A New Vintage TV
The Clarville type 78 is an early fifties TV. Not a scrap of information about this set could be found. I did find a similar set, the Ducastel 1743 which seems to be intended for the same single channel (181 MHz, 819 lines). The 819 line TV system was developed after the French were left with a Nazi transmitter on the Eiffel tower, using 441 lines. Not to be outdone, brilliant engineer Henri de France developed a truly high definition black & white system. While not widescreen the resolution is better than the current 720p format.
Now I don't have 819 line material, nor do I own a system L modulator (positive AM picture and AM sound). Luckily this TV has a hefty power transformer allowing direct connection to my 625 line media player. It should display a usuable picture.
After removing the chassis from its cabinet I set out to cleaning everything and repairing loose sockets. A GZ32 rectifier had been "repaired" previously and had lots of white goo in its octal socket. I'm still not sure how to fix this. Epoxy glue tends to soften when hot, so I may have to revert to special kit for furnaces and stoves.
The LOPT was also damaged and showed signs of serious arcing. The resistance seems OK though.
For the rest, overall construction is very untidy. Capacitors are hanging from mount points, bare wires are running all over the place, the high voltage anode connection is not isolated etcetera. There are some gems though: the booster diode PY80 has its own filament transformer powered from the 6.3 VAC line, the PL83 video output has its own winding on the power transformer. The kicker is the HV fuse: two small bulbs in the HV return line!
