Advice wanted on what TV to start on.

[robin coleman]

After many years of repairing radios, I would like to try my hand at a television restoration. I have seen the sets peter the organ and John have painstakingly restored at the museum in Dulwich.

I am after something easy to get parts for and nothing too modern. 1950's and not too big. What sort of test gear would I need?

Regards, Robin.

[FERNSEH]

A mid-fifties 14 or 17" CRT Sobell TV is a good choice of set for newcomer to TV servicing. Models TS17, T171 etc. The type of set with a large hand wired chassis fitted on the cabinet base. Buy a cheap second hand oscilloscope such as a mid-eighties Hitachi type V352 and a digital multimeter for a tenner and you're away.

DFWB.

[mark_in_manc]

I'm about to list a couple more Hameg scopes (selling for Christian Aid again) in these august pages Ooh, I also have a Philips pattern generator to move on (same charity deal) but it has issues. I'd like to try a telly repair too, but I know I'd need so much help it would be embarrassing to everyone!

[AC/HL]

It's all in here somewhere. Most models and many fault symptoms. The knack may be as much in searching as in anything else, and no-one will be any the wiser until you're ready!

[Steve_P]

I would start with a Thorn 1500 chassis. LOPT OK, Simple faults, common and no Aurora,

Cheers,

Steve P.

[robin coleman]

In my younger years I did several G8 and Thorn televisions. I thought I would have a go as a valve one. My first television in my bedroom in the early 1980's was a valve set which I used to run my Sinclair ZXX81. Might look for a Sobell on the sale sites.

Regards, Robin.

[Focus Diode]

Originally Posted by Steve_P

I would start with a Thorn 1500 chassis. LOPT OK, Simple faults, common and no Aurora,

Or if 405 is needed a Thorn 1400.

Brian

[slidertogrid]

The Thorn 1500 chassis was used on the RTS course at Peterborough tech when I attended in the late 1970's. The chassis was screwed shut you had to find the fault by following the circuit on the print side.
The faults were set by a series of switches on the side of the cabinet.
I would agree a 1400 or 1500 would be a good set to start with.
Or if you want a metal chassis set rather than a PCB how about a KB VC2 (to)53 series?
Providing the lopt is OK they are usually fairly easy to repair and work on. No fun though If you get a late model with Mullard 'mustards' fitted they usually work!
If you want something older how about a Bush TV22 or similar ? There is lots of info on restoration of these which I found a great help when I did my set.
They also seem fairly available at most times, much more common than dual standard sets.

Rich

[1100 man]

Originally Posted by robin coleman

I am after something easy to get parts for and nothing too modern. 1950's and not too big. What sort of test gear would I need?

Hi Robin,
I'm sure you will enjoy doing a TV- they are good fun and watching a program on the finished set is very rewarding

I would have thought something from the mid to late '50s from Ekco would fit the bill nicely. There seems to be a large choice from that era and they are usually available quite cheaply. A 17" table model is fairly compact and easy to move about!
They are quite sensible sets and there is a wealth of knowledge on here about working on them.
I don't think I would go for a TV22 just because they seem to be silly money but at the end of the day, pick something you like the look of and find inspiring.
Obviously 405 only will need a standards converter and we are now blessed with the Aurora (I still don't think that's the correct spelling! ) for a fair price. A basic 'scope is very useful as is a pattern generator.

As you are probably aware, most TV's from this era are 'Live chassis'. Don't let that scare you- it just requires a few extra safety precautions which are well documented elsewhere on the forum.
Good luck
Nick

[Skywave]

Harking back many years ago - pre-Internet days! - from experience, I would suggest Thorn 1500 for monochrome; ITT CVC5 for colour. Test gear: when I used to repair such sets, all I used was an AVO 8 meter, although I appreciate now - as I did then - that a 'scope would have been 'nice' - but depth of pockets was sadly inadequate!

Al.

[mark pirate]

I would recommend a Pye LV20, nice & small and work well once restored.
Or if you would like something from the later 50's, a Bush or Ferguson would be a good choice.

If you choose a mid to late sixties 625 line set, you just require a modulator or VCR rather than going to the expense of buying an Aurora.

Mark

[G6Tanuki]

I'd honestly suggest going for a set which was designed from the outset for UHF/625-lines, if only because you're going to be able to find a source-of-signal-and-content [cheap VHS video-recorders are available for a pittance at any car-boot-sale....] a lot more easily than if you go for a 405-line-only option.

It's surely going to be disheartening to rebuild an old 405-line-only set and then realise that you need to jump through another set of hoops to get anything to watch on it.

