British Telly Site!

[Eric H]

Check out this cool site with pics and details about vintage British TV sets.

http://www.thevalvepage.com/tv/Tele.htm

[Eric H]

No one likes the British sets???

The British and some German sets have a peculiar style to them.....the CRT looks to be bulging out of the set like it's about to pop. I personally don't much care for them. Besides, in England they only had something like 3 channels to chose from for many years.

In their defense (aka defence) they do show naked bodies in prime time!

Anthony

[Dave A]

Ok...ok! I confess to having 4 British sets. Pic attached is of two pre-war Bairds just as they came from the shipping crate outside my house.

The dark one is a Baird T-5. This was the model the Baird company used in the BBC tests in November 1936 to early 1937. If you have seen "Television Comes to London", the set can be seen in one shot. It is missing it's EHT chassis...HV section to us in the states.

The early versions of this set were dual-standard for the Baird 240 line mechanical transmissions and the EMI 405 electronic standard (the one that won the competition). This set is slightly later, as it does not have the dual-standard switch. By the time of the tests, Baird had no financial interest in the company as it had been sold, and the sets were being produced by the Bush company who still wanted to sell sets anyway.

The lighter cabinet is a Baird T-23 from late 1937. Both sets have a 15" CRT labeled "CathoVisor" which was the Baird brand. It is the thinnest glass I have ever seen.

I also have a Bush TV-22 in the classic rounded bakelite cabinet that they used for years from the late 40's to the mid-50's...both in round tube and rectangular styles. And the last set is a pre-war HMV 900 mirror-top tv/radio combination, also from late 1936. It is huge. The HMV has been modified to 525 and does make an attempt at at picture although the CRT is very tired. I run it with a voltage converter.

Now that Darryl Hock has developed his multi-standard converter, I am considering putting the HMV back to original condition. I have a modulator that will put the signal back to the British positive polarity and put the audio where is should be in the carrier. The Baird sets could be restored also, with some great help in England, but customs regulations get the process very expensive as values must be declared on the increase in unrepaired/repaired items going back and forth, and the Brits are very strict in honoring this regulation.

The sets live alongside my TRK-120 in fine working condition.

Dave A

[Eric H]

Anthony, I'll admit I'm partial to the domestics sets also but it's an interesting Site and I thought it would generate a bit more interest than it did.

Many of the Euro sets have beautiful cabinet designs, the electronics, which i've only seen pictures of, usually seem to be a bit crude looking.

Dave, your pre-war sets are great! Perfect examples of the cabinets designs I'm talking about, not that we didn't have some great sets here too.

What is the difference between the TRK 12 and the TRK 120?
This site has pics of both and they look pretty much the same?
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1935-41-RCA.htm


Eric

[Dave A]

The TRK-120 was a second production run in 1940 of the original TRK-12 along with the TRK-90 version of the TRK-9. Both versions had numerous production changes and you have to examine your set to see what you really have. With/without AVC. With/without DC restoration, etc.

Below is my TRK-120. It is refinished, but in a darker walnut than the orangish versions we all see. It was a dispute with my refinisher over what really happened to finish dyes over the years. He won.

Dave A

[bgadow]

I do like the British radios & tv's that I've seen photos of. There is an almost American look to many of them, something I also notice in some of the pics Telecolor has posted from the Soviet bloc. It seems most of the foreign stuff that comes my way is either German or in the German style, which is neat but grows old since they are A-L-L--S-O--M-U-C-H--A-L-I-K-E.

[ChuckA]

Originally Posted by Eric H

What is the difference between the TRK 12 and the TRK 120?
This site has pics of both and they look pretty much the same?
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1935-41-RCA.htm
Eric

Eric,

If you look at the bottom of the cabinets you can see the the main difference in the cabinet styles. The TRK-12 has a break in the bottom kick panel, where the TRK-120 is solid across the bottom.

Another easy mod to spot is the TRK-120 doesn't use an eye tube in the radio.


Chuck