PHILIPS F5Z37A 'CELESTIAL' (1963)

The Philips F5Z37A was manufactured by Philips Electrical Industries of N.Z. Ltd in 1963.

Other radios based on the same chassis:

8-valve Hi-Z broadcast band stereogram with automatic record changer

Fitted with either the Philips AG1025W (released approx 1965) or BSR UA15 (released 1963) record changer.

7-valve equivalent, the circuit uses two rectifier valves instead of one.

It is likely that this model was released in 1963*, and continued in production through to the end of 1965, when the physically identical F5Z67A (with its newer valve lineup) replaced it.

Identical electrically to the F4Z37A Concorde (although that model has a plan round tuning dial rather than the slide-rule dial).

 

* The year is a guess based on valve lineup and printed circuit board use and the code (F5Z37A)

Technical Information

Valves (8 (including two rectifiers)): UCH81, UBF80, UCL82, UCL82, UL84, UL84, UY89, UY89

Intermediate Frequency: 455kc/s

Frequency Bands: 1

Chassis Notes(most schematics can be clicked to download a full size version)

1967 Philips F5Z37A

Service information (philips-f5z37a-celestialf5z38a-cornergramf6z37a-capricorn-stereograms.pdf) here

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).

Other documented models using this chassis (3 in total)

YEARMODEL NAME
1963 Philips F5Z38A 'Centurii Cornergram'
1963 Philips F6Z37A 'Capricorn'