cornutt
Well-known member
1963 would have been a bit early for color broadcasting in the U.S., plus not that many sets came from the factory with the UHF tuner installed back then.
Vintage colour tv anyone?
- Thread starter rickr
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ptcruiser51
Well-known member
Color availability
at least in the NYC area was in the 1950s. A family in our 'hood had one in 1958, the color was garish but hey, it was color!
My ex's family bought a round-screen model in 1968, a Sylvania. Funny thinking about it today (40th anniversary of the moon landing). We were just dating then, had just graduated high school together; everyone went over to her house to watch the moon walk because they had color TV. Joke was on all of us - it was broadcast in B&W.
at least in the NYC area was in the 1950s. A family in our 'hood had one in 1958, the color was garish but hey, it was color!
My ex's family bought a round-screen model in 1968, a Sylvania. Funny thinking about it today (40th anniversary of the moon landing). We were just dating then, had just graduated high school together; everyone went over to her house to watch the moon walk because they had color TV. Joke was on all of us - it was broadcast in B&W.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
David:
Colour broadcasting began here in the U.S. on New Year's Day, 1954, with a broadcast of that year's Tournament of Roses Parade; there had been experimental broadcasts before that. That first broadcast wasn't seen by many people, because few owned the $1000 Westinghouse or RCA sets available ($1000 in 1954 dollars was equal to more than $7600 today). By Summer of '54, there was a regularly scheduled programme in colour, and things went from there.
UHF was already increasingly common by the early '60s, and very common by the late '60s.
Rectangular colour tubes were the big news in TV for 1965. Round tubes were still produced after that for low-end "loss leader" sets, but people who'd seen rectangular preferred it. I always thought Philco made a bad mistake in offering roundies for so long; it made the brand look behind the times and gave it a "poor man's" reputation.
Colour broadcasting began here in the U.S. on New Year's Day, 1954, with a broadcast of that year's Tournament of Roses Parade; there had been experimental broadcasts before that. That first broadcast wasn't seen by many people, because few owned the $1000 Westinghouse or RCA sets available ($1000 in 1954 dollars was equal to more than $7600 today). By Summer of '54, there was a regularly scheduled programme in colour, and things went from there.
UHF was already increasingly common by the early '60s, and very common by the late '60s.
Rectangular colour tubes were the big news in TV for 1965. Round tubes were still produced after that for low-end "loss leader" sets, but people who'd seen rectangular preferred it. I always thought Philco made a bad mistake in offering roundies for so long; it made the brand look behind the times and gave it a "poor man's" reputation.
whirlcool
Well-known member
It was in 1964 or 65 that the FCC mandated that new televisions come with UHF tuners built in.
Obviously I wasn't aware that round tube sets were around so long. I now know better.
Obviously I wasn't aware that round tube sets were around so long. I now know better.
cornutt
Well-known member
Whirlcool, that's what I was trying to remember. I know that some TVs in the early 1960s were made with a place for a UHF tuner and preamp, as a dealer-installed option. The FCC in its infinite wisdon decided to experiment on those of us here in north Alabama with all-UHF broadcasting, in an area where UHF propagation is terrible due to the terrain. I can well remember all of the fussing that was necessary with radio-style tuners and antenna rotators to get even a halfway decent picture, and you had to get up and adjust it every few minutes especially when the weather was changing. This resulted in Huntsville having cable TV very early on, starting around 1964.
whirlaway
New member
UHF
Most people around here had built in tuners or box tuners on top of the TV in the 50s because ABC was on channel 15 until 1959 then switched to 13.Disney and of course Lawrence Welk were on ABC.My 1956 RCA color set has a UHF tuner the tube in the tuner usually lasts about a year a 6af4 it gets weak.
Most people around here had built in tuners or box tuners on top of the TV in the 50s because ABC was on channel 15 until 1959 then switched to 13.Disney and of course Lawrence Welk were on ABC.My 1956 RCA color set has a UHF tuner the tube in the tuner usually lasts about a year a 6af4 it gets weak.
cornutt
Well-known member
It's interesting now that the FCC has reallocated the upper half of the UHF band to other services. The channels from 52 to 69 were taken away last month. (There was a station broadcasting on channel 54 here; I wonder what physical channel they are on now? They still use the virtual channel number 54.) The channels from 70 to 83 were taken away back in the 1980s, and allocated to the now-obsolete AMPS cell phone system.
