I recently picked up this Regency UHF converter on ebay. I think it's nicer looking than some of the more common models.

The seller did an excellent job double boxing it. The last two converters I got off ebay arrived damaged :tears:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5106/5644805825_19d82ffa06.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5182/5645370882_15d38859b1.jpg

I recently discovered that the Riders TV service manuals include UHF tuners :) I dug through them and found this listed under IDEA.
Click to see the larger version.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5227/5645374926_6627e1e5cd.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5227/5645374926_8f346cc5cf_o.jpg) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5644809765_213735d0c7.jpg (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5644809765_511739e870_o.jpg)

According to 'batterymaker' - "Industrial Development Engineering Associates, Regency's earlier name--the plant's very near where I live. Same place where they made the infamous TR-1 transistor radio."

The power transformer and big metal tuning drum make it heavier than I had expected. There's not much to go bad in these so I slowly powered it up to reform the electrolytic and fired it up. We do still have a few analog UHF transmissions in my area and I have used other vintage UHF converters successfully before.
At first, I got nothing until I read the Riders more carefully and realized it outputs on VHF channel 10. All the others I've used were on channel 4 or 5.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5645372508_886ab47fbd_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5063/5645371674_e0d99d7d96_z.jpg

Now, I got some fuzzy video but no sound. I tried it on another TV with the same results. Time to check the tubes. The 6BK7 tested OK, but I found a 6T4 in place of the 6AF4. It is a valid substitute and both tubes tested OK ,but I replaced them anyway. Bingo!

It doesn't work as well as the Motorola Strata-tuner below it, but it's certainly watchable.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5644810995_3d18a1eed8_z.jpg

If nothing else, it makes for an interesting decoration :)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5645407014_984f275503_z.jpg

oops! double post!

Very nice looking converter! :thmbsp:

But does it only have one tube? Or is there an IF stage as well. Also, what is behind the circular hole in the back... is that a BNC connector ? I can't quite make out the details on the schematic.
thanks!
jr

Thanks. There are two tubes - a 6BK7 for the IF stage and a 6AF4 for the oscillator. It's hiding inside the drum.
You can click on the schematic to get a larger version.

That thing in the back appears to be a tunable coil for the output frequency.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5644809235_f3b4dd63e5_z.jpg