I finally got one of the cheapened, dumbed-down Sony FDT-5BX5 portables on eBay last week to add to my Sony collection, which I think, gives me every 5" Sony CRT color set made! (Unless there's one I'm not thinking of)... The FDT-5BX5 (and possibly the KV-25TH) are not true Trinitrons, as the have non-Sony CRTs in them. I haven't opened up the KV-25TH to verify, as maybe I don't want to know :music:

There are a couple of other color variants available of the FDT-5BX5, but I guess the one black one is fine for the purpose of the collection. Also I don't have an EV-DT1, but that too is 99% identical to the DT2 shown.

Anyway, here they are, all in a row! For some reason, the PhotoBucket tags don't work when viewing through this AK photo, so from left to right, the models are: KV-5000 (1973), KV-5100 (1976), KV-5200 (1981), KV-5300 (1984), EV-DT2 with built-in 8mm VCR (1991), FDT-5BX5 (1993-late 90s), KV-25th (1994)

Charles

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/kx250racer/Sony5inchcolorline-upSmallFile.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/kx250racer/Sony5inchCollage.jpg

Lookin' good! The 5200 is a very cool-looking set. Bet these sets have incredible pictures on em. You're gonna need to set up a private NTSC system once 2009 rolls around! Keep these gems usable!

One plus about portable CRTs after the dtv transition is that the tubes will likely last indefinitely since they'll see little or no use anymore.

Sweet collection. :thmbsp: Congrats.

I've now picked up two Trinitrons from the early 80's (19" and a 15"), so I think that makes me a Trinitron collector too.

Looking good. Snade

Really helpful seeing them all together like that. I don't know my Sony's, so when I hear those model numbers being bounced around I don't know good from bad. I could sure find a place in the collection for a 5000/5200! These are the kind of sets that I expect to show up at the flea market next year for almost nothing.

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Ooh, I HATE you ! I'm SO jealous !! But that's a DAMN fine collection there, Chief ! (grin)

I am not sure I understand the reason for these not being usable after Feb 2009? If they have external antenna connections(the small portables that I own have these), the DTV converters should work with these just as with the larger sets.

I would suspect that some of the later models(late 1980s and newer) may not have these connections, but older sets should be fine. Of course, since power for the converter as well as the TV is needed, they would not be as "portable" as before, but for a collector this should not matter much.

Shhhhh...Don't let that get out...People will wise up & not toss/sell me very cheaply their ol' TVs what Don't Work No More...(grin)

I have a 1978 3.5" Panasonic B&W that has come in handy during hurricanes Katrina, Ivan, and numerous power outages. During both hurricanes, the cable was out, meaning that we had to rely on analog OTA reception. Since my DTV boxes run on AC only, that will limit the use of my portable during a power outage after 2/17/09. My only options would be to find a battery operated converter, modify my existing converter to run on a battery pack, or buy a converter that runs off a wall wart and build a battery pack to plug into it's DC input jack.

Attached are the relevant parts pages for your KV-25TH. Not sure about the CRT, but at least there is a part number to work with. Specs page identifies it as a 5" diagonal, 90 degree deflection CRT. Cover identifies it as a Trinitron TV, but....

Cheers,

Radio shack used to sell an inverter that would put out 100w at 120 volt using a car battery at a reasonable priced. One of these would run a DTV converter just fine.

However, that being said, from my experience to date with DTV, even having a modern TV capable of receiving DTV and being battery operated would not help in a storm. It has been my experience to date that over the air DTV craps completely out far before analog NTSC becomes unusable. It is my personal belief that this is one of the major weaknesses of DTV that was overlooked when this transition was ordered.

Nice group of TVs. Now, you need one of the three-Trinitron rack-mount monitor banks from the 70's/80's. I don't know what its model number is, but mine is made of three mostly-separate individual monitors. They do not have tuners, though.

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Thanks for the compliments!!!!

I've been collecting them for a long time, and all but the KV-5000 & 5100 were found on eBay within the past year due to the widely misunderstood 2009 debacle.


