PYE PE201 and PE340

[MuseumSTHL]

On behalf of the Museum of St. Helena I'm trying to identify two valve PYE receivers that are in the collection.

Both are approx 1950s/60s but we would like a more accurate date and any other info. that may be helpful:

Unit 1 is designated "PYE PE 201" and carries serial number 958492.

Unit 2 is designated "PYE PE 340" (no serial number visible)

Both were probably from the UK market, but could possibly have been South African or American. They both use the smaller 'modern' style valves and Unit 2 appears to be set up for stereo, though whether for FM or just for the Gram input is not clear. We think this suggests it is a 1960s set.

They have been stored for more then a decade so we have not yet fired them up. We would like to get them going for an exhibition.

Anything you have, of any leads for follow up, would be gratefully appreciated.

[Station X]

Welcome to the forums.

Domestic sets found in "remote" parts of the world often turn out to be export versions of sets made for the UK home market. Often long wave coverage was removed and short wave bands added. The mains supply voltage may have been different too.

It would help if you were able to post pictures of the sets here, as the corresponding UK set might be instantly recognisable. Also useful in identifying the sets are details of the wavebands (perhaps a picture of the tuning scale) and details of the valve types fitted. These are generally printed on the valve envelopes, or may be shown on a card attached to the back cover or pasted inside the set.

[paulsherwin]

'PE' is the usual Pye designation for an export set.

You should resist the temptation to just power these sets up. Ideally you should try to find a local enthusiast who can do some basic safety checks and also change a few capacitors which are likely to be faulty. Forum members here will be happy to talk you through what needs to be done, but if you have no experience of valve electronics at all there will be a lot to learn.

If you don't have the expertise to do basic electrical repairs to the sets it would be better to use them as static exhibits. Leave them as untouched as possible internally so that they can be restored in the future.

You can connect the internal speakers to a modern radio or amplifier and play recorded period programmes through them.

The FM set is odd. FM started in the UK in 1955 but I imagine it was very much later in St Helena. Only the very last of the valve FM sets had stereo decoders so you are right, the stereo is probably just for the gram input. This was a fairly common arrangement.

As Graham says, a few pics would be enlightening.

Good luck, Paul

[MuseumSTHL]

Many thanks for the suggestions. Herewith front and back photos of the PE340 set

[MuseumSTHL]

... and here are same for the PE201


Re the FM query, St. Helena didn't get FM until 2004 (!). Official MW broadcasting didn't begin here until 1967, though some locals did transmit illegally (but apparently with impunity) before then. This is why I suspect the sets to be imported in the 60s, though they may well have been 'throw outs' from people in the UK or South Africa replacing their old receivers with newer models.

Again, many thanks for the help.

[Station X]

There seems to be a problem with the pictures. Try again, making sure that they upload correctly.

[MuseumSTHL]

340 Pictures hopefully uploaded this time

[MuseumSTHL]

201 Pictures hopefully uploaded this time
(it helped when I spotted the 'upload' button)

[paulsherwin]

I don't recognize either of those. Judging from the styling, the 201 is from around 1950 and the 340 around 1960. They are both clearly export sets and wouldn't have been available on the UK domestic market.

They would both have been quite expensive sets when new and it's difficult to imagine why anyone would have bought them to take to St Helena, where presumably the only radio was SW from Africa. Some of these export sets do have quite good SW performance though, with a tuned RF amplifier stage. You can easily tell if this is present because the tuning capacitor will have 3 sections rather than the normal 2. They might have arrived secondhand via South Africa.

I can just imagine some homesick British administrator listening to the BBC on the 201 in the 50s

I can see no evidence that the 340 has any stereo capability whatever, but it does have tweeters pointing out of each side, a fairly common arrangement in upmarket radios of the time.

Paul

[jjl]

The chassis layout of the PE201 looks the same as that of the UK market P75 and P76 models. The case is quite different from either of these though. Both of these models were introduced around 1953. The PE201 appears to be equipped with a magic eye tuning indicator, neither the P75 nor the P76 had one of these.

John

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

I can see no evidence that the 340 has any stereo capability whatever, but it does have tweeters pointing out of each side, a fairly common arrangement in upmarket radios of the time.

Yes, this is definitely a mono radio, with one bass/midrange speaker, and two tweeters, all wired to the same mono amplifier

[MuseumSTHL]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

You should resist the temptation to just power these sets up. Ideally you should try to find a local enthusiast who can do some basic safety checks and also change a few capacitors which are likely to be faulty. Forum members here will be happy to talk you through what needs to be done, but if you have no experience of valve electronics at all there will be a lot to learn.

I am probably that local enthusiast, and I did a lot with valve sets in my teenage years, but they had all been in recent use (my teenage years were, um, a few years ago ...).

I assume the warnings relate to the electrolytic capacitors, which I seem to remember decay after a long period of disuse. We have little practical access to spare parts here but I seem to remember that you can recondition an electrolytic by applying a gradually increasing voltage over several days. Can anyone confirm this?

Are there any other tests I need to make? By way of tools I have a multimeter but no easy access to a scope.

We'd really like to get the 201 running if possible, for an exhibition on life in the 1950s (hence my queries about dates).

[paulsherwin]

OK, here is what I would consider the absolute minumum you need to do to power up the 201 safely.

1. Build a lamp limiter. This is just a 100W 240V light bulb in series with the power lead. There are detailed instructions here http://www.vintage-radio.com/projects/lamp-limiter.html though it doesn't need to be so physically robust for occasional use.

2. Identify and change the output valve grid coupling capacitor. This cap feeds the audio signal from the AF preamp anode to the O/P grid. The value isn't critical and a larger value will usually work.

3. Using a meter on a resistance range, check the mains transformer for plausibile resistances across the windings, and open circuit between the windings and the chassis.

You can now power up keeping one hand on the mains switch. If you are very lucky the radio will slowly come up and the lamp limiter will glow dimly. If you attach a length of wire to the aerial socket you should be able to receive stations. Leave the radio running via the limiter for at least an hour. If all is still well after this time you can connect it directly to the mains.

If the lamp limiter glows brightly, there is excess current being drawn which requires immediate investigation. If this is accompanied by a loud hum the smoothing electrolytic capacitors are probably bad.

It is possible to reform electrolytics but I wouldn't recommend that a beginner does this. It is better to fit new electrolytics under the chassis out of sight, leaving the old can in place for cosmetic reasons.

For a full electrical restoration the radio will need all the wax capacitors changing but you may get away without doing this with performance that is 'good enough'.

You can buy components over the internet from a number of sources. Your best bet given your location may be Mouser in the US (http://www.mouser.com). Many eBay sellers will also post internationally. I imagine postal arrangements will be easiest if you choose a UK or US seller. As a last resort you could ask for needed components here on the forum, and a forum member may offer to send them to you. I've no idea of postage costs or delivery times between the UK and St Helena, but I do know it's very remote

You say you have some experience of valve equipment, but please read the disclaimer here: https://www.vintage-radio.net/

Good luck, Paul

[Sam]

A quick note to confirm what has been said - the PE340 is Mono, but with a VERY large elliptical speaker and two electrostatic Tweeters. I have one of these Behemoths at my parents house. Bought it for £15 from a Junk Shop. By volume, it has to be my best value set! From memory, it is about 60cm wide, to give an impression of the scale.

Sam