East German TV

[Steve K]

Here is a set that is a little different. It is a Rubens FE-855C that was made in East Germany in the mid 50s. It was given to me at this year's ETF by my friend Ingo Kubbe who was born and raised in East Germany. I finally got it shipped here to California. It took 5 tubes to get it working but that is it. I should probably replace all the caps but I will not be playing it much and I want to retain the original look.

In spite of it using a round CRT in 1956 it is a well built set with some unusual features. The focus is adjusted from the front with a mechanical linkage that moves the focus coil. The flyback can be removed without the need for a soldering gun. It has two little plastic wedges that when removed allow the transformer and rectifier tube to be taken out as one unit. The rectifier tube is one of those small tubes that is soldered in directly.

It actually works quite well. I am able to tune the sound and picture together which surprised me. I thought that the East German sound carrier was at 5.5 mc like in West Germany.


Steve