Gemstar Model 333 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Stuart R · 20th Jun 2011, 10:33 pm

Hello!

I took pity on this odd looking radio at NVCF this year.

I've never heard of Gemstar before and nor has Google -apart from it being a brand of RCA Telly in the States.

All the major components inside are labelled EI Nis, so it's made by Elektronska Industrija in Serbia. I've found images of similar looking sets with the same valve line-up known as a "Frankfurt 2" on a European web-site, and they date it from 1962.

Am I correct in assuming that this set must have been made for the UK market by the tuning dial alone? Stations featured are Home, Third, Light, MV Caroline, Crowborough (an interesting bit of reading followed there!) as well as Yugoslavian stations such as Zagreb and Belgrade -with English spellings.

Anyone else ever heard of these in the UK?

Looking forward to any news...

Thanks,

Stuart

Darren-UK · 20th Jun 2011, 11:19 pm

I can't find anything about this particular radio either.

Stations on the tuning scale suggest it was indeed an attempt to break into the UK market. Research seems to have been poor though, "MV Caroline" being a blatant error; MV being "Motor Vessel".

21st Jun 2011, 6:45 am

Caroline was based on a ship after all, not too big a mistake.

Neil Purling · 21st Jun 2011, 7:05 am

Is it built on a chassis or a PCB? What of the valve count?
The case initially reminded me of a Unitra, but apart from the long, wooden case there are major style differences as well as the piano-key wave change.

westcliff · 21st Jun 2011, 9:13 am

It's not a Philips clone is it?

Gus.

Stuart R · 22nd Jun 2011, 11:58 pm

Thanks for your thoughts so far.

Most components and valve holders are PCB mounted -apart from free range dial light that has no evidence of any fixing method at all!

The PCB sits on top of a chassis with nice DIN sockets for PU/Tape recorder and Extension speaker mounted on the rear.

If it wasn't so late, I'd offer up an inside photo. Will try to do that in a day or so.

Valves are ECC85, ECH81, EBF89 and ECL82

Regards,

Stuart.

Stuart R · 23rd Jun 2011, 11:30 pm

Now I've taken the back off, maybe my description of chassis/pcb wasn't so accurate.

Anyway here's the insides, outside......

Does that help?

Herald1360 · 24th Jun 2011, 12:08 am

Hmmm, beehive trimmers and the construction do look Philipsish.

jay_oldstuff · 25th Jun 2011, 1:18 pm

I have one of these sets too, identical but mine is branded RETRA and reports to be made in Yugoslavia. i have is working poorly on am but nothing on fm yet, a nice compact set that i am quite fond of, must get mine going properly.
where is Steve P when you need him, i believe he is into sets like these

Jay

Steve_P · 25th Jun 2011, 1:43 pm

I'm here. I'm fairly sure that is Yugoslavian. Many sets had a Philips-ish look, as they copied Philips but used dual function valves, such as ECL82, all the way through.

If you haven't got a circuit, then get the data on the valves as the sets tend to be pretty basic. The IF tends to be about 465 Khz as a rule. I usually tune to this or 470kHz depending on the weather or my mood. It does not make that much difference.

Take the dial off if it's the free range one. Prevents any accidents, as you won't get another!!

I have seen one other in the UK. Never got it though, as I was outbid as I slept. Quite a rare set, but rare does not always mean valuable.

There's a comment about Unitra on here. Well they too were Philips influenced and they did have a push button arrangement. Many foreign sets did. If you have problems with these sets, look here first!!

Cheers,

Steve P.

Stuart R · 25th Jun 2011, 11:27 pm

(Oh dear. Took too long to reply and now it's vanished! Try again)

Hello!

Thanks for your input. Apologies, I left a vital bit of information off my first post. It does say "Made in Yugoslavia" on the dial. So I knew that already..... sorry....

It does show that you good people here 'know your onions'!

Web reading reveals a variety of speaker grilles, valve line-ups, dials and wavebands all made in the same cabinet by Elektronska Industrija. Jay, Is your RETRA set exactly identical? EI made (and still make, according to their website) valves under license from Philips & Telefunken, maybe they did the same with Radios?

