I've seen the set that's being offered for sale. It is neither my set nor Steve Ostler's set as suggested below. It has been discussed extensively here:
http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/s...t=65666&page=2 The press reports are unfortunate. AFAIK one journalist took a few facts and made some erroneous deductions. The others all copied. Here is my report on the set, as posted in the UKVRR thread linked above:
Quote:
This is a most interesting set. I had a close look at it this morning and we took out the escutcheon with the system switch for closer examination. The switch itself is not original and is not connected. There is also a clear outline of where the blanking plate was fitted. It is possible that the blanking plate is in the boxes of bits that are with the set.
It is clear that at some point the original 405/50 and 240/25 were ground out and new ones engraved. The 2 from 240 is easily visible and part of the 5 from 25 can be seen. I suggested a theory that the set had been made with the switch the wrong way round and rather than dismantle the set to rectify the problem the escutcheon was simply re-engraved. It was only after this that Laurence told me that the user manual for the set has a typewritten note pasted over the original instructions for the system switch. QED. There may be other sets like this.
The CRT is one of the brightest prewar EMI 12" ones I have seen. I would dearly love to have such a good CRT in my own set. From fallible memory it's brighter than the one in Russell's set too.
Another anomaly is the single mains switch. My set has 2 switches, one for mains, the other for vision though the latter is not connected on my set (s/n H1132). There is no evidence that a 2nd switch was ever fitted to the set at Bonhams.
The EHT smooting cap has been replaced by a more modern component. the old part is in the box of bits. Also in the box of bits are a couple of rather impressive looking ESU101 mercury vapour rectifiers. http://www.shinjo.info/frank/sheets/147/e/ESU101.pdf plus an alternative EHT transformer. A KitKat tin contains a VHF modulator with PSU, looks like the David Looser design.
The set is generally working but could do with a general electronic overhaul. Several controls are right up one end, focus is on its endstop and still not too good. Overall, a lovely set.
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