US "Roundie" Color TVs in France

[jhalphen]

Good day Gentlemen,

I am an American living in Paris (sorry guys, not Gene Kelly).

I'm 53 and fell in love with Color in the late 50s in America.

I own a working (Yes working !) CT-100, courtesy of Terry whom you all know (Thanks! Terry; Bless his soul)

I have encouraged other friends, whose childhoold dream has also been to own a US roundie to make it come true.

So far, Me (Jerome), Wilfrid, Christopher and Jean-François have made the effort to purchase and bring overseas (5000 miles) these fine US receivers.

Please don't piss on us and greet us as fellow collectors who have the same passion as you do to preserve witnessess of past technologies & make them work again.

We use SECAM/PAL ---> NTSC standards converters, Worldwide DVD players with NTSC modulators and (in my case, full NTSC transmitters) to operate the TVs "like in America".

Gentlemen, please respect fellow collectors who are still in awe, 60 years later, that Color TV came from America 15 years before Europe. We are are a world-wide community with a common passion. Please Welcome ! us and let information flow both ways about our common interest.

Best Regards

jhalphen@dial.oleane.com
Paris/france

[Phil Nelson]

I agree, let's respect one another and welcome everyone who is interested in preserving these wonderful old sets and sharing information about them.

I own radios that came from Europe (some as early as the 1930s), even the USSR. Why shouldn't people from around the world own radios or TVs that came from the US?

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[peverett]

I also agree. Remember, the TV could have became an aquarium or wine cabinet and lost forever. It is much better for it to be preserved as a bit of history.

[Tony V]

I agree and never had a problem with it. In fact i've learned alot about how the tv experience was and is from our brothers across the pond. Our passion for this hobby is universal and shouldnt be just allocated to just the U.S. The most important thing is for these tv's whether their b/w or color to be preserved for generations to come. Any information in doing so should be shared for those who want to learn and restore. I own several radio's from across the sea and have always wanted a few tv's to go along with them. Welcome Jerome!
-Tony

[Sandy G]

Hmmmmmm.... Well, anybody who loves these things enuff to try to ship a Roundie 5K miles & hope against hope it'll get there OK is OK by me..Crazy, perhaps, but ain't we all, anyway ? <grin> Get them other guys to join up-We'd LOVE to see pics of all of your collections !!

[Pete Deksnis]

I applaud a passion for preserving vintage television wherever it occurs.

Three good 15GP22's have been successfully shipped to Europe: one in England, another in Germany, and Jerome's in France. Everyone in the loop was holding his collective breath as the CRT successfully crossed the Atlantic in a crate separate from the CT-100.

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by jhalphen

and (in my case, full NTSC transmitters) to operate the TVs

Could you bring us up-to-date on the equipment you use here.

[yagosaga]

Welcome Jerome. I have read your name already several times on Steve McVoy's website.

Eckhard

[David Roper]

I'm quite certain you'd recognize him if you saw him, ISTR you both attended the Early TV Convention in 2005.

[polaraman]

AAAAAAA! The pipe smoker! Yes, they were drooling like the rest of us at the museum's collection. To really join the club you need to also obtain a huge classic American car.


polaraman

[Captain Video]

Originally Posted by polaraman

To really join the club you need to also obtain a huge classic American car.


polaraman

That's a part of "joining the club" that I really want to do...there's a good number of early 50's Chevrolets and Cadillacs near me...unfortunately, my pocket is "not ready" to buy any of them

[jhalphen]

Hello Gentlemen,

Thank you for the kind & encouraging replies.

Yes, i was (am) the pipe smoker at ETF 2005.

I do not have a big American car (loved them seeing them in California in the late 50s & 60s). Parking in Paris is akin to living in Manhattan, and a full size sedan virtually guarantees spending 2 hours to find a suitable parking space.

To come back to vintage color TVs and answer Pete's question:
> Could you bring us up-to-date on the equipment you use here.

Gladly! As you all know, France has always adopted the strangest TV standards over & over and its SECAM color system faithfully follows the tradition. So if you want to collect TVs in this country and watch something else than a grey piece of glass, the capacity to generate other world standards is mandatory.

I come from a broadcast culture (i.e. 15 years with Ampex for instance) so i adopted a pro system approach. Sources are:

French terrestrial DVB-T
French terrestrial "L" norm SECAM
French Digital cable
UK Sky Digital (satellite)
DVD (Zone 1 & 2), S-VHS PAL, VHS PAL/SECAM

Everything goes into a matrix router.

Signal processing includes:
2 x Prosumer PAL/SECAM & vice/versa transcoders
2 x PAL/SECAM/NTSC digital standards converters

Separate DAs on all router outputs.

For NTSC transmission, i've built several transmitters over the years, but lately i've been so happy with this Greek 100mW quasi-broadcast unit, that i've standardized on this model:

http://www.aspisys.com/tvpll.htm

I initially started with their first model about 3 years ago. I chose to repackage the unit because of a few minor quirks such as "hot" running +5V & +12V regulator with no heat sinking & because of personal preferences for a metal enclosure in power RF applications rather than plastic boxes.

The newer model portrayed in the link above will actually broadcast in all current broadcast standards : NTSC "M", PAL B/G/I, SECAM L, DK...

