A friend of mine insistes that Soviet made tv's where bought in U.S.A. and Australlia, because they had a transformer, not live chassie. True or fake?

Good morning Telecolor3007.
During the Cold War Era, there were many strict trade restrictions between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. The sale of Soviet made consumer television receivers would have been covered under those restrictions. Personally, I have never found any Soviet made receivers that were sold to the public in the U.S.

Terry Cheek

A friend of mine insistes that Soviet made tv's where bought in U.S.A. and Australlia, because they had a transformer, not live chassie. True or fake?

If your friend is claiming that the presence of a power transformer
on a TV is evidence of Soviet manufacture, he is obviously wrong.
U.S. and Canadian manufacturers had roughly comparable numbers
of models with and without power transformers in the tube era.

It is true that by the late seventies, many brand name replacement
tubes were Soviet made. Around 1976 (I was 15), I went to Payette
Radio (long defunct radio parts store) in Montreal and bought a Sylvania
5Y3GT that was plainly marked USSR. I still have the tube to this day
in one of my radios.

Personally speaking, I would say the answer to that is NO! Not too many people over here were aware of a "hot" chassis in the first place and Soviet produced merchandise has never been well received here esp in the cold war era. In the late '60's I cannot remember any such issue of a transformer set vs a transformerless set. I can remember back in the late '50's while in grade school in Arlington, Va., that everyone was fearful of the USSR. "Better dead than red" were some of the expressions of the day and I know of no one who would have bought any such product.

This also begs the question of parts, service and warranty repair. Can you imagine a family in that era buying a Soviet TV set! Your neighbors would probably look at you in a different light after that. For that matter, even Japanese sets of the '60's were looked down on and I remember servicing a Hitachi 21" color console in 1970 that everyone looked at it as "what's that"?? It did however have a beautiful color picture!

The only Soviet sets that I have seen have been in Steve McVoys' museum or a picture of one on the internet. They would have to be quite rare and besides, who in Russia could afford one anyway? They would have not been produced in any great numbers. Also their early automobiles are rare and we didn't import any of them either. From any standpoint, much of their stuff was reverse engineered and the quality of their materials was far from satisfactory resulting in a inferior product. Another good example of terrible Soviet products were watches, cameras, calculators and motorcycles. (All reverse engineered) They even tried to copy our Harley Davidson motorcycles resulting in a vehicle that would only run on a 6:1 compression ratio because of 30-50 octane gas over there and manufactured with Soviet iron that you could bend with your bare hands! Stalin also killed all intellectuals and scientists, burned all books that he could to control the public so the gene pool was diminished in the heraldry of engineering. All of the lucky ones came to our country. David Sarnoff? Zworykin? What an interesting read!!

Starting in the late 80's we began to see Soviet products such as "submarine clocks", military uniforms and other such "surplus" being sold here. There was no such animal as this stuff was being marketed to raise cash in their collapsed economy. They had starved their people to build a unwanted war machine and the only things they could make in any quanity was military stuff and was touted as "surplus". There were thousands of those "submarine clocks" available as if they were going to build that many subs! As most of you know, if that clock or watch has a picture of a sub or otherwise on its' face, it is not real surplus but is a novelty item being touted as such. You notice it was all brand new in the wrap-of course it was, it was MADE YESTERDAY! They still sell those early version night vision items which are at least 20 years behind ours and cannot be repaired. Don't buy any of 'em, they're JUNK!!

Tubes: Guess what? When we got down to our last four tube manufacturers, (RCA, GE, Westinghouse and Sylvania) they all traded around to save production costs and when they went out of the tube business, the equipment was taken down AND GIVEN OR SOLD CHEAP TO THE SOVIETS!! We felt at that time that we no longer needed tubes or would ever sell them again and the Soviets, who were at least 20 years behind us in technology were still using them hence their insatiable demand for manufacturing tubes. NOW THEY ARE MAKING THEM AND SELLING THEM BACK TO US FOR 20 OR MORE TIMES THE COST!! Especially audio tubes and I'm still not impressed with them either. It does make me sick when I hear "audiophiles" start talking about their Macs or other tube amps and their special "tubes" like they were invented/discovered yesterday. BS!! Yes, they may sound OK but they just are not worth what they want for them. I did tubes for over 30 years as a living and longer as a hobby so they don't get my immediate attention!

