Other radios based on the same chassis:
5-valve miniature mantle radio - The Mullard model 515 Meteor (or Mullardette)
The first midget radio from Mullard (well, from Philips as most Mullard radios were just rebadged with a different cabinet in some cases). The Philips version has horizontal grill bars and was known as the model 540 Philette.
2 chassis versions, one which uses American octal valves and the other which uses English valves (540E version)
2 dial versions, MK1 has the low frequency at the left hand side of the dial while the MK2 has the opposite arrangement.
Intermediate Frequency: 455kc/s
Frequency Bands: 1
Chassis Notes(most schematics can be clicked to download a full size version)
General Construction Notes for Philips Electrical Industries of N.Z. Ltd:
Philips early-mid century were probably the Google of their time - they had branches in many countries and a global brand that everyone knew - and were apparently happy to let engineers come up with new ideas and implement them. Construction is often overly complex but very well engineered - although repairs can also take a complex path. They used time-in-motion studies to find the most cost effective way to asemble sets and sometimes this means repairs can be nightmarish (if you've ever worked on a V7A Theaterette this will be all too aparent). U suffix model numbers are transformerless (hot chassis) sets and great care should be taken, or the sets avoided altogether.
Philips model codes are complex - they are explained in-depth on the Philips brand page.
Mullard codes: The model codes from Mullard sets (unlike their Philips counterparts) appear to contain valve count and date information. For example, the model 525 is a 5-valve 1945 design. The 2 appears to just be an identifier (most likely in case there were two models in 1945 with 5 valves, which there was - the 515 is the small 'Meteor' mantle set).
Fleetwood codes are often just a rearranged version of the Philips code. For example, the FL374T transistor radio is a rearrangement of the Philips model L3Z74T. Early Fleetwood codes were numeric with F on the end. From about 1959 onwards the codes were much more like their Philips counterparts. They start with F or FL (or sometimes FZ for larger consoles)... These later codes also tend to end in a Philips-style identifier for the power source (A for mains, B for battery, T for transistor battery, etc - see the Philips brand page for more info on that).
| YEAR | MODEL NAME |
|---|---|
| 1945 | Philips model 540 'Philette' |
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