Rare Sinclair MTV1 Repair and Demo
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- After two years of collecting, troubleshooting, and repair I am pleased to demo this fine pice from England. It was quite a challenge, but the effort was worth it as the set is now working. A great addition to my portable pocket TV collection.
- Наука та технологія
Beautiful collection of micro TV's. As a kid from the UK back then, I lusted after the Sinclair MTV1. I already had the Sinclair calculators, the truly awful watch and a Micro earpiece radio. This stuff was almost Science Fiction brought to life back in the 1970's, incredibly exciting times. Every few months, some amazing new invention was just around the corner. Now, it seems everything has already been invented. Doesn't seem to be any leaps in technology now, just smal incremental improvements.
My kids just take every bit of technology for granted now and they cannot understand how exciting those times were. Back when a HiFi was cutting edge with more controls than a space shuttle and you lusted after the next improvement, cassette tapes then CD's then remote control HiFi's, direct drive strobe controlled record decks. I wish I was back there. Real cars with big engines and raw power, fuel was cheap, insurance was cheap and so were the cars compared to now. Electric cars are not for me.
For me, it started out with the Sinclair Micromatic a.k.a "matchbox radio" - I have fond memories of both, showing it off at school (I must have been 8 or 9), and listening to Radio Luxembourg in bed. When I was a teenager, I too lusted after the MTV1, as soon as I heard about it in the news, but always knew that it would be out of my reach...Fast forward 40 plus years, and I own quite few of them, in various states; my goal is, with assistance from helpful videos such as this, to get as many of them working as I can - will probably keep me busy for most of my retirement years :)
@@asim4820 My 1st Sinclair calculator was the result of seeing my friend at school with the calculator he had just got for his birthday and me running home after school asking my Mum to get me one. I still have that very calculator, still working.
Must have felt great taking your matchbox radio into school, nothing better than showing your friends the latest cool tech back then.
I still remember getting into photography back then also, I got the Zenith SLR PhotoSniper kit with a very long lens all in a big metal case. I lugged it all the way to school to show my friends, they all loved it. Just looks impossibly clunky now.
Best of luck with your MTV1 repairs and retirement (I am at that age too now, counting down to retirement), guessing more than a few leaky capacitors may be in need of replacement and an onboard battery possibly.
amazing! thank you for showing us these little wonders
I have at least one 1967 electronics magazine.. Not in my hand... But have been aware of an advert for decades that appeared in a few issues for a Sinclair micro TV. The advert showed a small square TV held in a woman's hand with the promise of it being available... It never was. I guess Sir Clive had a prototype which had issues.. It is no secret he held on to the idea of a mini TV for decades and introduced his MTV1 in 1977. Just too late to be an amazing thing, it was the first multi-standard TV, followed by the MTV-1B a simplified model PAL only..LCD was just around the corner etc. Casio and everyone else was coming to market a few years later. Sinclairs final offering was the 1983 Microvision with its crazy folded tube and was truly pocketable.. A flop. It used flat Polaroid film camera batteries (If you ever need any).
Your Panasonic 001 is amazing. I love that.
PS Plenty of tiny (one inch) CRTs available in video camera viewfinders of the late 80s early 90s. Make great tiny TVs and usually have all electronics ready made for composite feed - Sort audio out yourself, easy.
Amazing that color TV Panasonic, wow
Those are so VINTAGE!! They’re SO miniature, too!! Regardless of what one ☝️ you’re trying to fix, they’re going to be harder to do so, because the components on the circuit board are packed closer together than on a bigger TV 📺. I REALLY like 👍 your UA-cam channel, and all this vintage and retro stuff!! Your friend, Jeff!!
PS I was at school when the MTV1 was released and a shop close by had a window full of them. They looked really cool, but were absolutely out of reach for most in the UK as 199 pounds or whatever it was was a massive price for anything. The MTV1B was 99 pounds, a lot more affordable.
Me too, 200 was a LOT of money back then for a novelty item, I'm currently restoring one.
