UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration

Defiant radios were produced for Co-op stores. The major manufacturers would not supply the Co-op because the "Divi" was seen as breaking the old resale price maintenance cartel. Defiant was deliberately chosen as the brand name as a result.

It is often difficult to establish the model number of Defiant sets, and service data can be difficult to find. However many of them use Plessey chassis and will therefore be the same as other sets using the same chassis. Regentone service data is therefore a good place to start.

This set was a gift from a friend of my late father. She knew I collected vintage radios, so phoned my mother to see if I would want it. As luck would have it, I was visiting mum that weekend so was able to accept it and bring it back with me.

It is not really my sort of thing, and I thought it was rather large and plain. However my partner liked it so insisted that I tidy it up straight away, so it can live in the hall. I must admit it does look quite at home there.

Details of the repair and restoration are in the Recent Repairs section of this website.

One of the number of trannie radios I bought in a single lot from a Radiophile auction for about £8. This is a rather ordinary six-transistor model, powered by two PP7 9V batteries. Most of the resistors are mounted on two small PCBs mounted vertically on the main PCB.

The handle doubles as a shoulder strap. As a handle (as shown in the photo), the ends fit onto two popper fasteners on the bottom of the case. As a strap, the poppers are released and the strap slides out until the poppers reach the guide loops.

This set uses the same chassis as the Regentone BT16, in a different cabinet. It carries no indication of manufacturer or model number. Somebody at the NVCF mentioned that it might be a Defiant, and an email from Alan Debnam describing a similar model his mother owned confirms this.

My set worked OK, but some of the chrome finish is coming away from the speaker grille near the waveband switch, and the trim surrounding the front is broken at the top left corner.

This website, including all text and images not otherwise credited, is copyright © 1997 - 2006 Paul Stenning.
No part of this website may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from Paul Stenning.
All details are believed to be accurate, but no liability can be accepted for any errors.
The types of equipment discussed on this website may contain high voltages and/or operate at high temperatures.
Appropriate precautions must always be taken to minimise the risk of accidents.
Last updated 14th April 2006.