I certainly hope the 25th anniversary Trinitron is really a Trinitron! Did Sony actually make that last 5" non-Trinitron?

I'm going to open it up and see... I've never powered it up, although I got it on eBay "as new in the box". Therefore, I didn't get a look at the pixel configuration to verify whether or not it's a Trinitron. To be sure, I'll open it. I need to try to order a new chrome piece for the top control panel... Has a scratch. I'll try to get that, and kill 2 birds....

Nice group of TVs. Now, you need one of the three-Trinitron rack-mount monitor banks from the 70's/80's. I don't know what its model number is, but mine is made of three mostly-separate individual monitors. They do not have tuners, though.

The "triple 5"... I have a line on one, but it's still in use. I'll probably get it soon, as the studio where it is, is being upgraded. I do have one of the "triple 4" monitors; a PVM-4000.

I have a 1978 3.5" Panasonic B&W that has come in handy during hurricanes Katrina, Ivan, and numerous power outages. During both hurricanes, the cable was out, meaning that we had to rely on analog OTA reception. Since my DTV boxes run on AC only, that will limit the use of my portable during a power outage after 2/17/09. My only options would be to find a battery operated converter, modify my existing converter to run on a battery pack, or buy a converter that runs off a wall wart and build a battery pack to plug into it's DC input jack.


It wouldn't be hard to build a DC battery supply for one of those boxes to run on. I doubt if there's any B+ higher than 15 volts in there.

Charles

accidental repost :(

Do you know what differences exist between the Sony KV 5000 and KV 5100?

I certainly hope the 25th anniversary Trinitron is really a Trinitron! Did Sony actually make that last 5" non-Trinitron?

Not to revive a dead thread here, but the KV-25th is *MOST CERTAINLY* a 100 percent Trinitron picture tube, with a true aperture grille. The FDT-5BX5 was some off-shoot thing with a plain jane shadow mask and was not a Trinitron (nor marketed as-such).

In-fact, the KV-25th was a special commemoration not only for being the 25th anniversary set, but also intended to be sold/given alongwith (depending on your dealer relationship) the KV-32XBR100 which debuted the same year. That TV (technically the XBR96S before it introduced the tube itself if I'm not mistaken) introduced the final improvements to the "curved" trinitrons in the U.S. market before the WEGAS showed up, and I believe the KV-25th employed some similar production methods, though not the SuperBrix electron gun or any of that fanciness. If you look at the OP's photos, you can clearly see that the KV-25th employed a tube that was much shallower overall, and not simply some re-packaged version of say, the tube in the EV-DT2 (which is one I had missed, apparently).

I'm actually a little puzzled, and somewhat surprised, that those who would go to the lengths to find and purchase this special TV wouldn't know this, or power it on and use it at least once or twice, which would make it clear to those who are familiar with aperture grille tubes.

I am re-starting my Sony collection and the KV-25th is going to be one of the centerpieces on the TV side, along with the GV-200 and GV-S50 Video Walkmans and some of the FDL Watchmans and possibly a couple of Casio/Hitachi models. I'm beginning to feel like this stuff is just going to be lost to history and it's part of my childhood. Though I'm a car enthusiast now, I didn't play kickball or baseball or soccer with the other kids when I was growing up. And though I had toy cars, I grew out of them quickly. My hobby was always electronics, and I spent many a night with my head plowed inside a copy of Sony Style, the Radio Shack catalogs or Videomaker magazine along with my car magazines.

Here's a thread I started last time I went on the hunt for one of these with some cool pics and info (I did actually find one, but the condition was not great so I just flipped it)... http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1429989

Now I'm looking again!

