[Australian] New member & HMV finds
 

Hi folks,

I'm an 18y/o Australian collector, and have been collecting vintage televisions since late 2011. I mainly prefer to focus on sets from the 1960s, as they are quite appealing and have a nicer design then the more conservative sets of the 1950s. My collecting preferences are tube/hybrid tube chassis sets, particularly consoles and low-boys. So far, I own about 15 sets from 1956 - 1970, and am constantly on the look-out for more!

I ended up picking up three sets today, on my way to see my father about 12 hours away. Two of them were given to me by a friend, and are in relatively rough condition. The other was found by my dad at a local (for him) recycling centre.

The three sets I ended up with were all tube-chassis B&W HMV (His Master's Voice) sets, which I have a particular liking for. In order from the group photo, the three sets consist of a 1970 HMV "Trent" V6-PN low-boy, c.1960-62 HMV "Hi-Fi Rangemaster" P1-AH console, and a 1967 HMV "Wentworth" PU-AF console. None of them are entirely functional - the Trent has no vertical deflection and the cabinet needs re-finishing, and the Wentworth has no EHT, but is otherwise mint. The Rangemaster is an absolute ruin though, however I've decided that it's worth restoring. Here's the work that it requires so far:

- Re-finish the cabinet
- Replace missing masonite rear panel
- Find four new knobs
- Replace tuning dial scale
- Repair base of cabinet, as it is starting to come apart
- Re-plate the badges
- Clean up random build up of dirt between CRT and safety-glass
- Find all the required tubes for the chassis (as all but six are missing)
- Electronically restore chassis

The Rangemaster will be quite a challenge, but it'll be worth it. There aren't many of these around either. Older sets are nowhere near as common here as they are in North America, so it's great to end up with such a haul!

Anyways, be sure to check out my Youtube channel and Facebook group! I'll be uploading some videos of these sets and several others over the next few days.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Fairlane500skyliner
https://www.facebook.com/groups/295773603871364/

Chris

SO. COOL.

My personal offshoot is Sony stuff and other random odds and ends from the '80s through the '90s, but it is awesome to see young people (I guess I'm young compared to most of the experts here, but I mean someone literally in their teenage years) getting into such a rewarding and cool hobby for a part of our history that is rapidly disappearing.

I wish you the best of luck with your fine sets, and nice to see them not being scrapped or turned into hipster "art"!

I am going to keep tabs on your FB channel. Added.

Thank you! It's a very rewarding feeling to save a damaged and dead set from it's trip to landfill, and restore it back to original condition. There's a lot to learn, that's for sure! I only started in 2012, so I'm going to be at the "beginners" end of the spectrum for a good while longer yet.

There are a handful of collectors who are younger then me on the group - one of whom is only three hours away (He's the one who gave me the HMV Rangemaster and Trent).

Chris

Welcome to Videokarma, Chris. I have read your posts on another forum as well. Those sets should be nice to get restored and working. Do the Australian digital-TV converters have RF outputs that can easily feed your old sets?

:scratch2:

Thanks for the welcome Chris! I'm a member of the Antique Radios forum, though don't post there anymore as there seems to be limited activity on the television forum. I'm mainly active on my Facebook group, though will start posting here more often.

It depends on the set-top box (assuming that's what you mean converter). Most of them output via composite video, VGA and component video. There are a few about that output onto the UHF band via a 75Ω coaxial cable, though those converters are a bit more expensive (I paid $40 for mine), and they are generally few and far between. I don't mind though, as I have to use a VHF modulator anyways - as we didn't get UHF until 1978-79, and essentially all of my sets feature a VHF-only tuner.

Chris

Welcome to VK. And conversely, I'm also a member of an Australian radio and TV collector web site http://vintage-radio.com.au/, even though I'm a white trash American that doesn't belong to an ethnic group :D There's a TV forum there http://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=6. People on that Aussie web site are quite friendly as well. Oh, wait, I think I just found you at that web site, as Chris R., http://vintage-radio.com.au/avatar/Chris.jpg ...

I have a couple Aussie radios, like this one http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/Tasma1001baby.jpg, but no Aussie TV sets (different standards here in the USA).

I'd electronically restore the chassis first, to be sure no hard to find parts are bad. Like yokes, flybacks and CRTs. Replace all wax caps, and the electrolytics.

It's a great forum, with loads of very friendly and helpful members. One of the main reasons I don't really post is the general lack of television collectors, and the absence of a feature to upload my own photos.


I'm not really worried if the set requires "unobtanium" parts, as I'll still keep it as a display-only set. There aren't many sets of the era around Australia any more, so it's worth keeping every one - even if the chassis can't be restored.

Chris

Yes, I was referring to set-top boxes (a term that is also used here in the USA, sometimes to include cable or satellite-TV boxes as well). The set-top tuners here all have 75-ohm coax RF outputs, but they are on VHF channels 3 or 4, selectable, so they can be directly used with even our oldest TV sets. There have been some with VGA and/or component outputs, but they are high-definition models, and those often do not have the coax output (which is only standard definition if it is on the box).