"Television Sound" on vintage radios
I rescued my old Defiant MSH 938 from its resting place under the stairs yesterday and once a fault on its motor tuning selection switch had been rectified, found a space for it for regular use again. Quite a big space - it's a gigantic set!
This is one of the various sets, made just before and (I think) just after the war that offered "Television Sound" in addition to the standard wavebands. This was of course the 41.5 MHz AM transmission from Alexandra Palace. I get the impression this was normally more of a 'sales point' rather than a regular high performing feature. Having said that, the Defiant's manual promised it should be possible to receive the Alexandra Palace signal up to 40 miles away 'without much difficulty'. The aerial required was not stated.
In 1938 (and 1939?), the BBC used the television sound transmitter alone at times to broadcast high fidelity radio programmes. I believe 'Toscanini concerts' were included.
These days, those of us with Auroras or equivalent can use this feature again.
How many have tried doing this with their own sets? How well does your Television Sound section work? Is it stable and sensitive, or is does it suffer from instability or drift?
Lastly, which sets provided this feature and over what date range?
This was from when the '7-metre television band' was exotic stuff!
Steve
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