CRT Transportation to RACS

[chipp1968]

I expect they are very busy.

[BGmidsUK]

That's a good thing, except maybe for negotiating a discount! Could work in our favour though if they are doing well with their contracts.



Brian

[murphyv310]

Hi.
Well I have now contacted RACS and also Jerome twice, I also believe that others who have recently done the same have had no replies!
Even if they were busy I would expect some reply even an acknowledgement would have been the proper way to do things.
I have heard though that one of the owners of RACS may be ill, I hope if it is correct and he is unwell that it's not too serious.
As the Christmas holidays and new year is just around the corner I would doubt there will be much progress until the second week in January, so I will leave it till then, although if I get any more info I will report back here.

As an aside from what I have heard in the past they usually have enough work but not to the extent they are "rushed off their feet" they normally work at a leisurely pace.

[murphymad]

Hi Trevor,

What a fantastic chap you are! Just what we have all been waiting for. A safe way of getting tubes to RACS and back.

I have a very dead Emiscope 6/6 pre-war pyrex tube which I would like to go to RACS via your very kind service.
I also have a number of Mazda CRM92's to go.

The Emiscope 6/6 is already packed in a purpose made plywood crate.
I also have a number of original 9" manufacturers tube boxes for the CRM92's
I would say for starters I would send 3 CRM92's if there is space.

I also have a Mazda 12H Electrostatic 12" pre war pyrex tube that although works quite well (for its age) has a gun assembly that is off centre thus cutting off part of the screen.
I would like this to be dealt with, but that can probably wait until your second visit.

Anyone out there got a spare 12H ( ...waits for all of the offers to come pouring in...)

Best regards,

Mike...

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by murphymad

I have a very dead Emiscope 6/6 pre-war pyrex tube....

Is there another very dead 6/6 out there which somebody would to sell to me? I would far rather send a truly dead one than the dim one in my set.

[murphyv310]

Hi,
Believe it or not I am over 20 possible re-guns, this is really excellent, in such a short time too!
So come on Jerome & RACS lets see some response from you!

[murphyv310]

Hello.
Good news!! Jerome has now been in touch, I have given him a brief outline for RACS and he has e-mailed me back with the copy of the e-mail he has sent onto RACS.

What I will need now is some idea of the tube types and if there are any preway pyrex types to go.

[murphyv310]

Hello.
Here is an E-mail I received from Jerome this afternoon.
It is looking good so far. I await your comments.

Hi Trevor,

I've just talked to RACS, this time to Philippe, about your project to rebuild 20-30+ CRTs.

They are excited by the project and will do the max to do things smoothly and in time.
Good preparedness and planning is vitally important to achieve success.

RACS will need to know each and every tube type in the rebuild list as soon as possible. Why? well because the lead time on various components can vary widely between right now (in stock), a short lead time (1-2 weeks) and long lead time - especially if Pyrex CRT rework is necessary as this means the CRT has to make a turnaround trip to Paris where SIVE Glassworks are located.

For 20 or 30 tubes to be done inside a week/10 days is possible from a labour standpoint, providing all the bits and pieces required are already on location at RACS. That means:
- Filaments
- Cathodes
- New compatible gun assemblies if they exist.
- For really vintage CRT, all pre-war and some early post-war, the guns have to be rebuilt one by one as no NOS compatible modern types will work. This is high precision craftmanship on a par with clock mechanics - remove filament, install new one - remove cathode, clean & install new emissive material, re-install, check electrode alignment, mount on new stem/base assembly,.. as you can see it gets quite involved.

Knowing all this, several scenarios are possible:
- All CRTs arrive/depart with you
or
- All CRTs arrive with you. The easy rebuilds, such as fairly modern types (the 1950s onwards), CRTs where a NOS new gun is in stock, are done while you are in France.
The "tough ones" i.e. needing Pyrex reflow, hand-rebuilt guns, special case tubes, stay at RACS and will be shipped later.

- You can also choose to bring the CRTs, stay 2-3 days to have yours and a few others rebuilt and the rest can be shipped back to the UK as a palletized shipment. Philippe is pretty much in favour of this solution because:
- it avoids the stress and unknowns of working against a tight schedule.
- Palletized shipments by lots of 8 CRTs allow much better CRT packing and protection than sending them one by one via the PO. Also say you have 3x pallets of 8 CRTs: that's 24 tubes, so you get an interesting shipping cost price when compared with unity shipping of one CRT.

Philippe says he's never lost (broken CRTs) a palletized shipment except once when a careless forklift operator stuck both prongs of the forklift in the consignment - consider it an unlucky "Act of God".

I will be receiving later on today quotes with a discount for quantities of 10, 20, 30 CRTs once Philippe has done his calculations.

So far, the basic price has been 600.00 Eu for One CRT, total rebuild down to transparent glass, and includes return shipping cost for CRTs up to 9 inches.

For those who want to ship their tubes, RACS can supply empty sturdy boxes (CRT diameter and length will be needed) for about 100.00 Eu shipping to the UK included (a UK Vintage member inquired about this).

