RCA 8TS30 variations
 

Hi,
I bought an old 8TS30 today at an antique shop today. The set has a 12 inch crt.
The front crt cover is made of metal with a clear plastic face. The front internal wooden cabinet brace was cut to fit the 12 inch crt.
I was curious if RCA sold upgrade kits for the 8TS30? The vert/horz hold and contast/picture control knobs barely fit under the crt cover.
I will try and post pictures tomorrow night.
Ed

I don't know if it was RCA but there was a conversion kit sold for those sets, a few of them (sets) have turned up on eBay from time to time.

in the early 50's there were articles and conversion kits in the electronics magazines, you could even buy whole new cabinets to put a big crt in, with the chassis from your old set. Probably happened quite a bit. Shops that took in older small screen sets in trade may have remodeled them to re-sell also.

Whenever I see a vintage TV with the larger CRT conversion, it usually is an early post-war RCA. Those sets had such good reputations that owners likely felt it was worth the money to upgrade them. As said before there was many companies that offered conversion kits with retrofitted masks. I doubt RCA would've offered it as they would be more inclined to have you buy an all-new larger screen set!

RCA 8TS30 conversion pictures
 

Here are some pictures. I haven't tested the tube filaments yet. The set needs a new power cord. I'll have remove the 5u4's before testing.
Thanks for the info.
Ed

Very cool set! I know I've seen that conversion before. It is an absolute genuine era-correct enlarger kit. It will be a real unique set after it's resto. and be a great player with that larger screen. To be correct, the outer cupped knobs should have the gold inserts and the broken tuner knob, which is the '46 630TS version, should be the correct '48 "knife-blade" style. Even the channel plate should be dark plastic versus brass. There was a tremendous amount of these sets built so finding the parts shouldn't be too difficult.
See this photo:
http://antique-tv-blazianu.pagespers...ctor_8TS30.JPG

As someone who has been in the market for that model for years just because of the cabinet styling, I find myself oddly torn as to which looks better the original or the modified version you have.

That is the lightest-color 8TS30 that I have seen, unless there are all-blond ones I have forgotten. That channel disc looks like the right style (as opposed to a 630TS style one) and has channel 1 as it should. Could it be original to match the (oak?) cabinet?

I've been interested in vintage TV 's for decades I can say for sure that this set, for some reason, has the 630TS complete knob set. It is possible this is an early 8TS30 and this was done at the factory. If you want to make it correct though it should have, as I said, the gold "cup" knobs and the dark plastic channel selector without channel 1. No Chris, the blonde version did not use the brass channel plate. Also the set is the walnut version which is seen much less than the mahogany version. I like how it contrasts the dark trim. The blonde sets have tan painted trim.
Joe

That is a very neat conversion, but I am glad my 8TS30 is original.

Joe-

I agree with you about the knobs themselves; they are the 621/630 style, including the channel and fine-tuning knobs. The channel plate itself, though, is what intrigues me. It is not brass, but rather appears to be a reverse-color version of what is on my (mahogany) 8TS30. That is, gold-colored plastic with brown numbers, in a style different from what is on a 630TS. I just checked my two 630s and 621TS, and here is an interesting note: My 621 has the identical-appearing channel disc to this one as far as I can tell, and not the 630 (brass) style. Now, I am curious to know if other 621s have a plastic channel disc as well.

I have not been aware of any 8TS30s not having channel 1; aren't they the same chassis and tuner as a 630TS?

This is a very nice-looking set and will be a great restoration project (keeping the CRT mod).

One of my 630s has a brass channel disc while my other 630, 621 and 721 all have plastic.

Before I left for work yesterday, I got a chance to plug in the set with an old cheater cord. All the tubes with visible filaments, including the crt lit up. I'll have to check the power transformer B+ secondaries next weekend.
Ed

I have noticed that there seems to be variations on knob/plates on RCA TV's from the late '40's. It's possible that, according to production dates, earlier parts where used. I had an 8TS30 years ago with 630TS knobs and gold plastic channel plate. I was told then that it could've been factory. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that what is shown in original literature should be considered what is original to that particular model. The 8TS30 should have the gold cup knobs and dark plastic channel plate. I believe some 8TS30's do not have channel one, but it seems some did even though it was dropped in 1948. I had heard once that although the 8TS30's chassis is basically the same as the 630TS, it has different length front control shafts, speaker type, and possibly other minor improvements.
Joe