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   CREATING A LUXURY TELEVISION SET 		  Page One
 

This is a project whose aim is to create a 'new' luxury vintage television, to serve as the main set in my home.

This will be done by combining the best parts from two existing sets and then adding some further refinements.

The Baird Townsman on the left has already been in my possession for a number of years. Its best feature is the lovely cabinet, previously restored by me. However its electronic chassis is of low quality, and its performance has remained poor despite (or because of!) past attempts by me to improve it. This set is to supply the cabinet.

The Bush TV24A on the right will donate the chassis. This 12-inch set uses the unit found also in the 9-inch Bush TV22A. This chassis benefits from being the last in a long line of development. I recently sourced this set over Ebay.

I intend to add a good quality valve amplifier to supply the sound and a mains isolating transformer, so the whole assembly can be connected to earth. For maximum picture fidelity, I will also seek to enhance the DC component of the signal going to the tube if practicable. Other ideas may occur to me along the way... stay with me for the trip!

The idea is to first overhaul the Bush and get it working. Then mount it along with the accessories into the Baird cabinet.

The resulting set will be known as the Bude Television Console. The word "Bude" is a combination of Bush and Baird - but there is another association: the earliest Baird electronic televisions were actually assembled in the Bush factory!

 
       
 

So let's get started by looking in the back of the newly acquired Bush.

Everything looks pretty untouched and the chassis is only lightly corroded.

 
       
 

Unlike in its bakelite 9-inch TV22 cousin, the front controls are mounted on separate bearers, which first must be dismounted.

First the knob locking screws are loosened through the access holes provided. A peep first to see what you're doing with a good torch and pair of glasses is recommended!

 
       
  Then the mounting plate bearing screws (at each end) are removed.
 
       
 

Out comes one of the control bearers!

Note the TV22-style knob pre-fixed to the timebase hold pot.

 
       
 

A messy arrangement involving sellotape has been used in the past to join the speaker leads.

On the TV24, the speaker mounts to the cabinet, not the chassis, so it has to be disconnected.

The leads are now unceremoniously snipped.

 
       
  Still looking underneath the set... here is one of the two front chassis mounting screws with its washer. These are removed next.  
       
 

Looking in the back now, we see one of the two connections bonding the chassis to the cabinet's internal screening foil.

These are unscrewed.

Note also the 2BA nut at upper left...

 
       
  This mounts the chassis to the cabinet at the rear. A nutspinner goes on to this to remove it. There is another the other side too.  
       
 

The chassis can now be dislodged and carefully withdrawn from the cabinet.

But steady on! The tube is not located properly at the front in the TV24 once it's removed from the cabinet. It is simply pulled back against the curved wood mounting with all the strain being borne by the clamp around the tube's neck!

 
       
 

Without further ado, the tube is removed out of harm's way... allowing us to look at the space now left.

All appears in pretty fair order for an unrestored set.

The line output transformer, on the right, looks clean, tho' it hasn't been tested yet.

 

  
       
 

Here's the tube, placed on its front, with the scan coils still fitted.

These plug in to sockets on the chassis. For ease of future reassembly a photo was taken of these connections before they were unplugged.

 
       
 

With care, the scan coils lift off quite easily once a little WD40 has been squirted down their interface with the tube neck.

Sometimes it is necessary to pass some DC current through the coils to warm up the wax before they can be loosened, but not in this case.

Here the area round the EHT button is being cleaned.

 
       
  The tube is now tested. After a gradual start, the emission rises to 'very good', and there appear to be no inter-electrode leaks. Good news!
 
       
 

It's time to remove accessible parts from the chassis, to facilitate cleaning.

The focus magnet assembly comes off after undoing two screws.

 
   

 
  Only one screw needs to be undone to remove the safety shield behind the line output section.
 
       
 

Here's what then is revealed... left to right, the three valves we see are the HT Rectifier, the Line Output, and the Boost Rectifier.

Unlike in the earlier editions of this chassis, these are now 'miniature' mid-fifties types.

 
       
  The line output transformer is incredibly easy to remove on this particular set. There are just two connections that are secured by screws, pointed out in the picture. The transformer then pivots at the rear and lifts straight off.
 
       
 

Not such good news. This set has been used in the past on the 220/210 volt mains setting... presumably to eke some extra 'life' out of the performance. We may therefore later expect to see some well-worn valves.

The multipole connector to the lower RF/IF deck appears not to have been touched since 1953... good news really. It is stuck. So now it requires levering off by gently twisting back and forth two screwdrivers. Care is required here or the paxolin can be damaged.