Seeking Help for Restoring HMV Fiesta Popular

[sunilzen60]

Hi @reubensm,

i see that you are an old member here and have been replying posts on HMV Fiesta Popular. Seeking some help and advise from you.

I just extricated an Old HMV Fiesta Popular Set from my late Father-in-Law's house. It looks in decent condition from outside but there is just one small PCB inside. There is NO transformer inside the box, which is surprising as it should have a transformer and power supply/rectifier circuit, which I can see that there is a Bridge rectifier on the small little pcb inside the box.

There are volume and tone control knobs/POTs, the speaker looks ok, but the female Audio jack on the box is missing. That should not be an issue I guess, to procure.

Also the rubber bushes of the turntable motor are worn/cracked. Any idea where I could get the rubber bushes of the turntable motor? The motor seems to be working and if i hold the motor with my hand, the speed selector also seems to be connecting and changing the speed. Maybe I will have to make some estimate of dimensions and make the rubber bushes locally.

Does this have a preamp circuit with a separate amp? I am told in Mumbai that AC127/128 are not available any more. Is that right? I have copied the circuit that you posted earlier and will try to locate the components at Lamington road, the Mecca for electronic components.

The stylus and cartridge are disconnected but present. There is a spring at the end of the stylus arm but it is suspended on one side only.

I have all the time in the world and I would love to get this going as my wife also located a huge stack of Old EPs and SP records, which she would love to listen to, as she did in her childhood(we are in early 60s n late 50s respectively). Would love to have it sing again, if you could help and advise. Most electronic repair shops are trying to give some nonsense and telling me to junk it but i know it can be got going.

Could you help please. if you need pics of the set, kindly do let me know.

 

[reubensm]

Hi @reubensm,

i see that you are an old member here and have been replying posts on HMV Fiesta Popular. Seeking some help and advise from you.

I just extricated an Old HMV Fiesta Popular Set from my late Father-in-Law's house. It looks in decent condition from outside but there is just one small PCB inside. There is NO transformer inside the box, which is surprising as it should have a transformer and power supply/rectifier circuit, which I can see that there is a Bridge rectifier on the small little pcb inside the box.

There are volume and tone control knobs/POTs, the speaker looks ok, but the female Audio jack on the box is missing. That should not be an issue I guess, to procure.

Also the rubber bushes of the turntable motor are worn/cracked. Any idea where I could get the rubber bushes of the turntable motor? The motor seems to be working and if i hold the motor with my hand, the speed selector also seems to be connecting and changing the speed. Maybe I will have to make some estimate of dimensions and make the rubber bushes locally.

Does this have a preamp circuit with a separate amp? I am told in Mumbai that AC127/128 are not available any more. Is that right? I have copied the circuit that you posted earlier and will try to locate the components at Lamington road, the Mecca for electronic components.

The stylus and cartridge are disconnected but present. There is a spring at the end of the stylus arm but it is suspended on one side only.

I have all the time in the world and I would love to get this going as my wife also located a huge stack of Old EPs and SP records, which she would love to listen to, as she did in her childhood(we are in early 60s n late 50s respectively). Would love to have it sing again, if you could help and advise. Most electronic repair shops are trying to give some nonsense and telling me to junk it but i know it can be got going.

Could you help please. if you need pics of the set, kindly do let me know.

Thanks for the call out and congrats on your find. The HMV fiesta was a very popular record player in the early days and together with the Philips 533, were common in schools, colleges, hostel dorms, small shops, restaurants, bedrooms at home, etc.

Although I have never actually owned one (my father's first record player was a HMV calypso), I can attempt to answer your queries of course:

1. no transformer inside the box - that is because it is integrated with the AC motor
2. has a small circuit board - essentially a small 1 watt amplifier, as ceramic phono carts have high outputs, no special preamp circuitry is required. HMV had cleverly adapted a high impedance input design for a simple audio (power) amplifier and got good results out of it
3. bridge rectifier - yes, it has a very simple PSU with a bridge and 2 filter capacitors (500 mfd each). The PSU delivers 9volts to the amp, for a 1 watt output. When replacing the 500 mdf caps, opt for 25 volt ones to be on the safe side.
4. female speaker jack - This was a Philips jack. Obviously any suitable socket which does not short circuit while plugging and unplugging (when in use) will work but if you check with older electronics spare parts stores, they are likely to have the original (it was called Philips speaker socket in the local market but new gen shop owners are unlikely to know this. Carrying a pic on your cellphone will help). Of course, if you change the female socket to some other type, you'd have to replace the plug on the end of the lid-speaker wire, accordingly.
5. rubber bushes for the motor - these are called rubber grommets. You can easily buy these online (even amazon.in has them at exorbitant prices though) or you can get them at any electronics or automobile spare parts shop. You'd need to keep an eye the diameter of the motor mounting holes on the record player chassis, in-order to get the right grommet size.
6. does it have a preamp - please refer to point-2, it does not have a preamp
7. availability of AC127/AC128 - unfortunately these germanium transistors are not available any more in the local market as they are no longer manufactured. BEL and Philips used to manufacture these in India back in the day. However if you are lucky and check with some older shops, you may find them (if vintage guitar pedal enthusiasts have not lapped them up already). They can also be salvaged from old radios or radio cassette players (especially European ones). Alternately you can use AC187/AC188 in place of these but again, finding them is the problem. Before replacing the transistors, check them, they may be working. I would suggest that all the caps including the non-electrolytics, be replaced. Also check all the resistors for the correct impedance ratings and replace ones that may not seem accurate.
8. stylus and cartridge - this record player featured a mono HMV cartridge with a flip-stylus (onside for 78s and the other for microgroove). Fortunately these can be found even today with select sellers and these come up on olx every now and then.
9. spring and tonearm - yes there is a simple spring arrangement at the rear end and this helps balance with vertical tracking force on the stylus during play. The spring should be adjusted suitably for a VTF of between 4-6gms (you can go as far as 8gms but your stylus will wear out faster). The tonearm pivot should also be checked

Additionally, you will have to take a close look at the idler wheel and its tension. A worn idler results in increased rumble and speed instability

FM DrPartha is the inhouse expert on this model. Please seek his advice as well.

circuit diagram (courtesy FM Saket from Ranchi)


Philips speaker socket and matching plug



Some additional info (courtesy my late dad) - did you know, the mechanisms used in these HMV decks (fiesta, popular-2, stereo-master, 1010, 666, etc) were essentially rip offs of the German made BSR GU-8/2 record deck mechanism. Here are some pics of the original BSR GU-8/2 deck in 2 different configs. Not sure if HMV used the original BSR tooling for manufacturing these in India.

 

[mbhangui]

Thanks for the call out and congrats on your find. The HMV fiesta was a very popular record player in the early days and together with the Philips 533, were common in schools, colleges, hostel dorms, small shops, restaurants, bedrooms at home, etc.

Although I have never actually owned one (my father's first record player was a HMV calypso), I can attempt to answer your queries of course:

1. no transformer inside the box - that is because it is integrated with the AC motor
2. has a small circuit board - essentially a small 1 watt amplifier, as ceramic phono carts have high outputs, no special preamp circuitry is required. HMV had cleverly adapted a high impedance input design for a simple audio (power) amplifier and got good results out of it
3. bridge rectifier - yes, it has a very simple PSU with a bridge and 2 filter capacitors (500 mfd each). The PSU delivers 9volts to the amp, for a 1 watt output. When replacing the 500 mdf caps, opt for 25 volt ones to be on the safe side.
4. female speaker jack - This was a Philips jack. Obviously any suitable socket which does not short circuit while plugging and unplugging (when in use) will work but if you check with older electronics spare parts stores, they are likely to have the original (it was called Philips speaker socket in the local market but new gen shop owners are unlikely to know this. Carrying a pic on your cellphone will help). Of course, if you change the female socket to some other type, you'd have to replace the plug on the end of the lid-speaker wire, accordingly.
5. rubber bushes for the motor - these are called rubber grommets. You can easily buy these online (even amazon.in has them at exorbitant prices though) or you can get them at any electronics or automobile spare parts shop. You'd need to keep an eye the diameter of the motor mounting holes on the record player chassis, in-order to get the right grommet size.
6. does it have a preamp - please refer to point-2, it does not have a preamp
7. availability of AC127/AC128 - unfortunately these germanium transistors are not available any more in the local market as they are no longer manufactured. BEL and Philips used to manufacture these in India back in the day. However if you are lucky and check with some older shops, you may find them (if vintage guitar pedal enthusiasts have not lapped them up already). They can also be salvaged from old radios or radio cassette players (especially European ones). Alternately you can use AC187/AC188 in place of these but again, finding them is the problem. Before replacing the transistors, check them, they may be working. I would suggest that all the caps including the non-electrolytics, be replaced. Also check all the resistors for the correct impedance ratings and replace ones that may not seem accurate.
8. stylus and cartridge - this record player featured a mono HMV cartridge with a flip-stylus (onside for 78s and the other for microgroove). Fortunately these can be found even today with select sellers and these come up on olx every now and then.
9. spring and tonearm - yes there is a simple spring arrangement at the rear end and this helps balance with vertical tracking force on the stylus during play. The spring should be adjusted suitably for a VTF of between 4-6gms (you can go as far as 8gms but your stylus will wear out faster). The tonearm pivot should also be checked