Mine is working, but the quality is not excellent and needs some fettling of loose components and dirty contacts and sticky piano keys. Nice though to have a set that gets Radio 2 without the need of an external modulator.

As rare as it us, I'll agree with Steve P that it won't be very valuable. However it'll be a nice bit of 'exotica' in my collection that will sit nicely with the 'Romans' set from Poland.

Have a good weekend, all!

Stuart.

jay_oldstuff · 26th Jun 2011, 1:43 pm

Hi Stuart I've attached a pic of my RETRA, sorry for the poor quality, it's up on a high shelf and my dodgy shoulder is playing up so i cant lift it down, but as you can see it is identical.
As Steve and others have mentioned the push buttons are troublesome, they are on mine. also the caps used in these, mine at least are waxies. Although from first examination don't look like it but if like mine the ones I've replaced so far where very leaky i'm expecting AM to improve greatly once I've changed the rest, I'm currently putting lack of FM down to bad contacts on the push buttons of a duff ecc85 but have not checked it yet.
Have Fun

Jay

Stuart R · 26th Jun 2011, 5:13 pm

Thanks for taking the time for a snap Jay, and yes it looks identical.

Do I also see those nice stickers from the big frequency re-shuffle in 1978?

Regards,

Stuart.

Steve_P · 26th Jun 2011, 5:23 pm

Yes, you do. They are absolute sods to remove by the way. I use Alcohol and a lollystick.

Cheers,

Steve P.

20th Jun 2011, 10:33 pm	#1
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 672	Gemstar Model 333 Hello! I took pity on this odd looking radio at NVCF this year. I've never heard of Gemstar before and nor has Google -apart from it being a brand of RCA Telly in the States. All the major components inside are labelled EI Nis, so it's made by Elektronska Industrija in Serbia. I've found images of similar looking sets with the same valve line-up known as a "Frankfurt 2" on a European web-site, and they date it from 1962. Am I correct in assuming that this set must have been made for the UK market by the tuning dial alone? Stations featured are Home, Third, Light, MV Caroline, Crowborough (an interesting bit of reading followed there!) as well as Yugoslavian stations such as Zagreb and Belgrade -with English spellings. Anyone else ever heard of these in the UK? Looking forward to any news... Thanks, Stuart Attached Thumbnails

20th Jun 2011, 11:19 pm	#2
Darren-UK Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Blackpool, Lancashire, UK. Posts: 4,061	Re: Gemstar Model 333 I can't find anything about this particular radio either. Stations on the tuning scale suggest it was indeed an attempt to break into the UK market. Research seems to have been poor though, "MV Caroline" being a blatant error; MV being "Motor Vessel".

21st Jun 2011, 6:45 am	#3
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Caroline was based on a ship after all, not too big a mistake.

21st Jun 2011, 7:05 am	#4
Neil Purling Nonode Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Hull, East Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 2,078	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Is it built on a chassis or a PCB? What of the valve count? The case initially reminded me of a Unitra, but apart from the long, wooden case there are major style differences as well as the piano-key wave change.

21st Jun 2011, 9:13 am	#5
westcliff Hexode Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Essex, UK Posts: 396	Re: Gemstar Model 333 It's not a Philips clone is it? Gus.

22nd Jun 2011, 11:58 pm	#6
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 672	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Thanks for your thoughts so far. Most components and valve holders are PCB mounted -apart from free range dial light that has no evidence of any fixing method at all! The PCB sits on top of a chassis with nice DIN sockets for PU/Tape recorder and Extension speaker mounted on the rear. If it wasn't so late, I'd offer up an inside photo. Will try to do that in a day or so. Valves are ECC85, ECH81, EBF89 and ECL82 Regards, Stuart.

