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Old 15th Jan 2017, 1:12 pm   #1
Colourstar
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Default Baird M640 19"

I don't think many examples of Baird b&w dual standard sets have survived in 19" form. Does anybody else have one? There seem to be more 23" consoles in circulation. I suppose the twin rotary tuners which look nicely period today dated the set quite quickly and the general appearance would have been decidedly old hat by the turn of the 70s. The last ones probably soldiered on with thrifty old folk and penniless students before a final curtain call, up-ended beside the dustbin on a drizzly Monday morning.

The table model had an abundance of glossy woodwork and shiny trim but look closely and it's cheaply done. In view of that, it's surprising that the loudspeaker is very generously sized as these are usually the first victims cost-cutting. The UHF tuner is valved and has a fiendish drive cord system. Woe betide the unfortunate engineer who had to tangle with that, especially in the crowded confines of this compact set.

This one has had an interesting later life with the main smoothing can being replaced and a custom-made metal cover installed for the LOPT. Less good are the 'flying' UHF aerial socket to replace the long-gone original and the bodged mains input socket arrangements, over which I think we shall draw a discreet veil....

The Baird produces a very good picture, similar to the GEC BT455 recently revived, although I think would benefit from further re-capping. There are a handful of black Hunts still present. Some odd quite high ratings though; 0.002uf at 1500v turns up more than once.

Steve
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Old 15th Jan 2017, 1:28 pm   #2
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Probably because I fixed a lot of them but I like the look of most of the 60's dual standard TV's. Not that happy with some of the sets engineering but the cabinet designs are my favourite ones. Cabinet designs from the late 70's to the present in each decade look very similar to each other. Today's sets, unless I look at the name badge I have no idea who make them, they all look the same to me.

Nice example of the Baird, and a decent picture.

Frank
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Old 15th Jan 2017, 2:01 pm   #3
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Hello,

I have a 19" Baird M662, which uses the later hybrid chassis.

It too looks a little "cheap" in cabinet construction, but the electronics is very good.

It is very sensitive and gave a very good account of itself displaying Test Card F when analogue broadcast transmissions were still available. Picture geometry is also good, as is the performance of the flywheel sync circuit (which is the same as used in earlier all valve dual standard chassis).

The transistor UHF tuner drive is much simpler than your 640 series valve UHF tuner's system.

I fitted a very good Mullard A47-26W/R, which improved things vastly compared to the original tired Mazda CRT.

The 680 series employed 20 and 24" CRTs and a four pushbutton UHF tuner. They looked rather nicer.
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Old 15th Jan 2017, 2:05 pm   #4
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Brings back fond memories my grand parents had an identical set from radio rentals I used to visit them on a Saturday & watch world of sport with Dickie Davis regards Bob
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Old 15th Jan 2017, 4:25 pm   #5
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Hi Steve
that set looks a beauty , these baird dual standard sets do seem to be very rare.
I have a 19" version which was given to me over 20 years ago. Unfortunately the system switches have been removed in the past and hard wired for 625, it has a replacement lopt fitted with 1973 stamped on it so it must have had a long service life .
Regards .
Gary.
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Old 15th Jan 2017, 5:27 pm   #6
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Hi Gary, Bob, Frank and Daz

Yes I think these sets are an odd mixture of well designed and engineered chassis married to rather flimsy cabinets. They do seem to work very well though and I'm glad that my example has stirred a few good memories.

Although mine is stamped M640 on the back cover I seem to remember it looks identical to the 622D tested by Which? in 1964. They also showed the 628D which had the speaker grille on the left of the crt, like the Bush TV125. Gary's set must be an early one with the flat glass implosion guard. My set has a perspex 'bubble' type.

Steve
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Old 15th Jan 2017, 5:38 pm   #7
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Is the safety screen separate or does it have a bonded CRT ?
Frank
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Old 16th Jan 2017, 1:43 pm   #8
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Just got this one out of the try to do pile. Maybe i will start another thread when i get stuck.
Interestingly or not for some reason their is no channel markings on the 405 line tuner. Andy
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Old 16th Jan 2017, 3:06 pm   #9
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Very nice Andy. Is that a model 628D?

I think you should crack on with it now it's out of the pile

Steve
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Old 17th Jan 2017, 12:43 am   #10
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Steve yes I think I will crack on with it next. It dosnt say a model no on the outside anywhere. On the inside is says M620 series
Andy
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Old 17th Jan 2017, 3:09 pm   #11
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Hi got to find one of these. sets to add to my collection
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Old 18th Jan 2017, 6:50 am   #12
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

That set looks lovely Steve. I have a bit of a soft spot for Baird sets of this generation as it was a Baird almost identical to yours which I dragged from behind the bins at St John's School in Sidmouth when I was about 6 or 7 and asked my dad to it take home with us to get it going. I don't think we ever managed to get a picture but I remember sat in the hall with my dad and his Avo getting some sound out of it. I also still remember the excitement of finding a similar set from a junk shop in Exmouth when I was a bit older. I was so excited to get it that I can still remember it clearly today, 35 years later. Happy days. No junk shops with Baird TVs in these days though. In fact virtually no junk shops at all any more. Shame.
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Old 18th Jan 2017, 7:58 am   #13
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

I grew up with the 21" version in the version cabinet with doors and legs which my parents rented (radio rentals)

One odd memory was the telly going off and me winding that UHF tuner from one end of the band to the other without finding anything. Switching to VHF, the turret tuner produced BBC 1 on channel 2 but no ITV on channel 10. I first thought our UHF tuner had gone down, but the loss of ITV made it look like a more complicated fault. Then dad came home from work and said what a dirty night it was out there... 'Can't even see the lights on Emley'...

It was a good reliable set.

David
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Old 18th Jan 2017, 8:35 am   #14
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Hello Dave,
Are you referring to the demise (collapse) of the old tower?
My dad drove me up to see it. We lived in Meltham, about 7 miles out of Huddersfield. The local papers said it looked like a crashed airliner. Ice on the wires, I believe was the main cause.
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Old 18th Jan 2017, 9:17 am   #15
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

That would almost certainly like the Emley collapse (although the collapse being well before my time). BBC on VHF/Band 1 would have been from Holme Moss so not affected.

There is a page on the trasmission gallery about it.
see: http://tx.mb21.co.uk/emley/index.php

Sounds like it would been a pretty amazing thing to see/hear (you might need ear protection though)

They also go on to say that there was a mast that used Emley as a feed for BBC2 getting the RBL feed changed was actually quite simple the only problem was that the mast in question was Belmont (iirc) and nobody dared go anywhere near it so a solution was devised that used a van with a transposer that took the BBC2 signal from another mast and rebroadcasted on the now unused Emley frequency aimed at the RBL antenna on Belmont.
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Old 18th Jan 2017, 9:44 am   #16
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Default Re: Baird M640 19"

Yes, the night the mast came down. After we found out what had happened (BBC1 news via Holme Moss), we all thought we'd heard something outside around that time but who can say. It certainly looked a mess when I saw he wreckage and the damage to the chapel.

The Baird set was good. I think there were two call-outs in the several years we had it. No-one had any difficulties with the non-preset UHF tuner. Even if the tuner valves went low emission, we had so much signal from just across the Fenay valley that as long as the LO was running, we'd have a perfect picture. We were in Almondbury, so we got very strong signals from Emley and Holme Moss. Radio from Pole Moor let my crystal set be audible across a room.

David
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