Vintage Television sets

[escorteclipse1990]

I have a Vintage Toshiba 1981 22 inch TV with the wooden frame which i have rigged up to a vintage VCR player to watch vintage tapes from the 1980s on it.

I think that if you want to watch vintage TV programmes from the 70'S, 80'S it looks a hell of alot better watching it on a vintage set.

I think that my old Tosh has a better sound to it then my 50 inch Pioneer Plasma.

Who else has a similar set up?

[Richard1978]

Re: Vintage Television sets

I once watch all of the 1st series of Only Fools & Horses on a B&W portable connected to my video, as wall as my normal TV, as a homage to Grandad's way of watching TV in the earlier episodes.

[ayrshireman]

Re: Vintage Television sets

My mum and dad still have a 1979 b&w Sony at the foot of their bed, although frankly its never used. Still works a treat though.

[amethyst]

Re: Vintage Television sets

No vintage tv sets but I have seen plenty piled up in the local recycle plant

[escorteclipse1990]

Re: Vintage Television sets

I got myself an on PYE 20 inch out of a skip at the weekend, it dates from about 1980 and its on a stand and it works too. Great!

[darren]

Re: Vintage Television sets

well done mate you get a telly for nothing happy days.
your gain is there loss.

even though thy are old they still work perfectly.
no need for a modern one.

ill never get a modern one unless i cant get an old one.
ive 3 old ones.
the oldest must be at least 20 yrs old.


ill have to check to see what is then il mention it here.

I got myself an on PYE 20 inch out of a skip at the weekend, it dates from about 1980 and its on a stand and it works too. Great!

[PC66]

Re: Vintage Television sets

I'm a great enthusiast of older electronic equipment and have always had a particular love for restoring and using what is now regarded as vintage equipment (1950's/1960's radios, record players, tape recorders, telephones, etc.).

When it comes to television, although my main enthusiasm might lie with the slightly earlier age, in general the sets of around the early 1980's had certainly reached something of a technical pinnacle of development. They had become a little more reliable and needed less maintenance than somewhat older sets for various reasons, were capable of giving excellent results, and when they did need attention, they were (and still are) serviceable.

As time has progressed we've seen TV sets (along with almost all other consumer electronics) gradually go down the same path: They've piled on more and more features, some of which are really little more than gimmicks, while the basic quality of construction has gone down. At the same time, the sets of today have reached the point of being uneconomical or simply impractical to repair when they do go wrong, because of the lack of service information, the custom-design integrated circuits which are unobtainable, etc. And that's just for somebody who enjoys working with the equipment for his own needs; for the average viewer, the idea of finding somebody to take on repairs is out of the question because the TV service shop which used to exist in almost every town is now practically extinct, for the same reasons.

And aside from all of that, I just have to mention the trend toward LCD screens. They are simply terrible for this application, and I've yet to see a single one which comes anywhere close to a good CRT set in terms of picture quality.

[the fox]

As something of an arcade machine enthusiast, It's my understanding that there is no longer a factory anywhere in the world which still makes good old CRT screens. Its a real problem wheb it comes to replacing arcade monitors. It also means that those cheap old 80's TVs found in skips now are only gonna increase in value.

[darren]

Re: Vintage Television sets

problem is PC people are too quick to dump old tellys for the new fangled stuff.
And whats worse it works.

ive a few old tv's as well as a few vcr's and a vtc 5400 betamax player.
Still works very well.
they all do.


it must drive you mad to see such good stuiff dumped and they work.


from what i hear modern tv's only have a 5 year shelf life because of something thats out in them.

[Richard1978]

Re: Vintage Television sets

My parents had a Phillips TV from 1984 to just a few years ago, which only needed professional attention a couple of times & a new remote control. Eventually the internal battery went & it wouldn't store any channels. After years in our spare room it was disposed of.

I got a Pye set of a similar age when my Aunt & Uncle didn't need it any more. This started to have similar channel memory problems & the picture was getting wobbly so it had to go. I did try to sell it for a token amount but no-one was interested & this was a few years before Freecycle was around.

My parents still have a Panasonic set from 1994 which was our main set until 2007-8, & is still in use as a 2nd set connected to a digibox. It's never gone wrong apart from the original remote dying, & has Nicam & Scarts sockets that older sets didn't have.

[the fox]

My parents had a Phillips TV from 1984 to just a few years ago, which only needed professional attention a couple of times & a new remote control.

A remote control In 1984? That must have been a really flash tv for its day. I recall constantly tripping over the trailing cable that went from our VCR to the remote control unit in about '84.

TVs were certainly built to last back then. Good speakers, too. I love that bassy sound you get from a good old set with wooden frame. Flat screens can't have decent speakers, cos if they did they wouldn't be so flat.

[Richard1978]

Re: Vintage Television sets

My Gran had a remote control for here TV a few years earlier, & were fairly standard for all but the smaller portables by 1984.

One of my friends had a Panasonic toploader video with a cabled remote control.

[amethyst]

Re: Vintage Television sets

Portable tvs that had those round aerials stuck on the back,that ended up snapping off by trying to get a good picture

[ayrshireman]

Re: Vintage Television sets

We had a remote control by Feb 1979. Fantastic TV, big screen and came in a beautiful cabinet with sliding doors.

[Richard1978]

Re: Vintage Television sets

We had a remote control by Feb 1979. Fantastic TV, big screen and came in a beautiful cabinet with sliding doors.

My Gran's might have been the same model, though it had a single door that would slide over the screen from the side.