14th May 2014, 10:33 am | #141 |
Nonode
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
This type of "encased" recorder was known as a "Reporter" type.
So far I have acquired 3 types: the Elizabethan LZ9102, Pye-Cambridge PY9104 & a Stella ST472. The one that still eludes me is the American licensed "Mercury" TR 800 version. They didn't need a carry case as they were designed to be carried around by an integrated shoulder strap/microphone. The strap was fitted with two plastic devices which located either side of the recorder and the flexible material of the adjustable strap also had the wires for the mike moulded in. Coming from one the end of the strap were the two DIN plugs, one for the mic & the other for the remote socket. The mic at the other end of the strap had a flip action lever to start/pause the machine. Part of the design was that the cassette lid was made to be lifted off in a "pull-up & forward" action and re-fitted with the opposite action, unfortunately the lid fell off with incredible ease ! Pics: 1) Elizabethan LZ 9102 2) Pye-Cambridge PY 9104 3) Stella ST 472 4) Mercury TR 800
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14th May 2014, 10:57 am | #142 | |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Quote:
Note: They call it a "MAGAZINE" recorder.
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14th May 2014, 7:17 pm | #143 |
Heptode
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
i had a Siera branded version of this encased recorder when i was a kid, sadly my dad binned it after i covered myself and most of the kitchen in belt goo while trying to get it to work
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14th May 2014, 9:41 pm | #144 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
I like these "encased" recorders! The EL3302 and N2202/3 are very pretty, but they scratch very easily; the encased ones look more durable.
Although of course the N2205 is the most handsome ;-) |
15th May 2014, 9:24 am | #145 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
The problem with the reporter units is the combined shoulder strap/mic.
Because the wire passes through the flexible strap, it can go o/c.
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17th May 2014, 5:22 am | #146 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
UPDATE Taking this topic right back to the beginning and specifically to the 1st & the original "Made In Holland" (AH02): EL3300/00 model, closely followed within weeks by the 1st mod version: the (AH02) EL3300/15, both appearing in the UK in early/mid 1964 Over time, when I've spotted EL3300's being offered and to verify it's one of the above, if the seller hasn't provided photos of the indentification labels (Model/Serial Nos & Country of manufacture & Date Code), I've asked for further info. In a few cases, I've received not only conflicting but also dubious information. Some have turned out not to be either chassis and were a mish-mash of a late EL3301 or, in one case, an early EL3302 !! chassis, retro fitted to the original chocolate brown housing of the EL3300. Whether or not this had been done deliberately to solicit a higher price I reserve judgment ! At first I didn't follow up on the other 'conflicting' versions that I came across but now, in hind sight, it seems to me that a few ARE genuine "In House" versions from Philips. Why this has only dawned on me now I put down to a slowing of my grey cells. Of course, in some cases, this is normal practice for manufacturers, especially when there is a transition period between models, mods or even surplus or shortage of assembly completion parts. I even remember it happening at the places I once worked at: Thorn Electrical, Chubb Electronics, Acos Cosmocord.....etc. So let me cut to the chase; it seems to be around the time, between the "Made In Holland" EL3300 versions (brown housing) and the introduction of the "Made In Austria" EL3301 versions (grey housing). I have several EL3300 versions, the earliest being an EL3300/00 dated: Wk18/64 and the latest being an EL3300/15, dated Wk36/64 (and I thought that this was the final one, before they brought out the EL3301 model) I have come across two machines listed as EL3300s but fitted in the EL3301 (grey housing) and beneath the logo (by the meter) it clearly states "Made In Austria" !! and the ident labels clearly show the chassis as an EL3300A/15 and the Works/Date label show (WR02 for Austria) & dated Wk37/64 ! So, the date difference between the Made In Holland EL3300/15 (Wk36/64) -brown housing and the Made In Austria EL3300A/15 (Wk37/64) – grey housing is just ONE week. The first EL3301 Made in Austria (grey housing) I have has a chassis ident of EL3301/15 and is also dated (Wk37/64) and made at WR02 ! I can only suppose that, as the majority of all later versions of the EL33XX machines were made in Austria (WR01 or WR02 factories) this transition started with using an EL3300A/15 chassis in the later EL3301 grey case. Now all I have to do is get my hands on one of these "missing link" EL3300A/15 versions !!!! P.S: No Wonder I Haven't Made Much Progress In Writing The Definitive History Of The EL33XX !!
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17th May 2014, 10:57 am | #147 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
actually, most EL3302 machines sold here in Italy were "made in holland", austrian made units are somewhat less common
also i've just came across an EL3302/00G without any Made in Holland or Made in Austria marking on it, also instead of the usual AH or WR sticker there's a different sticker with "SV00214" printed on it, the s/n is 276177 this unit has japanese transistors and capacitors also some Austrian made EL3302 units have their prints coated in green solder resist paint instead of the usual Philips "tropicalized" prints with fully tinned tracks i remember reading somewhere that Austrian made units were sold mainly in EFTA countries (including the UK) while "made in holland" units were mainly sold in EEC countries |
17th May 2014, 1:08 pm | #148 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
That's quite interesting. SV00 214 means it was made in Singapore, revision level 00, most likely 1972 week 14.
