment case with high screening between the different stages and using high grade components. This radio paved the way to Eddystone's military and commercial receivers which were to be its main area of specialisation for the next 50 years or so.

Military Contracts 1936 - 1938: A Blueprint for Success / VHF Pioneers

In 1936 Eddystone produced an innovative design for military use, the 'ECR'. This receiver covered 1.6-33 MHz in 4 bands; it was a 10-valve superhet design, with switched coil packs, switched tuning ranges, S-meter, bfo, crystal phasing, AVC and bandspread tuning.

The 'ECR' was followed by the 'All World Eight' SW superhet receiver (with plug in coils), designed for general use. Oddly, it was this receiver which was adopted by navy, not the 'ECR'. The 'All World Eight' was built in a commercial version as the 'PLC', and in military and navy versions as the 'R101'. Later in 1936 came the 'ERA 7' superhet broadcast receiver, featuring 7 valves and horizontal rotating scale.

VHF Pioneers

In 1937 Strattons began developing the first portable VHF transceivers. The pilot model was probably the 'Super Shortwave Radio Telephone' of 1937-8.

This equipment operated at around 60MHz and had a nominal range of 5-6 miles, but during tests the factory received a telegrammed QSL report from New York. These transceivers were used on a British Everest expedition in 1937.

By 1938 the 'Eddystone' two-way VHF equipment was being delivered to London's Metropolitan Police as part of their Civil Defence programme, in preparation for war. By July 1939 London was fully covered by the Eddystone system and work was under way to provide similar systems for other major British cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

Strattons' VHF work expanded during the early part of the war as the need for VHF ground-to-air and air-to-air communications grew, particularly for the RAF's Fighter Command and as part of their work on IFF systems. Later still, mobile & portable VHF equipment was of vital importance in the D-Day Landings of 1944 and the subsequent Liberation of Europe.

Eddystones at War

Between 1939 and 1945 Strattons produced their own and other designs: incl. CR100, R1151/55, T1154, etc. under Ministry of Supply contracts. Some Stratton designs were also produced by other companies (eg Marconi).

As for many companies, Strattons produced a wide range of equipment for the war effort, and worked on many new developments. For example, Strattons invented a differential condenser for HF: this lead to their involvement in development of IFF systems (Identification - Friend or Foe) for the RAF.

Strattons VHF systems for military included the '200' base/fixed VHF receiver and accompanying '215' 100W transmitter (60MHz) system for military & civil defence use, plus the '400' VHF single channel portable receiver and '450' single channel 7-9W transmitter.

During the war Stratton's most experienced staff joined the Armed Forces. Increasingly, women took the place of men.

In October 1940 Eddystone's Balmoral Road Works was destroyed in an air-raid. A substitute Jarrett & Rainsford factory was then converted to radio production, but it too was destroyed four weeks later.

The 'Bath Tub' Factory

Production moved to funfair, ballroom and swimming-pool complex at West Heath Lido (colloquially called 'The Bath Tub') and production began in the empty ballroom even before it had been fitted out. Full production was achieved within 3 months. Eddystone continued to use this factory for many years.

Double conversion superhet design became standard for most Eddystone 'professional' receivers in around 1943.

Battle of the Atlantic 1941-1943

Between 1941 and mid-1943 supplies of quality receivers from the USA & Canada (notably RCA, GEC and National HRO receivers) was severely disrupted. These receivers were vital to both military communications and to intelligence-gathering, counter-espionage and surveillance. In their place, and for many of the 'Voluntary Interceptors' and 'Y-Stations' charged with intercepting enemy communications, Eddystone equipment, notably the '358', became a vital piece of communications equipment. Older radios of all types were also pressed into service.

A large proportion of the 'B34' production was destined for use by the Merchant Navy .

'Cold War'

Initially, after 1945, there was little business from the Armed Forces and government. Also, in the post-war 'austerity period' the commercial and domestic markets were very depressed, and much industrial production was for export. The disposal of war-surplus stocks further depressed the home market - and some export markets too.

Strattons withdrew from the two-way VHF market and instead, began to concentrate on the development of professional receivers, initially for HF, but with an eye to the future, for VHF.

In 1946 Eddystone introduced a new class of receivers with a recognisably 'modern' Eddystone style, featuring a 'half-moon' tuning dial and a high specification - the '504'.