Trevor, please sift through all this info and inform RACS + myself with your comments, questions, etc. If you have already a tentative list of CRTs, please send it, the sooner we start, the better it is.

Also in the event of palletized shipping, please think about a UK destination that would be convenient for each customer to retrieve his CRT.

Also please feel free to post/inform/comment on UK Vintage TV if you want to. I have far too much work right now and can't spare time for lengthy Forum explanations (it's always this way ;-)

If you want me to call you to save on long E-Mails, i can do that too.

Best Regards

[murphyv310]

Hello.
As you can see from Jerome's email RACS now need type numbers, pyrex, soft glass, special requests etc.
I need as much info as possible and as soon as possible, delays could slow everything down for everyone.
Can all those that wish to take up this service please PM me with tube types and any special requests.
I will probably PM those people that have shown an interest anyway.

[ppppenguin]

I have decided to seek a completely dud 6/6 for this trip. There's a "wanted" post elsewhere in the forum. Not happy sending my existing CRT since it still gives a dim but viewable picture. If one turns up in time then please count me in.

[chipp1968]

I have 2 tubes . One is pyrex .

[murphyv310]

Hi.
Just a weekly update! So far I have gone from 24-26 tentative tube rebuilds to only 8 confirmed. This could be for a number of reasons.
1, The holidays
2, Not seeing the thread
3, No cash!
4, Decided against it.

I Have decided to keep this open till the end of January then make a final decision, I have to get to 30 tubes any less than that I will scrap the idea, remember I will be driving over 2500 miles have insurance to sort out, customs, ferry or tunnel costs and accommodation in France. Again once I know if that number can be met we can proceed.
At the moment I am saving you at least £100 per tube then I am looking for a discount of something around 20% from RACS.

[John100]

Hi Trevor

I have sent you a PM with regards to a Cossor 65k CRT re-gun required.

Great initiative!

Regards

John H

[murphyv310]

Hi John.
Thanks for the post & PM you are now added to the list.

[murphyv310]

Hello.
Just an update.
Since my last posting I have had one person with two tubes drop out due to financial reasons this was confirmed by phone.
That drops the number to 10 tubes confirmed.
I have obtained prices from various insurers for insurance for the carrying of the tubes and have now a final costing for all expenses with the exception of fuel costs as the price is bound to rise at the time of the trip. Based on the fuel costs of today and 30 tubes to go the price of carriage PER TUBE will be £68 for the round trip.

Unfortunately though as the confirmations have in honesty not happened and two drop outs, I doubt it will happen this year unless there is a turn around in the next two weeks.
Please think though, next year I may not be able to do it, costs will have risen, and if anyone else thinks about it, it takes a LOT of planning, so far I have spent hours and made innumerable phone calls.

[chipp1968]

Im still up for it Trevor . I will have to post them other wise as they will need to be done .Do you need to know what the types are yet ?

[murphyv310]

Hi Chipp.
Yes you can send me the numbers it will do no harm.
The problem is the low numbers I have at the moment. I would not get a significant discount from RACS with 12 tubes. Then there is the cost of getting there, insurance, fuel, ferry, B&B etc, the carriage per tube would be far too expensive, actually more expensive than posting the tubes from here and RACS returning them, so I HAVE to get the numbers up it's just not viable if I don't, a last minute drop out could mean financial ruin or any other unknown expense.
The plan was to get them there from the end of April to mid July at the latest, France is on holiday in August.

[chipp1968]

Ok will do at weekend

[murphyv310]

Hello.

I have now made the decision to pull the plug on the whole idea.

There are a lot of reasons but two things have happened this week that has made me abandon the idea

One member called this week and asked me to divert from the motorway and drive 25 miles to his home as he was not happy to drive the 50 mile round trip to the pick up point, I said no and explained I had 2600 miles to drive and that a 25 mile drive was not much to ask. He wasn't happy so I told him he was off the list

Tonight I was talking to David Boynes on the phone, a few seconds after the call was finished another member who was a tentative enquirer of the original 24 tubes asked if I wouldn't mind going to his place which was a fair distance from the M6 and take the tube out of his set and box it up as he was scared of tubes!

I am flabbergasted at the nerve, I am sorry to sound surprised but really, what is all this about.

Perhaps I should be a mobile Vintage TV service engineer.

After all the hastle trying to organize things, the poor response and now this, the final straw I am pulling out.

A big sorry to the genuine ones that I am letting down

Mods perhaps its time to close the thread

[murphyv310]

Hi.
As the thread is still open I would like to add the following.
I am just off the phone to Jerome in Paris and during the conversation Jerome intimated that RACS could well close their doors 2012 or 2013.
Their work is mainly military based but is on the decline also the brothers are reaching retiral age so plans are afoot, remember collectors work is very small, certainly not enough to sustain a business.

So once again an opportunity lost.
If they close we are snookered unless Steve Mc'Voy gets something up and running but the cost from here will be prohibitive.