Buckle up - this is going to be a long ride!

A few months ago the legendary Elli Buk's collection was auctioned off over four days in Boston. Within that vast collection were many collectable early TVs including three rare Dumont Cliftons. The auction house was going to allow Internet bidding so that just left one hurdle - transportation. Sire I could use a commercial shipper, but that would get expensive and I was wary they would know how to handle a fragile TV.

As luck would have it, I have an old friend that makes an annual trip from coast to coast picking up and delivering vintage electronics. Better yet, he's not that far from Boston. So, I contacted him about the possibility of picking up, storing and delivering the sets. He agreed which just left one hurdle - actually winning one of the Cliftons!

No Cliftons the first day of the auction but I wanted to get my feet wet with the bidding process. First up, a GE 803 which I lost out on. Then, a nifty bakelite Crosley that I won :) Then, three lowly 7" Motorolas no one wanted at $250. The auctioneer lowered the bid to $150, $100 then $50 when I figured what the heck and got them. Good for parts if nothing else I figure.

That was it for day #1. Day #2 had a couple Cliftons on the block. I lost out on the first one to another VK member. The second came bundled with a bakelite 10" Emerson and National 7" TV-7W which at the time I didn't really want to deal with as not to overburden my friend but I figured I had to got for it. So I did and I won :thmbsp:

Now I just had to pay up (they took credit cards) and bide my time for a couple months until they would arrive.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8685241646_42a2960e55_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8685241646/)

So many missing knobs :tears: The 7VT2 gold knobs are impossible to find. The blond knobs are tough too.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8259/8684124105_4e47c540ea_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8684124105/)

Finally, here's the Emerson, National and Dumont sandwich.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8684124139_131378a57c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8684124139/)

Greats sets. If you would like to sell the bakelite 10" Emerson Let me know. Its a set I would love to have. Already have the back for it.

This is a model 614 Emerson. I also have an Emerson 648 in an identical bakelite cabinet. I plan one keeping one and selling the other. Not sure which yet, but both already have backs :)

The big day finally arrived. All the sets fit inside a min-van with room to spare. A Philco 90 and RCA TM-35 monitor came along for the ride.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5323/8949836970_ef702789b4_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8949836970/)

I love the wooden knobs and big dials :) The function knob was loose so I stuck it in my pocket lest it get lost.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5467/8949840012_759dc8805d_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8949840012/)

Clearly it had a back originally, but I haven't been able to find a photo of one
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2863/8949838454_24a5288f2c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8949838454/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7432/8979527202_e9f446cf03_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8979527202/)

One side has some scuffs but otherwise it's in good condition.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2818/8978335451_e5d49b72f2_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8978335451/)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3708/8979527926_cac01bd80c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8979527926/)

Serial # 6278. I wonder how many they made ?
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7436/8978336795_7b63668653_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8978336795/)

Here's the power supply. It had been removed to lighten the load.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7415/8980869472_c0a5bcf9aa_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8980869472/)

The Clifton was much to heavy to carry up the stairs to my place so we decided to pulled the upper chassis and CRT. We carefully pulled off the front wooden knobs and removed two screws at the rear of the upper chassis. The CRT is very securely mounted the the chassis and it pulls out as a complete unit.

The empty cabinet is still quite heavy but we managed. Or I should say they managed as I was just manning the camera ;) I did help carry up the chassis though.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8113/8978340739_fa79c8ccf1_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8978340739/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8277/8981593214_dc0b8165e9_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8981593214/)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2865/8980404895_1b2b0145b1_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8980404895/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7385/8978350889_642a749851_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8978350889/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8551/8980378887_0f51573fe1_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8980378887/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/8978351287_3757c7cbf2_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8978351287/)

If one or both of the 807 are bad, let me know I have some.
Joe

Clearly it had a back originally, but I haven't been able to find a photo of one

Well....here you go. This is what the back of the Clifton looks like...........Not much to it.



http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/Copy2ofDSC_0437_zps2cd7eab5.jpg (http://s642.photobucket.com/user/ampico-kid/media/Copy2ofDSC_0437_zps2cd7eab5.jpg.html)



And a close up of the ID tag attached to the back.......................


