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Old 11th Apr 2017, 9:47 am   #1
enjaydee
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Default Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

I have a Sony Trinitron KV1800-UB, one of the first 18" sets into the UK, bought new in 1973 by my father. It still works! It has been carefully looked after and is in near perfect condition cosmetically. Colour hues are not as perfect as they once were, but for a 44year old set, it's pretty amazing. Can anyone advise me whether this is a set of much interest?
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Old 11th Apr 2017, 10:38 am   #2
toshiba tony
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Had loads of these, the KV1810 was a little more troublesome due to gcs's, but the 1800, they were super reliable. Rotary tuning, standard psu and line output, all the ones I see now have tired crt's. And they don't boost. Value is debatable, unless you are a tv enthusiast.
Cracking sets though, and yes, I'm biassed, I worked for Sony during their run.
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Old 11th Apr 2017, 11:37 am   #3
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

gcs's
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Old 11th Apr 2017, 11:51 am   #4
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Yes Gate Controlled Switches, SG813 from memory, clever but damned expensive. The KV2000 used one, but in the EW, they rarely popped.
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Old 12th Apr 2017, 12:22 pm   #5
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Yes, minimal financial value, I'm afraid, but if you want to find a good home for it, I'm sure someone here would provide one.

Forum member Studio263 is an expert on early Sony tellies: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/member.php?u=4728

Here's a brief write-up of one he did earlier: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=42917

Nick.
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Old 12th Apr 2017, 1:23 pm   #6
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Hi there
"Had loads of these, the KV1810 was a little more troublesome due to gcs's"

Tony wins the award for understatement!
The 1800 was a good TV. The odd electrolytic going crusty and the tuner drive seizing were the main faults. And, sadly, the tube didn't last long. I have one with a mediocre tube that cost the princely sum of 99p on ebay! So, not very valuable. Still, as Nick says, someone will want it.
Glyn
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Old 12th Apr 2017, 5:21 pm   #7
toshiba tony
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

OK Glyn, Iv'e mellowed in my old age, I don't offend any forums anymore, I used to!!!
I bl**dy hated em'.
Good pics though, with their 120 degree tubes. Ah, nostalgia..............
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Old 12th Apr 2017, 5:47 pm   #8
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Quote:
Originally Posted by toshiba tony View Post
Good pics though, with their 120 degree tubes. Ah, nostalgia..............
I think the were a couple of degrees short of that, weren't they 114?

The 1810's were only good for spares. With one of the GCS' blown they were BER.
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Old 12th Apr 2017, 7:06 pm   #9
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Hi.

Agreed, the 1800 was a nice reliable set that was good for servicing. The 1810 however was quite a contrast but when working gave an excellent picture.
I've been reading an interesting article in "Television" magazine, December 1984 which described a way of rebuilding the PSU and line output stage in the 1810 by using modified circuits employing transistors in place of the expensive GCS devices. A BU426A chopper transistor and a BU208A line output transistor were used with associated modifications. One GCS was retained, this was Q602. A line drive transformer from the RBM A823 chassis was used in place of the original transformer.

Regards
Symon
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Old 13th Apr 2017, 12:27 pm   #10
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Hi
I remember that. I think I started modifying one but lost interest! Someone pointed out in Television magazine that you could replace the expensive GCS with the much cheaper E/W one from the later chassis with no ill effects and got roundly slapped on the wrist by Sony Technical for daring to do this. Oddly the price of the E/W GCS increased dramatically overnight...
Just to clarify, we're talking about the 1810, not the good old 1800. Incidentally, no other tube will do in the 1800 and boosting is a lost cause on this set.
I do have a working 1810 (thanks Tim) which I switch on from time to time. It has a startlingly good picture.
Glyn
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Old 13th Apr 2017, 12:46 pm   #11
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Yes Hans 114. A long time ago
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Old 13th Apr 2017, 9:20 pm   #12
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Quote:
Originally Posted by Welsh Anorak View Post
Incidentally, no other tube will do in the 1800 and boosting is a lost cause on this set.
Is it possible to boost any Sony tube? At least that is what I heard. I never saw a 1800. Is it similar to the 1300 etc? Anyone have a PDF of the diagram? As we got colour five years after you I've missed out on all the early sets. The only first generation set I had was a Grundig.
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Old 14th Apr 2017, 10:11 am   #13
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

For anyone who is interested I connected a 1988 VHS player to the KV1800 yesterday and took these images of home video cam footage transferred to VHS in 1992 showing on the Trinitron screen. Not a bad picture after 44 years despite VHS quality! Contrast at 70%, Hue at 50%.
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Old 14th Apr 2017, 4:06 pm   #14
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

It obviously shares some of the 1300 series looks but is quite different circuit wise. That one looks quite presentable - I've seen far worse in daily use!
I found Sony CRTs to be un-boostable, even with my trusty B&K 467. Usually they would be far worse after a session than before, and even slightly increasing the heater voltage gave little improvement.
Glyn
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Old 14th Apr 2017, 5:13 pm   #15
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

When Sony first started making 19" sets for the US market, they set up a CRT plant in California, so all the 19" sets had a US sourced CRT.
They were very short-lived, as well.
To make things worse, they came out with a 26" CRT. Set owners were lucky to have the CRT last past the two year warrantee! That set cost over $1100 USD. They made a lot of enemies with that set.
There was no such thing as a rebuilt Sony CRT! Sony wouldn't sell the guns to the rebuilders.
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Old 14th Apr 2017, 8:18 pm   #16
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Two off topic posts deleted.
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Old 14th Apr 2017, 11:40 pm   #17
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

Did Sony make tubes I Europe?

Quote:
Originally Posted by usradcoll1 View Post
There was no such thing as a rebuilt Sony CRT! Sony wouldn't sell the guns to the rebuilders.
Was tube rebuilding common in USA? I never heard about tube rebuilding being done in Norway.
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Old 15th Apr 2017, 2:19 am   #18
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

It was very common! Even the big manufacturers like RCA, Sylvania, Zenith/Rauland, did rebuilt CRT's, as well as new issues. Plus, there must've been hundreds of smaller firms, rebuilding them.
Quality was all over the map, some were not done as well.
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Old 15th Apr 2017, 4:04 am   #19
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

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Did Sony make tubes I Europe?
They did. I think they had their own factory in the UK, but they also set up a production line at Standard Elektrik Lorenz when they bought Wega.

I wildly speculate that the SEL-deal was made after/because they failed to get Philips, correctly recognising the potential of the 20AX inline tube, on board.
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Old 15th Apr 2017, 11:22 am   #20
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Default Re: Sony KV1800UB 18" Trintron

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I wildly speculate that the SEL-deal was made after/because they failed to get Philips, correctly recognising the potential of the 20AX inline tube, on board.
Did Sony want to have Philips producing Trinitrons? I've seen SEL branded 20 AX tubes in ITT sets. (I can't remember what make they used later) Especially the 26" SEL tubes had short life. Not a good partner for making quality stuff. On the other hand the Philips 20AX tubes (at least the ones used in the Norköping sets) were of excellent quality. Due to my age I was not in the position to judge if Trinitron or 20AX gave the best picture when new. Was the Trinitron better when new or is that a myth?
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