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Old 30th Jul 2021, 7:49 pm   #1
electronicskip
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Default Another Workshop Clearance find

Another workshop clearance pile came my way today and in amongst the boxes of Roberts/Bush/Philips radios and assorted test equipment i found this little gem of a radio from GEC.

From a bit of detective work its seems to be a 1948 GEC BEC4941 Battery radio in an art deco bakelite case..

Overall condition is very good apart from a small crack in the glass dial .
Ive never seen one of these before, does anyone here have one?
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Old 30th Jul 2021, 8:03 pm   #2
ajs37
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Yep, I have managed to collect 2 of them, both auction finds. One black and one brown - gorgeous bowling ball bag radios! I omly had to restore one, the other had already been restored. They are not common, so that was a great find.
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Old 31st Jul 2021, 7:32 am   #3
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajs37 View Post
Yep, I have managed to collect 2 of them, both auction finds. One black and one brown - gorgeous bowling ball bag radios! I omly had to restore one, the other had already been restored. They are not common, so that was a great find.
Yes i saw on the Radio Museum website that there was two colours available on this unit, mine is the dark version as you can see on the pictures.

I opened it up last night and it seems to be very clean inside with original Marconi valves etc .
Im guessing its been sat since the 50s knowing where it came from so hopefully it wont take too much to get it running again.

Will add it to the "to do" pile which has increased considerably since yesterday!
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Old 31st Jul 2021, 9:53 am   #4
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Very nice find! I have one here in brown, cabinet is in mint condition, sadly the dial glass is cracked into 3 pieces, I have stuck it back together with glass glue. The chassis is in a state, very badly rusted, and the output transformer was O/C too. It’s been in bits now for far too long! I must get back to it before I forget how it goes back together! Oh, the speaker has a rotten cone too! All good fun...

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Old 4th Aug 2021, 10:28 am   #5
crusher19860138
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

GEC were certainly ahead of the times with this set!
At a time when most people were tied to mains only sets that were quite big, this set could be carried around, very nice.
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Old 4th Aug 2021, 3:14 pm   #6
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Quote:
Originally Posted by crusher19860138 View Post
GEC were certainly ahead of the times with this set!
At a time when most people were tied to mains only sets that were quite big, this set could be carried around, very nice.
I am curious to know why you think this was an innovation?

Portable battery sets were around even in the 1920's

There were loads of battery portable sets around before WW2

Roberts specialised in portable sets https://www.radiomuseum.org/m/roberts_gb_en_1~year.html

The reduction in size of parts and newer lower consumption valves created during hostilities allowed a flurry of portable battery sets from all the major manufacturers once hostilities were over

As an example the Ever Ready Model C from 1946 https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/ever_c.html

The diminutive Marconi P20B from the same year as the GEC 1948 https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/marcon...0b_p_20_b.html

The ugliest set (IMHO) ever built the 1947 Cossor 469 https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/cossor_469.html

One of the best looking sets (IMHO) of the period the 1948 PYE M78F https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/pye_m78f_m_78_f.html

The GEC good looking set as it is had a great deal of competition.

Cheers

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Old 4th Aug 2021, 3:29 pm   #7
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Top coupling for the IF transformers and regen. feedback for the IF amp, not an innovation in itself but not common.

Lawrence.
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Old 5th Aug 2021, 1:18 pm   #8
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Did you find any pocket transistor radios in that clear out? l would always be interested
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Old 5th Aug 2021, 5:05 pm   #9
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

Here’s another GEC portable, picked it up for 10 quid at Notions antique centre in Grantham a few years ago. I hoped it had a similar chassis to the BC4941, but it’s totally different! Works well though after a couple of caps changed. I did have a photo of the set with its cover off, but it looks like I’ve evicted it off my phone, it showed the label with the model number on it, I’ll have a look on the laptop for it later.

Regards
Lloyd
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Old 9th Aug 2021, 7:42 am   #10
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Default Re: Another Workshop Clearance find

The GEC BEC4941 is a fabulous set and one of these had been on my "get" list for many years but I just don't see them anymore!
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