Additionally, you will have to take a close look at the idler wheel and its tension. A worn idler results in increased rumble and speed instability

FM DrPartha is the inhouse expert on this model. Please seek his advice as well.

circuit diagram (courtesy FM Saket from Ranchi)
View attachment 69973

Philips speaker socket and matching plug

View attachment 69975View attachment 69974

Some additional info (courtesy my late dad) - did you know, the mechanisms used in these HMV decks (fiesta, popular-2, stereo-master, 1010, 666, etc) were essentially rip offs of the German made BSR GU-8/2 record deck mechanism. Here are some pics of the original BSR GU-8/2 deck in 2 different configs. Not sure if HMV used the original BSR tooling for manufacturing these in India.
View attachment 69972View attachment 69971

Your knowledge on these things are phenomenol

1. no transformer inside the box - that is because it is integrated with the AC motor

This is genius, just love the idea of doing it this way. The AC128, AC127 were so common in the final amp circuits of most transistor radios in the 70s.

 

[A K Bhattacharjee]

The AC 127, AC 128 are available on eBay. A few months back, I searched & found on eBay. Although I didn't purchased them because the problem was not in the transistors, it was in the adapter. After a thorough investigation, I was able to find out the fault. Mine is a DC set works on 9 volt.

 

[reubensm]

a word of caution - some of the new-gen electronics spares shops will happily declare that they have the 'modern' equivalent of the classic germanium AC187/188 transistors. They will look like this:


They will cost you about under Rs.5/- but don't waste your time with these. I have tried them and they don't work as substitutes for the original ones.

 

[sunilzen60]

Thanks for the call out and congrats on your find. The HMV fiesta was a very popular record player in the early days and together with the Philips 533, were common in schools, colleges, hostel dorms, small shops, restaurants, bedrooms at home, etc.

Although I have never actually owned one (my father's first record player was a HMV calypso), I can attempt to answer your queries of course:

1. no transformer inside the box - that is because it is integrated with the AC motor
2. has a small circuit board - essentially a small 1 watt amplifier, as ceramic phono carts have high outputs, no special preamp circuitry is required. HMV had cleverly adapted a high impedance input design for a simple audio (power) amplifier and got good results out of it
3. bridge rectifier - yes, it has a very simple PSU with a bridge and 2 filter capacitors (500 mfd each). The PSU delivers 9volts to the amp, for a 1 watt output. When replacing the 500 mdf caps, opt for 25 volt ones to be on the safe side.
4. female speaker jack - This was a Philips jack. Obviously any suitable socket which does not short circuit while plugging and unplugging (when in use) will work but if you check with older electronics spare parts stores, they are likely to have the original (it was called Philips speaker socket in the local market but new gen shop owners are unlikely to know this. Carrying a pic on your cellphone will help). Of course, if you change the female socket to some other type, you'd have to replace the plug on the end of the lid-speaker wire, accordingly.
5. rubber bushes for the motor - these are called rubber grommets. You can easily buy these online (even amazon.in has them at exorbitant prices though) or you can get them at any electronics or automobile spare parts shop. You'd need to keep an eye the diameter of the motor mounting holes on the record player chassis, in-order to get the right grommet size.
6. does it have a preamp - please refer to point-2, it does not have a preamp
7. availability of AC127/AC128 - unfortunately these germanium transistors are not available any more in the local market as they are no longer manufactured. BEL and Philips used to manufacture these in India back in the day. However if you are lucky and check with some older shops, you may find them (if vintage guitar pedal enthusiasts have not lapped them up already). They can also be salvaged from old radios or radio cassette players (especially European ones). Alternately you can use AC187/AC188 in place of these but again, finding them is the problem. Before replacing the transistors, check them, they may be working. I would suggest that all the caps including the non-electrolytics, be replaced. Also check all the resistors for the correct impedance ratings and replace ones that may not seem accurate.
8. stylus and cartridge - this record player featured a mono HMV cartridge with a flip-stylus (onside for 78s and the other for microgroove). Fortunately these can be found even today with select sellers and these come up on olx every now and then.
9. spring and tonearm - yes there is a simple spring arrangement at the rear end and this helps balance with vertical tracking force on the stylus during play. The spring should be adjusted suitably for a VTF of between 4-6gms (you can go as far as 8gms but your stylus will wear out faster). The tonearm pivot should also be checked

Additionally, you will have to take a close look at the idler wheel and its tension. A worn idler results in increased rumble and speed instability

FM DrPartha is the inhouse expert on this model. Please seek his advice as well.

circuit diagram (courtesy FM Saket from Ranchi)
View attachment 69973

Philips speaker socket and matching plug

View attachment 69975View attachment 69974

Some additional info (courtesy my late dad) - did you know, the mechanisms used in these HMV decks (fiesta, popular-2, stereo-master, 1010, 666, etc) were essentially rip offs of the German made BSR GU-8/2 record deck mechanism. Here are some pics of the original BSR GU-8/2 deck in 2 different configs. Not sure if HMV used the original BSR tooling for manufacturing these in India.
View attachment 69972View attachment 69971

Dear Reuben, THank you so much for the valuable inputs. I was away for a while and could not log in. Just saw your detailed response. Much grateful. Shall proceed with repairs and check out if I succeed. Will update on completion. Thank you Once again.

 

[K G Sivaprasad]

Hi @reubensm,

i see that you are an old member here and have been replying posts on HMV Fiesta Popular. Seeking some help and advise from you.

I just extricated an Old HMV Fiesta Popular Set from my late Father-in-Law's house. It looks in decent condition from outside but there is just one small PCB inside. There is NO transformer inside the box, which is surprising as it should have a transformer and power supply/rectifier circuit, which I can see that there is a Bridge rectifier on the small little pcb inside the box.

There are volume and tone control knobs/POTs, the speaker looks ok, but the female Audio jack on the box is missing. That should not be an issue I guess, to procure.

Also the rubber bushes of the turntable motor are worn/cracked. Any idea where I could get the rubber bushes of the turntable motor? The motor seems to be working and if i hold the motor with my hand, the speed selector also seems to be connecting and changing the speed. Maybe I will have to make some estimate of dimensions and make the rubber bushes locally.

Does this have a preamp circuit with a separate amp? I am told in Mumbai that AC127/128 are not available any more. Is that right? I have copied the circuit that you posted earlier and will try to locate the components at Lamington road, the Mecca for electronic components.

The stylus and cartridge are disconnected but present. There is a spring at the end of the stylus arm but it is suspended on one side only.

I have all the time in the world and I would love to get this going as my wife also located a huge stack of Old EPs and SP records, which she would love to listen to, as she did in her childhood(we are in early 60s n late 50s respectively). Would love to have it sing again, if you could help and advise. Most electronic repair shops are trying to give some nonsense and telling me to junk it but i know it can be got going.

Could you help please. if you need pics of the set, kindly do let me know.

Hi, let me see the internal and external pictures of the system and then I may tell you whether I can help you for it's repair and service... Thanks