What is the earliest surviving British Colour TV and where is it?

[neon indicator]

About 1975 I last saw an all valve (or mostly valve) set and worked on it. I forget the model. It did have the valve EHT shunt regulator with X-Ray warnings and a truly enormous convergence panel that hinged out. Rectangular tube. I think those circular colour tubes are early RCA types? I don't think ever used on "normal" production TVs for start of BBC2 Colour service as that is over ten years later?

[FERNSEH]

The original CRT in the Pye CTV was a metal cone RCA 21AXP22. That tube has gone down to air and has been replaced by an all glass Mullard AX53-10.
The Mullard tube was donated by HKShort.
Other American parts used in the set are the scan coils, two 6BY6 valves employed as the -G-Y and -R-Y demodulators and a 6BD4 EHT shunt stabiliser tube.

DFWB.

[brianc]

Originally Posted by southendsteve55

Earlier in this thread, murphymad posted a photo of Rank Bush Murphy CTVs being made in Chiswick in 1962. If Colour broadcasting didn't start in the UK until 1967, what were these TVs used for?

Steve

Hi Steve
I remember the large grey RBM colour sets in the Lime Grove TV Studios of the BBC in 1962-3. They were monitors being used in the experimental colour studio (Studio H, I seem to remember). There were also a couple of examples at the BBC training school in Evesham and of course, at Research Department. Add to those, many other broadcasters and companies were working on colour equipment so the need for monitors (and the cheaper receiver/monitors) was there even though the domestic service had not yet started. The receivers were also used in key employees' homes for field testing - they were the licky ones!!

[jayceebee]

Does anyone know if there was a Thorn/BRC 1000 chassis? I remember there was a brief mention of it in an early 60's Practical Television magazine and that it used valves throughout. Did this chassis actually exist before deceiding to go solid state with the 2000?

[FERNSEH]

Hi JCB,
Many years ago I remember seeing extracts of the circuit diagram of the BRC/Ferguson "1000" series colour TV chassis. It is almost certain that because it was an early '60s design it would employ a round CRT, perhaps an all glass 22FJB22. Two EL500s were employed in the line output stage.
Another rare colour set to look out for.

DFWB.

[wiwior]

Hello david,

Congratulations, Very nice television set,hope he soon recover his nice color.

sincerely as all

wilfrid

[TVJON74]

Hi all,
I have an old colour tube, I thinks it's a 21FBP22 that came from an early/prototype set.
I think it's an RCA tube from memory.
I dont know what happened to the rest of the set! Tube is complete with scan coils and tube base socket.
No idea how old it or if it still works.

Keep up the good work.

Best regards
Jon

[southendsteve55]

Brian
Thanks for the reply ref. the RBM photo. Imagine being one of those lucky field testers having a colour TV in their homes before anyone else!

Steve

[ENGLISH VICTOR]

Quite a lot of colour experimental tests took place long before the official broadcasts began with BBC2 in 1967. They began with 405 line ntsc tests in the 1950s and as time went on most if not all systems were probably used. The 405 line tests looked excellent, I saw them on Pye ,GEC and I think Bush and Ecko sets, of course all employed round RCA tubes. Of course 625 line experiments followed later. The BBC even experimented with a version of NIR.
Victor.

[FERNSEH]

It's the ultimate television entertainment this evening, the Eurovision Song Contest.
Here are three off-screen pictures from the Pye colour set. One picture is of the Spanish contributor and the other two are of artistes from the Ukraine.

DFWB.

[murphyv310]

Brilliant David.
A 50's set showing 2011 programs what an achievement!

[Billy T]

Originally Posted by GLENZ32

Very interesting see these early British colour sets, I've never seen any colour TV with valves in it yet... I'm hoping someday day one will surface here in NZ.. And when it does I'll be posting a thread up about it! Oh and welcome to the forum southendsteve55

Just FYI Glen, the first colour TV's built in NZ were Mullard hybrids with solid state IFs & decoder, and valve deflection circuits. They came into being in the early 1970s (71/72 to be precise) but don't count as "first sets" though as they were not a commercial build. TISCO bought a number of deflection and decoder kits and most of the main branches of TISCO got one to build. Ours was up and running early 1973 but had a decoder problem to be sorted and I was off to London before it was finally completed.

They were all dumped in the end no doubt, unless a tech somewhere squirreled one away for posterity. Keep your eyes open for one, I still have all the manuals etc here somewhere!

Cheers

Billy

[GLENZ32]

Far out I never knew about these NZ hybird sets exisiting in the 1970's... I would love to find one of them but like you said unless some tech held onto one, the chances of finding any are like hens teeth