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Forum 141

First 19" Baird Colour Television?

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Terrykc
(@terrykc)
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The third is a missing set from my early colour dual standard hybrid collection, namely a GEC 2028.

What is the date of that advert, Chris?

It says "The only 19" colour TV" but I thought the first 19" CTV was the Baird M718. However, it wasn't released with the first rash of 25" sets for the opening of the colour service in late 1967 but followed a little later, so the GEC might have beaten it to the market but I certainly wasn't aware of it at the time.

The first 25" Baird, the M701, was the cheapest set of the initial offerings at 279 guineas so the M718 would probably matched the GEC's 259 gns price tag but I can't swear to it! (It would certainly have been cheaper than the 25" models, though!)

When all else fails, read the instructions

 
Posted : 18/08/2016 12:17 pm
crustytv
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What is the date of that advert, Chris?

Sorry Terry I've no idea

I thought the first 19" CTV was the Baird M718.

Was it? I thought the M705 19" released in Dec 1967 was the first Baird 19" colour. I know the M718 was not listed as a model available in Dec 67. All you could get were the 701,702,703,704 and 705. The M718 coming later in 1968.

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Posted : 18/08/2016 2:14 pm
Terrykc
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Well, it is nearly 50 years ago, but I don't recall the number M705.

The first 19" set I'm sure was the M718 - I remember the push button UHF tuner - so is it possible that RCA couldn't, initially, produce enough 19" tubes, so that the M705 was restricted to Radio Rentals outlets rather than independents like us?

When all else fails, read the instructions

 
Posted : 18/08/2016 3:07 pm
crustytv
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Well, it is nearly 50 years ago, but I don't recall the number M705.

here's the 705

Forum 142

The first 19" set I'm sure was the M718 - I remember the push button UHF tuner - so is it possible that RCA couldn't, initially, produce enough 19" tubes, so that the M705 was restricted to Radio Rentals outlets rather than independents like us?

This article shows the Baird line up as of Dec 67 no mention of the 718 for 1967
Forum 143

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Posted : 18/08/2016 6:59 pm
Terrykc
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Never seen one of those, Chris!

It is completely different to the rest of the floor standing 70x and 71x series - including the 718.

We had a problem with these sets in our workshop. Sprawling on the fitted carpet in the customers home to get to the chassis was one thing, but nobody wanted to sprawl on the bare floorboards of our workshop!

As I think I may have said before, when we attempted to put one on the bench its free running castors threatened to either catapault it onto the floor or gash the cabinet corners on a shelf running across the back.

We had, however, gained an old kitchen table from somewhere which sat at right angles to my bench and came in useful for lots of things. The top was a little larger that a 701's footprint so we borrowed a hole saw from one of the electricians and drilled four 3" diameter holes in the top!

We could lift a set onto the table - which was also a few inches lower than bench height - and dangle the castors through the holes! We now had a stable set and it was at just the right height for me to work on the chassis in comfort sitting on my usual stool!

When the 718 came along, we had to drill two more holes because of the narrower cabinet!

The 705 in that picture does not fit in with anything in the Baird ranges for either 1967 or 1968 so I can only assume that it was bought in from somewhere for Radio Rentals own rental market.

It certainly wouldn't make sense for Baird to completely discard all their research effort and design a completely different chassis for just one model, would it? Note also that it has a push button UHF tuner whereas the rest of the range had to wait another year for that!

I wonder if anyone has ever seen inside one and can tell us what it looked like?

Or perhaps a service manual might yield some clues?

When all else fails, read the instructions

 
Posted : 18/08/2016 10:52 pm
crustytv
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Hi Terry,

You got me thinking and remembering.......

A TV engineer contacted me via the main site a couple of years ago, we ended up having a long phone chat. Byron was an independent TV shop and offered Baird sets along with other sets when colour launched, he sent me all manner of Baird documents including many service bulletins he received.

I've not got around to scanning them all for the main site just these https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/baird-700-se ... ck-faults/
However just looking in the filing cabinet having just got back from my hols, I find I have a rather large 705 Technical Info sheet dated from January 1968 which is one month after the December launch of the 19" M705.

I've not found a schematic yet but there is a complete 22 page component specification list, some modifications that were made to IF panel and the AGC system and some provisional service sheet advice. The very interesting thing I note and think gives us the biggest clue to what was inside the 705, is the series title. The component specification is for the "Baird 705 and GEC 2028." This confirms your suspicion of something brought in from outside, see below. I'll keep looking tomorrow.

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Posted : 18/08/2016 11:22 pm
Terrykc
(@terrykc)
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Well, if you find anything that disproves that theory, I'd be very much surprised! They even look identical, apart from a few trim differences ...

When all else fails, read the instructions

 
Posted : 19/08/2016 9:56 am
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