Hi All,

Does anyone have any spare original manuals for this Radiogram?
I'm chasing the schematic diagram, if anyone can help out I would appreciate it.

Thanks

There are two versions of the HMV Rhapsody that I know of. I believe HMV in the UK used the name Rhapsody on some of their models.

One is a valve model radiogram, 32-46, from 1954.

HMV 32-46 Rhapsody Service Manual

The other is a Solid-State T8-49 from 1968.

HMV T8-49 Rhapsody Service Manual
HMV T8-49, T8 4DA Sheraton Addendum



Both the 32-46 & T8-49 were manufactured at the HMV factory in Homebush, Sydney. In the short space of 14 years note the changes in style and design. The 1954 Rhapsody looks staid & conservative. Whereas the 1968 model has a low modernistic look and suits the feel of the late 1960's.

I think they used OTL germanium output transistors, AD161/AD162 (Philips?)
Some say the Germanium transistors sound better than Silicon -
- I agree after listening to many Amps from the 1960's!

I think they used OTL germanium output transistors

They used OC988 and OC987, to date I have trouble finding any. This model suffers from burn out to cancer within the transistor. They also get very noisy , even with no signal. People plug them in with out replacing all the capacitors and these things burn up. I have 5 customer chassis for repair because of this.

Does anybody know of a good equivalent to the above transistors?

Cheers
Vic

Have you considered replacing them with silicon transistors (making the required circuit changes to accommodate the differences in characteristics)?

Hi GTC,

No up until now I have not bothered to much , but it is closer to a point I may have too. It has fallen into the too hard basket .

Cheers

Electrolytic caps in equipment this old may need to be replaced. They tend to dry out, and lose most of their capacitance. Hum or tinny sound may result. 😻

The major issue that I find with early era transistorised stuff is the tendency to have the older style wax paper caps that do the same thing as they did in valve radios; Elecrolytics dry out & that can cause volume issues as they used them for coupling.

There are also in some small caps about 1/4" to around 1/2" long (Hunts, AEC) & their reliability has in my experience is on par with wax paper & many have been seen cracked & burned from shorting.So it always pays to look at the thing to see if this is not happening & there are obvious faults.

One of the issues with Germanium was thermal run-away & if parameters changed they could burn the junction & fail. Lately I have had a run on Germanium Oscillator / Mixers failing. It can be difficult to find a transistor that will oscillate in their circuit.


Marc

I believe (unconfirmed) the OC987 & OC988 transistors are equivalent to AC127 & AC128, or AC187 & AC188 respectively. The other transistors (silicon) in this unit are the Australian made Fairchild types & these are not known for their reliability either.

Apart from the electrolytics, the only caps likely to give trouble in this unit are the Ducon Redcaps.

UPDATE: Transistor equivalents. NTE Electronics type NTE103A for both AC127 & AC187, and NTE158 for AC128 & AC188.

Hi Viccadillac.

I found some transistor equivalent sheets last night, and yes, the OC987/OC988 are indeed equivalent to the ACxxx types mentioned in previous post.

Transistor Equivalents

Note on the sheets that AC127 and AC132 together are used as a complimentary pair. The equivalent NTE Electronics complimentary pair is NTE102A & NTE103A.

http://www.nteinc.com/specs/100to199/pdf/nte102a.pdf
http://dilp.netcomponents.com/cgi-bin/nteinc.asp?partnumber1=NTE102A

Thanks MonochromeTV for the manuals, it was the 2nd one I was after. Thanks everyone else for the info.