Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

linescan87 · 28th Nov 2018, 12:49 am

Been messing around with this Romanian mono portable tonight, on the bench it worked when powered up. It was on for around half an hour then the picture started going dark and smoke appeared from the line output stage. A .01 decoupler on the focus supply had started to break down cooking the 470R resistor feeding it from the lopt. With that sorted normal service was resumed.

This is a fairly modern set (1985) you can see the similarities in the chassis construction of this and the other one I posted about recently. It's very well made. Which makes me ask, how many companies were producing mono sets to this standard in 1985?

Cheers,
John Joe.

hamid_1 · 30th Nov 2018, 2:58 am

Interesting - I vaguely remember seeing one of these TVs back in the '80s, but it had a different name. Not Trical, I think it was Network or Harwood. They were very cheap at the time, £39.95 in Fine Fare supermarkets. I had no idea they came from Romania. I don't recall seeing the country of origin mentioned anywhere on it.

Back in 1985 there were a number of monochrome portables on sale in the UK. Thorn / Ferguson were still making the 38030 and 38050 models in Britain at their factory in Gosport, Hampshire. There were imported sets from Iskra of Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), Unitra of Poland as well as Far-Eastern manufactured sets. Philips were still selling monochrome TVs made in Western Europe - even up to 24 inch size - though I think they had moved most of their production of small mono TVs to the Far East by that point.

There was still enough demand from people who wanted cheap second sets for use with home computers and video games, children's bedrooms or camping / caravanning. At that time there were hardly any 12 volt colour TVs, so a 12 volt monochrome TV had to do duty on the annual camping holiday. By the end of the 80s the mains-12v Nikkai Baby 10 colour TV chassis had gone on sale for just under the magic figure of £200, and mains-only colour portables cost even less. The 12 inch monochrome portable rapidly faded into obscurity.

andrewn · 30th Nov 2018, 10:34 pm

I'm sure I had two sets that used that chassis. One was branded NEI and the other Network. I remember replacing the bridge rectifier in one and the other had a small crack on the pcb that stopped the picture locking. I was given them in the mid/late 90s when lots of people used to give me their faulty stuff. I think they were thrown out a few years later when I decided to just keep colour sets. I was running out of room at the time!

Colourstar · 30th Nov 2018, 10:49 pm

I recognize this little set too. I don't think I've seen one since they were new and I instantly thought 'Network', which ties in with the other replies. Pretty sure the larger supermarkets like Asda used to sell them.

Steve

linescan87 · 1st Dec 2018, 12:32 pm

Did the sets sold in the UK have VHF tuners fitted?

John Joe.

andrewn · 2nd Dec 2018, 9:09 pm

Both my sets only had UHF tuners.

linescan87 · 4th Dec 2018, 5:41 pm

Here is a picture of the tuner fitted to my set. Is this another case of VHF tuners being omitted especially for the UK market?

John Joe.

Maarten · 4th Dec 2018, 11:17 pm

That's only the controls part, actually 6 potentiometers controlling the varicap voltage for the tuner. From the looks of it they're also suitable for VHF. If there's only a UHF tuner in the back, it's certainly a case of VHF omitted for the UK market as for any other market the VHF tuner would have been fitted.

linescan87 · 5th Dec 2018, 2:34 am

Hi Maarten,

My set is fitted with both VHF and UHF tuners, I was wondering if the sets sold in the UK had a different control panel to mine.

John Joe.

Maarten · 5th Dec 2018, 6:48 pm

Hi John,

Sorry, I must have missed the fact that you're from Ireland and then misunderstood the question. Maybe I was

linescan87 · 5th Dec 2018, 7:35 pm

Hi Maarten,

That's ok, I was born in Amsterdam to an Irish mother and English father so I get a bit confused myself sometimes! Haha!!

Regards, John Joe.

