Pye Television Model VT4

Actually, our television was the model before the VT4, as we only had BBC, acquiring it in 1952 or 1953. As a child I was a great fan of Muffin the Mule and Nobby, and remember watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on the 9 inch PYE screen.

— Brian Mason

We had a PYE V4 in our house and I can remember converting it with a switchable RF tuner [Brayhead or Chilton] to enable the set to receive up to 13 different channels [dependent on the frequency 'biscuit' inserted into the desired position]. This was I consider real 'state of the art' in the 1950s. As a result of this masterpiece of current, then, technology we were the first in our street to have ITV reception-set at about Ch# 10 I remember I finished up, as you can imagine, as a Radio and TV engineer and even now in 2008 I am involved in VoIP internet telephony. p.s. my age in 1954 16yrs don't tell anyone how old I am now ;)

— anon

It has been a nice experience reminiscing about my good old days! lol

— Charles F McCrory

Do I remember it, can a duck swim? I was employed in the PYE Ltd television laboratory in Cambridgefrom 1951 for 16 years. I was soon responsible for the RF design of all receivers. This reference to the V4 and VT4 reminds me of my proudest association, since about 400,000 were sold. It was satisfying to see them in dealer's showrooms, products giving pleasure.

The V4 had 5 HF channels, the VT4 added 8 VHF channels. Pye receivers were fully loaded to receive all channels; some others were not

My diary note on December first 1952, "The V4 has to be absolutely ready for production in the New Year."production started in January 1953 and the VT4 followed in March 1954. Output was 250 weekly, building up to 1000, peaking at 4000 weekly. Fred Hodson, Production Manager, told me that he could turn them out like shelling peas. Why was the design so successful? It had good sensitivity and was well proven in field trials, remembering that Cambridge was a fringe area. It had flywheel Sync for pictures without jitter.

Picture quality was good on the 14 inch screen and the receivers were reliable. The go it alone attitude of PYe Ltd surfaced again in the 1960s when they marketed a dual standard receiver V700Dfor 405 line and 625 line transmissions on UHF; there were no transmitters. Other manfacturers were pushed to compete and designs were hurried. One of PYE's 6 prototypes is in the the Central Museum Southend which I donated about 1980 but is not exibited. I approached the curator and they will release it for a better home. I had in mind the possible museum at Dundrum, near Dublin, PYE's spiritual home. Sadly it did not happen.

Quote: Bill Reid, sales manager, on being shown a cabinet suggestion By K H Robinson, production manager. "I would'nt spit on it."

Cartoon in Gents toilets of Ted Cope in his complete baldness. Arrow pointed to his head and repeated the Festival of Britain slogan, "The Dome of Discovery.

Quote: If you see a scruffy building with flaking blue paint, it is probably PYE's.

We ended our time at number 2 site. We helped to fill sandbags when the river Cam threatened.

It was exciting at PYE in the 1950s with CO Stanley keeeping the pot boiling, taking our eyes off the poor working conditions; And salaries too? No time to build smart laboratories. Factories at Cambridge, Lowestoft, Holloway, Dundrum, and Larne provided profit to subsidise other activities.

At Marconi I met Earnie Holland who was in PYE TV lab in 1951, Ken Seaton and Brian Warren, both with the studio equipment team in Cambridge.

— A C Boyd-Barton MIET

My Dad worked as a Television service engineer and I always remember our hall way been full of televisions awaiting repair. I used to help him convert V4 to VT4 by fitting a turret tuner to enable ITV reception. I used to bore the holes in the wood case for the tuner control.

— Tony Simons

My previous contribution to the PYE VT4 discussion was mostly from the design point of view. This has stirred more memories of personnel. A larger than life figure was Beau Jackson, mechanical design and ideas man; one of his inventions was Beau which he used instead of anyone's name, he said he had no time to learn proper names.

His designs included a 14 inch tube portable TV whose metal case was hinged both sides to make servicing easier. His concept on the V4, to make CRT cleaning quicker, was to make the safety (perspex) sheet sliding, made captive with a couple of screws. Previously a moulded rubber tube surround was used, Perspex or glass included. There was a risk of implosion with CRTs, not with modern design. Beau told us that he had no interior doors in his house, he lived too fast, they got in the way. Sometimes he kept his boys out of school, explaining to the head teacher that he ws teaching them interesting things. He learnt to fly at Marshall's and recounted with glee his first loop, all his loose change fell on Newmarket Road. How did he create space for an idea? He removed the large items from a bench, then swept all small stuff onto the floor. He was friendly to any Beau, enjoyed his tales, a 100% PYE man. C O Stanley heard that Roy Falconer was ailing and sent him to recuperate in Switzerland. Roy, a junior engineer then, was impressed, we all were. CO presided over a celebration dinner and turned to Reg Cole, maintenance foreman, hoping that his list of private jobs would not be a problem, since PYE was entering a busy phase. Reg was aerial erector at staff houses, for a fee. A production tester had a fad, always used his own chair, at lunchtime he folded it and took it for a walk. Eccentrics were tolerated then, he designed his own test rig. I had seen similar individuals at EMI Labs, not forced to conform. Ted Cope, head of our Lab at PYE, said that anyone joining the staff should have a TV after one year; if not they lacked initiative. Cambridge gave PYE an advantage, it was a fringe area and problems could be faced daily, we could work on them at any time. Labs in London would have to travel to a low signal area. To improve the signal Ted Cope had a tower constructed in his garden. New aerials would be pointed in the same direction. Not if Mrs. Cope was watching, she played a game and rotated the tower aerial a few degrees. Fred Hodson, production manager, had to face losses due to pilfering. A Chassis had a number stamped on it as identity, no gaps allowed. An investigation slowed production; Fred told me his secret. He did not declare a loss but made another chassis with the same number and fed it back on the line. it appeared that the missing had been found. It was surprising that when a rival company had a fire PYE and others collected items from the list which was circulated, to get the factory operational.

When PYE had a storage building blaze a senior man was heard to tell staff not to save some radios, they were not selling anyway.

— A C Boyd-Barton MIET