Oldest working UK television receiver discovered

[hydrolito]

There are also projectors that can be hooked up to VCR or other similar receiver devices to project tv pictures on any white or light colored wall or portable movie screen and up to a size of 120", I saw one advertised for $80 in an advertisment once, I think you would also need to have Seperate speaker system set up though as was only advertised as a projector. 

[OrodesIII]

Too bad we cannot see the programs from back then.

[aptsarchive]

@OrodesIII We try and make as many historical programmes or videos available to view on our YouTube Channel. Sadly, telerecording didn't come into use until the late 1950s, but then only for certain programmes.

[AlexeiL11]

boy i was being sarcastic

[MrUnidyne]

It amazes me to see these old TV sets. They were as big as jukeboxes and had screens the size of a cell phone.

[Haffschlappe]

Very nice vintage TV Set congratulations!

[MrMinimusss]

can I play with my ps3 on it??

[aptsarchive]

@MrMinimusss Yes, you could. In the same way as digital television can be viewed on a set of this age.

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

So primitive...

[Simpson654]

I say. After an half hour, you really need to turn it of, if you're watching BBC.

[AidanLunn]

@Simpson654 Replace "BBC" with "ITV" and then I'd agree with you :)

[AlexeiL11]

wonder if it supports 1080p high res

[fancysnake1]

@AlexeiL11 What do you think?

[NESHero]

@AlexeiL11 no, it's impossible.

[AidanLunn]

@AlexeiL11 How can a TV set that runs on 405 lines (377i) support 1080p?

[kirtley2010]

i know someone with 2 or 3 of these sets but they are 1 or 2 years older so this is not the oldest set in britain

[aptsarchive]

@kirtley2010 Many thanks for your comment. This set was produced in 1936, just after the start of the BBC Television Service. It is unlikely that the person who has 2 or 3 of these sets can be much older, as a year before this set was made there was no 405-line electronic television. But I stand corrected if this is not the case.

[kirtley2010]

@aptsarchive hi there well i told him about this video and then he pointed out 2 or 3 sets in his shop one was definatelly the same as this one and the others were allmost identical then he said they were older maybys not 2 years older but still older i have no idea if they worked or not

[pvx]

At 2:20, Mr. Borinsky mentions that the BBC had their 405-line service up until 1964, when BBC2 premiered. Actually, the BBC continued 405-line broadcasts in tandem with their 625-line service until 1985. BBC1 actually paid tribute tot he end of their 405-line service then during one of their sign-offs. Here's some video of it:

watch?v=sG52HcgKaD4

[altfactor]

@pvx Both the BBC-1 and the commercial ITV network also simulcast on 405-line VHF and 625-line UHF from 1967 for BBC-1 and 1969 for ITV (in most major areas; 625-line ITV colo(u)r didn't start until later in some smaller areas) until early 1985.

[pvx]

@altfactor Yes, it kind of reminds me oft he digital tv transition here in the States, most local stations were transmitting both digital and analog 525-line at the same time (the FCC had temporarily assigned secondary tv channels to select stations to simulcast a digital version of their programming). This went on from ca. 1999-2000 to 2009, when the US switchover was official.

[pvx]

@altfactor Yes, it kind of reminds me of the digital tv transition here in the States, most local stations were transmitting both digital and analog 525-line at the same time (the FCC had temporarily assigned secondary tv channels to select stations to simulcast a digital version of their programming). This went on from ca. 1999-2000 to 2009, when the US switchover was made official by stations then going to digital-only. Low-power stations are exempt from this, though, and are still analog.

[TheCoolMardigan]

SIXTEH GINNEHS!

GOOD GOLLY!

[BluTrilobite]

@TheCoolMardigan Ginnehs? How much is that in US dollars?

[TheCoolMardigan]

@BluTrilobite No idea, I just thought it sounded funny.

[markstar777]

ach so. yeah this was on bbc news a coupla years ago

[bestrickie2]

I've always been interested in early equipment, the first broadcast of TV world wide, how TV broadcasting was first fimed. I didn't think your old TV would take free view or other equipment. Did TV broadcast begin in other parts of the world before 1936? I'm keen to learn about other early electric equipment, first washing machines, first elecric cookers & other. If you know a museum with the first of these & the progress of such equipment evolved over the decades I'd be grateful. Cheers!

[NP4Mayans]

Here in the US I run my 1939 prewar TVs on a VCR so I can control the content. They have 5-channel tuners and would tune US/Canadian channels 2 to 6 until the analog signals were taken away. The VCRs as well as the digital converters put out a signal on channels 3 or 4, so you can watch anything. I have a 1947 TV hitched up to a Direct TV satellite box. The whole hobby is a hoot. Also, it is a good idea to run these TVs for about 30 minutes at least once a month. Only store them indoors.

[franchute63]

Very nice, Thank you!

[Hexachloraphine]

what a cool guy

[X5Industries]

you've gotta be careful around CRT's from that time. they aren't lead-lined, so there's a lot of X-rays being released.

[aptsarchive]

The fact that the television set produces its picture on the tube, with valves and very high voltages means that the set can run hot after a period of time. When the set was made the whole television evening only lasted for about two hours - and that was about as long as you could run the set! At the time, this set was the forefront of technology, in 1937 this was the most advanced technology that existed. WWII would see even more advances in electronic technology!

[martbd]

@aptsarchive I don't think it meet today's high safety standards.

[ytu2006]

@aptsarchive While that's some interesting speculation, you obviously just made it up as it has nothing to do with reality or anything that was said in the video. The guy in the video said that only two hours of programming were broadcast each day, not that the TV could only be run for two hours.

[aptsarchive]

@ytu2006 I'm not quite sure to what you are referring, but there was no speculation and nothing was "made up". If you care to elaborate upon your point I will gladly reply!

[bobk1951]

Very interesting. I understand few of the pre-war UK televsion sets survived the scrap drives during WW2.

[DaveRSander]

While a remarkable thing (what a pity there is no original vision to display on the tube!), I find it slightly irksome that this video - presented by a television society no less - is on YouTube in an incorrect aspect ratio, leaving the vision squashed in anamorphic 4:3, where it should be in non-anamorphic 16:9

[aptsarchive]

Many thanks for your comments.

Jeffrey does play "original vision" on his Marconiphone, but on this occasion the television reporter wanted the set to be showing "modern" television, to show how remarkable the set was, and that it could show a modern television image.

The aspect ratio of the picture is in the same format as that received from the broadcaster that transmitted this programme.

[aptsarchive]

We are not able to alter the aspect ratio of items that we receive as we are a society solely funded by its members. If we had thousands of pounds in funding we would be able to invest in professional video editing equipment, but we are not, and therefore not able to process videos as we would like. What is posted on YouTube is the original programme material with little or no processing, only edited to fit YouTube's 10 minute limit. I'm sorry you are not happy with the aspect ratio!

[CoolDudeClem]

I wondered it it would have needed a 625 to 405 line converter when I started watching this video. That must be worth something now. I was also interesting to see inside it, The Picure tube is inersting in he way it's so long, and behind he screen the picture tube is transparent so you can see how the screen looks from inside the tube.

[tubeie07]

Just beautiful. Oh to have lived back then at the start of it all - until I think of what we have all gone through to get to this point in history. Never the less, to be an early adopter back then would have been very exciting. Another great posting ASTS...