1947 saw the beginning of the 'Cold War' following the Berlin Airlift and subsequent closing of the 'Iron Curtain'. The British Government again began ordering receivers for military and diplomatic and surveillance use, and the British GCHQ was formed out of the remnants of the wartime monitoring service: British world-wide surveillance network was pressed into service again.

Special Communications Receivers

In 1948 Strattons began producing high performance receivers aimed directly at government departments (military, diplomatic, meteorology, etc), and at maritime users. Each customer had different requirements, including specific modulation characteristics (eg data modes) , band coverage, filtering, sensitivity or selectivity, and so on. Many were sold to Commonwealth and foreign governments.

Over the next 20 years Eddystone radios were produced for dozens of specific applications and sold widely throughout the world.

'Cold War' and Onwards

In 1958 Jarrett, Rainsford & Laughton changed its name to Laughton & Sons. The subsidiary, Stratton & Co., continued to produce Eddystone Radios. Laughton's other brand, 'Strattons' continued to produce ladies fashion accessories, such as powder compacts, and gents' tie-pins and cufflinks as it had since 1895.

Though many Eddystone radios produced between 1950 and 1973 were destined for military and diplomatic use, the 'Cold War' period also saw the expansion of many scientific and technological programmes: this was the era of major developments in nuclear power, missiles, jet travel, etc.

The space programme and meteorological research relied heavily on radio communications, and the growing telecommunications and broadcasting induustries were exploring the VHF and UHF bands. Eddystones palyed a large role in much of this work.

At the same time, Britain's maritime industry was still world-class and Britain had a large Merchant Fleet.

At that time marine communications relied on long-range, short-wave radio: GPS and satellite communications were still some 40 years away. Eddystone, in association with Marconi produced communications equipment for many shipping lines throughout the world.

Many of these models will be found in the Directory. [Not available]

'Baby' Eddystones

'Baby' Eddystones were used extensively as cabin radios in passenger ships - usually liners, as well as being a quality domestic receivers. They had a similar styling to their larger relatives, though the specifications differed greatly: coverage included long, medium and short wave; to prevent overload, the SW bands usually excluded the frequencies used by ship's transmitters.

VHF and Higher

Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Eddystones played a significant role in the development of VHF and UHF communications. For example, Eddystone radios were used in monitoring space exploration, serving in many observatories such as Joderell Bank. There, Eddystone radios were the first in the west to receive signals from the first artificial satellite, 'Sputnik'.Eddystone receivers were even in service at Cape Canaveral.

Eddystone's involvement with VHF radio (and for a while, television) took the company into the broadcasting market in which it still continues.

Panadapters

Panadapters - panoramic display adapters were cathode-ray tube spectrum display units. They provided a means of displaying the frequency spectrum either side of the receiver's tuned frequency.

The units were particularly useful for frequency monitoring, and were widely used in both surveillance and broadcast monitoring applications for example for scientific and diplomatic purposes, monitoring interference reception analysis, etc.

Panadapters could also be used as 'wobbulators' to assist in the alignmenst of the IF (Intermediate Frequeny) stages of receivers.

Transistors / Latter Days

By the early 1960s transistors were rapidly becoming more available to manufacturers. While valves still had the edge in performance terms, transistors offered many advantages - and Eddystone soon began developing transistorised versions of some of its receivers. By 1965 a new series of fully transistorised radios were being marketed both for the general purpose and some specialist markets. Eddystone developed transistor receivers around 1965, using many of the design concepts of the earlier valved radios.

Valved equipment continued to be developed and produced for a few years for many of the more demanding applications. By 1973, however, the transistor had completely replaced the valve in Eddystone receivers and production of these ceased in 1973.

Eddystone's transistor receivers initially used the same case styles as earlier models, but new models - mostly with 'E' numbers - adopted a much more modern design, such as the EB35 (left).

Early transistor equipment was based around germanium-type transistors. These offered fair performance, but they can show many problems with age. Later, with the move away from germanium to more reliable types, plus the general adoption of printed circuit boards, the radios became more reliable and had significantly better performance.

However, with a major change in marketing strategy, Eddystone dropped the manufacture of general purpose receivers and headed even more positively towards specialist communications equipment such as maritime receivers/transceivers based increasingly on microprocessor controlled systems.

By the end of the 1970s Eddystone radios had changed beyond recognition compared with the start of the decade - but that's another story.

