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CTV 1972 22" EKCO CT252; 697 Chassis Hybrid

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crustytv
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Another set as part of a swap, and thus a new addition to the collection, the other is here.  This time, a manufacturer badge I've wanted to add to the collection for quite some time. Presented in a lovely rosewood cabinet, and cream mask. Not a lot to say, it needs a bit of setting up as the picture on these can be so much better, but other than that it works.

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Posted : 18/09/2023 4:15 pm
WayneD, ntscuser, Nuvistor and 2 people reacted
Tazman1966
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A nicer presentation than the bog standard Pye CT205 version. The slider controls including <gasp!> tone control make it seem more exotic!

Back when I was a kid, a school friend's family tv was a white cabinet version of your Ekco. Very fashionable in its day.  

 
Posted : 24/09/2023 1:38 pm
slidertogrid
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Posted by: @tazman1966

Back when I was a kid, a school friend's family tv was a white cabinet version of your Ekco. Very fashionable in its day.  

That brings back memories! Unfortunately not good ones!  I bought a job lot of Pye 205 sets ex rental from a local dealer, included was a white Ekco version. This was when I had first started working for myself in the early '80s from home before I opened the shop. The Pye sets sold well and none were much trouble. The Ekco however hung around for a while, it seems because it was white and my customers all had brown furniture it didn't fit in.

Eventually I sold it and that set was a right pain! Not helped by the customer who wasn't much better! I remember having a few calls on it not helped by the fact that it lived in a corner where the central heating radiator was which was belting out heat! This didn't help reliability or comfort when working on the bl**dy thing! 

Eventually I managed to persuade the customer to move the set to the opposite corner of the room. I moved the set and fitted an aerial extension lead for which he refused to pay as it was "my idea"! After that the set settled down and I got some peace. It was well out of the year's guarantee I had given him when i got a call to say it had  broken down.

He then demanded I repaired the set free of charge as he decided the guarantee should have been restarted as a year from the date of the last repair! I explained that in that case the guarantee could be infinite! And that he would have got a year guarantee when the set was new so to have a year on a second hand set was very reasonable!  

He didn't think so and got a bit shouty... At that point I decided enough was enough! and ended the call. I never saw the set or him again!  😀 😀 

 

 
Posted : 24/09/2023 5:41 pm
crustytv
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The 1972 EKCO CT252, ready to replace the 1969 Bush CTV187CS in time for Christmas entertainment 2023 in the 70s lounge The Bush is moving on to pastures new.

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Posted : 25/09/2023 11:06 am
WayneD reacted
WayneD
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I've been trying to convince Mrs D that we should have a "Retro Pre-Christmas" with an old TV being fed with Christmas shows from our childhoods. Our living room actually has a spot in the brick fire surround to comfortably support a large CRT TV and a VCR.

Here's the last Christmas we had with a CRT TV as our main set, a Sony Trinitron. Photo taken just after our Daughter got hold of a Sharpie:

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She's 16 in a few days! 

 

 
Posted : 27/09/2023 8:23 pm
crustytv reacted
crustytv
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After 10-years of ownership, today the big Bush monster, departed to north of the border. It was nice to see the broad smile on David's face, finally getting a TV long on his wish list. Hopefully many hours of enjoyment ahead and the next chapter in the TVs history.

After seeing the big console in the alcove all these years, the 22" EKCO looks a little lost, but nonetheless a very stylish set.

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Posted : 28/09/2023 4:42 pm
WayneD and Cathovisor reacted
colourstar
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Well Chris I can't help but wonder whether this would have in fact been a example of a typical in-period  upgrade: If you had bought the Bush in 1969, would you have been ready to change to a newer model by 1972/3? The Bush would have probably been pretty reliable in service, but maybe the more compact cabinet and trendy looks of the Ekco may have tempted you to trade up in the 'colour boom' year of '73? I suppose the only odd thing is that you would be going from a transistorised set with that nice quick warm-up time to a hybrid!

 
Posted : 04/10/2023 6:58 pm
slidertogrid
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That is very true, As a lot of people rented back then, it was common to upgrade the set after 5 or 6 years. Some people also started to send the rental sets back in favour of buying one. My granddad rented a 3500 from somewhere for four years before buying one that I got from work. My parents rented a new Decca 2230 from Granada for a year before buying their set, a 8500.

 
Posted : 04/10/2023 7:58 pm
crustytv
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I finally got back to prepping the CT252 ready for Christmas use. Today's task was to replace the valve CDA with the new old stock LEDCO solid state CDA, and replace the black focus unit with a grey one. This all went well, so it was time to power up.

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I was expecting a fair bit of trouble after all, although new, the board had sat unused for 40+ years. I equally expected the picture to be lack lustre, given the comments folks had made over the years about the solid state, and my own experience of trying a PL802/T many years ago on a CT203.

To say I was gob-smacked when the raster appeared is an understatement! The picture is fantastic, in fact it is way better than the valve CDA, very punchy, crisp and grey-scale better than before. The only nag, I appear to have some convergence to sort, but that's more likely due to the TV being moved from the museum to the lounge than the new CDA.