I do however like to play with my tube radios and TV's, and making them work is my natural high!

Pretty much anywhere you go, old technology is given away or sold for very little cost. Since tubes work quite well, they stuck with them for a long time and didn't have to pay any R & D to upgrade themselves. What wasn't given to them, they tried to copy by reverse engineering. I like to collect early four function mechanical calculators and I have an exact Russian copy of a Swedish Odhner. They are identical except for the Russian logo/brand name. Also for the sake of any argument here, Zenith lost their luster quickly when they wouldn't update their facilities and use new improved manufacturing techniques; that's why they failed in their later years. Remember their hand wired chassis'? It had nothing to do with quality as they touted. It is a very expensive manufacturing process but was by far cheaper than upgrading their assembly lines.

I have NEVER seen a Soviet era consumer electronic good for sale in this country, except for a few radios sold as collector's items on Ebay. Well, I take that back-Around 1991-92, gunshows were flooded w/certain Soviet military paraphanalia-Pistols, ammo, a few Dragunov rifles, & nightscopes. I bought a "Baikal" pistol, its roughly equivalent to a 380 ACP, but it really shoots HARD, due to a poor grip design. I also got a night vision scope, a 1st generation design, which only worked for about a year before it checked out. I was told that they are basically unrepairable. In the late '70s, the Soviets started sending tractors & other agricultural equipment over here to sell. It was sort of a bad joke. The stuff was CHEAP, to be sure, but it was very crude, & trying to sell Rooskie tractors to super-patriotic red-blooded American farmers was somewhat of an exercise in futility...

Soviet TV's used the European PAL broadcast format, whereas the U.S. uses NTSC. Thus, no Soviet-made TV would work here, so none could ever be sold here. No other reasons like transformers matter.

Soviet TV's used the European PAL broadcast format, whereas the U.S. uses NTSC. Thus, no Soviet-made TV would work here, so none could ever be sold here. No other reasons like transformers matter.

And the Japanese don't make cars for the U.S. market, since Japanese
cars are RHD and U.S. cars are LHD... (!)

Some time ago, Ingo Kubbe shared his experiences with Soviet television. While living in East Germany, he said it wasn't unusual to see a flaming television being tossed from an open apartment window. He was trying to dissuade me from adding a Soviet television to my collection. That project is still on the back burner.

Terry Cheek

Maybe the Soviet televisions that caught fire where the colour ones... I din't hear in Romania that black and white soviet tv sets to cought fire.

Soviet TV's used the European PAL broadcast format, whereas the U.S. uses NTSC. Thus, no Soviet-made TV would work here, so none could ever be sold here. No other reasons like transformers matter.

Hmmmmm ......
USSR=SECAM : USA=NTSC
During the Cold War, didn't the Soviet Union provide the NTSC transmitters and receivers used in Cuba?

Terry Cheek

Maybe the Soviet televisions that caught fire where the colour ones... I din't hear in Romania that black and white soviet tv sets to cought fire.

You are correct! As I recollect Ingo's story, it was the color television sets that caught fire.

Terry Cheek

The broadcast standard in the USSR was SECAM, "System Entirely Contrary to the American Method". And also 50 fields per second, 625 lines, also not compatible with American NTSC.

