UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > Specific Vintage Equipment > Vintage Television and Video

Notices

Vintage Television and Video Vintage television and video equipment, programmes, VCRs etc.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 24th Jul 2021, 1:44 pm   #21
Richard_FM
Octode
 
Richard_FM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 1,999
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

For a time Manchester's Mayfield station was a depot for Red Star services, being linked to Piccadilly & a building across the tracks the tracks by covered bridges.

The early DMUs had parcels cages in them into the late 1980s at least, these were used on the Manchester Piccadilly - Marple route until 2003, though later on they had a driving motor car at both ends which didn't have a guard's compartment.

I imagine every time there was a change of technology older sets were available for low money.
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again?
Richard_FM is offline  
Old 24th Jul 2021, 3:17 pm   #22
slidertogrid
Octode
 
slidertogrid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,897
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard_FM View Post

I imagine every time there was a change of technology older sets were available for low money.
One of my friends had a plan to convert the 405 "convertible" sets to UHF with tuners and IF strips he had acquired from his elder brother who was a radio ham and was always giving us parts and encouragement, by 11 I knew all about "tropospheric propagation"....
Anyway he heard that there was a plan to switch off the 405 transmissions and said to me "think of all the sets we will get then!" Ah, the innocence of youth ! little did we know we would be 24 by then and most people would have gone over to colour!
On the subject of slightly eccentric people who had a lot of money does anyone remember John Carter from Ilkeston ? He drove a Rolls and often came to work in his slippers. There was a story someone (it may have been John's wife I can't remember exactly) parked their Allegro in one of the loading bays for some reason. One of John's lorries which were huge didn't see it and reversed into the bay... The story goes that the driver thought the trailer brakes were sticking on in reverse so he just 'gave it some' The poor old All-aggro was shortened a bit...
I met John a few times and got on really well with him. at that time the place was full of G8s, GEC hybrid and solid states and the last of the dual standards, if you bought 6 sets he would throw in a dual standard colour free or in my case as many mono sets as I could get in my van!
I got fed up eventually though, sorting through the dross. His men really chucked the sets about so there was lots of damaged sets.

I moved on to buying sets direct from dealers some local some not so local the quality of the sets was much better.
Snellings in Blofield were one of the best, the sets were in excellent condition not too old and plentiful. I bought from them for years dealing with a very nice chap called Hedley right up until I sold up in 2000. Lakes in Slough were another good source having branches all around Berkshire, long gone now though...
Thinking about it now a hell of a lot of old sets must have gone into landfill over the decades until recycling started!
slidertogrid is offline  
Old 24th Jul 2021, 10:29 pm   #23
Richard_FM
Octode
 
Richard_FM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 1,999
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

I remember John Carter being mentioned in a previous thread.

From what I remember he would buy from the bigger rental chains when they wanted to off-load old & non standard sets, but didn't want to lose customers by selling ex-rental sets in their shops. Normally he only sold to independent shops & sets were sold as seen.
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again?
Richard_FM is offline  
Old 28th Jul 2021, 8:23 pm   #24
Bill
Pentode
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Denton, Manchester, UK.
Posts: 186
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard_FM View Post
Thinking about it now a hell of a lot of old sets must have gone into landfill over the decades until recycling started!
Quite so.

My route to school from 1962 passed by an enormous land fill site ( a "tip" in those days). Just about anything unwanted was dumped there, including dangerous chemicals and old foodstuffs. My interest in electronics was started by that place. Lots of TV sets, war surplus components, industrial electronics, valves by the thousand etc.

TVs came by the tipper lorry load or furniture van, unloaded into a pile and then set on fire, you could smell the burning SRBP etc a mile away. I assume these were ex rental sets, such was the quantity. The site was surrounded by housing, so many people left their old radios and TVs at the edge the tip where they waited for me or others to take away! I still have some items from there: the concave mirror from a White-Ibbotson console projection set , a gaggle of WW2 807s, a complete Marconi woody radio. Nowhere like that any more
Bill is offline  
Old 29th Jul 2021, 7:14 pm   #25
Rich Woods
Pentode
 
Rich Woods's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Ceredigion, Wales, UK.
Posts: 243
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

When I was a young lad back in the early 70’s, I used to live near the Louth, the Lincolnshire market town. It had 3 shops that had rooms filled with 405 line & Dual Standard sets. Faulkner’s was stitched up by my friend Graham for free televisions, I had Radio Rentals as I befriended the then Manager, Mr Kemp & occasional access to Goods, which was then a cycle shop but had been a TV shop in the 60’s and the large open plan upstairs was stacked maybe 5 sets deep.

Radio Rentals was always best for me as folks asked the engineers to take away the old sets when they installed new ones, and more often than not they worked, or just needed a valve. Mr Kemp used to let me take them away for nothing and also gave me his collection of workshop manuals for 405 line sets. I used to flog then to folks at school & even sold a set to the Headmaster. Best set I ever had was a large console Murphy with FM radio, fantastic picture quality and sound, well at least until the oil filled EHT failed. Happy days.

