Cant find the Make or Model : BW portable.

[MustardMan]

Hello all,

I have searched all over for any information about the following TV set, but as yet have seen absolutely nothing!

I am trying to find/determine the manufacturer, so then I may dig a bit deeper and hopefully find the model. A picture is included.

I got this TV from my dad, who says it was used to watch the moon landings (hence, making it at least 1969), although his memory may be not as good these days. He picked it up second hand, and he can't recall anything about it - except it was *perhaps* made by Sharp.

It looks uncannily like the Sony TV8, but differs in many ways. For a start it doesn't have SONY plastered all over it like sony tends to do. It was transistor, and the only valves in it were the tube, and *possibly* the HV rectifier. The guts were completely stripped out - they had been subjected to so many repairs it was a worse mess than when it was made, back when PCBs were something new!

I would like to find out what it is so I can keep an eye out for another one, and hopefully to get something that works.

Cheers,
MM.


I got the following reply from Phil Nelson (a collector of radios)...

Yes, that's unusual. Perhaps another company made a knock-off of the Sony 8-301W. The gun-metal finish and hood are so distinctive that it's hard to imagine they came up with the design without ever having seen the Sony.

Here are a couple of TV collector forums where you could post your photo and ask for help identifying it:

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3

http://www.videokarma.org/

The collectors in those forums know a lot about collectible TVs, so perhaps one of them can help you.

You need to sign up as a member (it's free) before posting your first message in the forum.

If you are able to identify it, send me a note. The existence of a knock-off might make an interesting footnote to my 8-301W article.

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios

Some further information I should have put in my email to Phil... it ran on both 12 vDC and 240vAC (Australia). Unlike the sony, the cover plate hinges down and covers the entire screen, and when up makes a 'sun shield'. The picture tube is 'Toshiba', but nothing inside or out about who made the TV itself.

It is about 11"Dx8"Wx7"H (8" diagonal screen, which looks remarkably white, but shows quite a good picture - at least when it was last running in the early 70's!)

Thanks!