And besides, USSR color TV CRTs only had red phospers anyway... :D

I heared (not verified) that Soviet color picture tube where awfoul. The black and white one where quyte good! Anyway, I heard that the Western-Europanen color tv sets where pain in the a2xs too... especilally because of the voltage stabilzer tube that had to be isolated inside an led sheld, because they where small X ray generators... this why I'm dreaming at an "R.C.A." or "Zenith" :D

Russian and east European sets were quite popular in Italy: here's what we have here

Unitra B/W and color sets from Poland, from the mid 70s to the early 80s

Geloso branded "EI" sets (B/W portables and color) from Yugoslavia

VideoPocket 5" B/W portables from USSR, sold from the mid 70s to the mid 90s, actually a wonderful little piece of engineering.

Telecolor 80s sets from Romania.

Tesla B/W sets from Czechoslowakia in the 60s and early 70s.

Also many Italian set makers used russian KEA-IT capacitors in the Early-mid 80s, these were fairly reliable, much better than the Daewoo or Nichicon capacitors they used in the late 80s

Yep, you guys are correct - the Russian system is SECAM, not PAL. For the last 10 years I've been working in Russia, the TV's they use (all imported, BTW) use PAL/SECAM encoding, so I assumed it was PAL without doing my homework. I actually had my original post as PAL/SECAM before editing it out to only PAL.

If you ever saw an old Soviet factory operate, you would understand why it would be well nigh impossible for their system to have had the flexibility to alter their design, parts manufacture, and assembly processes to accommodate:

120v/60 Hz versus 220V/50 hz power and component specs
NTSC versus PAL/SECAM (different tube architecture, if I'm not mistaken)

This wasn't the export-driven Japanese electronics economy, which depended upon the US and European markets to drive their businesses, as well as having NTSC as their native format. They had sufficient economies of scale to justify these variations, similar to LH vs. RH drive cars. Russia was (and still is) a very inward-looking society and economy, and really only concentrated on its "captive" market in eastern and central Europe during this period.

Russian and east European sets were quite popular in Italy: here's what we have here

Unitra B/W and color sets from Poland, from the mid 70s to the early 80s

Geloso branded "EI" sets (B/W portables and color) from Yugoslavia

VideoPocket 5" B/W portables from USSR, sold from the mid 70s to the mid 90s, actually a wonderful little piece of engineering.

Telecolor 80s sets from Romania.

Tesla B/W sets from Czechoslowakia in the 60s and early 70s.

Also many Italian set makers used russian KEA-IT capacitors in the Early-mid 80s, these were fairly reliable, much better than the Daewoo or Nichicon capacitors they used in the late 80s


Didn't know that Telecolors where also exported! :thmbsp: What modell they where how good they where?
And "Tesla"? Is true the components where crowded and those sets weren't to good?

Didn't know that Telecolors where also exported! :thmbsp: What modell they where how good they where?
And "Tesla"? Is true the components where crowded and those sets weren't to good?

I had the Telecolor about 10 years ago, i don't remember the exact model, it was beyond repair due to a lightning strike and a local repairman gave it to me so that i could have fun at dismantling it (which i did, sadly), the CRT was a 22" 90 degree Videocolor if memory serves.

I've seen a couple of Tesla sets, one was an early 60s set, it had a flat-on bottom metal chassis with a power transformer and was quite ordinary, very similar to many slighly older Italian or American sets, the other was a smallish mid-late 60s set with a 110 degree CRT and had a vertical fold down metal (live) chassis which was a terrible mess, everything, including the tuners and the side facing speaker was mounted on the chassis!

Yep, you guys are correct - the Russian system is SECAM, not PAL. For the last 10 years I've been working in Russia, the TV's they use (all imported, BTW) use PAL/SECAM encoding, so I assumed it was PAL without doing my homework. I actually had my original post as PAL/SECAM before editing it out to only PAL.

