RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #14
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| Click on each photo for an enlarged view |
MURPHY B40
by Craig Seager VK2HBT
If, dear reader, for some perverse reason you would like to be the proud owner of a hernia, then just lift an example of this Retro Review receiver and carry it one-handed for a couple of hundred metres. At around 46kg, the Murphy B40 is no plastic-fantastic consumer set, and given its extensive use on Naval vessels of the British Commonwealth, may well be the model that the chap who coined the phrase “boat anchor” principally had in mind.
I picked up relatively cheaply my second B40 from suburban Sydney a few years back, and in some misguided attempt at machismo, denied the offered assistance to carry the thing to the car, silently gritting teeth and clenching buttocks as I wrestled the hulking beast into the trunk. Subsequently, the awkwardness of getting it out again resulted in a disappointing scratch to the vehicle’s duco. Pride does indeed come before a fall!
Rewind, however, to 1929 when the (seemingly) perpetual pipe smoking Frank Murphy co-founded Murphy Radio with E.J.Power, setting up a facility in the Hertfordshire town of Welwyn Garden City to make consumer-level radios. Murphy had an uncommonly Socialist ethic for a businessman, believing in creating the most amount of good for the maximum number of people.
Accordingly, he developed quality radios that were widely affordable, and set up a hand-picked network of dealers to support his product, with superior after sales service being their imposed mantra. The company promoted itself through inventive print advertising and regularly published the Murphy News with information for its dealers (which continued until 1962).
For those interested in reading about the life and times of Frank Murphy, I can recommend A First Class Job; Frank Murphy, Radio Pioneer by Joan Long (his daughter).
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| Top of the receiver |
Along with many other manufacturers, military applications became the focus during the war years, and Murphy Radio gained kudos from something called the Wireless Set No. 38, a manpack transceiver for short-range portable communications. Murphy himself had by this time left the company in favour of other ventures, including furniture manufacture.
But we move onward to 1946, and continuing production until the 1960s, the somewhat more substantial (!) B40 was made in several variants (typically known in Australia as “A”, “B”, “C” and “D”, or in the Royal Navy as Admiralty Pattern 571401, 2, 3 or 4). The most obvious difference between each was frequency coverage, and my B40C & D start at 640 kHz, somewhat diluting effectiveness as mediumwave DX machines.
All componentry is encased within a robust chassis, which slides out from the cast aluminium casing, painted in the pale blue/green favoured by the Navy. The styling is somewhat unique, with the front panel dominated by a Perspex-covered bulge housing a rotating drum with the appropriate frequency markings. A large band change “wingnut” switch also ensures only the chosen band is illuminated behind the display. A small door at the top of the set can be opened for display pointer adjustment.
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| Calibration Wheel |
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| KHz (Kc/s) and Band display |
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| MHz (Mc/s) Indicator |
A large, centralised tuning knob is a pleasure to use, and there is a choice of bandwidths (1, 3 and 8 kHz – no 1 kHz setting for the “A” version). Modes include AM, CW and FSK (D Version), but it is possible to crudely resolve SSB as well. Knife switches operate AGC (on/off) and noise limiter, whilst there is also antenna tuning, anti-cross-mod control and crystal calibrator. The design is a single conversion superhet with two RF stages and three I.F (at 500 kHz); most tubes can still be sourced in the event of a failure. Oscillator fine tuning is included on the “D” version, particularly useful for CW.
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| The B40 Specifications |
Only a very small speaker is offered and can be switched out in favour of headphones – or connect up to your favourite external speaker through one of the two available jacks if you can somehow match to the 600-ohm output. A switchable crystal resides behind a small trap door on the opposite side. The antenna connector at the rear is a Plessey Mark 4, and you may have to trawl online specialists to source the appropriate plug. Similarly, the mains plug is also a troubling proposition if not supplied with the receiver.
Here is a link to the workshop manual, which will assist if that is your ambition:
http://www.portabletubes.co.uk/boats/MurphyB40Manual.pdf
The Murphy Company, along with Bush, another British radio manufacturer, were absorbed into Rank Corporation in the early 60s, which in turn merged with Xerox. There is an impressive family tree of equipment between these related companies. Australian consumers will recall the very much fancied Rank Arena televisions from the inception of colour in 1975 (remember the muscled guy in the advert with the gong?). Assembled in Sydney (Penrith) on an NEC chassis, the 26” Rank Arena set the standard and is becoming collectible in its own right amongst aficionados of such things.
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| A 1956 update to the receiver manual from "Their Lordships"! |
Frank Murphy died in 1955, but left as his legacy a company that pioneered in industrial relations, quality products, and fair trading through what he termed “dealers you can trust”.
Although strictly a purpose-built military product, the B40 series personified that dependability, which is why so many are still operating today in the homes of enthusiasts, sitting rock solid on frequency, and generally too much trouble to shift elsewhere!
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| An angled view of the front of this beast |
EDITOR'S UPDATE:
I asked Craig (the author of the article) if it was difficult to tune and what the sensitivity was like. His response:
Quite easy to tune, but you need to recalibrate the pointer to a reference frequency after band changes. It’s not going to measure up to an NRD or Icom in the sensitivity stakes, but with a 10dB preamp ahead of it, It’s good enough for DX work. Usual “warm” valve sound, and seems to ride over the noise OK. I use it a lot, mainly for background listening.
Put "Murphy B40" into the YouTube search engine and you can see a handful of receivers in action. The band-changing knob has an almighty “clunk” to its operation. 😉 (Rob)
Once again, many thanks to Craig Seager for contributing this retro review to MEDXR, and helping to keep the memories of radio alive!
Missed the other Retro Reviews? Check them all out by clicking below:
Retro Receiver Review # 1 - The DANSK RX4000
Retro Receiver Review # 2 - The HITACHI KH-3800W
Retro Receiver Review # 3 - The SCHAUB LORENZ ITT TOURING T104A RECEIVER
Retro Receiver Review # 4 - The RACAL RA6790/GM
Retro Receiver Review # 5 - The REALISTIC (RADIO SHACK) DX160
Retro Receiver Review # 6 - The KENWOOD QR 666
Retro Receiver Review # 7 - The RODHE & SCHWARZ EK890
Retro Receiver Review # 8 - The YAESU FR101S
Retro Receiver Review # 9 - The SELENA VEGA B206
Retro Receiver Review # 10 - The DRAKE SPR-4
Retro Receiver Review # 11 - The NATIONAL RF-5000
Retro Receiver Review # 12 - The YAESU FRG-100
Retro Receiver Review # 13 - The MARC NR-82 F1
Retro Receiver Review # 14 - The MURPHY B40
Retro Receiver Review # 15 - The STROMBERG CARLSON AWP-8
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© Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX Report, and contributors 2012-2023
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you Rob and your family
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rickie. You too, mate! Hope all goes well for you in 2019.
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