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Last updated on 24 OCTOBER 2011.
CONTACT ME: I don't want to receive any more spam email than I do now, so I have not
included a clickable email link. If you would like to email me,
please type the following into the "To:" line of your email app, replacing
"(at)" with "@", "dot" with "." and omitting spaces:
les (at) the studio e one valve radio
dot org dot uk
I look forward to hearing from you.
Les Franklin.
DISCLAIMER: The site author welcomes constructive comments about the
site itself, information about any Davey designs, or radio sets built to those
designs whether recently or long ago. He assumes that anyone sending
general comments or reminiscences is agreeable to their use on this site;
however he will seek explicit permission to reproduce such items as photographs,
circuits and descriptions of sets. He is unqualified to offer advice
on suitability of components, or failure to operate satisfactorily of the
one-valve set or any other equipment made to any design described or mentioned
on this site. Some of the equipment described or mentioned on this site
may use or generate high voltages, both when powered and after being powered,
or produce high temperatures. Users of this site must satisfy themselves
that they understand the risks of working on such equipment, that they
understand the information given or referred to on this site, and that any such
information upon which they rely is accurate. If unsure they should seek
the help of a qualified person. Neither the site author nor any party
connected with hosting or transmission of this site can accept responsibility
for loss, damage, injury or death arising as a result of using information
given or referred to on this site. Usage of this site is deemed as
acceptance of these terms in their entirety.
Copyright © L C Franklin, 2010-2011, or as stated. No part of
this site may be copied, reproduced, or republished in any way
except for strictly personal, non-commercial purposes.
Users of this site also agree not to adapt, alter or create a
derivative work from its content.
Articles referencing this site have recently (March 2011) appeared on
the Wikipedia site. To protect my interests, I have registered on
Wikipedia as "Friskanellin".
On this site, Studio ‘E’ and Focus refer
to the BBC children’s television programmes of the late 1950s.
The present ownership of these names is acknowledged. The
ownership of all other trade marks or trading names mentioned on
this site is also acknowledged.
Every effort has been made to secure appropriate permissions for
reproducing copyright material such as images, circuits, illustrations
and quotations. Those granting such permissions have been
credited where possible alongside each source in the belief that they
were qualified to do so. If credit has been accorded incorrectly,
or where it has proved impossible to establish rights conclusively, those
concerned are asked to accept the site author's apologies and contact him.
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In the late fifties, BBC Children's Television carried a programme on Mondays
at 5pm, called Studio ‘E’, produced at Studio ‘E’,
Lime Grove Studios, London (now demolished). This children's magazine
programme, hosted by Vera McKechnie, included talks, travellers’ tales, music,
comedy and "how to" features. It was later re-named Focus.
(Before you ask, Blue Peter began in 1958, initially running in tandem
with Studio ‘E’ and Focus but with content aimed at
young children. Later, Blue Peter extended its remit to children
of all ages, supplanting the earlier programmes but building upon their lead.)
Radio Times TV listings for 30
September 1957, with the Studio ‘E’
listing shown in enlarged inset.
Copyright © Radio Times;
reproduced by kind permission.
Image from site author's copy.
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On Monday 30 September 1957, Studio ‘E’ began a six-part
series presented by Gilbert Davey, a popular writer on radio construction
for young people, showing viewers how to build a simple one-valve
battery-operated radio receiver. The programme's Radio Times
listing for that day told viewers how to send for a leaflet of diagrams
and step-by-step instructions.
It was later reported that within a few days of the first programme,
Davey had received over 26,000 letters! Radio Times
did not repeat the note on how to send for the leaflet.
According to the Radio Times, the following two
Studio ‘E’ programmes (7 and 14 October) did not carry
the series. The pause was probably calculated to allow the
BBC to tackle the volume of requests, and to allow dozens of
radio shops to gear up to sell kits of parts. The series
resumed on 21 October, and concluded on 18 November.
What can account for this high level of interest? There may
be several answers. First, Davey already had a huge following
among readers of Boy's Own Paper. Secondly, as a
practical project with clear and precise instructions, it was bound to
have good take-up. Thirdly, interest in science among young people,
probably greater then than now anyway, received a sky-high boost when on
4 October, just after the series began, the Soviets launched Sputnik I.
The little sets worked well, taking advantage of the well-tried
technique of reaction, in which part of the output is fed inductively
back into the input, giving an enormous increase in sensitivity.
