The Neptun OT 1491 television receiver in the basic version was produced by Gdańskie Zakłady Radiowe Gezar from autumn 1959 until spring 1963. It is the first in a series of more than 20 television receivers manufactured by the GZR (later transformed into Gdańskie Zakłady Elektroniczne Unimor) until the 1980s.
The Neptun is a mains-powered television set designed for reception of television programmes, equipped with the differential method of audio reception and a black-and-white 35 MK 1 CRT with a screen diagonal of 35 cm. In terms of the electrical system, it is a heterodyne with 16 vacuum tubes and 4 diodes. The device design was developed by the design team of the Technical Development Resource of the Gdańskie Zakłady Radiowe: inż. Krupa, inż. Kula, inż. Tadeusz Pietrzykowski, inż. Muszyński, inż. Chmielewski, and inż. Z. Witczak. According to information presented in an internal paper of the enterprise of 1958, the Neptun television receiver was intended as an upgraded version of the Belweder TV set. The Gdańskie Zakłady Radiowe, which undertook manufacturing of the Neptun, was established, built, and its operation started during the 1956-1960 five-year plan.
In 1959-1965, the Neptun OT 1491 model was utilised to produce several variants of the device, differing in terms of the CRTs used in the design (14 or 17-inch), the electrical systems, or the appearance of the housing. Overall, 364,763 units were built. As part of the first series based on the Neptun OT 1491, models such as the Neptun A (1963-1964), Neptun B (1963-1965), Neptun C (1964-1965), Neptun CB (1965), and Neptun D (1965) were manufactured. Neptun TV sets originated as part of the so-called ‘cosmic series”, where models were named after celestial bodies: Helios, Jowisz, Saturn or Uran.

Authors: Piotr Turowski, Filip Wróblewski