Thinking of getting this, but was wondering if it was an all tube set?
Does it just have a very thin CRT?

Yep, all tube. 110 deg. CRT. From about 1962, give or take a year. Go get it, they produce a good picture. I have a '61 in blue.

Thanks, I bought it last night for $55.
It's an Olympic, nice and dirty, and looks complete for restoring.
What were these type called?
I can't find any info on them....

Magnavox300

They were generally called 'slimline' or "briefcase" portables.

Just "Portable", is all I've ever heard 'em called. Looks like you've got a pretty decent set there. Dirty,yeah, but a half hour w/some rags, damp warm sponge, Windex will make all the difference in the world..

I had mistaken that one for an Admiral.

Dirty,yeah, but a half hour w/some rags, damp warm sponge, Windex will make all the difference in the world..

Your right, though I meant "nice and dirty" in the best way;
it's only because this was so dirty that it looked like such a fun project.
It's just not the same to me when things are already "cleaned up".

I was also guessing Admiral; I have an Olympic portable but the cabinet is a lot different, I think mine might be a year or so newer. Mine was made in Japan, but doesn't look it. I wouldn't be surprised if this one was as well.

I have 2 little 9 or 10" Admirals from 1964-65 that are "Thin" like that..On one, the cabinet has yellowed, on the other, its still that sort of dingy white. They give DECENT pictures, but I think they were built to a price, rather than built for "Quality"...OTOH, they ARE still here & pluggin' along after nearly 50 years..

I have 2 little 9 or 10" Admirals from 1964-65 that are "Thin" like that..On one, the cabinet has yellowed, on the other, its still that sort of dingy white.

I am assuming the cabinet is plastic?
The middle section painted red looks metal, but maybe it's all plastic...

I was also guessing Admiral; I have an Olympic portable but the cabinet is a lot different, I think mine might be a year or so newer. Mine was made in Japan, but doesn't look it. I wouldn't be surprised if this one was as well.

That one looks like the U.S. made model.
They made two models that looked alike, but one had a power transformer and all six volt tubes and the other had the series counterparts.
I only saw one set that one stage of I.F. and that was an Olympic.
Not the same model. :no:

I remember working on a few Olympics. All of mine were series string tubes, and I usually didnt have spare tubes on hand for them.

I've only seen one color Olympic, and it was an RCA clone.

I have heard people call those "briefcase" portables, which would be descriptive if you normally carry 8 or 10 bricks in your briefcase :)

Some TVs in that style have the silly "instant on" feature, where the tube filaments are kept powered after you turn the TV "off," so that it comes on quickly like a transistor set. I owned one like that in college; after I noticed the tubes glowing 24/7, I installed a switch on the line cord.

Regards,

Phil Nelson

I am assuming the cabinet is plastic?
The middle section painted red looks metal, but maybe it's all plastic...

Yeah. both of mine are plastic. They made a RED version, too, I've only seen one on De Bay. Dunno if it was MOULDED "Red" or painted... They MAY have made a black version, too, I dunno...Kinda doubt it, these seem to be "Loss Leader" type TVs...Sold these at a loss, hopefully made up the difference on the big consoles, color sets, etc. Admiral by then was sort of a "Second-Tier" type brand, I think..

Was Olympic ever a good name in televisions?
This is the first I ever heard of them....

Was Olympic ever a good name in televisions?
This is the first I ever heard of them....

Frankly, Olympic was generally an el-cheapo brand. They started out in the 50's mostly making inexpensive TV-radio-phono combo sets; some of their advertising pushed price as the main draw-- i.e. you can have a combination console for the usual price of a TV by itself! Later on, they seemed to move away from combo units.

One semi-infamous Olympic model was a (I think) 17" B&W set which sold for the then-blistering price of only $99 list. Why? One reason was that it had only *one* IF amp stage! This might be the model Dieseljeep referred to in his post. I think even Mad-Man Muntz managed at least two IF stages in all of his TV sets. Consumer Reports did a "Once Over" on that Olympic set, and, IIRC, they indicated that the contrast control and AGC were really unnecessary in that TV, because it always needed the contrast control set at maximum!

Speaking of Consumer Reports, in their 1960 round up of "minor brand" TV consoles, they indicate that while Olympic's top-of-the-line chassis did have 3 IF stages, none of their sets had keyed AGC (which was not exactly a high-end feature in 1960). As such, even that set was overall rated below their lowest-rated "major brand" set that year, an Emerson. [...but at least it rated better than the Muntz tested...]

Sorry to sound so disappointing, but Olympic B&W sets really were pretty low-end in general. I think they used a "clone" chassis in their color line, though, so those probably were better. On a more positive note, I doubt there are very many "surviving" Olympic sets these days-- I'm sure sets like yours are rather thin on the ground! I've never seen an Olympic portable before, and it's always interesting to see minor-brand sets like that. While it might not be a great performer, simple sets like that can be easier to deal with from a repair standpoint.

Good luck and have fun!

I remember working on a few Olympics. All of mine were series string tubes, and I usually didnt have spare tubes on hand for them.

I've only seen one color Olympic, and it was an RCA clone.
The first Olympic color set I saw, had a genuine RCA CTC15 chassis in it.
The other one I worked on, had a color circuit simular to a Motorola or Admiral, with the 6LE8 color demod. Their own chassis. :sigh:

Was Olympic ever a good name in televisions?
This is the first I ever heard of them....

I you look at the old Sams and Rider's, they appeared to be fairly good circuit-wise.
They were made in Long Island City,NY, so they were more common, out East.
The firm was in business for quite a while. Originally was Hamilton Radio Corp.
They were bought out in the 50's by Lear-Seigler, who also owned Bogen.

Thanks for the info on Olympic...
I actually live very close to Long Island City, cool to know sets were made there at one time...like everything else in the U.S.
I still have to get the schematic for this set so I'll check it out.
This set hasn't even shipped yet, all the photos I have shown are from the sellers listing.
I told them I was concerned about the set getting here safely, and just sent more cash for packing supplies. They offered to change shipping from UPS, to Fed EX.
I hope Fedex ships safely, I remember UPS told me I needed to have everything packed to withstand a 4 foot drop!

The only set I have had shipped so far was the Philco Transitone. It took forever, but did get here safely. It was very light though, this Olympic looks heavy....


Magnavox300