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0440_zps0329ea49.jpg (http://s642.photobucket.com/user/ampico-kid/media/DSC_0440_zps0329ea49.jpg.html)

If one or both of the 807 are bad, let me know I have some.
Joe

Thanks, I'll keep you in mind.

Well....here you go. This is what the back of the Clifton looks like...........Not much to it....

Excellent :D I was picturing a masonite back with 100s of holes in it.

Time for a closer look. While cleaning the CRT I discovered it's a 12RP4. Never heard of that one before.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/8981575510_84fdfa8cfb_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8981575510/)

It's listed in my CR70 so I hooked it up. The emissions are great but I had to drop the cutoff from -52v to -36v to get a response.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2823/8982362543_1a276dc28e_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982362543/)

Next up a little cleaning.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8536/8982351807_62bf3eaa2f_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982351807/)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3776/8982350849_514ee4e044_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982350849/)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5444/8983547344_9e41b0a73e_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8983547344/)

Here's a closer look under the main chassis.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8416/8982354133_dcb666607a_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982354133/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8137/8983548738_7675edd111_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8983548738/)

I found some evidence of rodent activity but all the wiring looks OK
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7411/8982356015_7f8377c020_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982356015/)

Now here's a look at the lower chassis.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8261/8983562340_4defafa308_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8983562340/)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5443/8983561894_2557028a08_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8983561894/)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/8982369045_8229742810_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982369045/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7402/8982369473_365130dda3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982369473/)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5345/8982370711_39600548c2_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982370711/)

The CRT gasket is a massive check of rubber. There's a small scratch in the safety glass and I'm not sure sure it really is "safe". It looks more like just plate glass to me.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2877/8982351347_e60fed523f_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8982351347/)

Here it is all back together.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/8983566864_0fafcedaba_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8983566864/)

I used some lemon oil follow by Howard's Feed 'n Wax on the cabinet.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7312/8983550804_c3ab286ce3_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8983550804/)

It's looking a whole lot better now :) I think all it needs is a little touch up on the screen surround and the black base.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/8972864686_6362f47b80_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/8972864686/)

What a beauty. Now...how soon will we see it workin' ? :D

Man that set really cleaned up nice. :thmbsp:
Joe

That is one serious "brick s***house" design there. A 12" tube with 2 parallel 807s for horizontal sweep? And a SEPARATE 807 just to develop the HV?

Talk about wretched excess! I love it!

Really fascinating to watch this one unfold. Looks like you've got a really great original condition Clifton to restore. Thanks so much for sharing the experience with us.

Just a beautiful set. Wow.

I remember there was something historically significant about the Clifton, but for the life of me I can't remember what....

That is a well designed set. Those Cliftons always remind me of early British or pre-war sets. The chassis are quite roomy to work on. I wish the RCA chassis I have on the bench right now was so uncluttered. I will be eagerly following the restoration progress on this one. Done yet?

Nope, not done yet ;) I'm just starting to put together a parts list. For sure I need to get a whole bunch of 475volt or higher 10uF and 47uF caps.

Does anyone know of a domestic source for 500 volt 105C Rubycons ? They look like very good quality caps with a loaded life of 8,000 - 12,000 hours :thmbsp: Most generic caps are only 2,000.
Digi-key and Newark list them but the minimum order is 1,000 pieces !

http://www.newark.com/rubycon/500bxc10mefc12-5x20/capacitor-alum-elect-10uf-500v/dp/54T7071

Hi All;
Bob, maybe You could contact Rubycon direct and talk to a Sales Rep, maybe someone there could either get the quantity you want, or tell you where you could get what you want.. Good Luck !!!!
THANK YOU Marty

Good idea. I also found some in the UK for £1.325 (about $2) each for a quantity of 20.

They don't ship internationally, but I might be able to have someone in the UK order and ship them for me.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aluminium-capacitors/7497366P/

I finally realized that Nichicon makes a 10uf, 500v cap with similar specs to the Rubycon and they are readily available from Digi-key.

About a buck each if you order 25 or more: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/UCY2H100MHD/493-6892-ND/3664442

This set uses an even dozen of them.

My order of caps has arrived. I tried to get the highest grade caps at a reasonable cost.

All the electrolytics are rated for 105C or 125C and 8,000-10,000 hours life. Generic caps are typically 85C and 2,000 hours.

The white caps are metallized polyester Mallory 150 series. The box caps are Y2 rated AC line filter caps.

