Fidelity

Something is wrong here - I have a page for Fidelity, but not yet for Hacker, Dynatron, Invicta, Portadyne, Grundig and several other serious manufacturers. I guess it shows what sets I have been able to buy cheaply!

Fidelity were famous for producing "fur coat and no knickers" equipment - sets that attempt to look impressive from the outside but are mediocre junk inside. Anyone who has ever owned one of Fidelity's stereo systems (particularly the UA range in the 1970s), will know only too well how looks and performance don't go together. You could say that Fidelity were ahead of their time in this regard!


Floret

Wavebands - MW, LW

Transistors - AF117, AF117, AF117, OC71, OC81D, OC81, OC81

Date - 1960s? (not checked yet)

Status - In my collection

I bought this set for a few pounds on eBay. It is complete with the leatherette case (not shown) and is in good condition for its age. However it doesn't work. There is hiss from the speaker no matter where the volume control is set, and no reception. Sounds like duff AF117 transistors and probably a noisy OC71 in the audio stages.

By Fidelity standards this is reasonably well put together and doesn't try to be more than it is - apart from the telescopic aerial which won't do anything useful on MW and LW.

There is one design niggle. Note the proximity of the speaker wires (which need to be unsoldered before removing the PCB) to the tuning drive cord. I bet plenty of engineers accidentally melted the cord and ended up having to restring the set!


Rad 16

Wavebands - MW, LW, SW, MB

Transistors - BF194B, BC159, BF194B, BC159, BC149, AC127, AC128

Date - 1969

Status - No longer in my collection

This set cost me just £2 at the Summer 2001 Wootton Bassett swapmeet.

True to form for Fidelity, the set attempts to look impressive from the outside, with wooden end-cheeks and brushed aluminium effect trim decorating a basic plastic case. The telescopic aerial and line of buttons suggests a VHF model, but the aerial is just for SW (19 to 49 metres) and MB (Marine Band - 66.6 to 176 metres), and the buttons are for the four bands plus "car" (to select the car aerial socket). Inside is a run-of-the-mill AM radio offering uninspiring performance. The use of an AF transistor (BC159) for the first IF stage can't help matters.

However the set is fairly well built, with everything apart from the speaker, battery and aerials mounted on a single PCB. This reduces the amount of interconnections required, which not only made the set cheaper to build, it also tends to make it more reliable. My set is working as well as can be expected, and does not appear to have any signs of previous repairs.




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No part of this website may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from Paul Stenning.
All details are believed to be accurate, but no liability can be accepted for any errors.
The types of equipment discussed on this website may contain high voltages and/or operate at high temperatures.
Appropriate precautions must always be taken to minimise the risk of accidents.

Last updated 14th April 2006.