28th Nov 2018, 12:49 am	#1
linescan87 Heptode Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Meath, Ireland Posts: 551	Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Been messing around with this Romanian mono portable tonight, on the bench it worked when powered up. It was on for around half an hour then the picture started going dark and smoke appeared from the line output stage. A .01 decoupler on the focus supply had started to break down cooking the 470R resistor feeding it from the lopt. With that sorted normal service was resumed. This is a fairly modern set (1985) you can see the similarities in the chassis construction of this and the other one I posted about recently. It's very well made. Which makes me ask, how many companies were producing mono sets to this standard in 1985? Cheers, John Joe. Attached Thumbnails

30th Nov 2018, 2:58 am	#2
hamid_1 Heptode Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: High Wycombe, Bucks. UK. Posts: 811	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Interesting - I vaguely remember seeing one of these TVs back in the '80s, but it had a different name. Not Trical, I think it was Network or Harwood. They were very cheap at the time, £39.95 in Fine Fare supermarkets. I had no idea they came from Romania. I don't recall seeing the country of origin mentioned anywhere on it. Back in 1985 there were a number of monochrome portables on sale in the UK. Thorn / Ferguson were still making the 38030 and 38050 models in Britain at their factory in Gosport, Hampshire. There were imported sets from Iskra of Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), Unitra of Poland as well as Far-Eastern manufactured sets. Philips were still selling monochrome TVs made in Western Europe - even up to 24 inch size - though I think they had moved most of their production of small mono TVs to the Far East by that point. There was still enough demand from people who wanted cheap second sets for use with home computers and video games, children's bedrooms or camping / caravanning. At that time there were hardly any 12 volt colour TVs, so a 12 volt monochrome TV had to do duty on the annual camping holiday. By the end of the 80s the mains-12v Nikkai Baby 10 colour TV chassis had gone on sale for just under the magic figure of £200, and mains-only colour portables cost even less. The 12 inch monochrome portable rapidly faded into obscurity.

30th Nov 2018, 10:34 pm	#3
andrewn Pentode Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Taunton, Somerset, UK. Posts: 135	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 I'm sure I had two sets that used that chassis. One was branded NEI and the other Network. I remember replacing the bridge rectifier in one and the other had a small crack on the pcb that stopped the picture locking. I was given them in the mid/late 90s when lots of people used to give me their faulty stuff. I think they were thrown out a few years later when I decided to just keep colour sets. I was running out of room at the time!

30th Nov 2018, 10:49 pm	#4
Colourstar Octode Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 1,397	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 I recognize this little set too. I don't think I've seen one since they were new and I instantly thought 'Network', which ties in with the other replies. Pretty sure the larger supermarkets like Asda used to sell them. Steve

1st Dec 2018, 12:32 pm	#5
linescan87 Heptode Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Meath, Ireland Posts: 551	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Did the sets sold in the UK have VHF tuners fitted? John Joe.

2nd Dec 2018, 9:09 pm	#6
andrewn Pentode Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Taunton, Somerset, UK. Posts: 135	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Both my sets only had UHF tuners.

4th Dec 2018, 5:41 pm	#7
linescan87 Heptode Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Meath, Ireland Posts: 551	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Here is a picture of the tuner fitted to my set. Is this another case of VHF tuners being omitted especially for the UK market? John Joe. Attached Thumbnails

4th Dec 2018, 11:17 pm	#8
Maarten Dekatron Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Haarlem, Netherlands Posts: 4,199	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 That's only the controls part, actually 6 potentiometers controlling the varicap voltage for the tuner. From the looks of it they're also suitable for VHF. If there's only a UHF tuner in the back, it's certainly a case of VHF omitted for the UK market as for any other market the VHF tuner would have been fitted.

5th Dec 2018, 2:34 am	#9
linescan87 Heptode Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Meath, Ireland Posts: 551	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Hi Maarten, My set is fitted with both VHF and UHF tuners, I was wondering if the sets sold in the UK had a different control panel to mine. John Joe.

5th Dec 2018, 6:48 pm	#10
Maarten Dekatron Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Haarlem, Netherlands Posts: 4,199	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Hi John, Sorry, I must have missed the fact that you're from Ireland and then misunderstood the question. Maybe I was

5th Dec 2018, 7:35 pm	#11
linescan87 Heptode Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Meath, Ireland Posts: 551	Re: Another Communist set. Trical TL1210 Hi Maarten, That's ok, I was born in Amsterdam to an Irish mother and English father so I get a bit confused myself sometimes! Haha!! Regards, John Joe.