Guess that figures. Rola later became Plessey. Always thought they were an Australian company and that the Plessey deal in the 60s was a UK buyout. Rola even used to make their own winding wire here in Oz.
That's a serious piece of restoration you have there. I'm mightily impressed.
So Rola UK were gone by 1949. The Australian company were more successful and continued well into the late 70s. They made speakers, winding wire, TV components and even electronic road signs.
That design of ED speaker may have originated in the US because apart from the paint colour it's identical to a model made here in the '30s.
News Flash! Work commenced today on the final stages of the cabinet restoration.
At the end of March just about everything had been done with the reconstruction of the cabinet, just a few details to attend to.
Today's work was concerned with the front control panel, making it fit properly. The beading between the screen panel and the control panel needed attention. Two strips of veneer have been layered on to correct the shape of the beading.
The plinth the cabinet stands on has been tidied up but I believe it will be better if a replacement is made. The correct wood has been found to do the job and it's an easy part to replicate.
Hi Frank, for the final finish of the cabinet surfaces I have to decide to either apply french polish or perhaps better still have the lacquer sprayed on as to replicate how the cabinet was made in the first place.
Why not just scrap the top bit and turn it into a field sequential colour T5?
Peter
"View of two engineers from John Logie Baird's laboratory pictured tuning a television set to obtain a signal as part of a rehearsal for the re-introduction of post war television broadcasts in the United Kingdom, September 1943. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)"
Hi Till, I really don't know but if the colour photo is accurate then I suspect your two colour suggestion might be right. It's certainly an odd filter colour. Looking in ETF there are some photos from a November 1941 report that show a colour wheel receiver that I suspect is 3 colour. The camera filter drum has 6 filters. See also here.
Hi Peter, pictures exist of Mr. Baird working on his Telechrome tubes (is that the name of the device?) showing one of the experimental tubes having two electron gun assemblies.
The cabinet is for all intents and purposes is ready for the final finish to be applied to the surfaces. However, the plan was to use the original CRT mounting board, but now I'm having second thoughts about using it and the replica board is to be fitted instead. There are some minor corrections to be done to it which I will explain tomorrow.
As mentioned in a previous post the original CRT mounting board will not be uused in the T5. Instead, the replica part will be used. The hole for the CRT bulb needed to be properly chamfered. This has been done. A piece of 10mm plywood had a seven inch diameter hole cut out in it and this was used to guide the wheel on the router tool. The results can be seen in the attached picture.
It's getting close to the stage where a CRT must be fitted in the cabinet to confirm that all the new parts are in the correct positions. But it would be certainly unwise to use the original tube for the purpose. Once that component has been installed it stays in unless other reasons arise. With TV sets having a 12" diameter tube I have a down-to-air CRM121 which is used to determine the installation arrangements before a good tube is fitted. An example is my Beau Decca TV recreation.
The Cathodevisor CRT has a 41mm neck diameter. A wound steel tube is fitted over the CRT neck, the line scanning coils are fitted close to the flare of the bulb and the frame scanning coils are mounted on the CRT mounting board.
The dummy tube won't be a CRT but a length of tubing attached to wood disc which be placed in the position where tube bulb rests on the upper board. The attached picture shows a piece of plumbers pipe which is almost the same diameter as the CRT neck.
