Baird T163 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Ekco-Scott · 1st May 2017, 10:18 pm

I'm very fond of Baird televisions from the 40s they have beautiful cabinets. The wonderful restoration of the everyman by Line Sync made me wish to post about my two Bairds.

I have in my collection two T163's one in the dark wood cabinet and the other in the light wood.

From accounts of old TV service men I know the Baird sets were very common here especially the T163's. When TV started here in 1953 a lot of them were imported to Belfast as second hand sets for the coronation.

The sets are both in very good condition and myself and my missus have taken really fondly to the light one. The light one has a very flat face to the CRT And the darker one has a rounded GEC tube.

From what I have read they had a special line cord that used the cable as the aerial. Was this just a standard cable or did it have a box or something similar that allowed the user to connect a standard band I aerial if they wished to instead of using the cable?

I'd really appreciate any info on these sets as I'm very interested to know more.

I shan't be restoring any of my mains EHT sets for a long while as I wish to gain more experience first as the idea of mains EHT is rather scary. I have three of them these two plus an Invicta T105.

Best regards S

Ed_Dinning · 2nd May 2017, 8:29 pm

Hi, if you are not restoring these mains EHT sets for a while I suggest that you put them, or the transformers or power supply units in a warm dry place until you are ready to work on them. This should allow the HV stuff to dry out and may save an expensive rewind.

Ed

line sync · 2nd May 2017, 9:19 pm

All the Baird televisions in this range had a sloping cabinet back which was removable to service the chassis.
I've only seen this model in the lighter colour cabinet.
Baird used a GEC 6503 c.r.t. in this model which is flat fronted, the other set with a more rounded front is probably a Mazda CRM92.
I know very little about the special line cord so perhaps someone else can comment on this.

Robin

1st May 2017, 10:18 pm	#1
Ekco-Scott Pentode Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Posts: 132	Baird T163 I'm very fond of Baird televisions from the 40s they have beautiful cabinets. The wonderful restoration of the everyman by Line Sync made me wish to post about my two Bairds. I have in my collection two T163's one in the dark wood cabinet and the other in the light wood. From accounts of old TV service men I know the Baird sets were very common here especially the T163's. When TV started here in 1953 a lot of them were imported to Belfast as second hand sets for the coronation. The sets are both in very good condition and myself and my missus have taken really fondly to the light one. The light one has a very flat face to the CRT And the darker one has a rounded GEC tube. From what I have read they had a special line cord that used the cable as the aerial. Was this just a standard cable or did it have a box or something similar that allowed the user to connect a standard band I aerial if they wished to instead of using the cable? I'd really appreciate any info on these sets as I'm very interested to know more. I shan't be restoring any of my mains EHT sets for a long while as I wish to gain more experience first as the idea of mains EHT is rather scary. I have three of them these two plus an Invicta T105. Best regards S Attached Thumbnails

2nd May 2017, 8:29 pm	#2
Ed_Dinning Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, UK. Posts: 8,194	Re: Baird T163 Hi, if you are not restoring these mains EHT sets for a while I suggest that you put them, or the transformers or power supply units in a warm dry place until you are ready to work on them. This should allow the HV stuff to dry out and may save an expensive rewind. Ed

2nd May 2017, 9:19 pm	#3
line sync Heptode Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kinver, Staffordshire, UK. Posts: 634	Re: Baird T163 All the Baird televisions in this range had a sloping cabinet back which was removable to service the chassis. I've only seen this model in the lighter colour cabinet. Baird used a GEC 6503 c.r.t. in this model which is flat fronted, the other set with a more rounded front is probably a Mazda CRM92. I know very little about the special line cord so perhaps someone else can comment on this. Robin