I'll hold off on ordering any resistors until I test them.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3700/9042542887_5417d1cc8b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/9042542887/)

That set is definitely worth the upgraded caps. I'll bet it is quite reliable once it is restored. Love your YouTube restoration videos by the way.

I just recently found your Youtube videos also, good stuff.
Have you figured out how you'll rebuild the paper caps? My next set uses caps that are similar and I'm not sure how I'm going to rebuild them yet.

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0176.jpg

My only thought so far is to use some plastic tubing to enclose the new cap, paint it brown or dip in brown wax, and wrap a replica paper label around it.

OK, so it's only been 13 years. Let's get after it!

Now I'm in a house with a large workbench rather than the cramped apartment.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197351359_f18914ae19_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6ARvH)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197097946_2412c0b256_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6zybw)

Plenty of room the get both chassis up on the 8' long workbench
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197510715_081c6b7e7b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6BETe)

Very roomy and easy to work on. I've already replaced a few of the caps in this photo.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197097896_0d4c572881_c.jpg[/url]

Although the service info lists most of the carbon comp resistors as 1/2 watt, they are all the size of 1 watters. Only one tested out of spec so far.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197351419_c83e99243e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6ARwK)

Easiest recap ever.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197671101_824de35675_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6Cuyv)

Boy are these "SEALDTITE" caps garbage!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198081975_72bb8ba3e2_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6EAGx)

Now as for the eight twist-loc electrolytics... They are trivial to unmount as they barely twisted the tabs.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197097986_e360f5fe67_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6zycd)

However, I was quickly reminded why I stopped attempting to restuff them.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197253628_d518231755_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6AmsG)

Instead, I'll finally give CE Manufacture caps from Amplified Parts a try.
Just over for $300 for eight caps but I figure the labor savings are worth it. Plus, it will look authentic and no need to reroute wiring or install terminal strips.

I had to get creative for some to get the need values, but I think it'll be OK.
For example, I need a dual 40uF @475 which they don't carry.
So, I ordered a 4 X 20uF @475 and I'll tie some sections together.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198089320_ca42c7c1a1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6ECTb)

While I wait for the electrolytics to arrive, I poked around with the Mallory Inductuner.
The shaft was frozen as they commonly are from hardened grease.
The cover is impossible to remove without some major surgery, but I was able to get into enough to flush out the old grease and spray in some new lube. Also cleaned the roller inductors.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197510820_e35666777f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6BEV3)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198377385_707f313f54_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6G7vP)

It's moving freely now and I couldn't resist hotwiring the dial lamp for a preview.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55197510730_1e93030852_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6BETu)

I pulled out the power supply last night and gave it a look over.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198951359_8a85e2f6a3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6K48V)

I find it interesting that all the tube sockets and held in my screws rather than rivets. Same goes for the terminal strips on the main chassis.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198852868_6047c1edb6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6JxRN)

The 10,000 volt HV/EHT supply is an RF type and regulated using an 0C3 gas tube for a reference. A 6SN7 tube is the blocking oscillator and the HV output is sampled using a 180M voltage divider. The coil primary is driven by an 807 tube - precursor to the 6BG6. The only early B&W set to have a regulated supply to my knowledge.
The 807 has gone to air so I'll need to track down a replacement.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198875378_ae125dfcd7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6JExU)

Also, the B+ delay relay coil is open :(
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55199110810_1c7d2fe8e9_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6KSx5)

Not much work needed down here otherwise. The brunt of the B+ filtering is done by two huge filter chokes. Just three 40uF caps do the rest.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55198975084_6b2d093dbf_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s6KbbY)

The imputuner mech looks about the same as an RA-103...If it is I've found that I often have to pull and clean the under coil sliders and coil end cap contacts to get good consistent operation. YMMV.

I would if I could. Seems like they installed the tuner first then mounted a bunch of stuff around it including the CRT support structure. The result is two screws are nearly impossible to access.

How did you get that chassis so clean looking new ?

I didn't do much. I just wiped down the topside with CLR. The underside of the chassis has a solid metal cover that kept everything clean.

Keeping busy while waiting for the new electrolytics to arrive.

