One of the great joys (or curses) of being a ratpack is the absolute delight of searching for 100 watt light bulb in the garage storage shelf and accidentally stumbling upon a shoebox filled with assorted treasures. Pictures, matchbooks, ink pens, old business cards, TV remotes, a Palm Pilot with a cracked screen, and … a Sony Watchman.

I remember buying this Sony to watch the broadcast of NFL football at the same NFL game. At least that justified the purchase back then. Having television in the palm of one’s hand was pretty cool technology. I could watch the three network channels (ABC, NBC and CBS) plus one UHF station which was pretty amazing back in the old days before cable was around.

Anyway, I inserted some fresh AA batteries and BAM! It works!

I looked online to try to find some information; Amazon still shows the Sony FDL-22 2.2″ Watchman Color TV in their product listing, with the disclaimer “Currently unavailable. We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.” Ask Kerry Woo…

From left to right: 6V DC in jack, UHF/VHF/OFF switch, Brightness and Volume switch.

Channel selector - up /down rocker and a headphone jack.

Technical Details:

• Sony Watchman Model # FDL-22
• Made in Japan.
• 3.25 x 6.12 x 1.75 inches (W x H x D).
• Receives channels 2 to 13 (VHF) and 14 to 69 (UHF).
• Electronically tunes up or down the band quickly with the push of a button (no dials).
• Uses 4 AA batteries (batteries not included). There is also a jack for a 6V DC input (adapter not included)
• Volume and brightness adjustment dials.
• The neck strap is adjustable length and doubles as the TV antenna.
• Built-in speaker, plus a standard mini-headphone jack for private listening.

My only regret was tossing my old Motorola Bag Phone… sigh.

15 Responses to “Surprise in a Shoebox: The Sony Watchman”

Judie Lipsett
Jan 28th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Kerry! I have one of these (similar anyway) in a box, too! And I think I have an old bag phone you can have, if you really miss yours.

Kerry Woo
Jan 28th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I’ll do a trade - emailing you off line. Worth a retro review on it’s own. Wonder if our readers would like a retro gadget giveaway?

Judie Lipsett
Jan 28th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Oooh! Check your email!

TrvlngDrew
Jan 29th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Waaay too funny.. I do a regular purge and put it on EBay or give it away.. Changing continents every few years has a way of limiting storage..

Dave Beauvais
Jan 29th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Wow, that brings back memories! I had the black and white predecessor to that one which used an actual CRT instead of one of those new-fangled LCDs!

Here are a couple sites which show what it looked like:
http://chicago.craigslist.org/…..89100.html
http://www.thevalvepage.com/tv…..tchman.htm

doogald
Jan 29th, 2008 at 8:38 am
I still have the old black & white one sitting on a shelf in my basement. I bought it in 1985 on sale from a Crazy Eddies in New Jersey; it has a NY Mets logo on it. And it still works (the last time I used it was during an extended power outage a few years ago, to watch the news.) I guess I can still watch it until next year, anyway.

Augie
Jan 29th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I remember Crazy Eddie and his crazy commercials. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a handheld, but we did have a little portable black n white. What I want now is a portable/handheld TV that I can watch live without 3rd party aps/harware like Orb/Slingbox. I’m surprized DirecTV OR Dish hasn’t made any devices that play live TV like Sirrius has for their satellite radio.

Joel Mclaughlin
Jan 29th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I have one in my desk as well. I also had a black and white Sony TV I bought when going to a apartment from a rooming house. I remember having batteries in it in 1992 and watching/listening to Gulf War coverage on NBC as I drove to school. Ahhh memories.

sixftunda
Jan 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I am I correct in thinking that next year that Watchman won’t work once things go digital?

Joel Mclaughlin
Jan 29th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Yep. Past February 2009, it won’t work. So long ole analog TV!

Augie
Jan 29th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Well, there might be a “palmtop” converter box so you can view the digital reception on your Watchman. Oh, wait, it doesn’t have any inputs.

Maybe you can donate it to the Paranormal Society of America where they might have use for it in researching Electronic Voice Phenomenon, you know, contact with the afterlife through the white noise and all.

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