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G0TEZ > TECH 06.11.09 23:33l 56 Lines 2527 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34202-GB7FCR
Read: GUEST DG9NBR DL9YCC OE7FMI
Subj: Re: JLB,TV. unrecorded facts.
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<GB7FCR
Sent: 091106/2231Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:34202 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:34202-GB
From: G0TEZ@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : TECH@WW
Hi Harry and anyone else interested.
All I can be absolutely sure of is that the man in hospital really knew
his stuff. Back then, I had been repairing radio and TV sets for a few
years and had read up on several colour TV systems even though we weren't
to get it for another 4 years.
I had covered the CBS system, actually Baird's Field Sequential System
@borrowed' by the Yanks. I knew about the RCA dot sequential system which
had never caught on in the US and was scrapped in favour of NTSC which had
the advantage of being compatible with B&W sets.
The man knew all about TV and Radio repair; he was definitely no cowboy.
He was in his 50s as far as I remember, which would have put him in his
30s during WWII. He was suffering from diabetes which, of course, would
probably have made him unfit for military service in WW II so he could
have worked at other jobs.
All I have read and heard, towards the end of the 20th century is that JLB
had two assistants during the war, one of whom was a glassblower but
nothing I have seen gives their names or anything detailed about them.
It has to be remembered that, in the 1950s, Baird was not treated as
anyone special or famous so it would not have been in anybody's interest
to claim to have worked with him - especially to a professional TV
engineer. I could easily have tripped him up on the technical stuff.
As for the man in Leeds. I suppose there is a slight possibility that he
was the same man. I never asked my man about his past.All he said was that
he owned a small TV shop near me in Withington, Manchester. As I said, I
never got to see it because of his death which was related to his
diabetes.
It is worth mentioning that Baird led a very devious lifestyle, partly
through worrying about RCA and others stealing his ideas. He had places
where he performed experiments all the way from SE England up to Scotland.
One of his Telechrome tubes is mentioned as being in a museum at Bradford.
How did it get there ?
Bradford is only 20 miles from me so, if I had a car, I could be over
there in half an hour. Using public transport would take me two changes of
bus and most of the day travelling and I am no longer fit enough for that.
It remains a mystery/ We are looking for a man who died in 1963, had a
small TV business and was probably Jewish as Withington was (and still is)
a mainly Jewish area..
All the best.
73 - Ian, G0TEZ
Msg timed: 22:30 GMT on 2009-Nov-06
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