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Old 21st Jan 2015, 7:46 pm   #121
G6Tanuki
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There was some stuff called Electrolube, dispensed from a 'pen'. Supposed to be good for tuner contacts.
Is still available: there were several diferent 'flavours' of Electrolube - differentiated by colour. Red and green were the two I used - from memory there was also a blue? flavour which was anti-arc lacquer that dried to be non-tacky and was great for suppressing corona discharge on EHT components.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 1:22 am   #122
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Standard Radiospares switch cleaner was carbon tet, in a round steel can with a metal spout, we must have used gallons of the stuff. There was very little sense of danger in those days, there were hundreds if not thousands of people living in asbestos houses or prefabs as we knew them.

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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 10:43 am   #123
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I mentioned (post #61) that i worked at Plesseys.
All the production & test staff used to clean their benches with a liberal washing down with trichloroethylene , and wipe with a well-soaked rag.
(where I was, we rarely cleaned our benches!)

As far as H & S goes, the guys who were really risk were the ones who manned the cadmium plating tanks, but that is a different topic.
Compared to them carbon tet was quite safe!

I still have guyloid nut spinners, and only recently had to replace a pair of cutters that I bought in the 1959's.

As for TV's, and tuners, I am sure that many will remember the uhF tuner with a PC86 & PC88.
Part of my job was designing the test jigs in which they were aligned and tested.
Perhaps surprisingly, as it was such "high tech" for the era, the fault rate was very low.

Later, I came across them in use (moonlighting again) and rarely found a faulty one.
Unlike the Plessey VHF tuners which did give trouble.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 12:08 pm   #124
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Default Re: Ex TV Engineers

I still have my original bottle of Electrolube and I certainly remember the pen which may still be here.

Could I be right in thinking RadioSpares sold the Electrolube at 25 shillings (£1.25p) a bottle in 1962/63?
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 12:13 pm   #125
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Hi Alan,
What was the gain and noise factor of the Plessey valve UHF tuners, the ones Pye/Ekco used, made at their Lowestoft factory were not as good as the Philips ones using the same valves.
When the first transistor tuners came out in 1966?, it made life at lot easier and we were close to the transmitter.
Frank.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 12:20 pm   #126
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Hello,

I'd be interested to see a picture of a Plessey valve UHF tuner, as I wasn't aware that Plessey made any (I've seen their transistor UHF tuners). I have also seen all the usual Pye (HDF), NSF, Philips, Thorn, Cyldon/Sidney S Bird and AB Metal Products types.

Plessey usually stamped a metal part of their tuners with their logo.

Regards,

Dazzlevision
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 12:31 pm   #127
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Hello. I was a domestic TV engineer from 1952 to 1980. I'm sure there are many ex engineers on the forum. I invite discussion on various topics regarding TV engineering and share experiences from both field and bench work. Strange faults, amusing events, DX TV and whole lot more that made up the life of a TV engineer, and you could say we're a breed that's now virtually died out.
Hi Neanderthal. Which company did you work for in Suffolk, or were you self-employed?
I remember my (now late) father working for G.A Hubbard in Saxmundham, Suffolk from 1963 to 1964. The repair centre was in the back of the Market Place (now a car park). Like most small repair companies, Hubbards were affected by the collapse of the television rental business. It is amazing that Hubbards covered most of East Anglia with their retail shops!
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 1:59 pm   #128
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Hi Mike. I worked for E.H. Moore in Norwich Road Ipswich after leaving RR Colchester, for a couple of years, and then went self employed, operating country based at Barham Green. I had a rental content to go along with the repair side, but increasing petrol prices meant gradual reductions in service area. If a new customer phoned in north of the Norfolk Suffolk border I said on occasions "Sorry, but you're a bit too close to the Arctic Circle!"
When the 70's oil crisis hit I filled in by dabbling in scrap metal, writing for mags and newspapers, and was a DJ at a local pub. Left the trade in 1981 to work on the markets until retirement in 2000.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 2:07 pm   #129
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Hi Dazzlevision. I have a picture of a valve tuner, not sure what make, but having trouble getting pictures to load in gallery.
Mike G4BIY.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 5:59 pm   #130
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Could I be right in thinking RadioSpares sold the Electrolube at 25 shillings (£1.25p) a bottle in 1962/63?
I can't remember the price but I do remember it was expensive at that time, we had to get a signature from the hand of God to request some from the stores.