P.S. The "ultimate" collection of 5 inch Trinitrons, of course, would also require obtaining an entire functioning Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo with the "EVIC" option (sorry about the size) ;)

http://twigapix.com/images/Ebay%201/Ebay%2093452.jpg

http://twigapix.com/images/Ebay%201/Ebay%2093457.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1431/1021/3575510006_large.jpg

I have one, a 1989. . Right now--it is not running. Sitting in the driveway--for over a year now--since just before I got sick. I ABSOLUTELY intend to get it going. Last time I checked it---the engine and such WERE good. But it has a stall problem and is badly leaking gas. The VIC screen does work along with the other electronics, but there is some intermittent problem , causing the dash and other things to "flicker" on and off". I THINK that problem is those bus points up front---the terminals look nasty and corroded. I am going to remove them and clean them all--maybe that will even help the stall issue. I love the car---and drove it for over 4 years--before it died. I have shown it here before. I really like the VIC screen.

I have one, a 1989. . Right now--it is not running. Sitting in the driveway--for over a year now--since just before I got sick. I ABSOLUTELY intend to get it going. Last time I checked it---the engine and such WERE good. But it has a stall problem and is badly leaking gas. The VIC screen does work along with the other electronics, but there is some intermittent problem , causing the dash and other things to "flicker" on and off". I THINK that problem is those bus points up front---the terminals look nasty and corroded. I am going to remove them and clean them all--maybe that will even help the stall issue. I love the car---and drove it for over 4 years--before it died. I have shown it here before. I really like the VIC screen.

The car is totally worth getting it running again. As cool as the VIC is, the car itself just happens to be gorgeous, too!

And so... it begins. Picked up this little guy today... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sony-FDL-3500-Color-Watchman-TV-early-1990s-/191207842369?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=RKMQktoDk9SntKdOHU5DiFC8wUo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

My goal is to find *ALL* of the Sony things in my planned collection with their original boxes. Will likely require much patience and waiting...

I have a Sony question. I luvs me a good working Trinitron tube, but my complaint is that they weren't the longest lasting tube out there. When the tube is good, you'd be hard pressed to find a better picture, but more often than not, when I find an older model, the tube is bad :(
My question tho.. when did it become common for a Sony set to roll off the line with a NON Trinitron tube? I could be wrong, but I think the whole "Wega" series rolled off the line with those flat faced/fine pitch "Orion" tubes in them. I was somewhat P.O'd at Sony for having a set marked "Trinitron" without that tube in it.

I can't remember the model number, but I've seen a couple of Sony 5" in car monitors that came as part of a combined TV/stereo/navigation system in some early 90s Japanese luxury cars.

These were definitely branded Sony around the CRT bezel, as were the rest of the components. I don't know if they were a factory option or an aftermarket system. The monitor was in a double din case with various push buttons around the edges. Everything else was in multiple units that mounted in the trunk - CD stacker, TV tuner/video switcher (the in dash monitor had only a RGB input), navigation (with it's own cd stacker for map CDs) and several amplifiers.

I've seen a couple of these setups (only one complete) come to auction, but they've gone for more than I wanted to spend just to play with the monitor.

I've never opened a Trinitron and found anything but a Sony CRT. I do have a 2004ish last-gasp (at least for those sold here) 14" that I haven't needed to open - I'll have to check it.

I have a Sony question. I luvs me a good working Trinitron tube, but my complaint is that they weren't the longest lasting tube out there. When the tube is good, you'd be hard pressed to find a better picture, but more often than not, when I find an older model, the tube is bad :(
My question tho.. when did it become common for a Sony set to roll off the line with a NON Trinitron tube? I could be wrong, but I think the whole "Wega" series rolled off the line with those flat faced/fine pitch "Orion" tubes in them. I was somewhat P.O'd at Sony for having a set marked "Trinitron" without that tube in it.

I scrapped a 13" Sony Trinitron "Wega" series set, that was smashed beyond repair. The CRT was labeled Sony Trinitron, for what it's worth.
I know for sure my 5" Sony Color Watchman, the set or the CRT is not labeled Trinitron.

