Dynatron CTV 9A. Some advice for a vintage TV novice please.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by Grundi68

this set is full of valves. someone once told me that valve sets are not that relaiable. would this be the case with my ctv 9a? who could a take this set to to have it fixed?

Valves don't come into the question of reliability - some sets are still known to survive with some of their original valves!

It's all about build quality.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by Grundi68

One question that I have to ask. What happens when the tube is on the way out? I suppose tubes for Pye TV's maybe as hard to find as hen's teeth.

The picture slowly gets darker and it slowly begins to lose focus. Exact symptoms depend on each individual case but the gist of it is what I've described.

Many collectors, even those not on the forum, have collected many tubes as spare parts over the years. And there are a few ways of breathing new life into them when they are just wearing out. If the tube's glass has been penetrated in any way, then it is repairable, but typically has to be shipped to RACS in France and usually costs a couple of hundred quid. Fortunately, glass penetration even on vintage sets nowadays is still quite rare, so don't worry about that.

By the way, the fault sounds as though it could be a capacitor going short circuit (in the sync separator)

[AidanLunn]

I second many of the comments in this thread, but I thought I'd like to add my tuppence worth.

Using vintage television sets in original cosmetic condition is a pleasurable experience. Like you, when I began this, I had no experience of TV repair or restoration and, apart from building a crystal radio, hadn't had much experience of electronic circuit theory. I was born in 1990, as the TV trade, by and large, was beginning to die out.

When I got my first set that worked fine, like many here, over time, that began to feed a hunger for more sets of a similar vintage (early-mid 80s in my case).

The first faulty set I came across, I'll be honest, I had no interest in repairing it myself, I just wanted to use it. So I paid a local repairman to do it. The fault? Just an o/c smoothing capacitor.

Over the next few months, this stoked an old, long-dormant interest in learning how to service TVs & VCRs.

So here we are today. I've got some experience of TV fault finding and repair (although, due to time constraints, not as much as I'd like), and I'm grateful that I did spot my first vintage TV on sale on eBay, a 1980s red Philips portable


I will agree with the general consensus, though. The Dynatron, at this stage of your experience with old TVs, is too much cake for such a small mouth.

[johncsparks]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

Valves don't come into the question of reliability - some sets are still known to survive with some of their original valves!

It's all about build quality.

Good points to which I would add:

- Valves have an excellent shelf life.

However they do generate much heat. For example early
CDA panels are notoriously prone to developing internal
leakage.

John