Uncommon 1948 FADA Model 965 Console

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

This set has 31 tubes, while later TVs from the '50s to the end of the tube era had far fewer tubes. This was due to the development of multi-section 7- and nine-pin miniature tubes that could perform two or more functions. These tubes were used extensively in small portables of the '60s, and I believe there was at least one set that had both video IF stages in one tube. Probably an inexpensive set designed for use in strong signal areas; I want to say like Muntz, but I don't think that company made portable TVs.

Combining the horizontal oscillator and AFC in one tube was popular in small, inexpensive portables of the '60s-'70s. I had several small portables that did in fact combine both functions in a single tube, and in fact my Kenco (Broadmoor) set, which I bought new in 1975, had a 38HE7 horizontal output-damper tube; my Sharp all-channel portable (both sets are long gone) also had such a tube, IIRC, in the same position.

Just goes to show how far TV had come since the late 1940s. My best guess is this Fada set required an outdoor antenna to work at all in most areas, since I'm sure most TV stations of the time were low-powered operations with, at most, a 15-20 mile range. This was for so-called "local" reception outside the suburbs; to get the stations at any distance from the transmitters, however, a high-power TV antenna on a tower was required. I remember in the '60s-'70s seeing large TV antennas on towers in the Akron, Ohio area, thirty miles from Cleveland; this was before high-power UHF stations and even before cable. I knew someone in the Canton, Ohio area (sixty-some miles from Cleveland) in the '70s who was able to get decent color TV reception from Cleveland stations using rabbit ears, but I believe this was an exception, not the rule, in those days.

It's funny, you should mention Kenco! They were sold at a short-lived Appliance and TV chain in the 70's, Kennedy and Cohen.
That little B&W TV was sold as a leader for $38.00.
Most people wouldn't get them repaired, as they were so inexpensive! I got several of them as freebees and they were easy to repair. They worked well and I sold them for close to what they sold for.
They also sold a 19" color table model for $188.00, that was a rebadged Sylvania Hybrid.