Radio Rentals is consigned to the past, and Goods is long gone, it doesn’t bear thinking about what happened to all those sets. Faulkner’s is still there, the upstairs may still hold a treasure trove of sets, who knows? Must ask Graham as he is back in the area......
Rich Woods is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 2:36 pm   #26
Andy - G8MNM
Hexode
 
Andy - G8MNM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Perigord Noir, France
Posts: 352
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

In the early to mid 70's I discovered a friend at the motorcycle club I belonged to was the manager at Visionhire in Leicester. A quick request and I got a transit van load of monochrome TV's for free.

Whilst still at school I used to do the rounds of the local radio and tv shops asking for old TV's etc. I used to get quite a lot that way.

No doubt I could have got more! I don't remember what make(s) they were now. Other rental stores were not keen to part with their old sets in this way.

I also had a Saturday job fixing TVs when I was 15/16 years old. The owner was rather dodgy but happily sold me sets at a good price. There was always much to be scavenged outback where all the scrap sets were dumped.

I also remember going upstairs where there languished really old sets that were never going to be sold, amongst all the old stuff was a massive box, full to the brim of assorted TV control knobs. Those were the days!
__________________
Member BVWS

https://www.lushanda.com/
Andy - G8MNM is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 3:49 pm   #27
slidertogrid
Octode
 
slidertogrid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,897
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

I think I may have posted this picture before. this was the back of one of the local TV shops early 1970's . Awaiting the scrapman...
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	20210911_154256.jpg
Views:	271
Size:	100.8 KB
ID:	241084  
__________________
The rotation of the earth really makes my day...
slidertogrid is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 4:03 pm   #28
stevie23
Pentode
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 103
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
When I was a young lad back in the early 70’s, I used to live near the Louth, the Lincolnshire market town.
I was born in Louth Hospital. I grew up in Lincs in a small market town called Alford and lived there until I was 11 and moved down the road to Sutton On Sea.. In Alford There was a guy there called Robin who did all of the electronic repairs. That town is where I discovered the joy of electronics.
stevie23 is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 6:05 pm   #29
Rich Woods
Pentode
 
Rich Woods's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Ceredigion, Wales, UK.
Posts: 243
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stevie23 View Post
Quote:
When I was a young lad back in the early 70’s, I used to live near the Louth, the Lincolnshire market town.
I was born in Louth Hospital. I grew up in Lincs in a small market town called Alford and lived there until I was 11 and moved down the road to Sutton On Sea.. In Alford There was a guy there called Robin who did all of the electronic repairs. That town is where I discovered the joy of electronics.
A bit OT but it’s s small world mate. I know Alford well. Used to be in the film society at the Half Moon in the early 80’s. My friend used to live at Ulceby Cross & many happy evenings spent at The Gate at Ulceby Cross a few years later. We moved away in the late 80’s.
Rich Woods is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 6:15 pm   #30
Mr Hoover
Hexode
 
Mr Hoover's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Faro, Portugal
Posts: 269
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by slidertogrid View Post
I think I may have posted this picture before. this was the back of one of the local TV shops early 1970's . Awaiting the scrapman...
I'll pop along and collect them!
Amazing in the early 70's how many late 50's
sets were being dumped.The colour boom
was starting and these sets had gone through the 60's
without being affected by the BBC2 625 era.
Mr Hoover is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 7:39 pm   #31
Heatercathodeshort
Dekatron
 
Heatercathodeshort's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING.
Posts: 9,145
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Must have been an Ekco and Pye dealer. J.
Heatercathodeshort is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 8:59 pm   #32
stevie23
Pentode
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 103
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Woods View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevie23 View Post
Quote:
When I was a young lad back in the early 70’s, I used to live near the Louth, the Lincolnshire market town.
I was born in Louth Hospital. I grew up in Lincs in a small market town called Alford and lived there until I was 11 and moved down the road to Sutton On Sea.. In Alford There was a guy there called Robin who did all of the electronic repairs. That town is where I discovered the joy of electronics.
A bit OT but it’s s small world mate. I know Alford well. Used to be in the film society at the Half Moon in the early 80’s. My friend used to live at Ulceby Cross & many happy evenings spent at The Gate at Ulceby Cross a few years later. We moved away in the late 80’s.
Wow. A smalller world: The early 80s were the best years of my life. My Mum and Dad used to drink at the half moon and were regulars. knowing the landlord Dave Dixon very well. My Dad even did carpentry work in the pub which was still there when I visited in 2010. Around 1983 Dave Dixon let me have one of his old Radiograms which my Dad and I carted from the half moon to my old house in Christopher road and I had in my bedroom!!

