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Old 1st Aug 2017, 8:55 pm   #60
Aerodyne
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Hampton Vale, Peterborough, UK.
Posts: 1,698
Default Re: Pilot PT650 "Spacemaker" Television

What memories this thread evokes for me. I bought one of these sets from a York auction room at some time in the VERY early 1960s. It can't have had a lot of use and its ultra-high gloss cabinet looked pristine - but I had not seen the set working. I soon found out why it ended up in the sale. There was a field timebase problem which at that time was a little taxing for me, so I sent for a service sheet, supplied by an advertiser in the classifieds of Practical Television. When this arrived - by post, of course, no emails in those now far-off days - he had stamped his company name and address liberally on every border of every page of the Trader sheet, along with the words 'on hire' (it was rented and I had to return it after use!).
Anyway, the field oscillator was of multivibrator form and it had been thoroughly 'got at' by someone swapping out components in the hope of hitting the right one and curing the touchy field lock and regular rolling of the picture, together with severe bottom picture cramping and persistent flyback lines, due no doubt to the almost absent lock.
It is so long ago now that I cannot recall what I did to sort it out, other than I do remember checking the switched components and finding several that were of incorrect value. Whatever it was that I did to fix the set, it worked a treat for several years afterwards and it held pride of place in my parents home and was still there when I left, some five or so years later.
I liked that set, even the quirky fireball and the Mazda valve range.
This is a fascinating thread.
Tony
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