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What was your first colour TV?
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pilgrim42
03-03-2012
Ours was a hire model in the early seventies called "Pilot" and made (I think) by JVC. It could be adjusted to give a fairly decent picture.
Mike
AidanLunn
04-03-2012
Originally Posted by 42dragonfly:
“My parents got our first colour TV in about 1980 - A Rediffusion Mk4 with infra-red remote control.

They got that along with a Panasonic front loading VHS video recorder - this had a remote control connected by a wire.”

Bit later than 1980 - first front loader was a Sharp in about 1982/82. VCRs in 1980 were all top-loading.
cnbcwatcher
05-03-2012
Originally Posted by AidanLunn:
“Bit later than 1980 - first front loader was a Sharp in about 1982/82. VCRs in 1980 were all top-loading.”

Our VCR in the early 90s was front-loading, though it could have been bought in the late 80s before I was born. That reminds me - apparently on my first birthday I crawled over to the TV and started playing with the buttons on the VCR! I've even been shown a photo of it so it must be true. I must have been starting early. Maybe I was a DS'er in training
coachtrip_fan99
05-03-2012
Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher:
“Our VCR in the early 90s was front-loading, though it could have been bought in the late 80s before I was born. That reminds me - apparently on my first birthday I crawled over to the TV and started playing with the buttons on the VCR! I've even been shown a photo of it so it must be true. I must have been starting early. Maybe I was a DS'er in training ”

I apparently inserted a piece of jam on toast into my parent's first VCR.... they had to buy a new one, it was totally ruined"
AidanLunn
06-03-2012
Originally Posted by coachtrip_fan99:
“I apparently inserted a piece of jam on toast into my parent's first VCR.... they had to buy a new one, it was totally ruined" ”

And woe betide the brand new 1994 £1000 Panasonic SVHS deck that I murdered by sticking a knife into the mechanism!!!
Nigel Goodwin
06-03-2012
Originally Posted by coachtrip_fan99:
“I apparently inserted a piece of jam on toast into my parent's first VCR.... they had to buy a new one, it was totally ruined" ”

I've repaired MANY VCR's in the past with toast (jam or otherwise) stuffed in it, along with coins and all sorts of things. I've never come across one 'ruined' by it

(Including one used as a potty by a little girl - urine only luckily!)
cnbcwatcher
06-03-2012
Originally Posted by coachtrip_fan99:
“I apparently inserted a piece of jam on toast into my parent's first VCR.... they had to buy a new one, it was totally ruined" ”

I don't think I went that far! Although I had one of those electronic game things once and I dropped it into a cake. Dad cleaned it up though and it still worked for a while after that incident. I never liked jam as a kid and I still don't.

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“(Including one used as a potty by a little girl - urine only luckily!)”

I hope you wore rubber gloves when repairing that one
C19th Fox
06-03-2012
Originally Posted by AidanLunn:
“Bit later than 1980 - first front loader was a Sharp in about 1982/82. VCRs in 1980 were all top-loading.”

My first VCR was a top loader - a reconditioned Panasonic I think. It worked fine until one day the tape would not come out. I think it was actually wider than my TV. It had a much better tuner as it performed miracles to the picture quality on the TV - the number of times I taped the wrong programme because I forgot to switch back to TV mode for watching one programme whilst taping another.
ianradioian
07-03-2012
Originally Posted by C19th Fox:
“My first VCR was a top loader - a reconditioned Panasonic I think. It worked fine until one day the tape would not come out. I think it was actually wider than my TV. It had a much better tuner as it performed miracles to the picture quality on the TV - the number of times I taped the wrong programme because I forgot to switch back to TV mode for watching one programme whilst taping another.”

Hahaaa! you've just reminded me-a mates Dad had the Ferguson videostar next to his chair, and the tv set over the other end of the lounge, and he watched the tv through the vcr, and used the channel buttons on the machine to change channels as the tv wasnt a remoter controlled type!
ProDave
07-03-2012
Originally Posted by ianradioian:
“Hahaaa! you've just reminded me-a mates Dad had the Ferguson videostar next to his chair, and the tv set over the other end of the lounge, and he watched the tv through the vcr, and used the channel buttons on the machine to change channels as the tv wasnt a remoter controlled type!”

Long before remote control tv's were common, I had modified the tv in my bedroom to extend the on/off volume control to be in a box next to the bed, and used a long broom handle with a rubber bung on the end to change channel on the pushbutton tuner.
coachtrip_fan99
07-03-2012
Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“I've repaired MANY VCR's in the past with toast (jam or otherwise) stuffed in it, along with coins and all sorts of things. I've never come across one 'ruined' by it

(Including one used as a potty by a little girl - urine only luckily!)”

maybe thats just what my parents told me to make me feel guilty!
finlux
07-03-2012
Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher:
“How often did it break down then? Once a week? once a month? Once a year? ”

Every couple of months usually! After about a year, they replaced it with the same model, which worked flawlessly until about 1983!

We then changed to something a bit more modern - remote & teletext!
cnbcwatcher
07-03-2012
Originally Posted by finlux:
“Every couple of months usually! After about a year, they replaced it with the same model, which worked flawlessly until about 1983!

