I picked up this cute little Emerson portable from a local antique dealer. The chassis appears to be identical to the model 1232 which I know has been discussed before. I think that the only difference is the color of the case (this one is bronze). The 8DP4 tests on the weak side, but will probably still make a decent picture.

Does anyone have a scan of the SAMS for this? It's in 354-7. Here are some photos. I forgot to shoot one before I took it out of the case. D'oh!

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050058_zpsekwc6nyo.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050058_zpsekwc6nyo.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050064_zps9rpvhl2e.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050064_zps9rpvhl2e.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050062_zpsrxxb28b2.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050062_zpsrxxb28b2.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050061_zpsvbjxxlo1.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050061_zpsvbjxxlo1.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050059_zps7yauwrpw.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050059_zps7yauwrpw.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050056_zpswoahfypl.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/P1050056_zpswoahfypl.jpg.html)

I'm not going to try a power-up until I replace the 'lytics in the power supply.

-Clark

I have this model set. once re-capped & gone over, these little sets are good performers.

These are great little sets in person with the radio being a nice add-on. I always known them to be excellent performers.

I should have the sams. Drop me a PM with your email address and give me a day or two to pull it and scan it.

Thanks for the replies, guys! This should be a fun restoration. For one thing, it's super easy moving it around on the bench :yes:

And thanks, Kamakiri (I think your name is Tim) I'll send you a PM shortly.

-Clark

Thanks to Tim, I got a scan of the SAMS and was able to make some good progress. I recapped the power supply with 'lytics I had on hand which meant paralleling some caps to get the right values. The new caps are so much smaller that it was no problem finding space.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/New%20lytics_zpst8jxszrm.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/New%20lytics_zpst8jxszrm.jpg.html)

I powered it up with a metered variac and got a raster right away. Current draw after warmup was about 850 MA from the AC line.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/First%20raster_zps2msbuusr.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/First%20raster_zps2msbuusr.jpg.html)

I fed it a signal and made the usual adjustments and got this:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Crosshatch_zpstjsrmbm3.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Crosshatch_zpstjsrmbm3.jpg.html)

Horizontal and vertical lock are very stable. Obviously it still has some issues, but not bad considering that it's still full of cruddy paper caps! Next, I fed it programming from a cable box. The picture looks pretty good, although the CRT is a bit dim (the brightness is up full). The sound works, but is very buzzy. I'll hold off on making any adjustments until I've finished the recap.

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Sreen%20shot%201_zpsg4atp8wq.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Sreen%20shot%201_zpsg4atp8wq.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Screen%20shot%202_zpskdccocdz.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Screen%20shot%202_zpskdccocdz.jpg.html)

The contrast control is a bit flaky. I cleaned it, but I get the highest contrast in the middle of its range. Again, probably a leaky cap. All in all I'm happy with the first power-up :yes:
-Clark

Looking great! These are really fun little guys to restore, and surprisingly roomy inside. I rebuilt this one last year, here's a "before" shot. Ended up trading it to another collector and I believe he sold it on ebay.....

Thanks, Tim. Yes, I was surprised at how relatively uncrowded things are on the chassis. It's fun having such a small portable from the 50's, and it let me keep my promise to myself not to bring home any more consoles :D

It may be a while before I finish work on it (so many other projects) but I will definitely post photos when I do.

-Clark

I finished the recap and clean up. For the most part, things went pretty smoothly. Probably the most difficult task was working on this cramped corner that required removing a shield, the CRT and the yoke.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/crowded%20corner_zps0jbnpi9x.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/crowded%20corner_zps0jbnpi9x.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Recapped%20no%20CRT_zps1i7zztvq.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Recapped%20no%20CRT_zps1i7zztvq.jpg.html)

Here it is playing after the recap. The picture is surprisingly good.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Screen%20shot%20after%20recap_zpsq0asorxd.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Screen%20shot%20after%20recap_zpsq0asorxd.jpg.html )

The only issue is the linearity is not great. I spent way too much time adjusting and readjusting the centering magnets, ion trap and vertical height and linearity. (I ended up replacing those blue caps in the vertical section that had been added sometime in the past.) This is about as good as I could get it.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Test%20pattern_zpswltb2qpw.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Test%20pattern_zpswltb2qpw.jpg.html)