The 807 in the power supply has gone to air and needs replacing.
The 10uF 600 volt oil filled cap tests good, but I think I'll hide a modern polypropylene cap under the chassis.
https://live.staticflickr.com/5345/8982370711_39600548c2_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/eFJZSx)

The other two 807s are good.
Replaced a missing 5U4 rectifier tube.
One half of the 6AS7 damper tube was dead.
Two of the four 6SN7s were very weak.
Rest are good so far.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55206958097_f370a5a219_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7s6g8)

The plated metal parts have very little corrosion and clean up nicely.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55208104374_b70123eba8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7xY1w)

New caps just arrived. They really are identical to the old twist-locs.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55208453463_00cf21bf8b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7zKMi)

Very easy to install the new caps. It also helped that I have a stash of NOS phenolic mounting plates.
The only challenge was finding the right values. I had to double up sections in this case.
Their product offering is geared more towards the vintage audio crowd than TVs. Even so, I'm a fan and expect to use them more in the future.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55209304526_0840bc48f2_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7E7LN)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55209304521_d6c946b586_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7E7LH)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55209549244_2f32702e84_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7Fnw5)

Original wiring
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55209700000_4982be7a30_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7G9kj)

New wiring
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55208398942_dba5e22dfe_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7ztzh)

I'll give this P&B 10K relay a try. I'll also pick up a 5K like it had originally and see which performs better.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55217972516_9a6dfc65e7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s8qxsU)

As for the recap., I forgot about the components hiding behind the vertical yoke support.
I'll have to unmount the CRT to get at them.

It just occurred to me I can power up the radio portion before I do any more work. The relay and remaining paper caps are only used in the TV portion.
I'll try to give it a try later tonight or tomorrow.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55210744483_b9eb46a3fb_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s7MuPD)

Back in the day the 807 was popular with hams as RF final in homebrew rigs. :)

I've got some 807s, but I'd imagine so does the ETF.

Odd to see an 807 in a TV...but, then again it IS a Dumont-:)

Grr, I don't seem to have any spare 807s in the workshop. Maybe buried in storage somewhere. I may have to wait until after the convention for a full power up. Or perhaps I'll rig up a 6BG6 adapter.

807 or 6AS7?

The 807 in the power supply is shot. A 6BG6 is essentially the same tube with a different base.

Stayed up late last night and did the first controlled power up. Quite a beast all up on the workbench.
Power cord and fuse have been replaced.
The three 5U4s were pulled so there is only filament power.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55222989629_7e1137bea7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s8SfSR)

All is well so far. All tubes lit up. The mode switch controlled the dial lamps properly.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55222989634_218fd5cf19_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s8SfSW)

Left light when in AM radio mode.
Right lamp for TV/FM modes.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55222741191_431225d52d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s8QZ2r)

Will proceed with a full power up in AM radio mode next.

I thought the 807 in the power supply was dead, but not quite. Perhaps it will work, perhaps not.
I don't have any spares on hand but a forum member is helping me out.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55222904628_a98f4cb6f5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s8RPBj)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55223150045_70a1a9047b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s8T5yD)

Bob, please check Your PM in the ARF forum. Tubes are coming your way.

Thank you sir.

I proceeded by installing the 5U4 used in the 300 volt supply. That's enough to get the AM and FM radio modes working
Neat to see the 0C3 gas regulator fired up. First time a tube glowing purple in a TV is good thing.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55226097552_42e4690dc8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s99bKJ)

When you are in FM or TV mode, the signal strength meter on the left is activated.
Later Dumont models used a 6AL7 indicator tube.
Sound is weak and the tuning dials are off - especially in AM mode, but I do have sound.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55227250689_dcb9e0133b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9f6xp)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55227003371_020cd779f1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9dQ2i)

The service info is a little lacking. No alignment info for the AM radio for example.

It's a basic 6BE6, 6BA6, 6AT6 design so I think I can muddle my way through it.
I'll start by peaking the IF cans for the 456kHz IF frequency and try to get the dial scale back on track.
I'm not sure if it's off mechanically or the trimmers need tweaking, but it's pretty far out.
I'm picking up AM 820 around 1100 on the dial for example. Can't seem to find AM 720 at all which should be booming.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55228026399_a37c935c2c_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9j58H)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55227941538_9a29ea2fea_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9iCUA)

I decided to forge ahead with a full power up.
The delay relay has been replaced with one having a 10K coil resistance. Series resistor was dropped from 33K to 27K. Seems to work fine.
Still using the original 10uF oil filled filter cap.
Nothing much happed at first other than a more powerful hum out of the power supply.

