Pye Tube Cube refurbished

[mark pirate]

This little set was a house clearance find, I used to have a black Philips badged version many years ago, it was a good price, so I bought it.

This 10" B&W TV/radio/cassette/alarm clock dates from the late 70's to early 80's.

It was not in bad condition externally, just a bit grubby, I noticed the aerial was reluctant to slide back into the set, but it was all there & not damaged, it still retained it's smoked screen cover & pre-set tuning cover.

So time to give it some power, I started with the radio, this was working well on all three bands, just suffering from a dirty wavechange switch, I was even more surprised when trying the cassette deck, it worked perfectly, I was expecting it to need a new belt at least.

The TV was then tried, this also did not disappoint, once all the thumbwheel presets were tuned in (we still have analogue here) I was greeted with an excellent picture, the lovely led alarm clock also works fine.

All that was required electrically, was to fit a plug & dose the wavechange switch & pots with Servisol.
The cassette deck has benefited from having the head demagged & cleaned along with the idler wheel.

The cabinet responded well to some Flash kitchen cleaner & an old toothbrush, now clean, the aerial slid nicely into the set.

I am really pleased with the outcome, it really performs as new, the picture shows how good black & white can be, the sound quality is very good, especially on FM, this is a really usable little set, it can also wake you up in the morning

Mark

[bobbyball]

Well done Mark, had one of these ages ago and was suprised myself how good the sound acually was...

Robert

[mark pirate]

The after photos....

[HamishBoxer]

A design classic,very nice.

David

PS Never seen one in all my many servicing years

[Sideband]

Excellent little sets and very usable. Sound quality is surprising considering it's a plastic framed speaker. They seemed to go on forever and I only ever replaced belts and pinch rollers. I think you can even set the alarm to switch on the cassette...the only down side is that you have to leave 'Play' engaged and subsequently the pinch roller in contact with the capstan. I think there was a simplified version without the cassette. I wonder if more of these will turn up when analogue finally gets switched off in April?


Rich.

[mark pirate]

I am glad I bought this set. I did see a black one a while back but it was very tatty with the screen cover missing, so i passed it by. This one has scrubbed up well and looks to have had little use.

I must admit I was surprised to see a small plastic framed speaker inside. The sound quality really is good although it was made in Taiwan. You can see it is a Philips set as soon as you remove the back!

I hooked it up to a modulator and a Freeview box and the picture quality is excellent, so lack of any video input is not a problem.

If you ever see one going cheap, you won't be disappointed. In fact I think they will become very collectable.

This set will be one of four, used to record the passing of analogue here in March.

Mark

[Hybrid tellies]

That cabinet really cleaned up well. I think this set dates from the early 1980's as the Cube seemed to be a fashionable thing then. Quite a few different companies used this style for combinations like this or as small clock radios. I wonder if this trend was started by the Rubick cube?

[chroma04]

Hi,

That's a lovely job, well worth the effort!

We had one of these many moons ago, the only thing that ever went wrong with mine was no sound in the TV mode, caused by the TBA120U (I think...!) intercarrier sound I.C. giving up.

Wish I'd saved mine now.

Regards,

Adrian.

[Colourstar]

Well done Mark, an iconic little set and definitely worth spending a little time on. I think these had a bit of a marketing push around 1983 with the advent of breakfast television.

Cubes were definitely popular at the time- remember the Sony Digicube? I've collected quite a few unwanted and unloved examples of small early 80s consumer electronics, from LED clock radios to cassette recorders and clunky personal stereos. Personally speaking, if an item really evokes an era then it's worth collecting, whether from the 1930s or the 1980s.

Just as interesting to see a Tube Cube as a 'tube' radio in Success Stories!

Steve J

[60 oldjohn]

I had one given to me about 20 years ago. A dead set, it had been knocked off a bedside table and and after repairing a few tracks on the PCB around the transformer it worked. It has been in constant use in my workshop ever since, that was until I recently bought a working 14inch Sanyo 1984 vintage colour no scart set to watch Freeveiw. Only yesterday some one commented how the good picture is, and more in keeping than a new LCD set. I would expect it to be more reliable than a modern set, and that also goes for the Philips Cube. John.

[mark pirate]

I don't tend to buy anything this 'modern', but I rather liked the look of these sets, so I am happy to have found a good one. It is a real shame that we will lose all analogue here in March, but over the last year I have picked up three modulators from car boot sales. All were around a couple of quid, so all my sets will still be able to be used.

This set has now replaced my clock/radio in the bedroom, it is really nice to wake up to decent quality sound for a change

These must be getting thin on the ground now. I often see 12" B&W portables around, even the odd dual standard or 405 line set, but this was only the second one I have seen in over twenty years!

an iconic little set and definitely worth spending a little time on

My first thought on finding this set was that it would clean up a treat, but the real bonus was is needed no repairs. Most equipment from that era was very reliable, and worth the effort to restore.

Mark

[60 oldjohn]

Yes Mark, if my set had not been dropped It would not have had any repairs, and it is still working. My set is black, the white ones seem a lot rarer. John.

[mark pirate]

I have found this catalogue page from 1983, not a cheap set!

Mark