I also discovered that the flyback was getting hot and dripping wax. I checked voltages, and found that the 205 Volt supply was measuring 212 Volts. Someone had already added silicon rectifiers but had not added a dropping resistor. I added a 25 Ohm, 20 Watt dropping resistor that brought it down to just over 200 Volts. Now the flyback gets warm but not hot like before. I removed the selenium rectifier to create a nice spot to mount the resistor.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Dropping%20R_zpsnchlrat4.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Dropping%20R_zpsnchlrat4.jpg.html)

Here's the chassis ready to be reinstalled and a shot of the set back together.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Recapped%20with%20speaker%20CRT_zps60eyvarc.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Recapped%20with%20speaker%20CRT_zps60eyvarc.jpg.ht ml)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Back%20together_zpsozepgthc.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Back%20together_zpsozepgthc.jpg.html)

This is a fun little TV! The screen geometry issues don't really show up while watching programming. There is still something a bit wonky with the vertical; there seems to be a bit of fold over at the bottom in the vertical blanking interval.

Here it is playing My Three Sons in the kitchen. The noise in the picture is from the cheap DTV box.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Three%20sons%202_zps3qb2qkds.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Three%20sons%202_zps3qb2qkds.jpg.html)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Three%20sons%201_zpsmtqnworv.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/Three%20sons%201_zpsmtqnworv.jpg.html)

Here is the pile of parts that were replaced to get this little gem going again. It's 60 years old this year!

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd366/IsthmusTV/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/old%20parts_zpsto2vi1pc.jpg (http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/IsthmusTV/media/Emerson%201270%20Portable%20TV/old%20parts_zpsto2vi1pc.jpg.html)

-Clark

Nice! And as we all know, it is an accomplishment that is appreciated by a few of us and not necessarily understood my most. Lots of work for a small black and white pictrue. Lots of parts replaced. But what a neat thing to do and why? Because we can.

Great thread, great jub.

Thanks! It's definitely a labor of love :yes:

Oops! It was supposed to say "job", not jub... but I bet you already knew that.

Still nice!

Oops! It was supposed to say "job", not jub...


That is what the "EDIT" button in the bottom right corner of all your posts is for....

Looks great! One of these sets is on my want list, maybe I'll get lucky one of these days.

Nice job! The kitchen is the right room for this type of TV. I sometimes regret selling my little old 1232.

Speaking of 1232s, someone in ARF posted this photo of one installed in a 1959 Cadillac:

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/648/TVcadillac4.jpg

TV doesn't work well in a moving car, but you have to love the gadget-crazed nerds who thought of this.

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

TV doesn't work well in a moving car, but you have to love the gadget-crazed nerds who thought of this.


I remember finding a NJ DMV driver's manual from the early 50's in my parent's house, and one thing they banned even back then was a TV set visible to the driver... :no: "More accidents per mile!"...

Thanks, guys. Phil, I did see the postings in ARF about the Emerson 1232 in the Cadillac. It reminded me of the photo of Lawrence Welk with a 45 RPM record player mounted in the dash of his convertible that appeared on the cover of an issue of Radio and TV News from the 50's. Also not something that's going to work well while driving :D

These Bad Boiz used the same CRT that the 8" RCA portables of the late fifties do. How good is the AM radio ? AA5 quality, or did they jazz it up a bit ?

These Bad Boiz used the same CRT that the 8" RCA portables of the late fifties do. How good is the AM radio ? AA5 quality, or did they jazz it up a bit ?

It was just as good as a AA5 Superhetrodyne radio, considering that it used the same front end & I.F stages that a AA5 uses. the power was supplied by the sets power supply so there was no need for a rectifier tube. also, the outpit from the radio's IF was fed to the TV's audio stage.
the radio used 6BA6 & 6BE6

That is what the "EDIT" button in the bottom right corner of all your posts is for....

Thanks, I knew that.

