Thanks for the responses. I looked at VintageRadio, very handy info. The bottom line is that I used 50 SWG wire which is 0.001 dia and requires 78,750mm for 2608 ohms resistance. This leads to 1078 turns approx. This IMHO turned out to be too few for the magnet block. Ampere-turns is what sets the sensitivity.
Had I used 49 SWG .0012 dia and requires 113,550 mm for 2608 ohms which leads to 1554 turns approx I would probably had the right result. But being a bit dim, although the wire sample I measured did measure a bit over 0.001 I took the extra to be the enamel. That 0.0002 makes a lot of difference – cunning chaps those AVO people.