In 1965 Stratton & Co. was sold to the Marconi Group (part of the English Electric Group), becoming Eddystone Radio Ltd.

In 1973 GEC-Marconi Electronics formed by the merger between English Electric and GEC. Eddystone Radio Ltd continued within Marconi Communication Systems Ltd, and the company continued produced communications equipment for professional, broadcast, military and civil use. Eddystone continued in the company's tradition - innovation and specialisation - up to the 1990s. For example, in developing digital broadcasting systems with the BBC.

However, during the later 1990s Marconi-GEC saw the future in broadcast equipment rather than in secure/maritime communications.Eddystone Radio faced hard times, and possible closure, However, in 1999, Eddystone Radio Ltd was sold to Megahertz Communications of Cambridge, England. Megahertz are world-class providers of broadcasting systems.

END OF THE EDDYSTONE HISTORY PAGES

First published in 199 - 2002 and republished here solely as a 'historical' document

FEEDBACK & COMMENTS (2002)

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. I have had an Eddystone ( I was told), for several years not knowing what it was and when it was made. There was nothing usable on the Internet until now. Bill Marx W2CQ. Like the site ! Graeme [Eddystone User Group] told me about it so had to check it out although it's past my bedtime ! Anthony, GW4RYK

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I found your homepage at QSL.net about the Eddystone receivers. Very Nice! SM6KRI Krister Eriksson

Wow! Very nice web site indeed. Curtis M0BCO, KB9JQU

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I certainly enjoyed your page. Don't see many Eddy's here in the states. Strangly enough, a Redifon pops up now and again. I have an R550 I removed from an old freighter (gulf coast of Texas). Keep hoping to stumble across an Eddy on one of these old ships one of these days. Jer in Texas.

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I love your new EDDYSTONE website, great stuff. I am a member of the Eddystone User Group, and find their newsletter a great read. Dave Jones MW1DUJ

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Finally!!! A site for us Eddystone users. I have 6 different Eddystones. I love them. Keep up the good work. Matt Radiomatt

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Congratulations on a much needed and informative creation in cyberspace! I have used the Eddystone receivers in the past and can really appreciate your site. We used some in the RFI/Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) locating vehicles, many years ago, for a large utility company in Houston, Texas. We also supported Federal Communications Commission (FCC) field office radio location activities with these radios. They proved to be very interesting and reliable. Charlie, W5AM

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It was great to visit your Eddystone web site. I could find at last a glimpse of some information about a very old (possibly pre 1930) Eddystone Shortwave radio. I had tried in vain for a long time to identify this radio. I was expecting to find the model in your list but I found the models 'Shortwave Two' and 'Sceintific Three' but this radio I have is 'Shortwave Three'. Percy KC0GVT

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Very well done - thank you for taking the initiative to document one of the world's most important radio manufacturers. I would LOVE to have an Eddystone in my shack, but (of course) they're hard to come by here in the US. Brad, NB9M - Founder, Hallicrafters Collectors Association

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Who Knows What This Is?

At a fairly local radio rally, I came across a strange receiver that I have never heard of before. It was made in 1989, by the SPT (SOUND POWERED TELEPHONE INTERNATIONAL ) CO, of Tollesbury, Essex, model RR102. It measures 13' wide, 5.5' tall, and 9.5' deep. The front panel is light blue in colour, and it has very few controls. A large LCD display reads tuned freq., or channel no, ( it has 16 memory channels ).

It covers 150KHz to 30MHz, and 88 to 108 MHz. It covers only AM, or FM on the VHF band.It has a mains on/off switch, a stereo/mono switch, and five small switches for tuning and memory. the only other control is a tuning knob. There are sockets on the rear, one for AM aerial, one for FM aerial, both for standard TV aerial type plugs, and four phono sockets, tape, mono out, and two for stereo out.

'It seemed to me to be a ships cabin receiver, as there are no facilities for high level sound output at all, not even a volume control. I was wondering if anyone had any further info on this set. Everyone is now probably wondering, where does Eddystone come into this??? Well, the last page of the instructions deal comprehensively with how to remove the existing EDDYSTONE 1002 receiver, and replace it with this one. It has a very elaborate set of front end bomb-proofing, a separate 2MHz bandpass filter for every 2MHz segment of the AM coverage, no doubt necessary on a ship.Any info would be welcome.

Dave MW1DUJ

[There is no record of an answer to this question]