Comparison of British and American Pre-1945 Sets

Early Electronic Television

Comparison of British and American Early Electronic Sets

This table shows the signficant technical features of set in our collection and highlights the similarities and differences

			British Sets

		TRF/Superhet	Channels	RF Amp	Deflection	Notes




Baird	T18C	Superhet	1	N	Mag
Cossor	1210	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
Cossor	137T	TRF			Elect
Cossor	54	Superhet	1	Y	Elect
Ekco	TA201	TRF			Mag	Ext sound
HMV	1800	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
HMV	900	TRF			Mag
HMV	902	TRF			Mag
HMV	904	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
HMV	905	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
HMV	907	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
Marconi	705	TRF			Mag
Marconi	701	TRF			Mag
Marconi	702	TRF			Mag
Marconi	703	TRF			Mag
Marconi	706	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
Marconi	707	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
Marconi	709	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
Murphy	A58V	Superhet	1	Y	Mag
Pye	815	TRF			Mag
Pye	817	TRF			Mag
RGD	382-RG	Superhet	1	Y	Mag



			American Sets

		TRF/Superhet	Channels	RF Amp	Deflection	Notes

Andrea	1-F-5	Superhet	2 or 3	N	Elect
Andrea	KT-E-5	Superhet	2 or 3	N	Elect	Kit
Andrea	8-F-12	Superhet	5	N	Mag
Bell & Howell		Superhet	Continuous	Y	Mag
DuMont	180	Superhet	4	Y	Mag
GE	90	Superhet	5	Y	Mag
GE	HM-171	Superhet	3	N	Elec	Ext sound
GE	HM-185	Superhet	3	N	Elec
GE	HM-225	Superhet	5	N	Mag
GE	HM-226	Superhet	5	N	Mag
Meissner	10-1153	Superhet	3	N	Elect	Kit
RCA	TRK-5	Superhet	5	N	Elect
RCA	TT-5	Superhet	5	N	Elect	Ext Sound
RCA	TRK-9	Superhet	5	N	Mag
RCA	TRK-12	Superhet	5	N	Mag

Similarities:
All have "brute force" CRT high voltage (EHT)
Both countries made a few models requiring an external audio output section and speaker
Both countries made models with electrostatic and magnetic CRTs. However, in the US there were only a few
types of CRTs (mostly made by RCA) while there was a great variety of CRTs in Britain.

Differences:
All British sets, whether superhet or TRF, tuned only one channel. American sets could select 3-5 channels
Kit sets were made only in the US
Most US sets did not have a RF amplifier, while all British superhet sets had one
Some British sets used thyratrons for horizontal (line) and vertical (frame) oscillators.
The only US set to use a thyratron was Philco.