Unusual Pye!!

[AidanCroft]

Hiya all,

Might anyone recognise the model number of this Pye set and perhaps its year of introduction?

Photo attached.

Kind regards,

Aidan.

[stevehertz]

BV, or LV30. Early 50s, about '50. They're quite common in terms of vintage TVs. Nice condition.

B = a Birmingham set, L = a London set.

[Rich Woods]

My parents bought one of these sets to watch the Coronation when they lived near Birmingham. Sadly they had upgraded to a larger screen console set just before I was born in 63 as the tube was going soft.

[FERNSEH]

I have the console version of this set, the LV30C. One of the first sets to employ the latest "World Series" range of valves, EF80, ECL80 etc.
Simple TRF receiver, excellent performance.

DFWB.

[medge799]

Hi,

I have one of these from June 1951 rescued from my accountant's garage loft back in 2012. I'm more into radios, but I thought it would be an interesting first TV project. Roll on 10 years and I finally got round to work on it. And yes, I got it going eventually driven by one of those Hedgehog (sic) things but boy, what a lot of capacitors there are to change (and still some to do)! All those horrible little Hunts decouplers in the RF stage. Still, it's now going, albeit with a weak vertical lock and a rather washed-out picture. Still, I'm quite pleased I've 'done' one.
I'm looking forward to watching the next Coronation on it. I missed the last one by 12 years!

[medge799]

Further to my previous post - the Hedg(e)hog standards converter is highly recommended! Mine is performing faultlessly and the in-built testcard gives a nice easy way of generating a signal for setting up the set.

[Heatercathodeshort]

As David said, great performers with no notable faults other than the mains dropper and the condition of the cabinet back above it.
Dry the LOPT out with the current method or it will almost certainly fail within hours.
There used to be at least two of these at every jumble sale in 1960/1 when I was a kid.
John.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Wow it's cold out there! Not very good pictures but they will give you some idea. John.

[Brigham]

These were often consigned to the loft when ITV came out, sometimes in 'more-or-less' working order.

[Amtec123]

I had one of those when "I were a lad" given to me by a neighbour complete with Aerialite converter. I installed it in my bedroom, quite a status symbol in those days.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Looking back, most of the TV receivers that appeared at jumble sales 1960/1 were small screen TRF models often complete with a Band 3 tuner/converter. These usually displayed an ITV picture with heavy patterning due to BBC breakthrough. I used to spend ages making aerial stubs and screening everything with the help of Gordon J King's articles in PRACTICAL TELEVISION in an attempt at reducing patterning which they did but never completely cured.
In Wimbledon you could have lit a torch bulb connected across the aerial terminals powered by Ch1 Crystal Palace! Nevertheless it gave the owners a taste of ITV and an absolute joy to a 13 year old lad who had spent his 2/6d pocket money on the latest treasure hauled home from one of the local jumble sales that back then filled my Saturday afternoons.
Those early converters gave the owners of their BBC only receivers their first taste of ITV and they wanted more. The public at that time were discontent with the BBC programmes resulting in a massive replacement of first generation models around 1959 in an attempt to gain better performance receivers, larger screens, brighter pictures and of course vastly improved ITA reception.
This was followed by the disastrous downturn during 1960/1/2 due to the long winded Pilkington committee, rumbles of obsolete TV receivers due to 625 transmissions and of course colour.

When I was first in the trade around 1962 I did see many converted receivers models in place as second receivers, usually in the dining room. I can only recall one customer with a set top aerial type box for ITA and she was VERY eccentric to say the least! She lived, surrounded with cats in a huge house down by the Thames river front at Kingston-upon Thames. I was driving then so it must have been around 1966.
Thinking about it there were still numbers of Bush TV24/TUG24 receivers that were good performers on ITA that survived well into the 60's usually for their elderly owners who were quite content with them.
I think that is the reason that many have survived today. My TUG24 [converted 1955] was presented to me by a customer that had bought it new and it survived as their only TV until they finally bought a colour receiver from me in 1980. It still works very well and has had very little carried out in the way of repairs. They lived on the Kingston-by-Pass at Tolworth Rise and still had the old H aerial on the back chimney of their house.
Aerial reception may soon be a distant memory.
John.

