This looks like a very interesting set.
It's a Heathkit television set, obviously made as a kit, and finished to a very high standard. Looking at it externally from the photographs it looks like an early 70s single standard set. The tuner looks like the ubiquitous 4 button tuners used on many sets of the period. It would be really interesting to find the construction instructions for the set. I would reckon that unlike earlier television kits, this would have been more for an educational value rather than getting a telly on the cheap, as was the case with the earlier models.
Whoever made it made did good job, and it looks like its in very good condition. It would be interesting to find out what level of construction and setting-up was required, e.g. are the boards supplied ready-populated or did you have a large bag of components to assemble? I would also assume that any such constructor would have to have access to TV alignment equipment.
Just how many of these kits did Heathkit sell?
Page a45 may interest you.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Wireless-World/70s/Wireless-World-1973-12.pdf
Frank
As I thought - by this time any kit TVs were more about education than economy. The kit retailed at £62.70, quite a lot of money in 1973, I'm sure that a Thorn 1530 would have been cheaper. It looks quite innovative design for its time as well.
I would assume that kit TVs like this are a dream to service, too.
The magazine makes for good reading - the adverts show brands of equipment I encountered as a technician in my younger years.
There has been another on ebay recently, near Hatfield.
I hope someone gets this one to save it from the tip.
The USA company had a much more modern looking 12 inch BW portable set in their catalogue for 1976, catalogue in the data library. The USA and U.K. companies it appears had parted by the 1970’s, the WW advert shows the U.K. as a Schlumberger company.
The USA catalogue has quite a few CTV kits.
Frank
I was mistaken about the USA company, that also was Schlumberger, the 1976 catalogue has that name.
Frank
Posted By: mfd70
There has been another on ebay recently, near Hatfield. I hope someone gets this one to save it from the tip."
I hope someone does win it too. One of the reasons I sometimes highlight sets is in the hope that somebody in the V-RAT community takes a set on and we can all learn a little more about it. It would also be interesting to see some of the "home brew" sets that others have made (or acquired post-build) on this forum. It was quite interesting watching that LDTV Bush TV22 conversion the other night. I digress from topic, but it looks like low def at 202 lines provided a viable picture that would have been perfectly acceptable on a 5 inch scope tube telly. One imagines what would have happened if the video format took off..
Schlumberger were a very diverse company it seems. They owned Solartron, with their diverse test and measurement portfolio that included long scale multimeters, oscilloscopes and function generators and also resonant pressure sensors (as used in precision barometers).
Does anyone have any of the Forgestone kit TVs ? Or any of the "Television" designs published over the years ?
Vrat member "The_Teleman" has a Forgestone. Stan "Electrical" has two of the practical Television sets he built.
In case anyone has not seen the Blog article I did last year on the Forgestone, it covers the TV's with board photos and includes all the build manuals and schematics See here https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/early-ctv-kits/
CrustyTV Television Shop: Take a virtual tour
Crusty's TV/VCR Collection: View my collection
It would be nice if nowadays you could build a telly from scratch like these kits suggested. My conversion projects go some of the way, but it would be fun to have a go at fabricating the PCBs, winding the coils etc. The Heathkit design used pre-prepared PCBs and much of the alignment was already done. I understand however from other bloggers that you can still buy blank (unpopulated) television PCBs to assemble from Alibaba.com and there are a number of suppliers selling brand new CRTs at £50 on a certain auction web site. LOPTs and other specialist components may be more difficult to get. For most V-Ratters there is the possibility that we have these things lying around from parted-out sets.
Some of the restoration work carried on is more like a complete rebuild. Sadly not with us anymore, have a look on the forum of some of Brian Cuffs work. His skill and patience were amazing.
Frank
Although not an official kit TV, my DigiVEC 9 will be a kind of homebrew kit assembled from various component parts. When I finally get started, the DigiVEC will have its own post that I will put up in due course. The cabinet's going to be very interesting as I've never attempted any woodwork since school days.
