Grundig 1715A

Little is documented about the Grundig 1715A. What the record shows is a portable black-and-white television from the early 1970s, built as a close variation of the better known Grundig Triumph 1715. According to monotransistor.de, the 1715A differs from the 1715 only in "marginal external details" - but surviving documentation doesn't spell out what those details were. The base 1715 was produced from 1973 to 1975 as part of a series of portable TVs that also included the Triumph 1215 and Triumph 1415. The 1715A falls in that same era and family.

The set is a black-and-white portable that runs on both 220V mains and 12V battery power. It draws 35W from the wall or 20W on battery. It weighs 14 kg, which says something about how "portable" a 17-inch CRT television was in the mid-1970s. The tube is an A 44 - 280 W. The chassis uses 17 transistors, 1 thyristor, 33 diodes and rectifiers, and 9 integrated circuits. It covers VHF channels 2-12 and UHF channels 21-60/68, with a 75 Ω antenna input per DIN 45325. A single built-in telescopic antenna is included, along with connections for a small earpiece and headphones per DIN 45318. The speaker is a single unit rated at 15 Ω.

One caution for collectors. A forum user on retrotechnique.org noted that on the related T1715, the adjustment sliders underneath can detach, and that to avoid burning the tube, the CRT base should be removed before servicing. That advice comes from a repair context and may apply to the 1715A as well, given its close relation to the 1715. Treat it as practical hearsay, not documented fact.

Beyond that, the record is thin. No original price, no dimensions, no collector reviews, and no detailed differences between the 1715 and 1715A have surfaced. The set was clearly made in reasonable numbers, but it left little paper trail behind.