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Until my parents splashed out on a new 22" Pye colour TV in late 1973 we had only secondhand B+W sets. I remember a very old Murphy, probably about 14" or a little larger. To turn it on you pressed a catch on top of the TV and a small panel flipped up, turning on the TV and revealing the controls for volume and station selection--both rotary knobs. I also remember an HMV, again around 14" and with rotary controls, plus this one had built in loop and telescopic aerials. The sides were padded with leather-look black grained vinyl. My parents bought me a 14" Ferguson in 1980. It was white with a rotary knob for station selection and one for volume. On top of the TV were 2 sliders for brightness and contrast. Last B+W I had was a radio/cassette player/TV, perhaps 4" or 5" screen size, bought off a workmate in the mid 90s. One thing absent from modern LCD digital sets are the horizontal hold and vertical hold controls generally found on the backs of CRT TVs. You could have a bit of fun fiddling with those .
Sometimes the spare pushbutton would be marked "VR" after video recorders became popular. Speaking of pushbuttons reminded me of the B+W set we had before buying the colour Pye. I can't remember the brand but it was bought secondhand and was about 20"-22" screen size. It had pushbuttons to change channels and the pushbuttons were also used to tune in stations. However, above the pushbuttons there was a rotary knob with numbers marked on it and the knob would click between numbers. I don't know but I presume this set was both UHF and VHF capable, but as I don't know too much about it I stand to be corrected . Also, many of the earlier B+W sets would have worked on 405 lines rather than the later 605 lines system.
I remember the first time I saw a colour set. It would have been 1970. Can't remember exactly where but my mom took me to a house and they had a set. Wow, it was amazing to see a colour TV back then, when most still had B+W.
In the mid-70s my parents rented a caravan and it had a B+W portable powered by a car battery. About half way through the holiday the battery became flat and we had to take it to a garage for them to charge up.
In the mid-70s my parents rented a caravan and it had a B+W portable powered by a car battery. About half way through the holiday the battery became flat and we had to take it to a garage for them to charge up.
This was part and parcel of our holiday in Porthcawl during the mid 1980s. The caravans were not wired up to the mains electricity, water or gas. There was a shop in the centre that hired out car batteries. It was a bit of a relief when it was raining. Of course, at the best and most interesting part of the programme/film......
Hi Marc, were the caravans you mentioned the static type? i.e. permanently parked on the site? I think the one we rented in the mid-70s had gas for cooking/lighting/heating but I can't remember if it was piped or bottled gas. In the 80s we rented a caravan for a week almost each year, usually in one of the North Wales resorts. I think they all had bottled gas for heating/cooking and mains electricity and water. They were all of the static type. Also I remember that one site had a kind of private cable TV. As well as picking up the normal 4 terrestrial channels, there was a site channel which showed films and cartoons throughout the day.
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