BRC2000

[robin coleman]

I have only got a heathkit oscilloscope. I have various avo's and an avo signal generator.I do not have a signal generator but I do have a few video players.Unfortunatley I do not drive and there do not seem to be much vintage televisions in Portsmouth so I was looking for one on the sales sites ,But can not decide which one to get,One day a bush TV22 would be nice to join the dac 90
Regards
Robin

[Graham G3ZVT]

Hi Robin.

Although I worked in the TV repair business for many years I've only restored one set for what you might call historical preservation purposes, and you could say that the set, a Cossor 916 from 1949/50 found me, rather than me looking for it, as nothing was further from my mind until I saw it in an antique shop window. It was the type of set that I would have watched Andy Pandy on when I was a toddler, I suppose that was the motivation for buying it, also it was sufficiently different to the ones I encountered at work in the '70 in particular the round CRT, just like a radar tube.

Your motivation will be different of course, but whatever it is, go with it.

As you really want a '50 set it's going to be 405 line.

When I saw the Cossor I obviously faced the dilemma of where on earth would I get pictures to display on it, and I delayed buying it while I did some research.

I knew about the Aurora boxes, that they could deliver excellent pictures from a 625 line source, and could generate a test card, but I wondered if anything could be done with a PC, after all most things can these days and, it should be considerably cheaper.


I discovered that someone who used to post in this forum had already done it, Kat Manton had used a PC with Linux and a now long obsolete version of MythTV
to fool a graphics card into outputting 405 line pictures. This was 10 years ago and I could not find any evidence of the idea going any further.

I also made another discovery, it was a Windows program written by a gentleman called
Jeroni Paul. Winmodelines tied in perfectly with what Kat had written about, it could potentially be used to generate any analogue TV waveform, but it was mainly used by arcade game enthusiasts to emulate the many bespoke waveforms that their machines required, little or no evidence of it being used for historical 240/405/819 television systems (625 and 525 are documented).

At this point I took the view "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and secured the set for £50.

If you look at my posts in the the "Television Standards Converters, Modulators etc" section of this forum you will see how I got on.

Also check out Peter Scott's posts, he is using the technique for his dual standard set and I do not mean 405/625

[Steve_P]

How about a Pye Colour - CT203. If you can do that then you can do anything....

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Keep it simple. As suggested a hand wired Sobell, any GEC. [1950-1960] The RGD 'Deep 17' [if you can find one] many Ferguson models and there are many more.

Avoid complicated flywheel sync/gated AGC fringe models such as the Pye V4/VT4, cult models such as the KB PVP20 Royal Star, early post war Baird and most Murphy models. Great receivers but complicated with difficult access and overcrowded chassis. You need to get a good result with your first restoration or you will end up loosing interest.

Almost any Ekco [Ekcovision] receiver will prove satisfactory but you need to find one with a line output transformer CASE that is in good condition. These cases break up and overheat but fortunately the windings are always OK. A simple replacement case can be fabricated from Paxolin or Perspex etc.

A good age range is 1953-62.

Certainly a Thorn from the 500/600/700/900/950/1400/1500 should be a straightforward project. Excellent service manuals are readily available complete with a circuit description. Many of the guys on this Forum have worked with these chassis when they were new and will be more than willing to guide you. Hope this helps. John.

[Welsh Anorak]

A nice compromise would be an ITT VC51 or similar. Old school hand wired chassis, dated (but reliable) valved electronics with the bonus of a UHF tuner so no Aurora needed. With that under your belt you could move forward to more modern PCB based sets or back to something more challenging from the Fifties.
Glyn

[Philips210]

Hi

A good 405 line set would be the bow fronted GEC BT302 to BT322. They're good to work on and the LOPT is quite reliable. As others have said a single standard 625 line set to go for would be the BRC 1500. The dual standard BRC 1400 is another good set with a reliable jellypot LOPT.
For something a little later (early 1970's) and in the portable class, how about a Thorn 1590/1, solid state, and easy to fix. The PSU regulator was the most common trouble spot but underwent various improvements during it's production run. I like the Philips 210 and 300 but they were let down by an unreliable LOPT.
I'd personally go for a 625 line set to start with as it's going to be easier/cheaper to feed a signal to it.

Regards
Symon.

[Richard Allen]

50 s 405 Excellent sets are Decca. Reliable good pictures and easy to work on .
1970 s 625 nothing better than ITT/KB. VC 200 series chassis . Richard.

[linescan87]

Hi all,

If it has to be 405 and from the 50's I'd like to suggest the Bush TV56 series. Fairly straight forward, well laid out on tag strips and removable chassis (one for the rf/if/video the other for the power supply/output stages)

Cheers,

John Joe.