If he does mind, posting it on the Internet was an interesting choice…
No problem. It was already posted in just after Dan + team visit. Glad I took it !
This is a very nice initiative. I have no chance to travel to Britain this year. I would, of course, love to visit the factory but since it won’t work out for me, in the very small chance that I would be invited, I am not going to sign up for the ”lottery” this time. Better to leave one more ”lottery ticket” to those that can travel
But again - nice initiative.
Nice photo to record a spot of history.
Clive they were indeed, by reference to the website. What I hadn’t realised was that above G17, there was an added rigger to stabilise the aerial(s).
On Ron’s shop near Luton FC (the hatters) ground, he had rigged iirc, a G30 on a triple mast, might have been with a rotator, with two or three guy lines for stability. I know there was also a special order G27.
I have no idea where the extra reflector or deflector was fitted, since the Galaxie series went G14, 17, 20, 23 then the 27 and 30! I have the original spec sheets, so I will take a look at some point.
My G17, fitted by the late RS himself over 25 years ago, is still in daily use, to NAT02 and other Naim boxes and weekly into NAT01, from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, with a good signal.
edit - just reflecting on when the factory rig was installed against the release date of the NAT01, would suggest the rig was around 40 years old, when it was dismantled. A pretty good age, being in an urban area, exposed slightly more to the elements (no pun intended). All in, a pretty good life span. I seem to recall a pic of RS with his american made, left hand drive van outside the factory. Any thoughts @Richard.Dane?
That’s an experimental reflector element, the front end (directors) and loop are G17.
AFAIK it was never a production item.
Yep - I remember the brown one!
Mike the reflectors are in a vertical line - is that the correct way of describing, as distinct from the triangle style of production G17s?
Incidentally is it you who from time to time, has posted transmitter maps? I ask because I am house hunting and I’m keen to try and keep FM, owning both NAT01 and 02, if I can, when I finally sort somewhere!
The directors on the left hand of the pic, might well be from the bigger rig that I recall. There is also a guy line showing in the pic, likely supporting that rig.
The pic is taken almost square on to the gable end, so it’s difficult to make out, that there is at least two masts, with rungs between, which I seem to recall, allowed them to climb the rig, to alter the aerial head. Riggers needed a bit of a head for heights!
Hi sound-hound, normally reflectors are spaced at a specific distance from the active element.
With a V angled reflector as commonly seen on TV Yagi aerials they are more or less ‘focused’ on the single or folded dipole
So with the RS Galaxy’s, with the full wave loop active element, if following the same theory, the V reflector is focused in the horizontal transmission.
There is a lot of technical info/theory on full wave loops, but very little on loops with reflector/director elements and almost nothing on their use with circular transmission reception.
I suspect the RS designs evolved with SIAS experiments.
No probs if you need help mapping an areas FM transmission …. I just need the first section of the post code.
Thanks Mike re maps. I thought I remembered correctly; will do.
Yes I had a number of conversations with RS. Certainly knew his stuff, much of it beyond me.
I do remember comments about loops and circular dipoles, the latter of which, you will I am sure know, are not completely circular.
Digital may have some merits, but the trad way of transmission, still does well, albeit with the compromises now necessary.
One snippet my pa picked up, from the couple of times he met RS (they didn’t live very far apart),
was that RS was a great Puccini fan!
That’s not strictly true. When I moved in to my previous house, we had Ron and his son, George(?), come down to do the installation. They installed a G17 which didn’t receive a strong enough signal, so George was sent up on the roof to add a three element extension with no additional rigger. Even that wasn’t enough, so he was sent up again to install a mast head amplifier.
When I moved to my current house I disassembled the unit and took it with me. I changed all the bolts and cleaned off six years of pigeon droppings. Now, about a mile from a relay station, which is vertically polarised, I receive a super signal with the original G17 turned through 90 degrees and suspended in the loft (external aerial is not permitted).
FM transmission areas…
see here
(not a commercial link so I trust this is allowed)
Or do a duckduck search for ‘FM transmission areas’
You can phone or email the BBC and tell them which areas you’re considering and they’ll send you the maps and frequencies. At least that’s what they did for me 25 years ago.
EDIT: I’ve just seen the post from @fergch above. It looks like a far better solution than the old maps.
Ofcom have maps for each transmitter buried on their site…
This might be a start
Also not a commercial link
Better start a separate thread lads ![]()
Apart if finally the visit focuses more on Salisbury antennas.