If you ever saw an old Soviet factory operate, you would understand why it would be well nigh impossible for their system to have had the flexibility to alter their design, parts manufacture, and assembly processes to accommodate:

120v/60 Hz versus 220V/50 hz power and component specs
NTSC versus PAL/SECAM (different tube architecture, if I'm not mistaken)

This wasn't the export-driven Japanese electronics economy, which depended upon the US and European markets to drive their businesses, as well as having NTSC as their native format. They had sufficient economies of scale to justify these variations, similar to LH vs. RH drive cars. Russia was (and still is) a very inward-looking society and economy, and really only concentrated on its "captive" market in eastern and central Europe during this period.


One thing I might mention - Japanese TV sets for the US and Canada still had to be made for export, despite common use of NTSC color, for the following reasons:
1) The channels were different - on VHF-high and UHF, one would have to always remember to convert channels (one off), and US / Canada VHF lowband would be untunable on a Japanese market set (Japan's first three channels start at 90 MHz, which is the FM radio broadcast band in The Americas).
2) Voltage- despite common 60Hz AC, 117 V American power could harm a 100 V Japanese set.
3) Markings - EXTREMELY FEW Americans can understand Katakana or Hirogama characters. A set with no knob or button marked "ON/OFF VOLUME" would have been impossible to sell.

Another problem that -may- have arisen is the fact that NTSC-J set a different standard for black (thought I suspect one twist of the brightness control would fix this for the life of the set).

The Soviets probably could have had the ability to run a production line for US market sets (not just NTSC, but different frame rate, audio frequency, tuner, power supply and markings!), but, even with trade barriers and attitudes toward the USSR at the time aside, they would have had no chance competing with Tokyo and Chicago.

Not to mention that possibly the only American to have worked in a Soviet TV factory was Lee Harvey Oswald!

In Cuba, color TV began in 1958, but sometime between 1959-1960 it was put off the air. The cubans had to be stuck with black and white TV until the mid-1970's... when they got only brand new Soviet color transmitters and TV sets.

I think that I might be EXTREMELY unlikely that any color TV set from the 1958-1960 period had survived in Cuba. Maybe even black and white TVs from before 1959 might be very hard to find, if any ( TV in Cuba began in 1950, a few weeks after Brazil ).

As for my own country, Brazil, there were never any Soviet or Eastern European TV sets sold here. Not only the standards were totally different, but also between 1947 and 1961 Brazil had no diplomatic relations with the USSR, although we had diplomatic relations with other countries from behind the Iron Curtain. Also, we were fostering our own industrial development during that period, and focused ourselves to depend less on import goods - that's why imports of TV sets from the USA decreased during the 1950's, while national production got bigger. As I remember, only two foreign nations exported TV sets to Brazil in the 1950's and 60's: the USA and Japan - the Japanese began selling TVs here during the 1950's, they had some import representatives here, from JVC, if I am not mistaken. Also, those little 8 inch B/W Sonys sold like hot cakes here in the 60's. They are very easy to find.

I do have seen, however, some components of Eastern European origin inside Brazilian made TVs of the 1950's and 60's. The countries were Yoguslavia and Tchecoslovakia. Those components were inside TVs that were made in national factories, factories that belonged to Brazilian businessman. Mostly things like capacitors and vacuum tubes. I guess they were pretty cheap.

The only Western European brand that I have seen here, was a Grundig TV set from the 50's that I saw in the collection of a guy I know. I have no idea of how this German TV set ended here, but he said that it is working - meaning that is able to receive NTSC signals.

Soviet products have a very bad reputation here. In 1990 and 1991 we made the horrible mistake of importing many thousands of that piece-of-junk-of-a-car called Lada. Yes, it was VERY cheap, but that was it's ONLY advantage. The car is a complete TRASH, from the engine to the metal used in it's body. Those Ladas seemed to be everywhere, but after a very short years they disapeared completely. Vanished. People who bought that thing lost money. Pretty quicly there were no longer any authorized dealers and repair shops. Probably parts became impossible to find - not that it make any real difference, because trying to repair that thing is a waste of time and money. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I see a Lada today on the streets during a whole YEAR. I see much more ( way much more ) 1960's VW Beetles that were Brazilian made than Ladas.

