DIY Kitset TV From Hokitika Unearthed As NZ's Oldest TV

DIY Kitset TV From Hokitika Unearthed As New Zealand’s Oldest TV

A 53-year-old television from the West Coast has been unearthed as the country’s oldest working TV set.

The DIY kitset TV beat almost 300 entries to win the Going Digital Oldest Telly competition, which was launched to prove that New Zealanders don’t need a new TV to go digital.

The winning set was converted to digital on Friday 3 June and the original owner of the TV, 92-year-old Elva Reynolds of Hokitika, was announced as the winner on Breakfast on TV1

The set was assembled by her husband, the late Winston Reynolds, the former mayor of Hokitika, in 1958, the same year Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole and the 111 emergency number was introduced to New Zealand.

Assembled with parts from Australia, the TV was one of the first sets on the West Coast and even received a signal from across the Tasman before television transmission finally arrived on the Coast in 1972. The set was eventually donated to Hokitika Museum in the 1970s.

Greg Harford, national manager for Going Digital, said: “This competition was all about reminding viewers that age is no barrier to getting your old TV to go digital ahead of the switchover between next year and 2013.

“With the first switchover in Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast occurring next year, we’re encouraging New Zealanders to plan ahead and help their friends and family to go digital sooner rather than later, because doing so will bring a better TV picture, more choice and new services such as onscreen TV guides.

“If you have Sky, TelstraClear or Freeview, you have already gone digital, if not, you’ll need a set top box and the appropriate aerial or satellite dish, depending on where you live.”

Older television sets can go digital with a set-top box, along with a commonplace RF modulator, available from most electronics shops.

Elva Reynolds said: “I recall my husband Winston assembling the TV as it was one of the first on the West Coast. I’m sure Winston would have been delighted the set has been named New Zealand’s oldest television.”

ENDS

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