*i have no link to this Co, other than being a satisfied customer.

I run most of my TVs daily. My philosophy is "run them & enjoy them", non-used electronics stored in boxes see the caps rot and they die.

I have a strong fetish for Panasonic TravelVision micro-TVs, especially the extraordinary 1.5" color CRT CT-101, all Trinitron models from 5" to 9", plus the CT-100 and a few others (Motorola VT-71...)

Not having much display space myself, i try to encourage others to jump onto the Real Vintage Color bandwagon, i.e. US sets.

Now a brief rundown on the status of the 4 roundies in France :

my CT-100: Works well, need to tweak the convergence with a set of new magnets received from Scott M. Will be using it with a new NTSC transmitter on the VHF low band (2-6) as it has some degree of IF disalignment on the high VHF Channel. There is NO WAY i will try to align a 7 stage "world's most difficult" IF strip.

Wilfrid's RCA CTC-9A, Blonde, 1959 is coming along well. The set has raster and the CRT had 100% emission, measured before purchase (big Thanks! to Harry P. of NJ) An NTSC modulator was received last week.
The set sorely needs a new 6DQ5 (H Out) and BTW, he is/i am interested in sourcing NOS TV tubes to have spares on hand according to the SAMS tube list.

Roundie #3 is Christopher's Zenith 5527U 21" color console 1962. The TV was in operational condition before departure from the US. A full convergence job must be performed as of course, it is shipped with the deflection yoke & convergence assy removed from the CRT neck to avoid breakage in transit.

Roundie #4 is Jean-Francois's RCA 21-CD8866 "Anderson" 1958. Condition unknown, other than complete and a rather used CRT. The set has not arrived in France yet. Jean-Francois is the curator of a beautiful mammoth vintage radio collection at the "Musee de la communication" near Angers, 200 miles out of Paris:

http://www.musee-communication.com

As he lives in the CASTLE where the collection is located (lucky guy!) he also has his own TV collection in the same location. Jean-Francois has a Predicta, Philco Safari, VT-71, in a nutshell, it's growing...

So, this pretty much sums up the status of US early color sets in France.

What amazes ME, is the amount of data, parts, knowledge and goodwill available on US early color. Early Euro color is very shrouded in secrecy. To speak of France, finding info on Henri de France (inventor of SECAM) is extremely difficult, i have only ONE picture of a SECAM prototype using an RCA 21" round tube, schematics, history, development info is near zilch, very discouraging.

Guess i will wrap this up for today after this long message. If you've read until the end, Thank You!

2 short questions:
- Would you have the HV focus transformer rewound (John Folsom Jr) on the CT-100 as preventative maintenance ?

Do any of you know something about Sony Indextron KVX-370 Beam-Index TV repairs ? 1 of my 2 Indextrons recently conked out (audio FM hiss, no scan). I have a full pdf service manual file free for the asking if someone is interested inthis set.

Pictures : Me (no pipe ;-) near CT-100
Wilfrid's Blonde RCA 1959
Christopher's 5527U 1962 Zenith
Jean-Francoi's RCA 21-CD8866 "Anderson" 1958.


Best Regards

jhalphen@dial.oleane.com
Paris/France

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by jhalphen

Hello Gentlemen,


DVD (Zone 1 & 2)

Everything goes into a matrix router.

Signal processing includes:
2 x Prosumer PAL/SECAM & vice/versa transcoders
2 x PAL/SECAM/NTSC digital standards converters

Separate DAs on all router outputs.

For NTSC transmission, i've built several transmitters over the years, but lately i've been so happy with this Greek 100mW quasi-broadcast unit, that i've standardized on this model:

...

What amazes ME, is the amount of data, parts, knowledge and goodwill available on US early color. Early Euro color is very shrouded in secrecy. To speak of France, finding info on Henri de France (inventor of SECAM) is extremely difficult, i have only ONE picture of a SECAM prototype using an RCA 21" round tube, schematics, history, development info is near zilch, very discouraging.


Paris/France

Many DVD players can be configured to play the DVD directly in NTSC mode (scan rate and color system). So you can avoid the jutter effects when converting PAL/SECAM to NTSC. Most program material on DVDs are film done at 24fps, so the DVD would just change the 2/3 pull-down rate to accomidate the different scan rate. (I'm assuming that the DVD was incoded at 24fps MPEG2 style).

back in the early days of NTSC color, RCA wanted everyone to start making color TVs and related equipment, and freely gave out the information. RCA would charge nominal patent licensing fees of course. But they would not make any money if they held the information back, as color TV would likely die if they did.

Looks like you need an American Football to European Football (what we call "Soccer") converter.. Or maybe you are converting Soccer to American Football?
.

[Sandy G]

Y'all got some VERY nice ol' sets there !! You should be VERY proud...I have a '65 Zenith roundie that is still "sleeping"...Keep up the good work, & tell your old-TV buddies about us...

[compucat]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I have a '65 Zenith roundie that is still "sleeping".....

My 1965 Zenith roundie is still sleeping too but I'm trying to wake it up. Why don't you give yours a nudge too. What cabinet is your set in? I'd love to see some pictures of it even if it is not working. Zenith roundies are my favorite sets.

You wouldn't happen to have any spare cosmetic parts for one of these like knobs, rear CRT cap, would you?