Best vintage tvs from 50s, 60s,70s.

leslie123 · 01-12-2012, 01:48

Love to hear of some of your recollections from this era whether it be from a servicing point of view or from a viewing point of view. For me the Sony 1320 UB was an outstanding set of it' s time. Extremely reliable to the point where the tubes would start to fail before the components would give up. Never heard a bad word said against it. These sets were popular with the broadcasters too, being used as monitors by BBC and ITV. I even remember one sitting on the commentary table in 1975 and being used by Kent Walton for wrestling commentary at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

ProDave · 01-12-2012, 09:48

I had a Barco set once. I don't know it's model number or age, but it was a semi professional thing, way above any domestic model.

As with most of my tv's I got it faulty (no frame output) and fixed it. The manufacturer was really helpful, sent me a service manual FOC and sold me the mod kit to fix the frame fault (original frame driver IC was obsolete)

It had a huge range of AV inputs and it's build quality was very good and a delight to work on. And it's picture was very good. In fact I only sold it eventually because it disn't have remote control.

I still have my 1970's Sony KV1400UB in daily use. Yes that was another one that came to me with just a simple fault, it's tuner reference diode was drifting. Replaced that and it's been fault free for over 30 years now.

mac2708 · 01-12-2012, 10:15

The name Barco sounded vaguely familiar and a quick google found these (amongst others)
http://www.golden-agetv.co.uk/equipm...?ProducerID=42
http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture...o2/3395819036/

The brand name appears to be still alive
http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/Barco_Flatscreens.htm

ianradioian · 01-12-2012, 11:37

The mid 70s GEC colour sets seemed to go on forever,never went wrong,I cant remember the model,the first fully transistorised one.

ProDave · 01-12-2012, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mac2708

The name Barco sounded vaguely familiar and a quick google found these (amongst others)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture...o2/3395819036/

That's the one I had.

gds1972 · 01-12-2012, 17:37

We had a grundig TV when I was a kid and I don't think it ever went wrong. The thing I remember most about it was some weird square battery for the remote that had one of the corners cut off.

Nigel Goodwin · 01-12-2012, 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by gds1972

We had a grundig TV when I was a kid and I don't think it ever went wrong. The thing I remember most about it was some weird square battery for the remote that had one of the corners cut off.

The remote was a TP400 - the battery something like a 7KD6?.

We were a major Grundig dealer, and sold huge numbers of those sets - I used to have all the parts in stock for the remotes for repairing them

They were fairly reliable sets, although most service agents wouldn't even look at Grundig sets, because they were a little different to what they were used to. We used to get Grundig sets brought in from far and wide for repair - nice little earners

gds1972 · 02-12-2012, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

The remote was a TP400 - the battery something like a 7KD6?.

We were a major Grundig dealer, and sold huge numbers of those sets - I used to have all the parts in stock for the remotes for repairing them

They were fairly reliable sets, although most service agents wouldn't even look at Grundig sets, because they were a little different to what they were used to. We used to get Grundig sets brought in from far and wide for repair - nice little earners

Thanks Nigel I just googled the TP400 and we had the version with the teletext buttons on it.

jasonjimbob · 02-12-2012, 00:52

I have still got, still working but out of use, is a Thorn 'Ultra' hybrid portable from the late 1960's.
It has a white coloured casing and only has 4 channels, a good performer,

Nigel Goodwin · 02-12-2012, 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by gds1972

Thanks Nigel I just googled the TP400 and we had the version with the teletext buttons on it.

In that case, TP400TT

bobcar · 02-12-2012, 21:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by leslie123

Love to hear of some of your recollections from this era whether it be from a servicing point of view or from a viewing point of view. For me the Sony 1320 UB was an outstanding set of it' s time. Extremely reliable to the point where the tubes would start to fail before the components would give up. Never heard a bad word said against it. These sets were popular with the broadcasters too, being used as monitors by BBC and ITV. I even remember one sitting on the commentary table in 1975 and being used by Kent Walton for wrestling commentary at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

I had one of these and it was still working when I got rid of it 10 years ago. I'd modified it to accept RGB input to use it as a computer monitor before monitors became cheaply available but that didn't affect its reliability.

