An Australian collector of vintage TVs

[Aussie Bloke]

G'day all.

I have recently gotten in touch with an Aussie vintage TV and electronics collector, he has a website illustrating his interest in old TVs and electronics http://cool386.tripod.com/ .

Anyways I have paid him a visit yesterday to pick up some vintage video gear he was giving away and he showed me his collection of old TVs and other gear. He has an AMAZING collection of vintage TVs (mostly pre 1970 B&W) and probably the largest collection in Australia as he has upwards of 200 TVs. He has a lot of pre-1960 Australian TVs, some he has restored to very good working order and showed me in operation!

He has even imported some very early B&W TV sets from USA and UK, two to mention are a 1949 Airline badged Sentinel 400TV from USA http://cool386.tripod.com/400tv/400tv.html and a 1950 EKCO TC140 from UK. Expanding on the 1949 Airline set, he has modified the TV to Australian 625 line 25fps standard to view Australian television on it, he showed me the TV in operation and it pulls up a decent watchable picture!

He also has made his own vintage style B&W valve TV from a vintage 1958 Radio, Television & Hobbies magazine using a vintage green electrostatic CRT made way back in 1943, the picture is dim so best viewed in the dark but looks pretty good.

I have made some videos of his sets in operation including the Airline and have uploaded them to my YouTube channel:
1957 EKCO TX-287 (UK) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgw52IbRNB0
1949 Airline 400TV (USA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmcTAWWBCFg
1956 Healing (Australia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQUW9ZmtLeo
Homemade valve TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqJfFZAcVSI
1958 TV (AWA I think) (Australia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hJRKhiE6Os

He even gave me a nice looking medium sized 1968 PYE B&W TV which works excellent, I'm going to use that TV as my regular viewing TV for early pre-1975 Aussie B&W programs like Division 4, Matlock Police, Number 96, In Melbourne Tonight (Graham Kennedy) etc...

Anyways it was quite a thrilling experience to see these rare TV sets first hand, particularly the Airline and EKCO as they predate the introduction of TV in Australia by several years!

I have attached some photos of the sets mentioned below, as there's more than 6 I will attach the rest in the next post.

[Aussie Bloke]

Here's the 2nd lot of pics, one being my medium sized 1968 PYE B&W TV.

[Sandy G]

Wow....Nice to know our "Sickness" extends even to Oz....(grin)

[charokeeroad]

In ten years those fifties sets are going to be a lot more valuable than they are now. The ones I have I wouldn't trade away. I like to watch them and they are very reliable.
Get um now while you still can.

[wa2ise]

I've been looking quite frequently on the Australian ebay to see the various styles of radio and TV cabinets they made there back in the vacuum tube era. I see a different flavor as compared with American sets. Your radios have radio callsigns instead of frequencies on the dials. Only one American maker (Packard Bell) did that in the USA. Can't do that today, as stations here change callsigns almost every other year.
There's an Australian collector site http://vintage-radio.com.au/ but it gets a lot less traffic than VideoKarma gets.

25 years ago I took a vacation in Australia, was a great time, and Australia looks to be one of the few places in the world where they actually like Americans...

I have a couple of Aussie radios:
No TV sets, though. Shipping would be very expensive.
And a radio from New Zealand
They all work, and are quite happy with 60Hz. We used to make outlets back in the 1940's that accept Aussie plugs, and I have a few wired up to provide 240VAC (American homes are fed a pair of 120VAC lines, 180 degrees out of phase. In other words, we get 240VAC with a grounded centertap. Small loads are usually run off 120V, and big loads like electric ovens and big air conditioners get 240VAC). Both current carrying prongs are hot with 120VAC to ground, but as all Aussie radios have power transformers, it doesn't matter.
A modern American 240VAC outlet--->

[bgadow]

I like that Philco, since it is so close to the American design. I have a few variants on that model. One of my favorite marques, and really neat to see what they offered overseas.

I always enjoy seeing sets from around the world-some of my favorite are Australia and Britain, since they often have a style similiar to what we had here but are from a "bizarro" world.

[AndrewM]

Hi Aussie Bloke,

Nice pictures thanks for sharing. Can you tell me some more about your Pye TV? I'm interested in the model number and if possible the chassis number (probably a T26 since it was made in 1968).

I'm attempting to build up a list of all Australian made TV models with pictures and it is not an easy task.

Is the collector you got the TV from, keen to talk to other collectors? If so I may email him and see if he is interested in contributing as well.

[Aussie Bloke]

G'day Andrew. My PYE set is a model 12F-1. Good onya for starting up a listing for Aussie TVs, will be great to see all of the makes/models of Australian TVs. I am very sure John will be happy to help you out with your list, just visit his website http://cool386.tripod.com/ (his email contact is listed at the bottom of the page) and send him an email. I'll mention to him about your list next time I email him anyhow.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by AndrewM

I'm attempting to build up a list of all Australian made TV models with pictures and it is not an easy task.

You could troll the Aussie version of evilbay http://www.ebay.com.au/ and grab pictures of TVs occasionally offered. Search "vintage TV", or "vintage television" to start. Then use a screen grabber program to copy pictures. But if you wanted to publish your collection, copyright issues would come up...

[AndrewM]

Aussie Bloke - Thanks for the info, nice to be able to put a picture to the 12F-1 model name. I'll email John in the next few days about his collection.

wa2ise - I'm doing what you suggested already and it has been useful to an extent. The biggest problem is that sellers usually don't identify their TV's by model name and the pictures rarely show the back of the set with enough detail to try and see one. The copyright issue would also be a concern when I am ready to make the list public.

[Glenz75]

Wow, that is one huge collection of sets, nice to know that they are being saved and preserved, would love to see them myself! As far as I know here in New Zealand, there is no one collecting old mono/colour sets apart from yours truly. If there are other NZérs lurking here that collect old TV's please introduce yourself!

Unfortunately most mono sets have pretty much vanished in these neck of the woods, but some do surface from time to time, I have got most of the service manuals/data for these sets and there were quite an array of different models/versions some were NZ desgined and others were copied varaints on an overseas chassis and the likes, but the majority are probably extinct by now...shame really..oh well I makes me appreciate the ones I have got though... and I have contacts who keep a look out for me too so my bases are pretty much covered.