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Old 11-18-2012, 02:13 PM
compucat's Avatar
compucat compucat is offline
1949 Motorola 9VT1
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Suffolk, VA
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Sony Watchman FD-20

I just acquired two of these sets. One has a cracked cabinet but a working chassis and the other appears to have seen very little use and is in excellent condition. The good one says Honda on the front and the story is that it was a performance award for Honda dealerships at the time. I have always liked these small CRT sets but got rid of all the ones I had before the digital switchover. Now I find I want them again regardless of the limitations of using them as designed. This model seems to be the most plentiful on Ebay and the prices are reasonable. I opened this set up although it is working so I could clean and polish the plastic cabinet and adjust some of the internal controls. I measured the high voltage out of curiosity and discovered the 02JM 2" picture tube requires 3.5 kV at the anode. The flyback is in a tiny metal box mounted to a circuit board.

I noticed the build quality is quite good considering these are from the eighties. In this model at least there are lots of metal brackets to which parts are mounted. Even the screen cover can be removed for cleaning without disassembling the set. Later Watchman TVs did not have this convenience. Here are some pictures.

I am getting th bug for these little sets again and am considering getting an FD-210. Can anyone comment on the build quality of that model? I am also looking at the FD-30 with the AM/FM radio which is more useful in today's world. I had a mint condition FD-230 that I bought new and used for years. I regret selling it now and will likely try to find another. Does anyone have the FD-250? That is another interesting looking unit.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 6.jpg (75.2 KB, 35 views)
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 9.jpg (35.6 KB, 29 views)
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 1.jpg (66.7 KB, 23 views)
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 4.jpg (68.2 KB, 36 views)
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 3.jpg (72.4 KB, 27 views)
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Old 11-18-2012, 02:22 PM
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compucat compucat is offline
1949 Motorola 9VT1
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Suffolk, VA
Posts: 970
Here are some pictures of the chassis and tube from the other unit that show more detail of how the set is designed. The CRT socket is attached to a ribbon cable but is quite durable. This set appears to be relatively serviceable although it requires a lot of disassembly to make everything accessible.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 14.jpg (66.8 KB, 33 views)
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 13.jpg (88.6 KB, 33 views)
File Type: jpg Sony FD-20 - 10.jpg (79.2 KB, 36 views)
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Old 11-18-2012, 03:02 PM
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jr_tech jr_tech is offline
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Fun little sets! I have seen a few with the ribbon cable torn at the CRT pins, but that is usually an easy fix.
More discussion of these little sets in the thread "A little Flat Tube Fun" , in this section of VK.

jr
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  #4  
Old 11-18-2012, 04:34 PM
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etype2 etype2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by compucat View Post
I just acquired two of these sets. One has a cracked cabinet but a working chassis and the other appears to have seen very little use and is in excellent condition. The good one says Honda on the front and the story is that it was a performance award for Honda dealerships at the time. I have always liked these small CRT sets but got rid of all the ones I had before the digital switchover. Now I find I want them again regardless of the limitations of using them as designed. This model seems to be the most plentiful on Ebay and the prices are reasonable. I opened this set up although it is working so I could clean and polish the plastic cabinet and adjust some of the internal controls. I measured the high voltage out of curiosity and discovered the 02JM 2" picture tube requires 3.5 kV at the anode. The flyback is in a tiny metal box mounted to a circuit board.

I noticed the build quality is quite good considering these are from the eighties. In this model at least there are lots of metal brackets to which parts are mounted. Even the screen cover can be removed for cleaning without disassembling the set. Later Watchman TVs did not have this convenience. Here are some pictures.

I am getting th bug for these little sets again and am considering getting an FD-210. Can anyone comment on the build quality of that model? I am also looking at the FD-30 with the AM/FM radio which is more useful in today's world. I had a mint condition FD-230 that I bought new and used for years. I regret selling it now and will likely try to find another. Does anyone have the FD-250? That is another interesting looking unit.
Very nice set. The early watchman's appeal to me more. I have the the FD 210 and the FD 250. You can see them on page 2 and page 4 of my website. The link is at the bottom of this post. From a purely cosmetic choice, I like the FD 210 the best, excellent build quality, design and materials, however it is the largest of all the 2 inch Sony flat CRT's. The FD 250 has a cool unique design.
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