Look what I found last weekend, in an Alladin's Cave of old tellys!
1000km south of here in a place called Creswick in SW Victoria.
The 53cm is, of course, a 3504.
The 63cm set is an AWA-built 4KA Thorn, aka BRC 4000 chassis
All were believed to be in landfill 20 years ago.
For what were very modern and classy looking set over here, your compatriots managed to make them look very dated and ugly, they look like they belong in the previous decade. Just my opinion.
A couple of our versions
Am I right in remembering you said the 3504 was the 3000 equiv? Again that looks so dated compared to our range, if it were not for the colour control it looks like many B&W sets from over here. It's probably due to the use of a turret tuner making me feel that way. After the end of the 60s I can't recall seeing such a tuner in use on any colour TV in the 70s.
An example of a UK 3500
The last colour TVs to have them over here with turrets were first gen Dual standards for VHF, e.g. PYE (CT70), GEC (2028), Baird (700-series chassis). Below last one left in my collection, again does not look as dated as it also has push button.
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So that's where that channel knob came from!!
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the 26" Thorn version of the 4KA. Pretty typical of the bland, inoffensive styling that Thorn Oz used at the time. We used to say at the time that Melbourne buyers (where Thorn had a dominant market share) were very different to those in Sydney for example.
These sets were mainly sold to Radio Rentals anyway.
The AWA version was far more stylish.
Rotary turret tuners were still used on all 1st gen colour sets in Oz. Reasons were several:
- No then-available varicap tuners could handle our difficult, crowded VHF-only regional area reception conditions, e.g. the expectation to be able to receive big city channels 200kM away when there was a local transmitter on the adjacent channel. European imports such as Blaupunkt could only be sold into markets such as Newcastle and Wollongong if they were equipped with a special tuner intended for cable systems.
- No then-available varicap tuner had an adequate S/N for 200kM reception, compared to a turret tuner.
- No then-available varicap tuners could tune Band II where our regionals were often placed (channels 3, 4, 5, 5A) This situation changed fairly quickly.
- Buyer conservatism was another likely contributing factor.
The use of Band II for TV is a story in itself. As is the story of Channel 0!
Re the 3504, that was indeed a 3500 with a mains transformer and a VHF tuner. When they appeared (in the crazy days when you could sell any colour TV you could get your hands on and all 9 local factories were running 3 shifts), I thought they were a fairly poor/rushed effort styling-wise. But then, styling-wise, the first Rank-Arena in particular (locally assembled NEC) was much worse!
We used to say at the time that Melbourne buyers (where Thorn had a dominant market share) were very different to those in Sydney for example.
My experience of working in both those cities in the early 00s was that Sydney seemed more brash than Melbourne.
The styling looks a bit austere to say the least. If the sets had no badging then the channel knob screams Thorn to anyone in the know. i notice some change to the ventilation slots in the top of the rear cover, something to do with the elevated temperatures over there but not that successful I believe.
Back in the 70s Thorn engineers were offered the chance to go and work at a production factory in New Zealand, a colleague of mine accepted the offer and relocated. They made the 4000/4KA there and also what he described as a 9000 but with a convergence board. His wife didn't settle and soon came back to the UK and the last I heard of him he had joined the clergy when the operation shutdown.
John.