@camtechman: sorry to cause further confusion, but you might want to have yet another review of the factory signs on your collection. While WR (Vienna Austria) and AH (Hasselt Belgium) indicate the factories, the number behind it (00, 01, 02 etc) indicate the revision level. So the very first production model would be numbered AH00 but was probably only in production for a very short while, explaining why most early sets already have the number AH02 on them. In later models (EL3300 casing, EL3301-like innards) higher revision levels would be expected, indicating the use of modified parts. When production of the EL3301 started they probaly took the latest EL3300 revision and put it in the new EL3301 casing, most likely resetting the counter and starting with AH/WR00 again. |
17th May 2014, 3:05 pm | #149 | |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Quote:
the build quality seems to be inferior to the European built machines, many components on the print are soldered crooked or with very long leads |
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18th May 2014, 11:04 am | #150 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Jimmy & Maarten,
Thanks so much for this additional & valuable information....more to add to the notes for my book, although instead, I'm now considering writing a book about the English World Cup Football victories of the 20th century instead ! Tony
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18th May 2014, 9:38 pm | #151 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
If you don't mind I'll keep providing you with all the materials for an increasing head-ache. Have a look at this late model http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips..._el_3302b.html while it is estimated to have been produced in the Netherlands around 1975, it is in reality a Spanish example. ZB for Spain, 50 as a rather high revision level (could be they skipped a bunch of numbers to indicate a major revision; sattelite factories such as Spain and Singapore usually didn't invent more than a few changes as they mostly started production only after the first issues were already ironed out in Hasselt or Vienna) and 401 for week 1 of 1974. (in later type stickers such as this one, the printing that used to be on the separate sticker was simply put in front of the serial number, where it has been ever since) Last edited by Maarten; 18th May 2014 at 9:45 pm. |
19th May 2014, 7:41 am | #152 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Maarten & other members, keep the info coming (don't worry, I've bought a bulk lot of paracetamol)
Tony
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19th May 2014, 9:43 am | #153 | |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Quote:
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19th May 2014, 10:57 am | #154 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Well spotted, I didn't look that far. There's pics of more than 1 example under the same model, so things can get a bit confusing very fast.
Pics 527398 through 527480 are for a Spanish example proven to be a EL3302B/76P by the sticker. Pics 981151 through 981159 belong to a machine of an unknown model (may be EL3302B but with another suffix), owned by someone from Italy. So together with Jimmyhaflingers set this may hint that around 1972, imported models from Singapore were sold in Italy. Chances are it is the same model as the one jimmyhaflinger encountered, so without the B and with a /00G suffix. Which brings me to another point. I haven't found out the meaning of the first letter (such as the B directly behind EL3302). Any theories on that so I have something to verify? The letter behind the suffix (such as the P behind /76) should traditionally point to a cosmetic difference such as colour or trim, but that should be verified as well. By the way, I don't know whether I already mentioned that, but the numeral part of the suffix (e.g. /00 or /76) indicates the version of a set and is often tied to the destination. /00 is always the basic version, often for export to countries that don't have particular market or legal demands. /01 might be a variation on that set. Somewhat higher numbers such as /15 for the UK and /22 for Germany indicate specific destinations while numbers that are much higher (some multiple of 10 was added to the 'normal' suffix) indicate versions with a certain improvement in specs or construction (it might not be a coincidence that a set with suffix /76 has a revision level ZB50, there might be for example an earlier version of the EL3302B with suffix /16 or /26 and revision level ZB00). Disclaimer: The suffix system was revised during the 1980's, numbers such as /15 and /22 are only valid for sets from before that date (not relevant here, as all EL33xx models are). Last edited by Maarten; 19th May 2014 at 11:23 am. |
19th May 2014, 5:26 pm | #155 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Forgot to mention one thing, which may or may not be evident: Every factory had their own count for revision levels. For example SV00 could equal ZB01 but also WR07. Or it isn't equal to any other revision at all.
The numbers 00, 01, 07 are chosen to look realistic but they are completely fictional. The correct numbers are mostly mentioned along with the relevant differences in the change sheets that (ideally) accompany the service documentation. |
20th May 2014, 12:08 am | #156 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
apparently, the "Pepito" nickname for the EL33xx recorders was also used in Sweden and Norway and at this point i guess also in many other countries
http://www.mypaper.se/show/radio-tv-...765856&page=24 http://www.nrhf.no/radiohistorie/sk_kassettspillere.php Last edited by Jimmyhaflinger; 20th May 2014 at 12:15 am. |
20th May 2014, 6:25 am | #157 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
That's interesting, the frequency response is claimed as 80 to 10 kHz within 3 dB. I would say that is a true hi-fi performance, or at least it was in the 1960's. All the machines I have owned have been 80 to 10 kHz within 6 dB - I wonder if they were aligned more carefully for some markets?
Pepito - I like that name, but we all called them Bowers, because of the wow that resulted if you moved them too quickly! It seems it was called Pepito in Indonesia as well: http://retro-gizmo.blogspot.co.uk/19...ps-el3302.html Another clone on that page too! Paul Last edited by PaulE27; 20th May 2014 at 6:51 am. |
20th May 2014, 5:28 pm | #158 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Its a shame the Swedish site never mentions the /numbers. For Sweden this could theoretically have been /19, for Norway I'm not sure. Different destinations could have had parts with a tighter tolerance fitted and different alignments, but I'm not convinced they really did.
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21st May 2014, 5:29 am | #159 | |||
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Quote:
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Last edited by ricard; 21st May 2014 at 5:38 am. |
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21st May 2014, 9:46 am | #160 |
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Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder
Apart from the safety standards you mention, also things like intermediate frequency (468kHz instead of 452 I think), the dial, the language. The exact differences vary between models, the only thing those /19 models have all in common is destination Sweden (of course they could be and sometimes were sold elsewhere as well).
It is very well possible that there was no Swedish or Scandinavian version of battery operated equipment without an intermediate frequency (the EL3300 for example). Should you happen to find a relevant service manual (by Servex AB I think?) this can easily be verified, as can be the specs. |