I've enclosed a link to an interesting article on how the TV frequency allocations have changed over the years. There was a period around WWII where it would have made your head spin to track all of the changes. The television industry got a bit lucky that consumers didn't get fed up with it at that point, but I suppose most of the early adopters at that point were enthusiasts who were willing to put up with having equipment obsoleted.
I've enclosed a link to an interesting article on how the TV frequency allocations have changed over the years. There was a period around WWII where it would have made your head spin to track all of the changes. The television industry got a bit lucky that consumers didn't get fed up with it at that point, but I suppose most of the early adopters at that point were enthusiasts who were willing to put up with having equipment obsoleted.
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whirlcool
Well-known member
My Mother won a Admiral B&W TV at a Tupperware party back in 1962-63 or so. Right below the VHF click tuner was a silver plate that said "UHF" on it. But there was no tuner.
Somewhere around this time TV Guide had a rather extensive article about converting your set to receive UHF.
We ended up getting a tv top converter for Chicago's channel 26, which was Chicago's first UHF station. All they usually played was news and bull fights from Mexico.
I always thought it was REALLY strange to have television stations outside of the 2-13 band. I always wondered why the tuning dials were more like radio dials than the clickable VHF dials. I did see at one time, I think it was a GE set with a clickable UHF tuner on it.
Somewhere around this time TV Guide had a rather extensive article about converting your set to receive UHF.
We ended up getting a tv top converter for Chicago's channel 26, which was Chicago's first UHF station. All they usually played was news and bull fights from Mexico.
I always thought it was REALLY strange to have television stations outside of the 2-13 band. I always wondered why the tuning dials were more like radio dials than the clickable VHF dials. I did see at one time, I think it was a GE set with a clickable UHF tuner on it.
My 1957 GE Ultravision console has a channel marked UHF but no UHF channels...you had to add it with the converter box on top of the tv (I have one of those in the box never used from Mallory).... I have a 1963 Sears catalogs and all there TV's shown, whether B&W or Color, had 2 prices...one price without UHF the other with UHF. According to my research built in UHF became mandatory on TV's in 1964.....PAT COFFEY
UHF Converter
My grandparents had a 1950's Sears Silvertone B&W swivel console with just VHF. They attached a UHF converter on the set so Grandpa could watch the bullfights on Los Angeles' Spanish-language station (channel 34). Of course, he also loved Roller Derby and Lawrence Welk. I loved to watch the bullfights (mainly because they showed English language commercials dubbed in Spanish, and they were interesting to watch). They finally succumbed to a new color TV in the late 1960's, but I'll always remember that old blonde wood Silvertone.
My grandparents had a 1950's Sears Silvertone B&W swivel console with just VHF. They attached a UHF converter on the set so Grandpa could watch the bullfights on Los Angeles' Spanish-language station (channel 34). Of course, he also loved Roller Derby and Lawrence Welk. I loved to watch the bullfights (mainly because they showed English language commercials dubbed in Spanish, and they were interesting to watch). They finally succumbed to a new color TV in the late 1960's, but I'll always remember that old blonde wood Silvertone.
cornutt
Well-known member
My dad had a 25-inch RCA (1970 model IIRC) with a click-click UHF tuner. Each click selected a span of three UHF channels, and you then used the fine tune for that group to tune to the specific channel. If there were two UHF channels in the same group, you were SOL (although the FCC didn't usually allocate UHF channels that close together). This model was an instant-on, too; it kept the tube heaters lit all the time, unless you unplugged it. Great for keeping the room warm in the winter. 
I don't think many sets were made with this type of UHF tuner. The FCC made click-click UHF tuners mandatory sometime in the late '70s, but that time period coincided with the introduction of electronic tuning.
I don't think many sets were made with this type of UHF tuner. The FCC made click-click UHF tuners mandatory sometime in the late '70s, but that time period coincided with the introduction of electronic tuning.
whirlaway
New member
Zenith
Thats a nice set,but pic tube will have to be replaced.The glass on the front is coming unglued from the pic tube.Used to happen to the round sets also.Its tempered glass and it took the place of the external glass like you see on 40s and 50s TV. The first color sets also had the thick glass outfront and metal pic tubes with glass bonded to the neck and front of the tube.The very early ones like the 15inch RCA have lost their vacuum,but the 21 inch seem to have held up better.Bobby
Thats a nice set,but pic tube will have to be replaced.The glass on the front is coming unglued from the pic tube.Used to happen to the round sets also.Its tempered glass and it took the place of the external glass like you see on 40s and 50s TV. The first color sets also had the thick glass outfront and metal pic tubes with glass bonded to the neck and front of the tube.The very early ones like the 15inch RCA have lost their vacuum,but the 21 inch seem to have held up better.Bobby
No need to replace that tube, cataract surgery is par for the course for collectors on these color sets. Not recommended for the novice, however!