Evidence of just how good it is

Before in workshop with Valve CDA

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After in lounge with Solid-State CDA

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Remember, I've done nothing than swap the board in, I've not even followed the setup instructions that came with it. Either I'm super lucky or the disdain in which the LEDCO SS CDA has been held by many ex trade, has been unjustified. Perhaps there were many versions, perhaps earlier releases were not so good and that's the problem, so all got a bad reputation. Anyway, the proof in the pudding is above, in my opinion this SS CDA is brilliant, it's not anecdotal, and you can't argue with the results.

Just a bit of tidying up re convergence, and I'm all set for Christmas 2023, and with the reduced heat from the valves, I'm hoping it will prove reliable.

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Posted : 31/10/2023 11:23 am
slidertogrid and Lloyd reacted
The_Teleman
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Wow Chris ! , that is way better than any results I got with the solid state cda panel , maybe I didn’t set it up it’s been that long since I tested one it’s a job to remember , it’s possible I suppose that the one I have is a duff one but John has it now to try and copy . 

hopefully John will go ahead and remake these then we can all have the results your getting 

well done ! 

 
Posted : 31/10/2023 11:44 am
Jayceebee
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Looks very good indeed. I think it was @slidertogrid that said with some CRTs that the LEDCo panel could improve on the PYE original.

@The_Teleman funnily enough I completed a first track layout last night of the LEDCo version. Just need a few adjustments, tweaks and what heatsinks to use then it will be ready to go off for fabrication. 

John.

 
Posted : 31/10/2023 12:50 pm
slidertogrid
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It's all a very long time ago but I am sure we used LEDCO and maybe DR developments SS CDA boards. The results varied a bit as I remember, but yes if a CRT was a bit soft and prone to 'green banding' on higher contrast levels it was cured by fitting a SS CDA. 

The SS PL802 was a bit softer and lower definition than a valve it was made as there was a shortage of PL802s for a while. it was better and lasted longer than the other PL802 stop-gap though... An EF184 if my memory serves... 🤐 

The sets were getting on a bit by then but because we had so many the Varicap sets were kept going until the G11 was ready for launch. Then the sets were replaced over a period of about two years. Some of the refurbed CT205s had less calls per year in their old age than the early new G11s!

 
Posted : 31/10/2023 1:09 pm
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crustytv
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Sorted out the convergence the best I can, will try better later, to be honest I reckon back in the day it would have been more than satisfactory, nowadays, we/I fret over perfection.  Set up the A1's as per manual, just need to sort the height now. I think I've got a failing blue A1 pot as the raster occasionally goes into total blue overload, as if the blue A1 has been cranked to max. I've found if I tap the pot I can make it happen and go back to normal.

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Posted : 31/10/2023 2:14 pm
slidertogrid reacted
slidertogrid
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That looks really good, Chris. The Pye hybrids get slated by some but this proves that with a little care and correctly set up they can be really good performers! 

Rich.

 
Posted : 31/10/2023 3:32 pm
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Nuvistor
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Well done Chris, I have always liked the Pye hybrids, it’s just this version the PCB material that let it down. The picture on the Pye hybrid was to me always better the the Bush A823 chassis which we also sold. I never saw a set using the Ledco upgrade and the one you have works well. I did use the solid state PL802 but was always a bit disappointed with them but seeing the valve PL802 was hard to obtain at times they were welcome.

The valve version of the PCB looks like the video stage is not up to scratch, the PL802 is very high mutual conductance of 40ma/v perhaps it’s not quite getting there.

An excellent outcome.

Frank

 
Posted : 31/10/2023 7:57 pm
slidertogrid reacted
irob2345
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What years was that chassis in production?

I wonder if it was the one the Oz Pye engineers saw on their visit in 1971?

 
Posted : 02/11/2023 8:24 am
Nuvistor
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@irob2345 The original design was a dual standard mono 405 colour 625 introduced 1967. The single standard version introduced 1969, same colour circuits redesigned IF and line time base, some other changes as well. The three single standard chassis were the 691, 693 and 697, the 697 having the PCB line time base. So 1967 to 1973/4.

Frank

 
Posted : 02/11/2023 2:04 pm
slidertogrid
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I only saw a couple or so but there was an odd ball 19" model. Varicap tuning but metal timebase. All of the 22" and 26" varicap models I saw used a PCB timebase. I wonder if it was a short lived cheap model to use up some 19" tubes and metal timebase chassis'? I seem to remember the cabinet was pretty much (if not) the same as the 22" CT205, the 19" 'roundy corner' screen looked a little lost... I don't know what chassis or model number they allocated to it. CT201? Maybe?

 
Posted : 02/11/2023 5:37 pm
crustytv
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Posted by: @slidertogrid

there was an odd ball 19" model. Varicap tuning but metal timebase....[..] the cabinet was pretty much (if not) the same as the 22" CT205, the 19" 'roundy corner' screen looked a little lost... I don't know what chassis or model number they allocated to it. CT201? Maybe?

It's in the PYE brochure section on the main website.

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Posted : 02/11/2023 9:45 pm
freya and slidertogrid reacted
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