We then changed to something a bit more modern - remote & teletext!”

Wow that was unreliable Strange how the second one lasted longer though. Maybe the one that broke down every couple months was a lemon.
Nigel Goodwin
08-03-2012
Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher:
“Wow that was unreliable Strange how the second one lasted longer though. Maybe the one that broke down every couple months was a lemon.”

It sounds like they never got to the actual cause of the problem - presumably something else was causing other parts to fail, and they never got to the bottom of it.

Sometimes there's nothing you can do, if a fault is so intermittent the only option may be to replace the set. The actual cause may have been something silly like the CRT flashing over every few months, and taking components out - which you'd never actually see it do it.
Gabbitas
08-03-2012
I can't remember the make or model now, but my parents got their first colour TV in about '75 I think. It had a remote control which was pretty cool in those days. Our previous B&W set had a rotary tuner with no presets. I remember that the colour TV's remote must have been some sort of ultrasonic device as jingling coins caused the TV to change channels .
darnall42
08-03-2012
Our family was very late getting a colour tv,we got our first in 1981 with a top loading vhs recorder from DER tv rentals (cant remember the make,but i think they were re-badged fergueson)
Nigel Goodwin
08-03-2012
Originally Posted by darnall42:
“Our family was very late getting a colour tv,we got our first in 1981 with a top loading vhs recorder from DER tv rentals (cant remember the make,but i think they were re-badged fergueson)”

They were (which in turn were rebadged JVC's), DER was part of Thorn Consumer Electronics (who owned Ferguson), so all DER gear was from Thorn.
finlux
08-03-2012
Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher:
“Wow that was unreliable Strange how the second one lasted longer though. Maybe the one that broke down every couple months was a lemon.”

When the second one failed, it was just a white line accross the screen, but it was pretty ancient by then!
AidanLunn
09-03-2012
Originally Posted by finlux:
“When the second one failed, it was just a white line accross the screen, but it was pretty ancient by then!”

Line output stage (or the power supply to) had failed - worst case scenario the LOPT had died.
Nigel Goodwin
09-03-2012
Originally Posted by AidanLunn:
“Line output stage (or the power supply to) had failed - worst case scenario the LOPT had died.”

Sorry, but you're completely 100% wrong

The fault specified was frame collapse, hence a line across the screen - line collapse would give a vertical line, and is really quite rare, as the LOPT provides the EHT, so no LOPT, no picture at all, so no line. Line collapse does (or did) very occasionally happen though, and is usually a dry joint on the S correction capacitor, or the capacitor faulty.
AidanLunn
09-03-2012
Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“Sorry, but you're completely 100% wrong

The fault specified was frame collapse, hence a line across the screen - line collapse would give a vertical line, and is really quite rare, as the LOPT provides the EHT, so no LOPT, no picture at all, so no line. Line collapse does (or did) very occasionally happen though, and is usually a dry joint on the S correction capacitor, or the capacitor faulty.”

Agh, caught another mistake of mine

*Frame* section (or the power to).

I've been told that the LOPT is a common problem with CRTs (particularly on *proper* Bush sets).
Nigel Goodwin
10-03-2012
Originally Posted by AidanLunn:
“I've been told that the LOPT is a common problem with CRTs (particularly on *proper* Bush sets).”

The LOPTX is a common fault on CRT sets, it's a part which is under a LOT of strain (25,000V odd) - I don't recall Bush (RBM) being any more unreliable than other makes.
AidanLunn
10-03-2012
Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“The LOPTX is a common fault on CRT sets, it's a part which is under a LOT of strain (25,000V odd) - I don't recall Bush (RBM) being any more unreliable than other makes.”

According to the experiences of other experienced TV repairmen who began in the 1970s and earlier, their 405 line and dual standard sets had awfully unreliable LOPTs when compared to their competition. Apparently the TV125 and TV161 (A640) LOPT being examples.

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=41522

Bush (RBM) sets on that site have a reputation for being unreliable from others who were in the trade at the time.

Unless I'm just mistaken, being born way after such sets stopped being in common use. Or Derbyshire may have just been gifted with Bush sets

I have to admit, I don't have that much experience of any British sets before the early 1980s - a Thorn TX9 being my earliest Brit set.
Madridista23
10-03-2012
Oh strewth, our first colour box was a Baird from Radio Rentals.
Nigel Goodwin
10-03-2012
Originally Posted by AidanLunn:
“According to the experiences of other experienced TV repairmen who began in the 1970s and earlier, their 405 line and dual standard sets had awfully unreliable LOPTs when compared to their competition. Apparently the TV125 and TV161 (A640) LOPT being examples.”

I wasn't aware we were discussing prehistoric B&W sets?

But I repaired many such sets back from that era, and as I remember it the most unreliable ones were probably Ecko? (where you could replace the shroud around the core).

The main problems were probably caused by damp getting in the windings, it was long before epoxy potting, and way back in those days you had the obvious problem that you couldn't pot the valve rectifier.
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