I recall some TV's, especially motorized tuner sets where there was only one turret, made after the '64 era that required UHF, having additional spaces on the tuner that allowed inserting a UHF or VHF coil strip for whichever couple of UHF stations might be in your area.
Actually, our '76 RCA behaved like this, though you preset the UHF station for channel A, B, C, etc. from behind a trim panel on the front. You'd also set the motorized tuner to bypass the unused locations.
I recall some TV's, especially motorized tuner sets where there was only one turret, made after the '64 era that required UHF, having additional spaces on the tuner that allowed inserting a UHF or VHF coil strip for whichever couple of UHF stations might be in your area.
Actually, our '76 RCA behaved like this, though you preset the UHF station for channel A, B, C, etc. from behind a trim panel on the front. You'd also set the motorized tuner to bypass the unused locations.
whirlcool
Well-known member
beadsobleach
Well-known member
- Joined
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1965 RCA Victor New Vista
I bought a 1965 RCA Roundie back in the 70's, developed the cataracts in the late 80's, still worked great, New Vista Color...
I bought a 1965 RCA Roundie back in the 70's, developed the cataracts in the late 80's, still worked great, New Vista Color...
norgeway
Well-known member
Round tube Rectangular tube...
Motorola invented the first rectangular tube color set,it was introduced in 1964,NO ONE had one except Motorola until 1965, Did you know, Zenith did not introduce a color set till 1962, they would not use the R C A chassis,they designed there own circutry for there first color set,NO ONE made color tubes but R C A until Motorola introduced the rectangular one in64,R C A had the market sewed up till then,all manufacturers used liscense built R C A chassis and R C A 21 inch round tubes.
Motorola invented the first rectangular tube color set,it was introduced in 1964,NO ONE had one except Motorola until 1965, Did you know, Zenith did not introduce a color set till 1962, they would not use the R C A chassis,they designed there own circutry for there first color set,NO ONE made color tubes but R C A until Motorola introduced the rectangular one in64,R C A had the market sewed up till then,all manufacturers used liscense built R C A chassis and R C A 21 inch round tubes.
beadsobleach
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
- Messages
- 179
Wow, I got color TV
I had a 1964 RCA roundie, I bought it in the late 70s, it worked great for several years, actually used my 1981 RCA Selecta-Vision VCR with it. It was great to watch classic compatible color programs with....
I had a 1964 RCA roundie, I bought it in the late 70s, it worked great for several years, actually used my 1981 RCA Selecta-Vision VCR with it. It was great to watch classic compatible color programs with....
Well, I know Philco had a rectangular tube in '56 on their "Apple" prototype and I swear there was another manufacturer in the 54/55/56 timeframe that had a 15" true rectangular tube (not a mask) but can't put my finger on it right now. Setting up convergence on a round tube is tricky enough!
What I find so interesting is when color was really heating up here in the mid 50's, LOTS of manufacturers designed their own color chassis', Sylvania, Westinghouse, Philco, etc. Even some of the economy brands had versions. Some made it to light of day, but being so new and so expensive, only RCA, being the giant they were, stuck it out through the end of the decade and made due with slow sales and slim profits. It wasn't until the 60's that we saw a return to individual designs as costs began to plummet and more and more programming went full-time color.
Here's a link to the Philco's Apple prototype. -Cory
What I find so interesting is when color was really heating up here in the mid 50's, LOTS of manufacturers designed their own color chassis', Sylvania, Westinghouse, Philco, etc. Even some of the economy brands had versions. Some made it to light of day, but being so new and so expensive, only RCA, being the giant they were, stuck it out through the end of the decade and made due with slow sales and slim profits. It wasn't until the 60's that we saw a return to individual designs as costs began to plummet and more and more programming went full-time color.
Here's a link to the Philco's Apple prototype. -Cory
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