01-12-2012, 01:48	#1
leslie123 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 787	Best vintage tvs from 50s, 60s,70s. Love to hear of some of your recollections from this era whether it be from a servicing point of view or from a viewing point of view. For me the Sony 1320 UB was an outstanding set of it' s time. Extremely reliable to the point where the tubes would start to fail before the components would give up. Never heard a bad word said against it. These sets were popular with the broadcasters too, being used as monitors by BBC and ITV. I even remember one sitting on the commentary table in 1975 and being used by Kent Walton for wrestling commentary at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

01-12-2012, 09:48	#2
ProDave Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Northern Scottish Highlands Posts: 11,307	I had a Barco set once. I don't know it's model number or age, but it was a semi professional thing, way above any domestic model. As with most of my tv's I got it faulty (no frame output) and fixed it. The manufacturer was really helpful, sent me a service manual FOC and sold me the mod kit to fix the frame fault (original frame driver IC was obsolete) It had a huge range of AV inputs and it's build quality was very good and a delight to work on. And it's picture was very good. In fact I only sold it eventually because it disn't have remote control. I still have my 1970's Sony KV1400UB in daily use. Yes that was another one that came to me with just a simple fault, it's tuner reference diode was drifting. Replaced that and it's been fault free for over 30 years now.

01-12-2012, 10:15	#3
mac2708 Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 3,196	The name Barco sounded vaguely familiar and a quick google found these (amongst others) http://www.golden-agetv.co.uk/equipm...?ProducerID=42 http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture...o2/3395819036/ The brand name appears to be still alive http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/Barco_Flatscreens.htm

01-12-2012, 11:37	#4
ianradioian Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 24,347	The mid 70s GEC colour sets seemed to go on forever,never went wrong,I cant remember the model,the first fully transistorised one.

01-12-2012, 15:24	#5
ProDave Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Northern Scottish Highlands Posts: 11,307	Quote: Originally Posted by mac2708 The name Barco sounded vaguely familiar and a quick google found these (amongst others) http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture...o2/3395819036/ That's the one I had.

01-12-2012, 17:37	#6
gds1972 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5,515	We had a grundig TV when I was a kid and I don't think it ever went wrong. The thing I remember most about it was some weird square battery for the remote that had one of the corners cut off.

01-12-2012, 20:48	#7
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by gds1972 We had a grundig TV when I was a kid and I don't think it ever went wrong. The thing I remember most about it was some weird square battery for the remote that had one of the corners cut off. The remote was a TP400 - the battery something like a 7KD6?. We were a major Grundig dealer, and sold huge numbers of those sets - I used to have all the parts in stock for the remotes for repairing them They were fairly reliable sets, although most service agents wouldn't even look at Grundig sets, because they were a little different to what they were used to. We used to get Grundig sets brought in from far and wide for repair - nice little earners

02-12-2012, 00:30	#8
gds1972 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5,515	Quote: Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin The remote was a TP400 - the battery something like a 7KD6?. We were a major Grundig dealer, and sold huge numbers of those sets - I used to have all the parts in stock for the remotes for repairing them They were fairly reliable sets, although most service agents wouldn't even look at Grundig sets, because they were a little different to what they were used to. We used to get Grundig sets brought in from far and wide for repair - nice little earners Thanks Nigel I just googled the TP400 and we had the version with the teletext buttons on it.

02-12-2012, 00:52	#9
jasonjimbob Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: South East Wales Posts: 887	I have still got, still working but out of use, is a Thorn 'Ultra' hybrid portable from the late 1960's. It has a white coloured casing and only has 4 channels, a good performer,

02-12-2012, 15:26	#10
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by gds1972 Thanks Nigel I just googled the TP400 and we had the version with the teletext buttons on it. In that case, TP400TT

02-12-2012, 21:42	#11
bobcar Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 14,718	Quote: Originally Posted by leslie123 Love to hear of some of your recollections from this era whether it be from a servicing point of view or from a viewing point of view. For me the Sony 1320 UB was an outstanding set of it' s time. Extremely reliable to the point where the tubes would start to fail before the components would give up. Never heard a bad word said against it. These sets were popular with the broadcasters too, being used as monitors by BBC and ITV. I even remember one sitting on the commentary table in 1975 and being used by Kent Walton for wrestling commentary at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. I had one of these and it was still working when I got rid of it 10 years ago. I'd modified it to accept RGB input to use it as a computer monitor before monitors became cheaply available but that didn't affect its reliability.

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Best vintage tvs from 50s, 60s,70s.