PHILIPS L3Z74T 'TRANSISTOR ACE' (1961)

The Philips L3Z74T was manufactured by Philips Electrical Industries of N.Z. Ltd in 1961.

Other radios based on the same chassis:

Very popular Philips NZ 7-transistor portable radio.

Available in several colours, tan being the most popular.

Cabinets (among other locations no doubt) were produced in Christchurch in a cabinetmakers shop in Ferry Rd - A lady who's father owned the shop recalled making the tan cabinets and covering them as an after-school job in the 60's.  Does anyone recall the shop name?

The earlier version has a gram input on the back for playing records, and the switch used for local/distant reception on this set was used to switch to gram mode.

Several different dial designs have been noted.

Technical Information

Valves (7 transistors, 1 diode): OC44, OC45, OC45, OA79 Diode, OC71, OC71, ( OC72, OC72 Output Pair)

Intermediate Frequency: 455kc/s

Frequency Bands: 1

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

1961 Philips L3Z74T

1961 Philips L3Z74T

1961 Philips L3Z74T

1961 Philips L3Z74T

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
1957 Fleetwood FL374T 'Commuter'
1961 HMV HM374T