Me too. I used to look longingly through the shop window at them but knew I could never get my parents to spend that much on me at Christmas, no kids were getting £200 for Christmas back then, none that I knew anyway. That was a whole heap of money. I chose the Raleigh Scorpio Racer bike back then for Christmas and that was just over £90 to get me back and too to High School. Looking back, I had much greater use out of my bike than I ever would out of the MTV1 but still would have loved to own one.
@@manuelhung7571 🐱
Hi Kent. I loved your video, your obvious knowledge and your interest in the Sinclair Microvision MTV1. I was given one of these in 1978 the Typ-MTV.1A MODEL by a very appreciative friend of mine who I did a great favour for. I was so proud of this TV and pleased to show it off to others but for some reason I just packed it away with it's Battery Charger and Model 12300 input 117v. 60Hz 5W. output 12v DC 300ma Mains plug. Also an unused boxed Car Adaptor, also a 6volt Lead for use with 6v dry battery. Finally the plastic zipped case. All items are in good condition. I remember the last time I watched this TV which was an England Rugby match some 43 years ago, so because it was so long ago I have not dared to try charging up the batteries again in case I upset anything inside. I was thinking about putting this unit with accessories onto EBAY but before I do could I ask whether you may like to add it to your collection of 5 similar units? I would be prepared to accept a realistic offer from you Kent before I put it onto EBAY, Kind Regards John Chipchase. Cambridge.
Wow. Very interesting story thanks for sharing it. And very gracious offer to sell your unit to me. I am definitely interested in your set up. Can we chat on email? Koviatt at gmail dot com.
Nice little collection there, the closest I have is several CRT viewfinders off of old camera's.
I have one setup next to my bed, it can be set to automatically come on when someone approaches my house.
What surprised me the most was the Sinclair is using electrostatic deflection, rather that the regular magnetic.
Also that colour Panasonic caught me, I never knew they did colour on any of these small tubes.
I just came across this video Kent…
I have a couple of these MTV1’s here.
I did a repair on one of them about 20yrs ago, I have maybe another 1 or 2 of them somewhere that I never got into looking at. You’ve peeled my interest, I’ll have to dig them out now 😉
Your Panasonic TR-001 is beautiful and rare and wow it works!
Nice job, the Sinclair TV's are known for being a pain to fix. :)
Indeed! I just ordered a fifth one!!
I SHOULD OF JUST LEFT IT ALONE!
Fran of franlab just mercilessly mangled one. Kind of a shame.
just like how battery bombed motherboards should be revived
But thanks for the recommendation youtube!
Yes, I had mixed feelings about that. Frans Sinclair was a basket case, but in the right hands could have been repaired.
All but took a hammer and chisel to it !
That video LED me here...
But what's the point repairing one...
I have kind of a different take on these analog mini TVs; the fact there's very little on the air to watch on these things anymore notwithstanding, I appreciate the intellectual puzzle working on one of these things provides. The only thing I would say, being a ham for over 30 years and handling lots of NiCds supposedly sealed up in plastic, when I had occasion to have my blood tested for heavy metals, I was polluted with cadmium. With your knowledge, I suspect it wouldn't be too much of a circuit alteration (for proper charging) to pack these TVs with NiMH instead, right? (The moment I got those test results, I disposed of every NiCd I owned!)
Incredible , what you done here.
What an interesting coincidence you uploaded this video so recently, I just picked one up at a yard sale yesterday. Tube doesnt work of course but seems quite clean overall. Thanks for this video, it looks like quite a complicated little machine.
If you can find a 12 volt connector and power supply you may be able to fire it up. I have one here that would power up with a 12 volt power even though it had the original batteries in it. Pretty amazing. But yes you are correct. They are pretty finicky sets. I now have 5 of them and a sixth on the way. Ha.
@@KOVintageTech This actually came with everything including the 12 volt car adapter. I tried with that, gets static but no picture. I pulled it out of the case, battery leakage wasnt too terribly bad, mainly goo and mild corrosion on the outside Pots. Circuit board looks good so I m not entirely sure, unfortunately my knowledge of electronics repair likely isnt to your level. I m sure it will entail a bit of research
@@ST19859 fantastic that you have the accessories!! Also the goo by the knobs is a grease they used. It’s red, right? You could try to cut the fuse link and see if the display lights up. If the fuse link is still there the bad batteries will choke the power badly and can prevent the oscillator from running which drives all the high voltage circuits. You can desolder that tiny wire (fuse link). The unit will then power entirely off your 12 volt supply. The schematics that I have are very poor and hard to read which makes it even more challenging to repair.
