Sony KV-1520R

[Electronic M]

If this Sony doesn't have UHF and has a normal VHF tuned it could be a Canadian model....IIRC Canada waited till some time in the 70s to mandate UHF tuners.

[Jeffhs]

I had two great-aunts, now deceased, who had a Sony color portable TV similar to yours. Theirs was a 12-inch all-channel TV from, IIRC, the late 1960s or maybe the early seventies; I'm not sure, but since it was all-channel I'd guess 1970s. Their set did not have remote control, that I was ever aware of, but since they were always within a few feet of the set when watching it they really didn't need a remote. They lived in a third-floor apartment in a Cleveland suburb; the TV worked very well, as it should have in a third-story dwelling (their building did not have any kind of master TV antenna service, and this was long before their area ever had cable), using only its built-in VHF dipole and round UHF antennas. I don't know what became of the TV after they died, but I do hope it found a good home since it was working extremely well as long as they were alive and needed no service, that I was ever aware of.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

If this Sony doesn't have UHF and has a normal VHF tuned it could be a Canadian model....IIRC Canada waited till some time in the 70s to mandate UHF tuners.

The accessories pictured include a UHF loop and a 14 to 83 channel number sheet, it is likely a UHF model.
It will be interesting to find out how the tuner/remote functions on this set. I am not ruling out mechanical 12 channel with a few extra positions for UHF....yet..

jr

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

The accessories pictured include a UHF loop and a 14 to 83 channel number sheet, it is likely a UHF model.
It will be interesting to find out how the tuner/remote functions on this set. I am not ruling out mechanical 12 channel with a few extra positions for UHF....yet..

jr

You're right, don't how I missed the loop. The standard mechanical tuner with extra positions seems plausible to me. Most varactor tuner sets I've seen didn't have a concentric fine tuning knob like this so my intuition expects it to be a mechanical tuner.

[probnot]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

If this Sony doesn't have UHF and has a normal VHF tuned it could be a Canadian model....IIRC Canada waited till some time in the 70s to mandate UHF tuners.

You're right about the UHF mandate though. I have the late 60s Portacolor without UHF to prove it

I think by 1970 our sets all had UHF. Everything 1970 and after that I've found had UHF tuning.

[Popester]

That’s a keeper unless the jug is shot. Did it work when you bought it? I believe 1970 would have been the first year Sony would of had that large a screen size. In 1969 all they had was the 7” and 12” size picture tubes. First came the KV -7010U for a very limited run than the KV-7010UA these were the very first color Sony sets. Than the KV-1200U, KV-1210U, and the KV1220U, these were the 12” size. I believe the 17” and 15” size came out in 1970. The 17” had 114 degree deflection as the tube was shorter and the tv could be closer to the wall. I think I’m correct on this but correct me if I’m wrong. The KV-1722 was a sleek tall set with a small depth due to the 114 degree deflection jug.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Popester

That’s a keeper unless the jug is shot. Did it work when you bought it? I believe 1970 would have been the first year Sony would of had that large a screen size. In 1969 all they had was the 7” and 12” size picture tubes. First came the KV -7010U for a very limited run than the KV-7010UA these were the very first color Sony sets. Than the KV-1200U, KV-1210U, and the KV1220U, these were the 12” size. I believe the 17” and 15” size came out in 1970. The 17” had 114 degree deflection as the tube was shorter and the tv could be closer to the wall. I think I’m correct on this but correct me if I’m wrong. The KV-1722 was a sleek tall set with a small depth due to the 114 degree deflection jug.

You are spot on with everything you said. The 7 inch versions were from 1968 and IIRC, the 15 inch came after the 1970 KV 1722. It seems counterintuitive, but I don’t remember the 1510 out prior to the 1722. At the time, was on the hunt for a larger Sony after purchasing both the 7010UA and 1210U. It could be that both came out in the same year as you say and I would have chosen the larger set. I purchased the 1722, that was 52 years ago!

[vortalexfan]

I have 2 Zenith TVs, one from 1958, and one from 1964, that both are equipped with UHF tuners besides the VHF tuner (the one from 1964 says "All Channel" on it) which I think that TVs that had UHF on them prior to 1970 were considered "Higher End", more expensive sets because sets that had VHF only were cheaper and weren't as high end at that time. At least that's my understanding anyways.

[zeno]

US mandate was March 1964 IIRC. Any new sets had to have UHF
& NOS could be sold off. Canada came later with there mandate. Probably
most Canada sets after the mid 60's had UHF to get all the UHF from US stations. There was a second US mandate apx 1974. UHF had to be
as easy to tune as VHF. Thats why detents got added to UHF tuners or
the set had varactor tuners with presets.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[probnot]

Originally Posted by zeno

US mandate was March 1964 IIRC. Any new sets had to have UHF
& NOS could be sold off. Canada came later with there mandate. Probably
most Canada sets after the mid 60's had UHF to get all the UHF from US stations. There was a second US mandate apx 1974. UHF had to be
as easy to tune as VHF. Thats why detents got added to UHF tuners or
the set had varactor tuners with presets.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

The guy I bought my VHF-only Portacolor from said they won it in 1966, so that seems to line up with your mid 60's timeline for Canada.

It turns out the lack of UHF is kind of a pain for me, since I have a handful of analog channels modulated in my house, and all but one are on UHF.