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 Forty years of colour Television in Australia.
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 Return to top of page · Post #: 1 · Written at 9:01:34 PM on 5 March 2015.
Labrat's avatar
 Location: Penrith, NSW
 Member since 7 April 2012
 Member #: 1128
 Postcount: 368

Dear Members.
This one passed me by without me noticing, but it is now forty years since the official commencement of Colour TV in Australia.

Because I was unaware of the anniversary, I have nothing prepared. If requested, I can re-publish the little article that I submitted to Radio Waves (H.R.S.A. publication) for the 50th anniversary of television in Australia. Published in Radio Waves No.98 October 2006.

I hope that this reminder prompts others to submit something to do with this event. Post a picture of the first CTV you had!

Was it a Rank Arena? That's what we had. A C2602. (A double ended C2601).
A Philips K9?
A Decca series 33?
The Very noisy H.M.V. C211 Australia's only set with a thyristor driven output stage.
The huge Kriesler 59-01 with colour difference drive.
Or even the Sanyo with a cabinet big enough to be classified as a barn for tax purposes.

I look forward to your memories. Please share them with us all.

Wayne.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 2 · Written at 5:44:57 PM on 6 March 2015.
NewVista's avatar
 Location: Silver City WI, US
 Member since 10 May 2013
 Member #: 1340
 Postcount: 977

Was the C211 the one that seemed like an original Australian design? What did they do after that?


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 3 · Written at 8:15:05 PM on 6 March 2015.
TV Collector's Gravatar
 Location: Ballarat, VIC
 Member since 4 January 2011
 Member #: 803
 Postcount: 456

I was planning on running one of my 1975 model TV's for the anniversary but I left it too late. I made do with a 30 year old Philips set instead.

The HMV C211 was an Australian developed set, HMV came out with the inline gun CRT version C221 later on before being taken over by Rank Industries / NEC in 1979.
The C211 was the better chassis and was only noisy if one of the ferrite cores had come loose. Normally the power supply was silent as it operated above 25 kHz.

The K9 was the chassis with colour difference CRT drive, the Kriesler 59-1 chassis was RGB drive. I checked the training manual just to make sure!


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 4 · Written at 1:13:14 AM on 8 March 2015.
NewVista's avatar
 Location: Silver City WI, US
 Member since 10 May 2013
 Member #: 1340
 Postcount: 977

What I liked about this C211 was its use of .25" hex screws on back cover (and elsewhere) so that I could use my old red handled nut driverSmile


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 5 · Written at 3:17:08 PM on 8 March 2015.
Labrat's avatar
 Location: Penrith, NSW
 Member since 7 April 2012
 Member #: 1128
 Postcount: 368

Dear New Vista.

Before the 0.25" hex screws on the H.M.V. the 4 BA size nut driver was the standard.
Here is one from Thomas Picture Tubes.

The back covers on H.M.V.'s were from their B&W sets. It was made of the most brittle plastic known to man, and has never been equalled.

Thomas Electronics Screwdriver


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 6 · Written at 5:50:06 PM on 8 March 2015.
Doug's Gravatar
 Location: Horsham, VIC
 Member since 19 December 2013
 Member #: 1468
 Postcount: 33

I remember the start of colour like it was yesterday, My best friend came from a wealthy family, were still friends today amazingly. Anyway they had one of the first 26" PHILIPS lowboy consoles. We would sit patently waiting til 8:30 when channel 9 would switch the colour on & Wow! the "Lemon Fab" detergent ad would come on & the lemons were YELLOW...lol

Later that year with the money I earned pumping petrol & checking the oil at the service station job I had, I save enough money to buy my own Rank Arena 14" portable colour TV. I was 15 years old & had colour TV in my bedroom a full year before Mum & Dad bought theirs.

What a great time it was.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 7 · Written at 7:09:27 AM on 11 March 2015.
NewVista's avatar
 Location: Silver City WI, US
 Member since 10 May 2013
 Member #: 1340
 Postcount: 977

Could the working class afford the first generation of sets? I don't think so.

Did Sony sell its pseudo-PAL portable set in Oz? The one that avoided paying licence fees to Telefunken by deleting all the reverse phase lines and repeating "NTSC" lines with a delay line?


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 8 · Written at 7:43:23 AM on 11 March 2015.
NewVista's avatar
 Location: Silver City WI, US
 Member since 10 May 2013
 Member #: 1340
 Postcount: 977

Before the 0.25" hex screws on the H.M.V. the 4 BA size nut driver was the standard.
Here is one from Thomas Picture Tubes.


I think we are talking about the same screws, mine looked the same as your Thomas gift (same handle design and "grey" metal) only pastel (faded) red handle called a Paul-call from Woolworths in the 1960's. Does yours say "Made in Japan"? Wish I still had mine, it had the finest metallurgy, the hex drive never burred unlike the premium Vaco brand I've owned. I'm now trying Klein Tools brand extended reach magnetic.

Screwdrivers


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 9 · Written at 11:16:35 AM on 11 March 2015.
Sue's avatar
 Sue
 Location: Daylesford, VIC
 Member since 13 January 2011
 Member #: 809
 Postcount: 326

I remember the first day of colour in black and white, watching the chroma dot pattern crawling up the screen and threatening to drown Aunty Jack and her friends. We rented a colour set in late 1976, and finally bought one, a National TC-2001, in 1977. Ours was a lower-middle class family; we couldn't justify buying a set before colour was established.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 10 · Written at 6:45:52 PM on 13 March 2015.
Labrat's avatar
 Location: Penrith, NSW
 Member since 7 April 2012
 Member #: 1128
 Postcount: 368

Dear New Vista.

I've just checked a website that states that the 1/4" is two thou larger than the 4BA .

I therefore see no reason why the two Spintites would not appear identical.

Wayne.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 11 · Written at 8:16:19 PM on 13 March 2015.
Labrat's avatar
 Location: Penrith, NSW
 Member since 7 April 2012
 Member #: 1128
 Postcount: 368

As to the question of avoiding the payments of P.A.L. royalties to Telefunken.

I'm not aware of the Sony solution. I've worked on many colour faults on Sony TV's, but they were usually caused by
Faulty tube. (Sorry. That should read “Picture tube”. For our United States friends)
Dirty trim-pots. (very common)
Dry joints.
Drive transistors.

The candidate that I seem to remember is the General, model GC18A ? (note not General Electric, but General Corporation of Japan)

Their chroma processor board was complicated and used two crystal of different frequencies. They were just so damn reliable that I never had to work out what was inside the ic's used.

The common faults for this model were,
The mains rated, self healing cap across the mains would blow, blowing the mains fuse.
The channel knob would break, or get lost, and the owner would use a pair of pliers to change the channel until the shaft of the (rotary) tuner would resemble that of a compass.

After S.B.S. Dropped V.H.F. CH-0, and became U.H.F. CH-28 only, we had to enable the U.H.F. Tuner which had to have one biscuit removed from the V.H.F. Tuner and have another biscuit inserted, to enable the U.H.F. Tuner to operate. The problem was that the U.H.F. Tuner was by now seized by lack of use. The only true cure was to remove the U.H.F. Tuner and pull it apart, remove the congealed graphite based grease, re-grease using wheel-bearing grease. (high-temperature) and then use your highest wattage soldering iron to re-assemble.

By the way. A low gain mixer transistor in a U.H.F. Tuner can give a snowy picture.


Wayne.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 12 · Written at 8:44:47 PM on 13 March 2015.
Baz F's Gravatar
 Location: Calista, WA
 Member since 1 April 2014
 Member #: 1540
 Postcount: 81

Our first colour TV in the very early days was a Thorn EMI. Heap of crap that never was trouble free from the day it was bought until it ended it's days on the tip.


‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
Baz

VK6MU


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 13 · Written at 8:38:46 AM on 14 March 2015.
Daro's avatar
 Location: Tanawha, QLD
 Member since 22 December 2012
 Member #: 1263
 Postcount: 45

Labrat said the following: "The back covers on H.M.V.'s were from their B&W sets. It was made of the most brittle plastic known to man, and has never been equalled."

I beg to differ there, the covers that were used on PYE T30's were very brittle by the 1980's you only had to touch them the wrong way & they would shatter & they were chocolate brown in colour, the black coloured covers used on T29's was more durable.

We were the first one's in our street to have a colour TV & it was a PYE 22A3 using the T29 chassis & we got that in January of '75 & I would watch all the colour test transmissions & the test pattern.

I stayed up to watch Aunty Jack trying to fend off the dreaded colour monster as it was taking over Wollongong & thus ushered in colour TV on the ABC.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 14 · Written at 3:59:31 PM on 14 March 2015.
Labrat's avatar
 Location: Penrith, NSW
 Member since 7 April 2012
 Member #: 1128
 Postcount: 368

Dear Daro.

I must agree with you regarding the Pye as being the culprit of the most brittle back cover. I have mixed up two pieces of information. 1. Pye, most brittle back cover, 2. H.M.V. using the same back cover as from their B&W TV series.

My memory is not what it once was, and I can no longer get easy access to my extensive data library to check my postings first. As can be seen from my postings I sometimes make an error that is picked up by others.

It has been around ten years since I worked on Televisions, D.V.D. players, V.C.R.'s, and any other domestic electronic equipment on a daily basis. Had the weight of the huge 80cm televisions not snapped my back like a dry twig, (two years off work and I thought that I would end up in a wheelchair), I would probably still be working at one of the few remaining service centres that survive.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 15 · Written at 8:27:02 AM on 15 March 2015.
NewVista's avatar
 Location: Silver City WI, US
 Member since 10 May 2013
 Member #: 1340
 Postcount: 977

General, model GC18A .. chroma processor board was complicated and used two crystals

Anyone got chroma schematic so we can figure out what they were doing?


 
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