Wireless & Gramophones
The Baird Television Company;
A rare wireless, marketed to receive the Televisor signal, manufactured between 1929-1934,
with twin drum tuning scales, central current dial flanking the horizontal-plane switches for On / Off and Loudspeaker / Televisor, each with large nickel plated impressed metal escutcheons, twin tap bars for Televisor and loudspeaker connections to rear and colour Baird Television - The Eye of the World company transfer and valve plaque on back panel with heat apertures to top, in rich mahogany rectangular cabinet with plain top and moulded edge, slight plinth base with the chassis screws sunken in the four corners - 18.1/4in. (46.3cm) wide, 11.1/2in. (29.2cm) high, 11.1/4in. (28.5cm) deep
with twin drum tuning scales, central current dial flanking the horizontal-plane switches for On / Off and Loudspeaker / Televisor, each with large nickel plated impressed metal escutcheons, twin tap bars for Televisor and loudspeaker connections to rear and colour Baird Television - The Eye of the World company transfer and valve plaque on back panel with heat apertures to top, in rich mahogany rectangular cabinet with plain top and moulded edge, slight plinth base with the chassis screws sunken in the four corners - 18.1/4in. (46.3cm) wide, 11.1/2in. (29.2cm) high, 11.1/4in. (28.5cm) deep
Sold for
£12,000
inc. premium
Footnotes
- The Baird Televisor had no internal receiver and as such relied on its connection to a wireless in order to retrieve the Baird Television Company signal, which was broadcast on medium wave.
Considering that the price of the best-value Televisor (Baird Model A) in 1928 was £20 and the most wallet-lightening model (Baird Model C) also from 1928 for sale at £150, purchasers would have been not too willing to invest in these specially made Baird wireless receivers, as in most cases their homemade or basic shop-bought wireless would do the same job just as well. Nevertheless, the Baird Television Company made a few of these sets and tried to offer them as worthwhile accessories to gather more revenue.
Sold separately, this receiver would have been perfect for use with the Daily Express mechanical Televisor kit offer, which sold for £5 9s 6d in 1934.
This original and totally unrestored set, comprises the four valve line-up and the transformer tapped at 220v. The first time 30-line signals for both sound and vision transmitted together, was in March 1931 from Brookman's Park (vision 261 metres and sound 365-6 metres).
The circuit in this receiver features separate sound and vision tuning as well as the band filters, prior to the neon input, making line synchronisation reliant just on the Nipkow disc speed control on the Televisor.
It is not known how many of these Televisor wireless receivers were made, but the number is under 100. This set is the only known example to appear on the open market and successful attempts have been made by dedicated narrow band-width societies the world over, to create reproductions using modern components and going from period photographs and diagrams.
This very scarce set provides an opportunity to see how the original components made this important task possible, and strengthens the development and subsequent conservation of early television technology.
Category: Collectibles / Mechanical Music
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