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Andy, I think you are correct. I know my 2003 Toshiba has an Orion tube, but as for Sony, I don't consider it a true Trinitron unless it has a "real" Trinitron tube. From Google: * The Trinitron design incorporates two unique features: the single-gun three-cathode picture tube, and the vertically aligned aperture grille.
The single gun consists of a long-necked tube with a single electrode at its base, flaring out into a horizontally-aligned rectangular shape with three vertically-aligned rectangular cathodes inside. Each cathode is fed the amplified signal from one of the decoded RGB signals.
To me, that tube was the one that allowed the picture to be so good, with dead on convergence. I've been reading up on the tube, and saw the patent ran out in 1996, which would explain the crappy late 90's stuff Sony was cranking out. I know Sony had always used the "Trinitron" logo on their sets, but I don't consider it as such with that cost reduced tube.

Andy, I think you are correct. I know my 2003 Toshiba has an Orion tube, but as for Sony, I don't consider it a true Trinitron unless it has a "real" Trinitron tube. From Google: * The Trinitron design incorporates two unique features: the single-gun three-cathode picture tube, and the vertically aligned aperture grille.
The single gun consists of a long-necked tube with a single electrode at its base, flaring out into a horizontally-aligned rectangular shape with three vertically-aligned rectangular cathodes inside. Each cathode is fed the amplified signal from one of the decoded RGB signals.
To me, that tube was the one that allowed the picture to be so good, with dead on convergence. I've been reading up on the tube, and saw the patent ran out in 1996, which would explain the crappy late 90's stuff Sony was cranking out. I know Sony had always used the "Trinitron" logo on their sets, but I don't consider it as such with that cost reduced tube.

Well there were lots of Trinitron variants throughout the world. In Japan there were Super Trinitrons long before we got them in the US. For me, I was satisfied so long as there was an aperture grille and a picture that was notably better than the competitors, and even the WEGAS *generally* achieved this. But place a WEGA with the exception of possibly the XBR960 (the last hurrah for Trinitron as far as I'm concerned, but way too heavy for me to consider collecting) next to the 1996 "curved" Super Trinitron, and the Super Trinitron will destroy most of them even without being HD.

I think the low point for Trinitron production was the "S" Series in the late 1990s. We had dozens upon dozens of them hanging in the call center I worked at in the early 2000s and likely one third of them ALWAYS had a problem with uniformity, not powering on at all, flickering, improper wearing of the gun or something that left the picture with one predominantly milky color and so on and so forth. I worked in the tech department and we got calls about the TVs constantly. But even then, when an S Series was working properly, it still had a picture that mostly killed the competing tube standards in my opinion (and I imagine this is the cheaper tube mentioned above).

The primary thing that the patent expiry did was allow newcomers to make aperture grille sets. And to the best of my knowledge the only real major push was from Mitsubishi with the Diamondtron. And at least here in the US, I never saw a TV, just the Diamondtron monitors.

My memory may be totally failing me, but I recall the Sharp Linytron was supposed to be a varient of the Trinitron tube. Or was the Linytron name simply a play on words to imply it had Trinitron heritage?

My memory may be totally failing me, but I recall the Sharp Linytron was supposed to be a varient of the Trinitron tube. Or was the Linytron name simply a play on words to imply it had Trinitron heritage?

I remember that name, too. I remember it as just a marketing gimmick to capitalize on the success of the Trinitron brand name. Here I found one in a sale ad in another country (you can see the Lynitron badge in the lower left corner of the TV case)... http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-505184710-tv-sharp-lynitron-20-_JM

I remember that name, too. I remember it as just a marketing gimmick to capitalize on the success of the Trinitron brand name. Here I found one in a sale ad in another country (you can see the Lynitron badge in the lower left corner of the TV case)... http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-505184710-tv-sharp-lynitron-20-_JM


(With knowledge of bumped thread, and seems to be merited by new add'l info)... I remember how just about everybody copied the "Trinitron" concept somehow. The Sharp Linytron, the Tatung Cathaytron, and the Toshiba Blackstripe, as well as countless others. The technical difference, if I'm correct, was that the Trinitron was the only one to have a single prism and lens, and one gun structure with all 3 cathodes inside it inline. The others had variations of 3 side-by-side guns, and simply made their screens have vertical phosphor lines to look like a Trinitron. Some of those were VERY poor as compared to a delta gun, and I never saw one even close to the quality of a real Trinitron tube.

Charles