That, I guess, speaks about both the ( good ) quality of the VW and the ( zero ) quality of the Lada.

Yeah, they tried selling a Yugoslavian car called the Yugo here in the mid '80s. It was incredibly cheap-$4300, IIRC, & initially, they sold pretty well. But the bloom soon left the rose-it was basically a 10-15 yr old Fiat design to begin with, & the cars were pretty much junk. I don't know of anyone who bought a SECOND Yugo. I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Yeah, they tried selling a Yugoslavian car called the Yugo here in the mid '80s. It was incredibly cheap-$4300, IIRC, & initially, they sold pretty well. But the bloom soon left the rose-it was basically a 10-15 yr old Fiat design to begin with, & the cars were pretty much junk. I don't know of anyone who bought a SECOND Yugo. I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Interesting. I knew that the Russian Lada cars marketed in Canada from
the early eighties were a Fiat 124 design, but I never realized that the
Yugo was also a Fiat design. Ladas were still available as late as 1997,
I got to test drive the brand new one a friend had bought despite my
advice of picking a used Toyota rather than a new Lada. One feature (?)
I remember was that it you stalled the engine (easy with the truck
style clutch) you had to return the ignition key to the OFF position
before starting again, otherwise the starter motor would not turn.

I always thought the Lada Niva was a kind of neat design. Pretty original & innovative for a Soviet car, it might have cashed in on the first wave of the SUV craze, had it been sold here.

I have a god deal of personal experience with Ladas from my years in Russia. The early ones were based on the 1975 model Fiat 124, and Fiat actually helped build the AutoVAZ car factory in Russia. The early ones used a very good Soviet steel in the bodies, and can be seen running around still all over Russia. Over time the Russians began evolving the design to accommodate the needs and requirements of their particular market, so it diverged substantially from the Fiat designs of the Eighties. These things were still coming from the factory with carbs and manual chokes as late as the 2000 model year.

The first Lada Niva was the biggest piece of junk I've ever been associated with. We (Pepsi) bought four new ones in 1998, and one I was riding in literally had its transmission and transfer case fall out of the car when we driving down the road at 45 mph. It seems the first thing a new Lada owner is supposed to do with his shiny new machine is take it to a local mechanic and pay him $200 to tighten up every bolt and nut in the car! How's that for assembly line QA/QC? When I left last year nobody wanted to buy Ladas any longer - the Ford Focus made in St. Pete was the biggest selling car in Russia and the Korean and Japanese makes weren't far behind. Interestingly, a small Chevy made in Ukraine is also quite popular now, and I think GM just opened its first full assembly line in Russia recently (talk about timing).

Sorry didn't mean to crap the thread, but Russian car talk is quite fun. Every Russian man over 25 fashions himself a Smokey Yunick / Michael Schumacher combination. They are handy with wrenches - they had to be.

Weren't Crown Vics quite popular in Russia, too, as taxis & cop cars ?

Reading these posts, and I don't think anyone has brought up a prime reason for Soviet reliance on tube technology: EMP resistance. Tubes are far more likely to survive the massive electromagnetic pulse produced by a nuclear blast: thus the USSR's reliance on tubes for milcoms, radar and the like.

In Cuba, color TV began in 1958, but sometime between 1959-1960 it was put off the air. The cubans had to be stuck with black and white TV until the mid-1970's... when they got only brand new Soviet color transmitters and TV sets.

I think that I might be EXTREMELY unlikely that any color TV set from the 1958-1960 period had survived in Cuba. Maybe even black and white TVs from before 1959 might be very hard to find, if any ( TV in Cuba began in 1950, a few weeks after Brazil ).

In 1958 Cuba was still under the Batista administration, and had few or no ties to the USSR.

In all likelyhood, all those color TV sets used to watch Canal 12 were RCA CTC-5's shipped from Miami - and, in 1960-61, back TO Miami!