@@KOVintageTech Yea it has everything I think, even the original box, though that is pretty beat up. Thanks for the suggestion on the fuse link, I hadnt thought about that though I was trying to think of a way to bypass the batteries. And yea now that I look that is grease I think. Really very little corrosion at all then.
@@ST19859 please keep us posted on your progress.
Hey Kent, excellent bit of information there, its rare to see so much knowledge on these things, thank you for your efforts!
I currently have one apart and I'm excited to say that with a little cleaning and battery removal, it boots up with sound! (it has not been turned on since 1994).
The only thing broken is that 100nF capacitor on the Tuner Board which shattered as soon as I touched it. What type of capacitor did you substitute it with?
I used a ceramic cap. About the same dimensions. So tickled to hear that your got yours fired up. Thank you for the kind remarks.
I got mine to work by replacing the batteries but how to I get a signal since everything is digital?
Great insight to the sinclair tv have you the bent tube version yet the FTV1 ?
Yes I finally got one and got it playing. It’s beautiful.
i have a complete box set, some accessories unopened until today...with power, the picture tube works.....going to read the instructions to see if i can get a channel....putting on ebay for ???
That’s great! Full set. Nice. The unit may power up with external power but the batteries are likely leaky and damaged. Prices are all over the place. Best of luck to you on your eBay sale.
have only seen one price $200....i might unload for $300...downsizing....thank you for the quick response....
@@KOVintageTech
Not sure but the metal could be a stand .
How time consuming is it to replace the internal batteries?
Sorry for the delay. It takes a couple hours. But depends on the condition of the tv. Sometimes there is bad corrosion that has to be resolved.
Can u please tell me where you purchased the new batteries?
Amazon sells a 1.2 volt nicad. Very common rechargeable AA battery
I found them but that's only 4.8 volts I thought it works on 6-12 volts? Do u know the part# of the 3 leg transistor? I found this tv today at a indoor flea market for 20.00. I disassembled it and the batteries are bad but there's no leakage anywhere. Do u think it's repairable? It didn't have the power adapter either. Buy I think it was a great price for its age.
@@genesantos7656 the battery power is looking for 4.8 (5) volts as designed so these work great. The 6&12 volt adapters are plugged into a regulator circuit to drop the voltages. I am not sure which transistor you tea talking about. There are several on the tv. That $20 is a terrific price. Good job!!
The transistor you said u took out of one to get the other working in the video
@@genesantos7656 OK I’ll have to look at that again. I work on so many of these. I can’t keep track of all those details.
A bit like Apple of its time. Makes claims that aren't true and difficult to repair.
hello y hef at home more than 9 lcd mini tvs and picture tube color tv mini tvs and the sony wath man black and wite projectie tube and the realistic prijetietub is biggere than the sony and one realistick radio tv 3 cm picture tube hef the sony wath mann to ja greats from holland
Mine has picture but dont have sound?
It is likely a bad pin connection where the boards meet.
Have u ever had to replace the 2 ic chips on the audio board?
@@genesantos7656 no. Never had any trouble with them.
Can u please tell me where the 2 wires coming from the headphone jack connect on the board? yellow wire and blue wire
@@genesantos7656 also if your headphone wires are disconnected then you will have no audio.
I have an mtv1 from 78 i dont know of it works
I want to buy an charging cable do you know how much amp max you can put in.
@@spectator9497 the 12 volt Sinclair AC adapters units are 500 milliamp. That’s .5 Amp. The unit draws around 200 mA when playing video and draws 60 mA when off and charging new batteries.
I want to sell it you know how much this tv is worth
@@spectator9497 in the US they are selling on eBay from $40 to $150 depending on condition and accessories. I have 5 of them. They are challenging to repair and parts are scarce. Two of mine are with original boxes and papers. Those bring a little more.
@@KOVintageTech well i have the case with it condition looks great