RCA 621TS vs BELMONT 21A21

[baursam]

Hi Folks

I thought I had remembered reading somewhere online that the Belmont 21A21 came out earlier than the 621TS by a few months, but can't for the life of me find any link stating this. Does anyone have any knowledge on this

thanks

Ross

[decojoe67]

It seems the RCA 621TS (as well as the 630TS and the rest of the line) was introduced in October of '46 while the Belmont 21A21 was in April. Also Dumont and Viewtone TV's may've been introduced before the RCA's. I've never understood how anyone was able to engineer, design, manufacture, and sell a TV within the first year production resumed. If you notice, most large companies like Philco, Zenith, and GE, introduced TV's in '48. That makes sense.

[benman94]

decojoe is correct, Viewtone produced sets before the 621TS. I have one, with a sales receipt dated November of 1945. That has to be among the earliest postwar sets. Part of the reason the set was able to make it to market so fast is that it is, for all intents and purposes, a pre-war design: AM sound, the IF strip is pulled almost verbatim from an RCA TT-5, the primitive 7EP4 CRT. In fact, if it weren't for the 7EP4 and the 6C4 oscillator in the tuner, it would be rather hard to distinguish it from a pre-war set.
I'd imagine the Belmont was next to market, or perhaps a DuMont offering. In any case, the 621TS and 630TS, which were introduced simultaneously, were not the first postwar sets, not by a long shot.

[baursam]

Thanks guys, just found where i had seen it, and you both are bang on!!

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/view...p?f=3&t=242989

http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/...p?f=3&t=249184

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

It seems the RCA 621TS (as well as the 630TS and the rest of the line) was introduced in October of '46 while the Belmont 21A21 was in April. Also Dumont and Viewtone TV's may've been introduced before the RCA's. I've never understood how anyone was able to engineer, design, manufacture, and sell a TV within the first year production resumed. If you notice, most large companies like Philco, Zenith, and GE, introduced TV's in '48. That makes sense.

The government never stopped companies from engineering during the war, only from mass production. Many firms were still engaging in civilian product development research even in the middle of the war....As long as you did not use up goods needed for the war effort uncle sam could care less. Heck IIRC the RCA projection CRTs and optics were under development during the war.
I'd imagine a number of firms designed products that they could roll out as soon as consumer production could be resumed.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

It seems the RCA 621TS (as well as the 630TS and the rest of the line) was introduced in October of '46 while the Belmont 21A21 was in April. Also Dumont and Viewtone TV's may've been introduced before the RCA's. I've never understood how anyone was able to engineer, design, manufacture, and sell a TV within the first year production resumed. If you notice, most large companies like Philco, Zenith, and GE, introduced TV's in '48. That makes sense.

There was no real sense building a product, that had a limited market!
The only areas that had TV reception were the large cities, that had TV before the war. It probably only took a small investment to convert the original equipment to the new standards.
Milwaukee first got TV in March,1948. The Journal Company, was the only one that had that Capital, for an investment of that size.

[broadcaster]

I had a Belmont console with a 10 inch ELECTROSTATIC CRT. The biggest electrostatic tube made. It was a 10HP4. Made in August 1945

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by broadcaster

I had a Belmont console with a 10 inch ELECTROSTATIC CRT. The biggest electrostatic tube made. It was a 10HP4. Made in August 1945

After V-E day, the government seemed to be removing restrictions from the manufacturers, as they felt, the end of the war was near.
Most post-war radios were identical to the pre-war products, as they were made in late 1945.
The OPA came into existance, to maintain price controls, because of the high demand for consumer goods.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

The government never stopped companies from engineering during the war, only from mass production. Many firms were still engaging in civilian product development research even in the middle of the war....As long as you did not use up goods needed for the war effort uncle sam could care less. Heck IIRC the RCA projection CRTs and optics were under development during the war.
I'd imagine a number of firms designed products that they could roll out as soon as consumer production could be resumed.

I found this thread to be very informative. I've always wondered how companies, especially RCA with their nearly flawless 630TS, had these sets out in the market within the first year of production resuming. I'm sure Sarnoff was adamant about having the best and most successful set/s out there after the war, which he accomplished.