Not the easiest set to troubleshoot. A handheld scope with a X100 probe was used to poke around.
I quickly determined the horizontal oscillator was not running.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55228692178_3213f9d20e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9nu3E)

Those are the parts mounted on the vertical CRT support. No getting around it so out comes the CRT.
Four paper caps were lurking back there including this very distressed 01.uF.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55228941560_96d721ca15_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9oLbm)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55228941555_412e2db5fe_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9oLbg)

Ok oscillator running now and output waveform looks right.
However, the signal on the yoke is only a fraction of what it should be.
This signal is used to control the HV (EHT) circuit.
The goal is the HV should be extinguished if the deflection circuit fails.
Remember, no flyback in this set. Deflection and HV supply are independent.
The phosphor could easily be damaged without this safety circuit.
We should have 50VPP at this point - not 6.6
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55227625707_842b84ab75_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9h22e)

Nothing obviously wrong with the circuits so I started tweaking the many controls. Hor. size got me to about 30 volts. Hor. peaking took it the rest of the way. I could hear the telltale squeal once I hit about 45 volts.

I'm using a little test CRT at the moment. Looks like we have horizontal ringing and the vertical tends to collapse. Even so, it's wonderful to see a raster of any sort.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55228692183_5b5a76a30a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9nu3K)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55228692208_58fa3efa60_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9nu4b)

Making progress! I had a bad connection on the video amp plate supply resistor. Fixing that resulted in video on the CRT face.
However, sync is terrible. Barely there horizontally, not there at all vertically.
The original 1947 Sylvania 1N34 is still good.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55233140285_d60bebe0e0_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9Lhja)

I really see what you mean about the tuning indicator now.
I do get a strong meter deflection when I have the TV sound tuned in just right.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55233140280_3abc16b7c6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9Lhj5)

I found a 5.6K resistor in the sync amp circuit measuring 3.2K and replaced it.
It's only the second bad resistor I've found in the set.
Perhaps because they used all 1W or better even though the factory parts list calls for 1/2 watters.
Here's a size comparison with a 1/2 watt resistor on the left and the bad 5.6K on the right.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55235426290_8429e72bf5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9XZS3)

That helped but after running a couple minutes instability returned. Swapping out the sync amp 6SN7 seems to have finally solved the problem.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55235020346_0abeac226b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9VVc1)

Need to do a bit of work on the geometry and shift the image over to the left.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55235426285_bb00e41c79_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9XZRX)

Bandwidth is pretty good.
I expect it will improve with a better setup.
I'm currently feeding it from a Sencore VG91 with alligator clips on the 72 ohm screw terminals.
Live video source is a cheap OTA converter box feeding the VG91 external video modulation.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55235267174_c0dda17b58_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9XbyE)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55234126417_fd57564756_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9Rksr)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55234117647_5edd855e9a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2s9RhRe)

:thmbsp:

Is that pic with the picture tube that came with it

Yes, that is with the original 12RP4 picture tube.

It’s looking good

New 807s arrived today and I had just enough time to pop one in and give it a try before I get ready for the convention.
I haven't measure the HV output, but I can already tell it's working better. I can vary the brightness over a large range and the image stays sharp and focused. Before it would bloom and get blurry.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55239441476_28808f3b7b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2sajzro)

The tuner needs a deep cleaning. Tuning is a bit of a challenge right now, but when it's locked in, it looks really good.
Sounds could use an alignment as well but that will have to wait.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55239845740_22a1f73595_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2samDBs)

New 807s arrived today and I had just enough time to pop one in and give it a try before I get ready for the convention.
I haven't measure the HV output, but I can already tell it's working better. I can vary the brightness over a large range and the image stays sharp and focused. Before it would bloom and get blurry.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55239441476_28808f3b7b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2sajzro)

The tuner needs a deep cleaning. Tuning is a bit of a challenge right now, but when it's locked in, it looks really good.
Sounds could use an alignment as well but that will have to wait.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55239845740_22a1f73595_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2samDBs)

That crt must be in great shape to produce a picture like that looks great.