Another newbie here.

I recently acquired a number of radios from a well-known internet auction site. I was supposed to be buying one but when I went to collect it several others were offered for very little cash and it would have been rude not to take them!

Amongst these radios was a GEC BC5542. I have asked about this on a UK forum and searched in vain for further information on it. It has been suggested, due to the lack of names on the MW dial and the wide range of countries on the SW dial that it was probably intended for export from the UK.

The chassis is similar, although not identical to GEC BC5442.

I'd be grateful for any help that anyone could give me with this. In particular access to a datasheet would be great.

Thanks

Welcome to the forum.

Let us know the set's valve line-up.

The valve line up is:

V1 = X79
V2 = W77
V3 = DH77
V4 = N78
V5 = U78

All Osram.

G'day Ultra,

I am not familiar with many radios outside Australia though if you are able to send a photo of the set I will be pleased to insert it in your post. Click my name for my e-mail address.

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I note that there are 23 GEC sets with that line-up listed on Radiomuseum.org and that they have been put there by 3 contributors, each with a large radio collection of their own, namely:

Keith Staines (UK)
Peter Hoddow (Germany)
William J Blanchflower (UK)

If you run out of potential sources of information, then my guess would be that at least one of the above guys might be able to help you. It's a matter of tracking them down.

Hi all.
One of my bents is collecting British & European valve radios. They are not that common here, which I guess makes them a bit "exotic" compared to Australian made sets. That said, I still appreciate Australian valve radios and it's history.
It may be a bit difficult to give an answer to Ultrasheeps enquiry. GEC is a brand known here, but not for radios. (There were Genelex radios (BGE) here made by Tasma)
Australia wasn't, with a few exceptions, a major export destination for British made radios.
Australia had a very protected manufacturing industry until the 1970's. Just about everything was made here. However, there were foreign radio manufacturers like Philips, HMV & STC operating in Australia. Part of the deal though was that these companies had to set up their factories here, employ local labour and where possible source locally made materials. During Australias era of Protectionism there were very few radios imported here.
Most of the British & European radios found in Australia were brought over here by post-war migrants during the 1950's & 1960's. A lot of them now adorn my collection. It was only with the advent of the Internet that I was able to get service manuals/circuit diagrams for my collection. Another one of my bents is valve geneology. The GEC 5542 valve line-up uses valves, apart from the X79 & N78, that are not well known in Australia.
X79 = 6AE8. W77 = 6CQ6/EF92. DH77 = 6AT6/EBC90.
N78 = 6BJ5, output valve, similar in appearance to a 6AQ5 &
U78 = 6X4. The GEC 5442 has the same valve line-up to the 5542. Maybe the circuit is the same.
http://www.radiomanuals.info/information/800%20to%201199/s1026.pdf.
If the GEC 5542 was an export set it would of been more likely to be aimed at the Southern and East African, Malta & Malayan markets.

Would it be possible for a picture of the left hand side of the dial. Also, does this radio have a Long Wave band?
There are 2 similar looking radios, GEC BC5639 & BC5445 in "Radio! Radio!" by Jonathan Hill, Sunrise Press, pages 190 & 193. They are both described as "brown bakelite cabinets with woodgrain painted ends".
However, the BC5639 uses octal valves and the BC5445 has the same valve line-up as the BC5542.