Hi everyone,

I know nothing about radio but I have an old radio (floor standing model)which I would like to know more about. The only identifying mark is an image of a helmet clad "Mercury" emblazoned across the radio tuning face and the word Mercury in lettering beneath.

It was made under licence by G W Green & Sons Pty Ltd in Melbourne. No date. Has a Rola Speaker Model 12.the ARTS & P # is 91822 (possibility the 1 might be a 4)

There are 5 valves:
One at the front, most difficult to decipher, looks like V08V08 etched very faintly on neck of valve. It is near the tuner (PC 292) and has a top nipple around which is the removable contact . There is also a quarter etched as a fraction within a circle on the neck

The other four are in a row behind this is at the back of the radio. From left to right they are
1. 6U7G
2. 6B6G
3. 6V6GH
4. 5Y3G (G could be a 6) and doesn't look like a valve

The other possible identifying mark are the letters ELJM 947 etched onto the housing for the valves. It also has a metal peg into which an aerial can be inserted when depressed. There's a second peg too ???



I have looked on the Australian radio list but cannot find anything on this.

Has anyone got any ideas?


Sorry my descriptions are not technically correct but I am new to all this. Identifying the age and makers would be a good start.

Many thanks for your interest.

Sheelagh

G'day Sheelagh,

The green label that refers to GW Green is the label that indicates that the receiver was made using technologies covered by patents registered with the Australian Radio Technical Services and Patents Company Ltd, a mutual organisation in which radio manufacturers belonged to to cover the cost of not only protecting any interests they each had in any patents that they had registered but also to protect them from any legal reprisals coming about from what would otherwise have been patent infringements.

More details are here. This label is often referred to, including by me, as a licence transfer or licence label though it isn't here for this purpose although the confusion comes about because of the sentence at the bottom, reminding owners that they were required to purchase a listeners' licence from the Postmaster General's Department (now called Australia Post). Such licences were abolished in the 1970s.

I've not until now heard of the Mercury brand. Chances are that it may have been a generic brand adopted by a department store - such branding was as common in the valve era as it is today. Big W sells AWA television sets but AWA has nothing to do with appliance manufacture and hasn't for a long time. Woolworths just use the brand under licence.

One peculiarity with the serial number on the licence transfer is that it doesn't contain a letter prefix, indicating that the receiver was made after World War II but because your receiver still has octal valves this indicates that it should have been made before 1951, after which this type of valve fell out of use in manufacturing and were only offered as spare parts afterwards. There was a transition period between 1949 and 1951 where many radios had a mix of larger octal valves and the smaller baseless valves. So I would guess this set was made between 1945 and 1950.

You guessed right about the 5Y3G. It is the rectifier valve and its job is to rectify the AC voltage from your power point into DC though watch where you put your fingers - DC still bites hard. It is normal for there to be about 700 volts across two of the pins on this valve and somewhere between 280 and 350 across two of the others.

If you e-mail a picture of the front and back of the receiver to Bradmail.vintage-radio.com.au I will include them in your post. This will help with further identification of the set.

Images are up. Just one comment about the 5Y3G - it looks different because the globe is missing from the base. I definitely recommend getting this set looked at before plugging it in.

Thanks Brad,
Any ideas about who might look at this set in Tasmania?

Sheelagh

I just checked the Services Directory and no such luck though another of our Tasmanian members may know of someone who can get things sorted.

As that set appears to have no shortwave the Unidentified is the converter.

Highly probable to be 6A8G, put it in the freezer and then see what the moisure on it reveals, after removal. Never seen a converter with "V"; "X" yes. If it has Shortwave, 6J8G.

Has a bit of an Astor look about it.

That rectifier is showing white? Has it been filled with something. If so it could be "Solid State" ie Silicon Diode?

More research..........

Marc

Very interesting! I haven't been on here for a while and just noticed your post. I have an identical radio in my spare room! Trying to get info too.

I have an identical radio in my spare room! Trying to get info too.

Perhaps you can confirm all 5 valves in the line-up for us.

The 4 valves listed in the original post were in hundreds of radios of the era 1939 to 1949. Knowing the 5th unidentified one should help shorten the candidate list.

'Mercury' was a brand used by Australian General Electric (AGE) which also used Bandmaster and Hotpoint.

Another thought, X61 or a Philips EBF something they would likely be Metallised. 1/4 on the tube is significant to its age. Need to see inside the pan to see the bits and the wiring of that valve. It may be as for 6A8. 6J8, 6SA7, or 6K8?

I haven't seen this thread before, but I'm certainly glad I did.

https://www.kevinchant.com/uploads/7/1/0/8/7108231/mercury_eljm.pdf