Baird Mirror Drum Televisor 'kit', built by Harry Arnfield, 1934.
Arnfield was only about 15 years old at the time. From about 1933, mirror-drums and their associated components became commercially available from two or three manufacturers (Baird, Mervyn, Peto-Scott). Like their earlier disc counterparts, Mirror drum Televisors were mostly built by radio amateurs.
The mirror drum, however, could obtain a much larger picture of the semi-experimental television broadcasts then being made by the BBC. 30 accurately located angled mirrors are affixed to the circumference of a drum, one for each line of scanning. Each mirror is inclined at an ever-increasing angle to the previous, which allowed scanning to be performed. A modulated beam of light shines onto the rotating mirrors as they spin, reflecting onto the back of the ground glass viewing surface. Light is provided by a special spherical crater lamp, and modulated by a special Kerr Cell, known as the Baird Grid Cell.
The shop that Harry Arnfield worked at as a Wireless Engineer was called Roland HIll. New Mills has a local historical society. There is a huge arcive of photographs and images of adverts. See N. 13553 Parish magazine, July 1933 where there is little advert for this shop.
Two parts from Baird Mirror Drum Televisor 'kit', built by Harry Arnfield, 1934.