My set pulled in Radio Luxembourg - the only station I thought worth
listening to - just fine.
In the late fifties, the thermionic valve reigned almost unchallenged.
Transistors were then still expensive and difficult to obtain, and relatively
untried by amateurs. But within a few years, the transistor
conquered all - valves were old-hat. The BBC plans were thrown
away; the little one-valvers were thrown away too, or dismantled.
After a while, you couldn't get the batteries any more . . .
. . . Now, those "baby boomers" are retiring from their labours
and have time on their hands. Old-fogeydom is setting in fast,
and at least one of them (me) saved some of the bits for over 50 years!
In early 2009, I began searching in the obvious places for a copy of the leaflet,
and also began to research Gilbert Davey's radio writing in general.
I built a conjectural reconstruction of the set, using the original
components I had kept, with new parts where necessary. In March 2010, I
launched this site, which described the planning and building of the set, and
threw down this challenge: "Is this right? If it isn't, prove it by
coming up with the leaflet!". Time was short, it seemed, with much talk of
an impending analogue radio switch-off. If this were to happen, anything
but digital sets would become useless (unless currently illegal low-power
re-broadcast equipment is used - happily this threat seems to have receded for the
time being).
It took 14 months for the right person (Doug Brown) to visit the site and send me
scans. With his permission, and the permission of the BBC, the leaflet is
now available on this site for personal non-commercial use - see
THE STUDIO ‘E’ LEAFLET page. Now I
wonder if someone has a few of those Teletron D/R coils stasshed away somewhere . . .
Before launching this site, I found little on the internet about Gilbert Davey or
his radio designs. This site has begun to put that right. I am proud to
say that it has been accorded praise for both its presentation and its authoritative
content. It currently deals in depth only with his "Beginner's One-valve Set",
of which the BBC Studio ‘E’ receiver is without doubt the most
famous version. It also includes details and pictures received of some recent
rebuilds of other Davey designs, a sketch of Gilbert Davey (gathered almost entirely
from published sources), and a source list (undergoing progressive amendment as new
information comes to hand) for finding his published designs. In future updates
I hope to extend the site's remit to cover other Davey designs in more detail, although
there are copyright difficulties to be overcome.
I am grateful to the British Library for their research resources and for
permission to reproduce images, and to the rights-holding publishers and organisations
(individually named throughout) for permissions to reproduce their material.
I am especially grateful for the many contributions of every sort received from
visitors to the site since it was first launched. Keep them coming!
I hope you enjoy this site! If you do, please let me know, and please pass on
my URL to anyone you think might find something of interest too.
Les Franklin.
On other pages . . .
THE STUDIO ‘E’ LEAFLET - Some comments
about the 1957 leaflet, the Studio ‘E’ series, and the
design of the set. Access to Doug Brown's images - please
read the copyright and usage notice on that page.
THE STUDIO ‘E’ SCRIPTS - selected extracts
from the scripts preserved by Gilbert Davey since the one-valver series was broadcast
in 1957.
MY ORIGINAL STUDIO ‘E’ SET – Pure self-indulgence -
memories of my original Studio ‘E’ 1-valve set.
PLANNING MY STUDIO ‘E’ REBUILD – How I planned
my conjectural rebuild in the absence of an original BBC leaflet. Although now
superseded, this page and the page below have been retained for the time being to
allow comparison with the genuine Studio ‘E’ design.
MY REBUILT STUDIO ‘E’ SET - Details and pictures
of my conjectural Studio ‘E’ set - pending a further rebuild according
to the leaflet.
YOUR STUDIO ‘E’ REBUILD . . . - a list of
suppliers, and details of a home-made coil to use in place of the all-too-scarce
commercial coil originally specified.
GILBERT DAVEY – The man who introduced
radio construction to several generations of boys, many of whom
became radio or communications professionals.
DAVEY 1-VALVER HISTORY - The (incomplete)
history of the famous one-valve circuit, 1948-78.
YOUR OTHER DAVEY SETS - Other Davey sets built
by contributors to this site, including one design that could have been lost but for
some prolonged detective work. I look forward to receiving details and pictures
of YOUR Davey set!
DAVEY SOURCE LIST - a reading list for
Davey designs.
NEWS AND LINKS - for latest news,
and links to other sites of interest.
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