1973 Decca CS1830B

Bradford Chassis

Model: Decca CS1830/B

Year:1973

System:625 Line /Hybrid

Original List Price : £xxx.xx

Valves: None

Transistors:Yes

CRT: ??????

Brochure Picture

Finally I Find Our First CTV !

After years and years of searching I finally get my hands on the very first colour TV my family got. A TV that started a journey, one that you can read here. Not only that but the exact layout as I remember. The CS1830 came in many guises, the control panel is sometimes to the left or right of the speaker. Sometimes the speaker grill is not full length. Sometimes the CRT surround is black vinyl and many have the varicap tuner. Mine had the old clunky manual tuner and the control layout to the far right of a full length speaker grill in an all teak cabinet and that#s what I found…. remarkable!

1973 Decca CS1830B 1

I will quote the last line of my article …..

As for the Decca CS1830 that all those years started me off on this journey, well sadly all I can offer is a brochure photo of a similar one, ours had the mechanical tuner and controls on the right of the grill. Its a TV that to this very day still eludes me. Maybe, just maybe one day, I might find one for the collection. That will be a day I feel a full circle has been travelled,

 

The repair will be covered in due course on the Vrat-Tube channel and of course here on the blog and forum

The actual TV

1973 Decca CS1830B 2 1973 Decca CS1830B 3 1973 Decca CS1830B 4 1973 Decca CS1830B 5 1973 Decca CS1830B 6 1973 Decca CS1830B 7 1973 Decca CS1830B 8


CRT Test

Before any significant time is invested in the DECCA, I need to establish if we’ve got a CRT to work with, If the CRT has low emission or shorts then replacement is going to be hard if not impossible to source. Fingers crossed!

Its a Good-un 🙂  Good emissions, excellent tracking and a life test shows equally excellent results. PHEW!

I applied power and was presented with a blank raster, initially looks like a Tuner/IF fault. Checking the tuner action the channel selectors are very sticky and do not engage or disengage very well, they feel gummed up. Most likely the tuner grease has hardened and needs cleaning. I managed to sort of get one channel selected and now the raster has snow so looks like the IF is ok and it is as suspected the tuner. Trying to tune into the test card signal was too difficult as the tuning knob is equally gummed up. After about 10mins or so the field starts to collapse, when switched off and left for 5 mins, the field is back until it again slowly collapses, I suspect the frame output valve PL508 might be a good place to start.

I’ll stop here and will start a youtube video covering what’s happened thus far and then cover the tuner and field problems and any further faults as and when they happen.

1973 Decca CS1830B 9

Thanks to forum member Malc, I now have the stand for this set

1973 Decca CS1830B 10

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colourmaster
Member
5 years ago

Hi Chris, I was hoping that it was yourself who won the Decca. It’s a great feeling when you finally manage to obtain a set that’s been on the wish list for years. It looks like a very early model with the common tuner unit. Mine has the four button varicap unit. This set should be a doddle compared to your thorn sets.
Regards. Gary.

GlennP
GlennP
Guest
4 years ago

I always had a soft spot for these single standard hybrid Deccas . We used to sell the Telefunken versions too ( 22 inch jobs ) I wonder if anyone remembers those , they had a six button varicap tuner fitted.

Tazman1966
Member
4 years ago

Does this have pride of place in your dining room yet?

EmleyMoor
Member
4 years ago

Sets you once had, or wish you had had, are probably high on the list of many, including me. Finding a set of the same chassis and same tuner, even if otherwise different, would be for many including myself. We mostly rented, from Wigfalls, Spectra/Granada, MultiBroadcast/Radio Rentals and finally DVR, with a few bought sets along the way. It’s always good to find one, especially if it can be made to work again.

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