Standard Kollsman has been making high-tech aircraft instruments for 75 years, and has delved into many other business ventures, including making UHF converters and tuners for the television industry in the 1960s. This converter may have been the company's only venture into consumer products. The styling and construction suggest that SK had some savvy folks in the division that produced this and the successor model TA.

The circuit uses a 6DS4, one of the then-new Nuvistor subminiature vacuum tubes which were well-suited to VHF and UHF TV tuners. In this case it was used as the UHF oscillator, followed by a 6DZ4 IF amp. Almost certainly the tuner assembly in this converter was derived from the OEM UHF tuners SK made for such television manufacturers as Emerson. A small transformer and semiconductor diode supplied the filament and plate power to the tubes.

Model TA

The Nuvistor tubes were quickly outmoded by advances in high-frequency transistors, which no doubt prompted SK to introduce the solid-state model TA. It is almost identical in appearance and operation to the model A, with the exception that the front panel reads, "Deluxe Transistorized" instead of "Deluxe UHF Converter." The metal and plastic cabinet and knobs were unchanged.

Updated October 5, 2021