Irish transistor radios

niwironline

I bought a Pam branded transistor radio in an antique shop in Monaghan a while back. The unusual thing was it had a large speaker mounted backwards in the case. Later I picked up a Pye set with the same construction. Someone told me these were made by Pye Ireland Ltd in Dundrum in the early 60's and were designed here only for the Irish market. They are quite well made inside.
I think they may be interesting products from an indigenous design and manufacturing history that is being forgotten.
Can anyone confirm if these sets were designed and made in Dublin? Does anyone have any details of dates or have sales brochures or even have been an employee of Pye Ireland at that time? Any background, info or memories would be appreciated. I can post images if required.

Best regards

coylemj

We had a mains Pye radiogram in the 60s, it was made in Dundrum because it said so on the display on the front. It had a lid on top under which was a record player but the main use for it was as the family radio, it had SW, LW & MW and required an external aerial. We mainly listened to Radio Eireann though on Sundays if the atmospheric conditions were good we'd listen to the Top 20 on BBC R2 which was then broadcast on 1,500m Long Wave, where R4 (198 KHz) is located these days.

I doubt if it was designed only for the Irish market because it had standard radio components like valves and it had a whole pile of European radio stations shown on the front which suggested that the model was exported all over Europe.

Pye also made televisions in Ireland and so did a company called Murphy. Our first TV in 1962 was Murphy, then we bought a Pye in 1966, then we went colour with Ferguson, then the Japanese took over the market so the next TV was Mitsubishi.

When you say 'transistor' do you mean a portable radio? Technically a transistor is a solid-state diode but in the 60s the word was shorthand for 'transistor radio' meaning a portable radio while the mains model on the sideboard was called the 'wireless'. Most pocket portables in the 60s used a 9V PP3 battery, they are now mainly used in smoke alarms.

This is very similar to the model we had...

niwironline

To Coylemj.

Thanks for your reply. I havent seen anything like your Pye radiogramophone before in any UK lists.

The radios I have are portables. Manufacturers bought components from all over the place. These however have a unique internal design.
I actually collect transistor radios and after searching through all the UK trade lists for the 60's as far as I can see these were never put on general sale in that market although they used some components from the Pye parent company in Cambridge.

Thats why I was hoping that someone in the trade in the Republic could confirm what I was told about their Dundrum origin. The performance is better than some Pye UK transistors of the same period. I was also told that Pye Ireland were fairly autonomous from Pye UK in the 60's and in fact when C O Stanley, the MD, who was from Cork, sold the UK company to Philips in the 60's he remained in control of Pye Ireland.

Hopefully more info will turn up. I will post some images next.

Thanks again.

coylemj

I lived in the midlands in the 60s and I don't remember any Pye portable radios at the time. I recall that our local TV & Radio shop stocked Japanese pocket transistor radios which cost £5 which was a lot of money at the time. However they were notoriously unreliable and if they broke they typically had to be chucked in the bin.

The British Vintage Wireless Society home page:

http://www.bvws.org.uk/

British Vintage Wireless and Valve Radio:

http://www.valve-radio.co.uk/

UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration:

http://www.vintage-radio.com/
http://www.vintage-radio.com/manufacturers-and-sets/pye-trannie.html

niwironline

To coylemj

I have just attached two pictures of the Pam. The Pye has a different style case but is identical inside. A front view and inside the back showing large rear facing speaker.

Regards

coylemj

Very good, our Bush portable would have been of a similar size. I can see that the Pam also took a PP9 battery by the looks of it and I can see the old variable capacitor for tuning plus the internal aerial.

It was always hit and miss whether the dial on a radio showed 'Eireann' or 'Athlone' for the MW 530m signal from the Athlone transmitter. Apparently when the transmitter was pressed into service ahead of schedule for the Eucharistic Congress, it was launched as 'Radio Athlone' but was later changed to 'Radio Eireann' though lots of wireless manufacturers continued to put 'Athlone' on the dial.

niwironline

To coylemj

Thanks for your last reply. We always used to call it Athlone as well! I notice that the old Dublin station is also on the dial.

I dont know if we'll get any more information so maybe leave it for a while. Maybe my original informant was wrong that they were designed and made in Dundrum. He was a retired service engineer who worked here in Armagh.

I tried to get in touch with the Irish Vintage radio and Sound Society but I couldnt get through to their number from the north and they dont seem to have web address.

Regards and thanks again.

coylemj

niwironline wrote: »

Maybe my original informant was wrong that they were designed and made in Dundrum. He was a retired service engineer who worked here in Armagh.

The Pye radiogram we had said 'Dundrum' on the front panel so it must have been made there, I mentioned that in my first post above. Can't say where it was designed but I reckon it was made in Dundrum for sure.

serpico.john

i have an irish pye valve radio-powered by mains-
i am having trouble tuning it in.
all valves are working
any suggestions?
thanks

coylemj

You'll probably need an external antenna, even for Medium Wave.

Are you picking up anything? Try tuning it to 1,500m on Long Wave, that's currently BBC Radio 4, it's probably marked as 'Light' on the dial.

RTE's long wave signal on 252 Khz would correspond to 1,178m LW.

On Medium Wave you might get BBC 5Live on 693 Khz (429m) or 909 Khz (327m).

Fuzzy Clam

serpico.john wrote: »

i have an irish pye valve radio-powered by mains-
i am having trouble tuning it in.
all valves are working
any suggestions?
thanks

I assume by working, you mean they light up. This may be just the filaments lighting.

Capacitors in these old sets invariably need to be replaced. Sometimes a visual check will tell tell you if a cap is bad. Look for small, often barrel shaped, components. Brown or green in colour, maybe with "Hunts" printed on them. They tend to crack with age. If they go "short", which they tend to, then bypass caps will pass HV (high voltage) to ground (not good). Other caps are interstage between the anode of one valve and the grid of the next and if they go short, then HV can pass to the grid (not good either).

A typical set will have about 20 or so capacitors and if one needs to be replacing then I would advise to replace them all. Cost of new caps about 20 Euros approx but a bit of labour involved.

As said, you will need an external aerial and if you have a problem receiving RTE LW, then I would look at getting the components replaced.

serpico.john

thanks for the help- i'll try that!

yarglags

A little footnote to the Pye story. I'm not sure of the relationship but there was a division / partnership called Pye Ireland Dynaphone in the Pye centre in Dundrum. They made loudspeakers for Pye. When things wound up in Dundrum in 1981, an Itaian owned company moved the plant and machinery to Dun Laoghaire and started making electronics. The company was later renamed Elab Ireland. They moved to Sandyford and expanded to the point where they had to move to a larger premises on Leopardstown Road. They were renamed Faac Electronics and continued to grow. In 2008 they moved to Citywest where they continue to turn out electronics for the Faac group.