Last edited by stevie23; 11th Sep 2021 at 9:00 pm. Reason: new info
stevie23 is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 9:21 pm   #33
Rich Woods
Pentode
 
Rich Woods's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Ceredigion, Wales, UK.
Posts: 243
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by slidertogrid View Post
I think I may have posted this picture before. this was the back of one of the local TV shops early 1970's . Awaiting the scrapman...
Bet some of them were in good working order too 😭
Rich Woods is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 9:43 pm   #34
stacman
Hexode
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 278
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Woods View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by slidertogrid View Post
I think I may have posted this picture before. this was the back of one of the local TV shops early 1970's . Awaiting the scrapman...
Bet some of them were in good working order too 😭
They would be now if the guys on here could get their hands on them, a few on here will have at sometime or other repaired those models that can be identified...
Cheers, Alan.
stacman is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 9:55 pm   #35
Richard_FM
Octode
 
Richard_FM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 1,999
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

By the early 1980s a similar photo would have a pile of dual standard & early colour sets.

I can remember outside my local tip in the mid 1980s a line of wooden cased TVs which had been dumped, some of which didn't look much older than the set my family was renting from Gananda a year or two before.
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again?
Richard_FM is offline  
Old 11th Sep 2021, 11:24 pm   #36
slidertogrid
Octode
 
slidertogrid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,897
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Yes a lot of older black and white sets were disposed of in working order in the 70's colour boon years. especially smaller dealers they had later mono sets coming in ex rental and part exchange they just didn't want the clutter of the older sets. I had loads of "barrel Murphys" that worked and not long after the earlier dual standard sets. Within a year or so Thorn 1400s and Rank A640 sets were 25p each from one local shop other shops were happy for you to take them. Any sets left behind were burned in the back yard of one rental shop, all the valves would melt and collapse inwards as the vacuum pulled the hot glass inwards.
__________________
The rotation of the earth really makes my day...
slidertogrid is offline  
Old 12th Sep 2021, 1:13 am   #37
ben
Dekatron
 
ben's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK
Posts: 7,484
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard_FM View Post
By the early 1980s a similar photo would have a pile of dual standard & early colour sets..
...and with the advent of digital and flat screens in the 2010s you'd have a pic of piles of silver and black plastic cased CRT sets!

They seem to be drying up now. In the last six months or so I've only found a couple of silver 4:3 sets, of the last generation to be made before LCD.
__________________
Regards,
Ben.
ben is offline  
Old 12th Sep 2021, 3:10 am   #38
Terry_VK5TM
Nonode
 
Terry_VK5TM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Tintinara, South Australia, Australia
Posts: 2,324
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Quote:
Originally Posted by slidertogrid View Post
I think I may have posted this picture before. this was the back of one of the local TV shops early 1970's . Awaiting the scrapman...
Just what the back of my shop looked like when we closed up in 2009 - except they were all colour sets - some even worked but the owners didn't want them back.
__________________
Terry VK5TM
https://www.vk5tm.com/
Terry_VK5TM is online now  
Old 12th Sep 2021, 7:24 am   #39
Heatercathodeshort
Dekatron
 
Heatercathodeshort's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING.
Posts: 9,145
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

Ekco T221 14", Ekco T231 17", Two Pye 17" CW17F, Ekco Ferranti 17". Possibly a Thorn 900 series with it's chassis adfrift but these were still only ten years old when this picture was taken. What may be an Alba 655 but I don't think this would have had enough gain in 1958 to work well in the Cambridge area. It may be the Stella version of the Philips 1768. John.
Heatercathodeshort is offline  
Old 12th Sep 2021, 11:18 am   #40
slidertogrid
Octode
 
slidertogrid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 1,897
Default Re: The TV Graveyard Highgate London.

The Alba may have been scrapped for that reason? People were beginning to move to Peterborough from London by then maybe the Alba came with someone and was found to struggle? A lot of sets were scrapped at around 10 years old back then. I was given my Invicta when it was about that age fully working with a UHF tuner fitted it had belonged to the mother of one of the owners of a local shop I pestered weekly! I still have the set almost 50 years later.
Morbourne was our local transmitter for BBC1. Only a dipole was needed or in the case of a lot of old sets used in bedrooms a bit of old mains lead pulled apart and wired to the aerial socket, Anglia needed a 3 element aerial and even then lacked the punch of BBC1 this was in the early to mid 70's I hasten to add.
UHF was a bit more of a challenge. Really a roof mounted aerial was needed.
We had a lot of subscribers to British relay in the early days encouraged by the council and the Development Corporation as they didn't like aerials on their property. 'BRW' remained popular until the late 70's by which time the system was struggling to keep up. Sound buzz on aerial sets adapted with a "vid Box" was a major problem. Visionhire took them over in the early 80's. The system didn't survive too long after that.
I don't remember the pre Morbourne years but I remember my dad saying my grandfather had a Baird set in the early 50's that struggled. He remembered watching a football match on the tiny screen and said you could just about tell which team was which when the picture wasn't pulling and breaking up.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	20210912_110713.jpg
Views:	102
Size:	101.8 KB
ID:	241128  
__________________
The rotation of the earth really makes my day...
slidertogrid is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:58 am.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.