Got a nice little portable set, but it had instant-on. "Insta-View" it says. the crt is 12CWP4 iirc. I have a 12" SF chassis somewhere. Anyways, this tv is unique because it has a sleep timer, reminiscent of an oven timer. It's basically just an additional mains switch.

it makes a raster but the crt is dimming and showing it's age. shame because otherwise it's clean and works well. The highest quality part of this one would have to be its all-metal handle on top. They didnt cheap out on that--but they did cheap out on the series string design and those POS pots on the back of the board(agc, height, etc.)

Zenith used that type of timer in their higher end portables in the 60's. They were made by Telechron. GE owned Telechron at the time. That little GE was a decent set, built for a price-point. Too bad none of those CRT's lasted very long. The transformer- less design was OK for a small BW set, as it made it light weight, and really didn't affect the performance.

[posting mixup]---look below

As I recall, the SF chassis I have in storage made a very bright, sharp picture after a tuner cleanout and a new 33GY7 (i think that was the #). But this one reminds me more of the two XB chassis GE's I've found...both had unusable crt emission; one was a 19" Performance series and the other a 12". In a dark room, at full brite, the screen was barely viewable.

About Telechron: got a huge old electric Warren/Telechron clock outside, AC powered, with the continuous second hand. Great conversation piece and ultra-reliable.

I have a '73 15" GE "SE" chassis set that is actually branded "Teledyne-Packard Bell". It was a NOS set; but, has vertical problems.

GE made those SE and SF chassis sets well into the mid '70's. In fact, they were made right along with the solid state XB portables and some of them even looked alike. I think the XB solid state sets were more expensive, while the Sx chassis tube sets were the economy models.

I too have seen many weak CRT's in both the tube and SS sets. Sometimes, they will rejuvenate; but, usually don't stay up long.

In the shop, I have a late '60's 19" GE B&W in a metal cabinet that has a sleep timer. IIRC, it has a bunch of weak and/or shorted tubes in it; but, the CRT was still sharp.

I've got one of those high end Zenith portables with sleep timer, and Space comand. It is one of my favorite sets.

I'd love to own a Portacolor or one of it's ilk one day.

Tom C.

For what it's worth, VDC lists a 12CWP4 for $69 - though I'd call to confirm they actually have any.

I have a used one which should be good, though I would want to retest it first. I wouldn't want much for it. PM if interested.

I'm gonna dig into the set again and see if my B&K Dynaquik can test/rejuve this crt . I doubt it though since it is mainly for older (60s) sets, even with a bunch of adapter sockets.

This one really does resemble an XB I had...cabinet is very similar.