Blonde Andrea T-VK12
 

Greetings,

I picked this up locally for the princely sum of $43. Overall it's in excellent condition. I've never seen one of these around here, let alone a blonde version. Attached are some pictures from the seller. I got it safely home and the dial glass is still intact. This is my first TV with channel one!

I haven't had much spare time lately, but I did give it the once-over and checked the CRT, which I believe is a 12QP4. There is no type marked on the base, so I'll have to confirm the type later. The emissions were a little sleepy at first, but after a 10 minute cook it came right up. Cut off is good, too.

Here's a first look with the back off:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psb5d4f33d.jpg

Testing the CRT:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7abe70ca.jpg
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...ps87bca5cc.jpg

After a 10 minute cook at 6.3V:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...ps287ff252.jpg

I'm really excited about restoring this set! The only issue I see is some flaking paint on the back side of the dial glass. Fortunately, it's just plain dark brown paint and not any of the logo or other lettering.

-Clark

Very Cool! I really like that dial, everything but SW.
Is that about 1947? it has channel one

Thanks! I think it's officially a 1948 model, so it must be one of the last with channel "1".

$43 ?!? I'll give ya $86 !!! Double yer Money...(grin) Seriously, that is a GREAT score !

Nice set. Very nice set. I have one in mahogany and it is a good performer.

Good luck with the restoration.:smoke:

Beautiful condition. Nice find. I believe this model was called "The Sharon." BTVK-12. The B is for blonde finish.

Left photo courtesy: TV History site.


-Steve D.

Thanks, Lee. I remember following your restoration on ARF. It's one of the things that drew me to this set when I saw it.

And Steve, thanks for letting me know that this blonde has a name. I'll take very good care of "Sharon" :yes:

With family and work commitments, it may be a month or two before I can't start the restoration in earnest.

-Clark

Wow, Clark. That looks Really nice.

Nice Carl! Love that set.

Hi Clark,
Cool set, I like that tuner arrangement. Is it a continuous tuning type tv station selector or does it use a low band / high band switch ?
Ed

It looks like an Inductuner I have in my Sightmaster which also shows an AM band. I forget if it actually receives AM.

It is a Mallory InducTuner or InpuTuner with continuous tuning and no high/low TV band switch. There is a four position function switch to select phono, AM, FM and TV. The AM tuner section is an integral part of the main chassis, and shares one of the TV sound's IF amplifiers (at 455 kHz). From what I can tell looking at the schematic from SAMS, putting the selector switch in any position other than TV kills the B-plus to the sweep circuits and may also turn off the CRT filament (I need to print out the schematic and get a better look).

The good news is that the continuous tuner is not frozen and actually tunes without much effort. So I think that the delicate ceramic shaft must be OK. I don't want to mess with it much until I've had a chance to check it closely and carefully clean and re-lube as necessary.

I finally had some time to start working on this set. The chassis is cleaning up very nicely with no corrosion what so ever.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psd0e6fcbc.jpg

It was a little tricky to remove the CRT because the the foam rubber cushions had turned to glue. When I finally got it out, I was surprised to learn that it's a 12JP4. From all indications, this is the original tube, but the SAMS for this set specifies a 12QP4. The 12JP4 is a 50 degree tube that's not aluminized, yet it has a straight gun and needs no ion trap. I hope that it doesn't have an ion burn! It woke up nicely with good emissions. The tube is a DuMont. Anyone know what the silver "T" stamp means?
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psb1d71725.jpg

The chassis looks totally untouched. Just the way I like them :yes: Most of the tubes appear to be the original Sylvania and RCA's with 1948 date codes.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psbbbc693a.jpg

Instead of black beauties, this set if filled with Grey Tigers :D
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psad617907.jpg

While the precious dial glass is intact, just the brown paint on the back side is flaking off. Fortunately, all the important markings are OK:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...ps20eff24f.jpg
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psa3dada3c.jpg

I'm not sure I dare mess with trying to replace the flaking paint. I may consider putting some brown paper behind the glass, just so the pilot lights don't shine through.

-Clark

WOW Clark, I must say that is one super clean set. Good luck with the resto, it will be a great set when done.

Gregb

In all my years of being into vintage TV's I never saw that model in blonde! It's a scarce model for sure, although the value would probably be close to the mahogany version.
I actually found an excellent mahogany version at an estate sale many years ago for $50 and sold it soon after for a very good profit. It's a massive tabletop set, but a high quality set for sure. Enjoy it and good luck with the resto.

