AWTV Magazine – Retro Tech, TV Repair, Photography & Cultural History

  Early 80s – Started working for Colorvision on Smithdown Road (Remember them?) There were three television shops near the corner of Nicander Road –  Colorvision, Kolortron and Crazy Eddy’s (no-one by the name of Eddy there, but a few crazies.) It looked like they were in competition with each other, but all owned by Colorvision. 1984 – Went freelance, looking after service for some Colorvision franchises as well as building my own customer base repairing televisions and Video Recorders. 1984 – Formed Carefree TV along with another exe employee of Colorvision. This was mainly a slot TV rental business. 1986 – Moved into premises in Eaton Road, West Derby, adding TV sales to the business. 1987 – Carefree TV moves to County Road, Walton (opposite Walton church) benefiting from a busy shopping area. 1994 – Started Anfield and Walton TV  to re-establish my own customers and concentrate on the local area. (It was also helpful having a name beginning with “A” as this ga...

 Portable consumer video cameras had been around since the early 1980s. These had to be paired with portable video recorders that were carried over the shoulder. A thick lead would tether the video and audio from the camera to the recorder, which would have had a full size VHS cassette, mostly made by JVC or Ferguson. The sensor in the camera was a vidicron tube, a bit like a CRT in reverse. Effectively, it was a 'picture valve', just like the CRT was a valve. Camcorders This arrangement was cumbersome and inconvenient. The answer was to combine the camera with the recorder which had already been achieved on a professional level with Sony's Betacam and the like in the late seventies. There was actually industrial action that took the ITV network off air for many weeks in 1979 because of these 'electronic news gathering' cameras. Unions were worried that the transition from 16mm film to the new electronic format would cost jobs. That's another story and we digres...

 Retro Tech explores the technology, gadgets, broadcast equipment and cultural moments that shaped the past. From vintage cameras and VHS to classic TV production and early computers, this section dives into the tech that defined generations. Why This Section Exists With decades of hands‑on experience in electronics and media technology, I break down how older tech worked, why it mattered, and how it shaped today’s digital world. TV Repair Section  Home

  Have you moved into a new place and found that the aerial doesn’t work, or has no aerial at all? Or your TV suddenly says ” No signal received, check your aerial” – almost certainly due to your aerial blown down or the coax downlead has snapped or has water inside. Coax outer sleeve stripped away Make Your Own TV Aerial Grab yourself a length of coax, between 1-2 m long, and put a coax plug on one end. You should be able to use the one that is already in the TV if you already had an aerial. If not, have a look and see if there’s a coax fly lead lying around. Usually they have a male plug on one end and female the other. Keep the male plug, it will connect to the TV. You can cut the plug on the other end off. You should have a length of coax with a plug on one end, we’ll call this A, and nothing on the other, (B). Cut back about 6″ of sleeve off end B, exposing the outer braid. Some poor quality coax may only have a few strands of braid. However you do this, be careful with those...

    I wish I had a pound, or Dollar for everyone who has rang asking if a broken TV screen can be repaired. The usual story is that the little one has thrown something at it or bashed it with Buzz Lightyear or some other object. If that has happened to you, you’re not alone and happens to lots of TV’s every day. Cracked TV Screen Beyond Repair The answer is - it can’t be fixed! Just as when a pane of glass is cracked, the whole piece has to be replaced - so the whole screen would have to be replaced. You have more chance of finding hen’s teeth than a replacement screen, and then the cost of replacement and fitting would be more than the TV is worth(the screen makes up about 85% of the total cost of the TV) - so basically, it’s a write off. Screen Protector It may be a bit late if it’s happened to you, but the best thing is Prevention. You need a Screen Protector. These    may seem  expensive at first, but look upon it as a one- off insurance payment that wil...

  I am often asked “what is the best make?” The answer years ago would have been the well-known Japanese makes along with Philips and Ferguson. Many of the top names don’t even make their own TVs anymore. Most TVs are made by a company called Vestel, which is based in Turkey. Almost all of the cheap TVs in supermarkets with obscure names are made by Vestel. I have seen the likes of Toshiba, JVC, Hitachi and Panasonic with the same Vestel panels in them as the cheaper brands, so people have paid extra for the name. There was a time when nearly all screens were made by Samsung or LG. Many TVs now have screens that are made by Vestel or of Chinese manufacture. I would go for Samsung, Sony and LG. Look for the models that come with 5 years warranty. Retailers don’t want to see them again once they are sold, so they must be confident that the TV will last at least five years without any problems. Cheap TVs TVs are relatively cheap nowadays, but you get what you pay for, and the quality ...

  This is the most common problem with TVs today. Most likely cause is backlight failure The backlights are bright LEDs on strips behind the screen, or sometimes along the edge of the screen.  They are usually 3 Volt or 6 Volt and connected in series, so if one goes open circuit, this will break the current to them all very similar to the old fairy lights where you had to check each one to see which one had failed. The TV will have to be dismantled and the screen removed to get at the backlights. Before replacement strips were widely available, the faulty LED, or more would be replaced, but this proved unreliable as the other LEDs were also likely to fail at some point. It eventually became possible to obtain complete sets of LED strips that made a lasting repair. The cost of replacement varies with screen size as well as make and model. You are looking around £85 for a 32" and £120 - £200 for 40"- 55".   £150 is around the average. How can you tell if it's backlight...