It was courtesy of TV Collector on this forum.

That's bad news about the picture tube being faulty, it's also one of the hazards of old TV restoration.

Picture tubes were repairable in the past but it requires special equipment to do so. The last major rebuilder in Australia was Thomas but they stopped doing rebuilds 20 years ago. There is simply not enough demand to keep such a specialised service available.

The only hope is to ask around for a good used spare or find another donor TV with a hopefully good tube in it. The AWA D4 uses a type 23CP4 tube which is an older 23 inch B&W tube with a bonded safety glass panel mounted on the front. While not as rare as the older 17 & 21 inch tubes, the early 23 inch ones are not all that common any more but do turn up if you search hard enough.

A good start would be to approach your local recycling centre and see if they will keep an eye out for any old B&W TV's that come in. You may just be lucky and one will show up. Good luck with the search.

Your knowledge of early sets never ceases to amaze me TV Collector! Yeah, I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open. Unfortunately not something you see just lying around anymore. I don't think I've ever seen another set like mine. I will get this old girl working again, just a matter of when!!

I had a look at The Early Television Museum website and they basically said the same thing, that all CRT repairers are now defunct. Apparently the last one closed his doors in Europe just last year They are, however currently setting up a room at the museum to carry out these repairs with equipment donated to them by a retired US repairman. Might be a bit costly (and risky) sending mine over there, but I guess as a last resort, you never know.

Have a look at 'B/W 23" tube' in the 'Wanted and for sale' forum here. Back in March, Doug in Horsham was offering a 23CP4. Perhaps it's still available?

Thanks for the heads up Sue, I'll have a look, ta.

Just wondering if you ever found a CRT. I found several CRTs in a roof space recently. I kept several late 50s tubes, but left several larger 60s CRTs there - but not that hard to check if you are deperate for one - let me know.

Robert