Hi all,

I've been working on this set in fits and starts. This weekend, I finally finished the recapping. I decided to mount the electrolytics under the chassis because there was plenty of room and some of the cans are hard to get at:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psd6ifse2p.jpg

I replaced every paper and elecrolytic cap except one, C7. It's a 2 uF at 25 Volt electrolytic across the output of the 6AL5 ratio detector. It's mounted in a tube of copper sheet and fastened to the chassis with a screw under a terminal strip. I'm guessing that this is for shielding, but it almost looks more like a heat sink. Anybody know what this is? Do I need to keep this copper thing in place when replacing it with a modern cap? I think I'll leave it in place for the initial power up.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psxikcv4uv.jpg

I replaced the disintegrated power cord. It had a molded strain relief, so I used a rubber grommet in the hole.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pshneyesho.jpg
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pszsojrtvk.jpg

I may have problem with a couple of these peaking coils. I can't seem to get a stable resistance measurement through the two on right:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pszarcnwdp.jpg

I'm very impressed with the quality of the resistors that Andrea used. I have yet to find one out of spec.

Well, that's the progress to date. I hope to have some time this weekend to do a controlled power up with the CRT in place.

-Clark

Great work, Clark. Not sure what to make of the copper shielded electrolytic. Maybe because the old ones didn't have the neg lead tied to an outer metal can. But I don't recall seeing that practiced on any other ratio detector circuit. Possibly Andrea was just being very picky with their design, trying to keep hum out of the audio. Although it seems copper would be more of an RF shield than magnetic.

Assuming you get it restored, you could modify a TV modulator to output on channel 1. You want the modulators that use a 4 legged metal module used to create channel 3 or 4. Remove it, and install a 15MHz crystal in its place, so it straddles the modules old ground connection. And you may need to add 4pF caps, one cap for each crystal lead, to get it to oscillate. This in addition to existing caps, so the total would be about 8pF. Seems that lower frequency xtals need bigger loading caps. Likely to yield a similar reactance at the new freq like that with the old cap at the old freq. Those of you who have experience in xtal osc circuits would recognize this, probably better than I would.

Thanks, Kevin. Yeah, I think that shielding to prevent hum in the audio sounds very plausible. I'll probably just install a modern cap and leave the old one in place. If I have any hum problems, I may try putting the new cap inside the shield.

And wa2ise, I might give that a try some day. I remember reading your thread on the topic a while back. It would be kind of neat to have the Andrea tune in a signal on channel 1 after all these years. Since the set was made in 1948, it probably missed the opportunity to actually receive one over the air.

-Clark

This is a neat set. A beautiful Blonde. Continuous Mallory Inputuner/Inductuner. Channel 1, Post WW II FM Band, AM, and above all a very desirable, uncommon high end brand. An Andrea. Which used to be known before as FADA Radio. F.A.D.Andrea. A last gasp Channel 1 set with modern FM. Will be a nice restoration when you get her complete. I love this set. An early TV fanatic dream. Very high quality when new. And Andrea build quality was tops.

Well, first power-up went way better than I had even hoped. Using a metered Variac, I was rewarded with no bad noises, smells or smoke. And at 115 Volts, I was rewarded with FM radio music in the speaker and a raster! The 12JP4 has the usual ion burn in the center, but no ion trap to adjust!
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3f2fqhxh.jpg

I hooked up the cable box with output on channel 4, and it didn't take long to get its first coherent image in probably several decades:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psu3e4vd1z.jpg

Vertical and horizontal lock are rock steady. I made all the usual adjustments. I ended up getting the vertical linearity somewhat better than in this screen shot:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pssy8t0jtj.jpg

The Inductuner is a bit scratchy, but the best picture and sound coincide!
Here are a few more screen shots.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...psphpbywy2.jpg
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pskrauckzz.jpg
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pskspyjrcv.jpg
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...pshrjt30fv.jpg

I'm still marveling at how well this set is working after shot gunning all the caps. The only tubes I've tested are the horizontal output, HV rectifier, damper and both 5U4's. Now, I'll test the rest of the tubes and clean all the pots. Oh, and the AM radio works fine too!

-Clark

You have earned a dancing banana! :banana:

ha ha ha - I like the way you put that.......

.

Very, very nice! I give you 4 gold stars. Bravo!:thmbsp: