Hi All,
Does anyone have any information on Ekco Televisions. Am curious to know when they were sold here and I also understand they were not a popular set and hated by technicians. Thanks for any information I can get.

Some were great and very advanced even in 58,,what model do you have?
Pete

Hi Pete,
It is a consul model and only details on the back are Type 21 TCV 206..Other than that can not tell you much.

No wonder they were hated by technicians. This particular model is transformerless & therefore has a live chassis.

There are two versions of this set. This version has a 240 to 12.6 volt step down transformer to supply the heater of the CRT.

This model dates from 1958. Ecko along with a few other TV manufacturers fizzled out in 1962, possibly due to the credit squeeze at the time.

Yeah , not one of the better ones.
Careful playing with it ,,its ' live"
But there is couple of guys here who like Eko.
There is one guy here who has a 58? Portable

OK thanks for your help.. Will not play with it, think it will be a good exhibit in the collection.

Because of the way the manufacturer's warranties were handled by retailers in Oz, techs got some say over TV and radio design by telling the sales types not to sell "death trap" live chassis designs. So when a manufacturer tried to introduce a live-chassis overseas design it quickly became hard to sell.

Ekco (in a joint venture with Hotpoint) was one of those manufacturers. By introducing a UK design here with only minor changes, it was never going to end well for them. By 1959 they had learned their lesson and released a (quite good) local design, complete with flip down chassis and a mains transformer. Too late, they did not survive the credit squeeze of 1961.

I don't mind the live chassis Ekcos. They work well and not dangerous if you are careful. I have a TX275 10" round portable from 1956, it's not live chassis and also runs on 12V DC.

I'd be happy to restore your Ekco to working order if you like, assuming it's got a good CRT.