23rd Jun 2011, 11:30 pm	#7
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 672	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Now I've taken the back off, maybe my description of chassis/pcb wasn't so accurate. Anyway here's the insides, outside...... Does that help? Attached Thumbnails

24th Jun 2011, 12:08 am	#8
Herald1360 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK. Posts: 16,475	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Hmmm, beehive trimmers and the construction do look Philipsish. __________________ ....__________ ....\|____\|\|__\|__\_____ .=.\| _---\__\|__\|_---_\|. .........O..Chris....O

25th Jun 2011, 1:18 pm	#9
jay_oldstuff Octode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hyde, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 1,074	Re: Gemstar Model 333 I have one of these sets too, identical but mine is branded RETRA and reports to be made in Yugoslavia. i have is working poorly on am but nothing on fm yet, a nice compact set that i am quite fond of, must get mine going properly. where is Steve P when you need him, i believe he is into sets like these Jay __________________ The light at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlight of an oncoming train

25th Jun 2011, 1:43 pm	#10
Steve_P Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 6,639	Re: Gemstar Model 333 I'm here. I'm fairly sure that is Yugoslavian. Many sets had a Philips-ish look, as they copied Philips but used dual function valves, such as ECL82, all the way through. If you haven't got a circuit, then get the data on the valves as the sets tend to be pretty basic. The IF tends to be about 465 Khz as a rule. I usually tune to this or 470kHz depending on the weather or my mood. It does not make that much difference. Take the dial off if it's the free range one. Prevents any accidents, as you won't get another!! I have seen one other in the UK. Never got it though, as I was outbid as I slept. Quite a rare set, but rare does not always mean valuable. There's a comment about Unitra on here. Well they too were Philips influenced and they did have a push button arrangement. Many foreign sets did. If you have problems with these sets, look here first!! Cheers, Steve P. __________________ If we've always had it, why is the Car Boot open? You're not sneaking another Old TV in are you...?

25th Jun 2011, 11:27 pm	#11
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 672	Re: Gemstar Model 333 (Oh dear. Took too long to reply and now it's vanished! Try again) Hello! Thanks for your input. Apologies, I left a vital bit of information off my first post. It does say "Made in Yugoslavia" on the dial. So I knew that already..... sorry.... It does show that you good people here 'know your onions'! Web reading reveals a variety of speaker grilles, valve line-ups, dials and wavebands all made in the same cabinet by Elektronska Industrija. Jay, Is your RETRA set exactly identical? EI made (and still make, according to their website) valves under license from Philips & Telefunken, maybe they did the same with Radios? Mine is working, but the quality is not excellent and needs some fettling of loose components and dirty contacts and sticky piano keys. Nice though to have a set that gets Radio 2 without the need of an external modulator. As rare as it us, I'll agree with Steve P that it won't be very valuable. However it'll be a nice bit of 'exotica' in my collection that will sit nicely with the 'Romans' set from Poland. Have a good weekend, all! Stuart.

26th Jun 2011, 1:43 pm	#12
jay_oldstuff Octode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hyde, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 1,074	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Hi Stuart I've attached a pic of my RETRA, sorry for the poor quality, it's up on a high shelf and my dodgy shoulder is playing up so i cant lift it down, but as you can see it is identical. As Steve and others have mentioned the push buttons are troublesome, they are on mine. also the caps used in these, mine at least are waxies. Although from first examination don't look like it but if like mine the ones I've replaced so far where very leaky i'm expecting AM to improve greatly once I've changed the rest, I'm currently putting lack of FM down to bad contacts on the push buttons of a duff ecc85 but have not checked it yet. Have Fun Jay Attached Thumbnails __________________ The light at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlight of an oncoming train

26th Jun 2011, 5:13 pm	#13
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 672	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Thanks for taking the time for a snap Jay, and yes it looks identical. Do I also see those nice stickers from the big frequency re-shuffle in 1978? Regards, Stuart.

26th Jun 2011, 5:23 pm	#14
Steve_P Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 6,639	Re: Gemstar Model 333 Yes, you do. They are absolute sods to remove by the way. I use Alcohol and a lollystick. Cheers, Steve P. __________________ If we've always had it, why is the Car Boot open? You're not sneaking another Old TV in are you...?