Lawrence.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 7:00 pm   #131
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Yes, I do remember Electrolube was pricey. £1.25 was serious money in 1962. I think it cost us around that to fill the van with petrol. Valve tuners. I found that they were not quite as sensitive as the transistor ones, the main fault would be the RF amplifier going down. Several years later I managed to buy in a number of Thorn surplus transistor tuners, and developed a signal strenth meter for UHF aerals. Proved a useful beast to get those aerials spot on, particularly in the loft.
Wonder if anyone remembers the Bush TV86. A square box, but as TVs went in those days was quite reliable.
A low emission tube sometimes meant a partially shorted heater, and tapping the neck (carefully) often brought the picture back. Reckon it was because tube heaters had to operate in horizontal mode. Tube re-gunners appeared around that time, some good, some bad, but it was often a way out.
One devious customer of mine swapped a new re-gun with an old tube in a rental set, and then called in a dim picture. Careful examination revealed the truth, I did nothing about it as the litigation time waste would not be justified. Most rental customers were pretty good, and while collecting rents noticed on more than one occasion the TV was on, displaying the test card. Thinking they were over anxious regarding a possible breakdown, I asked why.
"We like the music," they said.
I went away and thought about that. Test card music was quite melodic, even though repeated frequently and to some, better than the Pop cacophony emitted by our radio stations.
Mike G4BIY
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 7:17 pm   #132
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MS4 was used where I worked, a thin film on tuner biscuits, Fireball contacts and valve pins.

Lawrence.
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Old 22nd Jan 2015, 8:19 pm   #133
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I was an apprentice in long gone radio shop in Didcot.
One memorable occasion was when one of the guys delivered a loan TV to a lovely little "Chocolate Box Cottage" a few miles away.
The front door was about normal width but it was actually two doors one of which the owner couldn't open so access was a bit narrow.

The loan set was a Pye VT220 in a plastic case. Those of you who remember these sets will recall the two metal clips vertically attached to the back to wrap the mains lead around in transit. A nifty idea... When our colleague attempted to squeeze through this narrow doorway the mains lead got caught on the door handle.

Surprised at this sudden loss of momentum he was undeterred and gave the set a good shove whereupon it slipped out of his hands and fell into the hallway hitting the owner's child's cello amidships in the process. He just stormed out of the house and drove back to the workshop by which time the house owner had already been on the phone and of all things, apologetic for the problem!

I was detailed to take another loan set out and pick up the pieces. I have to say I had difficulty containing myself seeing the old V220 in bits and the cello body and upper part now only joined by the strings.

I still have to smile every time I pass that cottage..

Happy days.