[stevehertz]

Lovely story John.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Thanks Steve, There was always boxes of radio junk at jumble sales. An absolute treasure box for the likes of lads like me. Around 3d secured another box to the horror of my Mum that dreaded my return with the piled up hand cart! Mum was very good about it and never complained so long as I cleaned up all the mess. I can still remember her shouting 'put old newspapers down if your going to mess with that filthy thing. I've just cleaned the floor.'
With a clever hunt around the electrical junk piled usually on the stage of the village/church hall you would discover a Band 3 converter that had been detached from one of the 9" wonders and just tossed in one of the boxes. Usually it was just given to me FOC as I was well known at the jumble sales and often earned extra Brownie Points helping the other side of the table. Fantastic days that cannot ever be repeated. Even 2/6d did not go very far in 1961. John.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort

Thanks Steve, There was always boxes of radio junk at jumble sales. An absolute treasure box for the likes of lads like me. Around 3d secured another box to the horror of my Mum that dreaded my return with the piled up hand cart! Mum was very good about it and never complained so long as I cleaned up all the mess. I can still remember her shouting 'put old newspapers down if your going to mess with that filthy thing. I've just cleaned the floor.'
With a clever hunt around the electrical junk piled usually on the stage of the village/church hall you would discover a Band 3 converter that had been detached from one of the 9" wonders and just tossed in one of the boxes. Usually it was just given to me FOC as I was well known at the jumble sales and often earned extra Brownie Points helping the other side of the table. Fantastic days that cannot ever be repeated. Even 2/6d did not go very far in 1961. John.

My 'vintage TV story' is when I was about 11 and getting interested in electronics (I had a Philips Electronic Engineer kit) a man on our estate worked for a radio and TV shop as a repairman. But he also did work at home from his shed - foreigners. One day he gave me a lovely little 10" HMV table set that wasn't working. I hadn't a clue where to start with this complicated piece of electronics but was so excited to have it - my own tele! Anyway, a few days later I got home from school to be told by my mom that "a man had been and had my television set". It seems that the man (a repairman himself) had called in on 'my' repairman seeking parts for the same HMV set, and had been directed to my house. At which my mom had simply handed it over! To say I was upset is an understatement! Angry is perhaps more the word. Could be why later on in life I collected about 30 vintage teles. Just have a Bush TV22a now.

[Heatercathodeshort]

It is odd the things parents do without realizing the pain it can cause. I was very lucky with Mum. Dad died in 1963 but it's amazing looking back how she coped.

Only two things upset her. We had a very high mantel shelf above what had been a kitchen range in the back room. I used to put duff valves on it and leave them for weeks. Mum was horrified when I had a clean up and swept them into the bin! 'I've been carefully dusting them for weeks and now you dump them!'

The second annoyance is that she could never find any room in the dustbin as I had filled it with my junk! Time passes. John

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

My 'vintage TV story' is when I was about 11 and getting interested in electronics (I had a Philips Electronic Engineer kit) a man on our estate worked for a radio and TV shop as a repairman. But he also did work at home from his shed - foreigners. One day he gave me a lovely little 10" HMV table set that wasn't working. I hadn't a clue where to start with this complicated piece of electronics but was so excited to have it - my own tele! Anyway, a few days later I got home from school to be told by my mom that "a man had been and had my television set". It seems that the man (a repairman himself) had called in on 'my' repairman seeking parts for the same HMV set, and had been directed to my house. At which my mom had simply handed it over! To say I was upset is an understatement! Angry is perhaps more the word. Could be why later on in life I collected about 30 vintage teles. Just have a Bush TV22a now.

Just realised that it was a Marconi VT53 set. I wouldn't mind getting one again for nostalgia's sake. Mind you, I've just read that they were an awful design?!