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Old 24th Mar 2023, 11:31 am   #1
rojosuiza
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Default Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I am looking for the manufacturer of this radio. It might have been produced in the UK, around 1978.

On my radio it says loud and clear ALTONE solid state – Battery / Mains on the bottom of the loudspeakers; on top it says TWIN SPEAKER – FULLY TRANSISRORISED. – That is all, no more information.

Why UK? – Because of the English spelling of ‘transistorised’. And because there has been an ALTONE turntable on offer in the UK, 1978-1980, the ALTONE AU4. The turntable says, it has been ‘made in UK’.

Maybe it has been marketed in the UK and was meant to be sold on the German market as well, as the inscriptions on the dial are German / English.

Who knows more, about the brand, about the manufacturer, about this specific transistor radio?
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 12:44 pm   #2
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

It certainly does not look British to me.

My first thoughts were Japanese. It looks too nicely finished to be from Hong-Kong of Taiwan, but you never know.
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 1:08 pm   #3
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I do agree, it doesn't look very British. Also from the inside one would say Japan, Taiwan or Hongkong

BUT

what about the turntable, which says clearly 'made in UK'?
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 2:06 pm   #4
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I saw that turntable. Again, it the control panel has a far eastern look to it, but the overall style of the thing is very similar to the kind cheapo stuff Ferguson etc. were churning out at the time, right down to the BSR turntable. I wonder whether "made in the UK" just applies to the BSR deck, as opposed to the whole thing/

Certainly, some "Waltham" branded stuff was like this, i.e. Hong-Kong or Taiwanese music centre fitted with a UK-made BSR turntable.
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 2:53 pm   #5
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

el cheapo is correct, and the Ferguson line shows some details which look similair to details on my radio... the form of the band-switches for example

Who made the Ferguson 3188? - Was it indeed made in the UK or just imported from somewhere in asia?
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 2:58 pm   #6
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

We had a 3188 when I was little. I think it was Taiwanese. Definitely not UK-made anyway. Full of Japanese-type 2S.... transistors ISTR.
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 10:00 pm   #7
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

One would like to see the inside of it.

My radio has 4 small rounded RF-transistors, 1 x Hitachi 2SB459, 3 x Mitsubishi 2SB178, 1 x no name transistor.

Electrolytics: 'trojan' and 'RION'.

2 x speaker foster, Taiwan, 7 cm.
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 10:01 pm   #8
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I have a 3188 somewhere but it’s not accessible at present. The Foster speaker sounds familiar.
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 10:20 pm   #9
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

Hello,
if you look up "Altone Radio India" on google you get some results of recent cheap stuff bearing that badge. Never heard of before!
Joe
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 10:47 pm   #10
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I was immediately struck by a certain resemblance to this Halcyon portable, an odd production reviving the brand name of a small company of the 1930s - it's UK made but with a pair of 3" Pioneer speakers. I'd be fairly confident, though, that any likeness is purely accidental.

The Altone is quite the mystery, but does look more Far Eastern than anything, and to me 1970ish.

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Old 24th Mar 2023, 11:09 pm   #11
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I have a Ferguson 3188, made in Taiwan by a subcontractor in 1978. I don't think it looks very like the OP's radio.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/ferguson_3188.html

That may be indeed Japanese, but the no-name branding suggests Hong Kong. HK manufacturers did sell related models in different European markets, often as subcontractors to established European manufacturers.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rgd_flirt.html
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/graetz_flirt_301.html
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Old 24th Mar 2023, 11:21 pm   #12
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

The India product is very surprising. I didn't think of India at all.

I am still looking in the direction of the Far East, maybe with an UK importer, who has influenced the styling...

Then again, only one or two known products on the market, that would be quite surprising.
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Old 25th Mar 2023, 2:38 am   #13
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

Have you looked carefully for a small lettering stamped in the plastic on the back or on the bottom? That's how many Japanese no-name manufatcurers marked their goods, in that case it would say JAPAN, possibly followed by a 3 digit number.

On the other hand, chances are those transistors might be the only Japanese parts. I don't think it was made in Hong Kong, because of those transistors. If in the region, Taiwan sounds more likely also because of the origin of the speaker.

Electrolytics were often sourced locally, but I have no idea of those brands.

I can't rule out India, though if not from Taiwan I would still look more to the East. Some production was done in countries where you would not really expect it.

Can you find any components with non-western lettering or graphic marks on them? Are there any stamps or labels with numbers, even if they don't look like plausible date codes? (several East-Asian countries had their own dates).
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Old 25th Mar 2023, 4:54 am   #14
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

IMHO it looks like a 'Chinese copy' of my Nordmende 'Globetrotter' 7/601.
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Old 25th Mar 2023, 7:42 am   #15
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

No markings whatsoever... except on the print. If the number would be a date, that would be to nice however...

Not at all similair to the Globetrotter, nor from the oudside nor the inside. The Globetrotter is a very different ligue...
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Old 25th Mar 2023, 7:45 am   #16
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

See the sticker on the batterie compartement.

Number on the print, if it where a date?

the REAL Globetrotter
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Old 25th Mar 2023, 9:59 am   #17
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I wonder if the fact that the cells are referred to as 'UM2' rather than C cells (I think), HP11s, or whatever suggests a far-eastern origin
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Old 25th Mar 2023, 10:59 am   #18
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

Thank you for this observation. So probably made in Japan, distributed out of the UK to the UK and Europe... and the style-departement somewhere in EU too...
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Old 26th Mar 2023, 8:30 pm   #19
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

I would say from the earlier part of the 1970s going by the styling, More 1970/1 ish
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Old 26th Mar 2023, 8:33 pm   #20
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Default Re: Whodunnit? – ALTONE

Honk Kong manufacturers mostly used Japanese transistors.
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