Denis
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Old 24th Jan 2015, 5:59 pm   #134
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Hi Denis. I can just imagine you smiling on passing that cottage. I think most of us had some amusing incidents, whilst working a TV engineers. I was treated to a real life Tom and Jerry show while putting up an aerial one day. I was sitting on the roof, UHF aerial in hand when the customer let his dog out, a huge black Labrador. There was a tree down the garden and a cat was making its way up, after some doves in the upper branches. Dog stopped at the tree, saw me on the roof and roared. Cat fell out of the tree, Dog went for Cat who in panic leapt the panel fence, only to land on top of Terrier next door, who was not best pleased. Terrier went for Cat who took the second fence in flying squirrel mode, having used up one of his lives. A good laugh in five seconds.
Mike.
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Old 24th Jan 2015, 10:40 pm   #135
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I don't remember the name but I certainly bought BA nut spinners, about 10-12 inch long to get to the front of the cabinet. Had the 0 to 8 BA ones if I remember, also had box spanners for the nuts on volume controls etc, save scratching the fascias.
At first I used what I remember as Spiralux nut spinners, but would wear out quickly. Later I used CK brand, much better.
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Old 26th Jan 2015, 1:28 pm   #136
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I started as a trainee TV engineer during the hot summer of 1976. As the company had just shut the local workshop down I did most of my initial training with the outside engineers learning on rental AC/DC black/white dual standard and 625 single standard hybrid sets. My favourites were the amazing RBM A640 chassis the Decca mono single standard MS1700, MS2020 sets, ITT/KB VC200's and of course the BRC 1500's. The first colour sets I was let loose on were the Brilliant Decca Bradford and ITT/KB CVC5. Happy days with no worries about health and safety or working on live chassis's in peoples houses. A new workshop opened in Bath at the end of 1977 where I based myself before anyone even asked.
I have so many interesting and amusing memories from these happy days that I think I could write a book. The year I started in the hot summer of 1976we seemed to spend most of our time changing triplers on BRC3000's and RBM A823 all transistorised colour sets, I can still smell them now. Sometimes we would end the day with half a dozen of these smelly triplers hanging out of the back of the van over the rear bumper, we use to get some very strange looks as we drove back to the shop or home.
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Old 26th Jan 2015, 6:05 pm   #137
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Hi Simon. I remember that hot summer of '76. Interesting about the triplers, guess the smell was burnt selenium, ran across that in earlier years before silicon diodes burst on the scene. Oddly enough I rarely changed a tripler, must have been servicing models that did not kill them so easily. Wonder if those you changed frequently were the potted type or open.
I did a short spell on 525 line sets in Canada (!960) We were 405 at that time and it seemd strange to suddlely lose that line whistle. I know many customers used to moan about that, but 625 was some years away then. We did have a strange relay station on 405. A gap filler was brought into service at Manningtree in Essex. This was a welcome relief for those on fringes of Tacolneston and Crystal Palace. It would shut down sometimes without warning and with a strange rumble. Never found out why though.
Had a customer with a cracking ghost on channel 11. He was out in open country, nothing in the way, but the Mendlesham mast was a couple of miles away.
The problem was affecting his viewing, so I decided to have a word with the engineers at the transmitter.
"Oh, yes, we've been doing some work on the aerials," they said. "Just leave it to us."
I heard no more, but when another job on the set cropped up, the ghost had vanished.
"Lost it a couple of days after you called last time," he said.
Never sure about that one, but at least it had a happy ending.
Mike G4BIY.
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Old 26th Jan 2015, 10:25 pm   #138
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Back in the middle 70's I remember a largish net of mobile tv engineers and others who were licenced and would congregate on S22, 145.550 MHz 2m in the central/south Essex area. This was before the days of repeaters in the region. Lots of activity back then...
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Old 27th Jan 2015, 7:13 am   #139
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I remember one time I had to go to a country cottage and a nice elderly gent showed me in.. his rented set was a Philips KT 22".. cannot remember the model but it was a teletext set. had an intermittent colour video signal fault that showed that the tv was displaying colour then black and white. it was a video fault some kind... I never seen this before. so i rang my manager was advised to re flow the main chassis where colour signals were processed... sure enough loads of dry joints. as i was re flowing the solder.. his cat took a liking to me and gave me a rub and poor cat had a static shock it shot off so fast.. the old man said i did tell him to leave you.. but cats are cats.. that cat took a dislike to me ever since.... oppps but the small repair cured the fault. and one very happy gent. gave me a £10 tip as it was xmas eve.
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Old 27th Jan 2015, 1:02 pm   #140
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You were lucky that the static didn't didn't affect any of the chips.

Peter
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