Hi everyone, it has been a long time since I've posted on here, but thought I'd put something up a little different that many of you have not seen before.
The Bell set featured here is from mid 1970's upon the change to colour in NZ around 1974. These were made by Consolidated Electronics in Auckland and the chassis was actually based on a Philips "Kitset" colour design. It is unknown about where/who thought up the design or where it originated from, but I feel it was a NZ only creation. The most notable aspect of these is the Philips components/layout/CRT were utilised. I think Bell were trying to copy the Philips K9 chassis.
There were only three models made - TVC1,TVC2,TVC3. The 1&2 were quite similar but the TVC3 was a different design, using a diode split LOPT and some later technology. From memory the last sets were made into the 1980's and they came in various tube sizes/cabinet styles ranging from 18 to 26 inch.
The Bells weren't held in very high regard and in general quite unreliable, they were also nicknamed the "Curtain Burners" due to line panel burning up and setting fire to the back cover. The TVC3 was probably the best model they ever made and I used to fix them back in the day and they performed well and gave a nice picture.
Needless to say very few now exist. I was fortunate enough to score this set for next to nothing but had a 8 hour drive one way to collect it. It's overall condition is near mint and going by how clean it is inside, I'd say it hasn't seen decades of use. I used to wreck these for the tubes to put into the Philips K9's in the 1990's as they didn't last long enough to wear them out.
This one is a true survivor and I do intend to get it up and running at some point in the future. Thankfully have the full service manual/circuits with the 'pages full of fault remedies/circuit mods etc. Enjoy the photos.
Hi Glen,
Nice to see you back and what a return with such and interesting and historical set for NZ. A very interesting TV and a good treat for us over here in the UK to see sets from our cousins "down under". Nice to have the detailed photos for us to drool over.
Special thanks to you and Ian Robertson in Oz, VRAT is pretty much on life support at present due to lack of members projects or repair contributions. Ian has treated us to a fair few examples from his collection and his mates, so your post equally comes at much needed time. Look forward to reading your exploits with this TV when it does venture onto the bench, although from the size of it, I suspect the bench will be the workshop floor. In fact it does remind me of my large Baird consoles.
Not wishing to take your thread off-topic, but felt I should explain.
Apologies about the NZ country block that slipped my attention. we've been having performance troubles due to attacks and chatgpt constantly scraping content. I had to implement a world wide block and thought I had set the country exception list correctly, obviously not! Thanks to the UKVRRR team contacting me on your behalf, to let me know of your difficulty. It's so nice to have the forums working together to the benefit of all.
Hi Chris, thanks for the reply and I hope to be doing some more regular posts again when time allows. Yes the Bell certainly is a rarity now and I'm sure there are going to be some challenges in getting the set up and operational again. I've only in the last few months gotten back into the TV repair hobby due to claiming back the space in my house (long story ex partner involved) in order to setup an area within for working on and using some of my sets again. I think I've seen some of Ian posts on here as well, good to see some Australian content as well. I'm guessing the lure of Facebook groups have taken a few people away for the forums these days. I've been more active on YouTube with my content.
And regarding the NZ country block I had a feeling it may have been something to do with bots/chatgpt/scammers etc, so thanks for sorting that out. I had no other way of contacting you hence why I reached out to an admin on the UKVRR forum and I thanked them for helping with the query as well.
Hi Glen, I forgot to ask.
I always find it interesting with regard to the background ownership of TVs that come into our collections. Do you know anything about the provenance of this TV?
For example did you obtain it from the original family, hence how it survived in such good condition, a deceased estate sale perhaps? Just curious.
I'm guessing the lure of Facebook groups have taken a few people away for the forums these days.
Nail on the proverbial head..... unfortunately more than a few.
p.s.
It would be great to have a scan of the circuit to see the circuit design and also so we can all follow along. If you've no way of scanning no worries, it was just a thought.
Hi Glen!
Yes I'd like to see more of that TV, I didn't know that anyone other than Kriesler did a take on the K9.
The 59-01 was generally regarded as an improvement on the K9, which means it's very good.
I have a 59-01 in the garage waiting attention, I'll have to move it forward a bit now! I haven't bothered so far because I'm told it has a defect in the CRT. And as you probably know, a A66-140X or A66-410X are like rocking horse manure!
@crustytv I don't know alot about this TV other than the person I got it from said it was his grandmothers and recalled her never actually using it much so that story lines up with its condition. I only paid $5 NZD for it but was an 8 hour drive one way to collect but worth it. I've had it for about 3 years.
Yes BookFace has ruined it for a lot of forums like this. There's a New Zealand Vintage Television Facebook page I do post on but that's about it.
I don't have a big enough scanner for that circuit, best I could do is take some up close photos!
Hi Ian, well I hope to do something with the Bell when time allows (its semi buried in the room that its in haha) at least we know the CRT will be good. The K9 was a very popular model here in NZ. I still use one on a semi-regular basis, infact its going in the background as I'm typing. You're going to cry a few years ago during a big move I had half a dozen good A66/A56-410X's and dumped them! It was case of having to downsize rapidly at the time. Thankfully the K9 I use has got an excellent tube. I've enjoyed reading some of your posts by the way too 🙂
Hi Glen!
Yes I'd like to see more of that TV, I didn't know that anyone other than Kriesler did a take on the K9.
The 59-01 was generally regarded as an improvement on the K9, which means it's very good.
I have a 59-01 in the garage waiting attention, I'll have to move it forward a bit now! I haven't bothered so far because I'm told it has a defect in the CRT. And as you probably know, a A66-140X or A66-410X are like rocking horse manure!
