I seem to be on something of a mission to re-acquire TV's that passed through my hands when I was a kid.
I still have a folder full of photocopies of circuits, so I can pretty accurately identify the model numbers of sets that I had.
I also still have a list of TV's (without model numbers) that I repaired back then. I was a strange child!!
The first ever set that was given to me was a Murphy V510. According to my list, that was in March 1979 and I would have been 12 years old. I didn't know much about TV's and poked about inside measuring voltages with dad's AVO 7. However, I managed to conclude that the boost cap was short:- replacing it restored the set to working order.
I recall there was a lot of arcing going on around the top of the line O/P transformer can which I cured with liberal amounts of car body filler!
As we had an Austin 1100, body filler was in good supply!
Dad was obviously aware I was messing around with live chassis sets (mum would have had a fit if she had known the potential dangers!) but must have concluded I was OK doing so. No RCD's in our house back then.
Anyway, this V410 was very kindly given to me by Davidh1041 and I collected it yesterday at Harpenden. Looking at the circuits, there are a few differences between the V410 & V510 but basically it's the same thing.
Back at base, I was itching to have a look at it. During the next hour, I realised that Murphy, like Philips, did things in their own slightly weird way!
The first noticeable thing was that it weighed a ton for a 17" set. I removed the two large screws holding the back on and found the back was glued to the wooden case! After levering at it with a screwdriver, I found the case plus back parted company from the works!
This revealed an incredibly substantial chassis with everything mounted to it in a non removable manner. At least the components are facing outwards and are accessible. The speaker connections are via the two large screws that hold the back on- I'm sure that led to some intermittent problems!
The on-off switch is actuated by a mechanism connected to the top flap which covers the controls and speaker grille.
The LOPT is contained within what looks like an oversized electrolytic capacitor can. It is oil filled. Consequently, there is an oily residue on the back of the tube and the chassis. Luckily, I was aware that these things needed to be transported the correct way up and not on their side!
Usually, the tube base is easily accessible but not on this set. There is a whole mass of stuff built round it including the mains droppers and voltage selectors, frame linearity controls and focus plus the selenium rectifier. So a quick check of emission with the tube tester was not an option!
The tuner is also a weird looking thing, operated by a long rod from the top of the set.
I'm not planning to do much with it at this stage as there are things on the go which I need to finish, but it's very nice to have in the pipeline!
What I would be interesting in seeing, however, is sales brochures from the time. This must have been more expensive than many other sets of the time due to it's engineering, so it would be nice to see how they marketed it to the general public.
I like things that are quirky in design and so this will be an interesting restoration when I get round to it.
I'll try and take some pictures of it tomorrow.
All the best
Nick