UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post

TriMan66 · 23rd Apr 2011, 9:32 pm

Well, after more than 3 months, I now have a replacement AW53-88 tube. I looked for all the English TV sets I could find with this tube and an equivalent. Although they do come up from time to time, it is very hard to find one.
Whilst looking through the Radio Museum web site, I noticed that this is a common tube used in German sets from the late 50's early 60's. I logged onto the German version of a popular auction site and was able to find a set quite easily. It cost 15 Euro for the TV and a further 10 Euro to help with packing and surprisingly only cost £32 to have it courriered from Germany to here! The person selling it was Russian and I suspect was using a translation tool from Russian to German. I was doing the same from German to English with some amusing results. In any case, it arrived well packed and I can now carry on the restoration work. I am determinded to get this TV up and running and really did put a lot of effort into tracking down a tube.
Looking on the foreign version of auction sites was obviously very benefical for me and something others should consider too if they really need something hard to find in the UK.
The TV is a 1959 Grundig 353 with the required AW53-88 picture tube. It had an interesting arrangement with a large main speaker driver and a complementary horn tweeter.

regards
Craig

23rd Apr 2011, 9:32 pm	#14
TriMan66 Pentode Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Royston Posts: 120	Re: TV tube possible to repair Well, after more than 3 months, I now have a replacement AW53-88 tube. I looked for all the English TV sets I could find with this tube and an equivalent. Although they do come up from time to time, it is very hard to find one. Whilst looking through the Radio Museum web site, I noticed that this is a common tube used in German sets from the late 50's early 60's. I logged onto the German version of a popular auction site and was able to find a set quite easily. It cost 15 Euro for the TV and a further 10 Euro to help with packing and surprisingly only cost £32 to have it courriered from Germany to here! The person selling it was Russian and I suspect was using a translation tool from Russian to German. I was doing the same from German to English with some amusing results. In any case, it arrived well packed and I can now carry on the restoration work. I am determinded to get this TV up and running and really did put a lot of effort into tracking down a tube. Looking on the foreign version of auction sites was obviously very benefical for me and something others should consider too if they really need something hard to find in the UK. The TV is a 1959 Grundig 353 with the required AW53-88 picture tube. It had an interesting arrangement with a large main speaker driver and a complementary horn tweeter. regards Craig Attached Thumbnails