Thanks, guys. Phil, I did see the postings in ARF about the Emerson 1232 in the Cadillac. It reminded me of the photo of Lawrence Welk with a 45 RPM record player mounted in the dash of his convertible that appeared on the cover of an issue of Radio and TV News from the 50's. Also not something that's going to work well while driving :D

Are you sure, it wasn't the Chrysler, Hi-way HI-FI. The records looked like 45's but were 16 2/3 RPM.
Dodge was his sponsor, for quite a while. :thmbsp:

Are you sure, it wasn't the Chrysler, Hi-way HI-FI. The records looked like 45's but were 16 2/3 RPM.
Dodge was his sponsor, for quite a while. :thmbsp:

You are probably right, I was relying on my foggy memory. I have that issue around here someplace. If I find it I'll post a scan of it.

The AM radio performance is pretty typical of an AA 5. But instead of a loop antenna, it couples to one side of the VHF antenna terminals through a 470 pF cap. It works fine for picking up all the local stations.

So.... In other words, DON'T go looking to snare Radio Nibi-Nibi at high noon in N. America.. That's somethin' we oughta start here- A list of your weirdest, most unusual DX catches over the years. MW, FM, SW, whatever, & what you picked it up on.. And TRY not to "Lie" too much about it.. About 10-15 yrs ago, I had a JVC CX-500 US which was a "All-In-Wonder"-AM/FM. cassette, & 4.5" color set. This was March/ maybe early April. Hooked it up to an FM antenna mounted on my granny's apartment, the FM band was SOLID one end to another. I was getting stations from Atlanta, all the way to Roanoke, Virginia. But where that antenna was, it was a pretty straight shot down to Atlanta, & the other direction to Roanoke. We'll generally have a couple days in the spring like that where DX is UNREAL, & maybe another few in the Fall like them. Back then, I didn't have any of my "Heavy Iron", I only wonder what COULD I have picked up if I'd had the hardware back then..

So.... In other words, DON'T go looking to snare Radio Nibi-Nibi at high noon in N. America.. That's somethin' we oughta start here- A list of your weirdest, most unusual DX catches over the years. MW, FM, SW, whatever, & what you picked it up on.. And TRY not to "Lie" too much about it.

Ok, I will open with radio Farda on 1575 kHz Dec 12, 2009 7 pm and later from the US west coast. I did not hear a clear id that I could understand, just a man singing in an unfamiliar language in a very strange musical scale, but several other west coast dxers made a positive id.
Icom 8500/100 ft "longwire" antenna.

jr

perhaps we should start a new thread?

.

Well... We COULD. Why don't you do the honors ? Any time I launch a thread. it will die after 2 maybe 3 posts. Kinda "Got the Message", NOBODY wants to hear what I have to say anymore... That's one reason I don't post too much here or at AK anymore..

Would a Sony 5" B&W with the 12v cig power on the trans hump of my '59 Cadillac count? I would hate to take the dash apart and move the radio over the glovebox. Lots o' sharp things back there. I do have the Sony roof antenna. Brain flash! I may dig out the antenna and stick it on top of the Cad for fun rides.

Sandy...stick around. 8000+ posts give you senior status among us. The DX thread is good in the right place.

Thanks, guys. Phil, I did see the postings in ARF about the Emerson 1232 in the Cadillac. It reminded me of the photo of Lawrence Welk with a 45 RPM record player mounted in the dash of his convertible that appeared on the cover of an issue of Radio and TV News from the 50's. Also not something that's going to work well while driving :D

Here is an article on the Chrysler "Highway Hi Fi", the picture of Welk shown at the bottom of the page is the only one I remember seeing.

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Accessories/HiWay/invent.htm

jr

Thanks, jr. That's the photo I was remembering. And very interesting history of the Highway Hi-Fi!

Well... We COULD. Why don't you do the honors ? Any time I launch a thread. it will die after 2 maybe 3 posts. Kinda "Got the Message", NOBODY wants to hear what I have to say anymore... That's one reason I don't post too much here or at AK anymore..

I always read your entries. I have a communication receiver collection, but nothing of the caliber of your collection. :thmbsp:
Keep up the good work!

Nice work on the little Emerson Clark. I wondered what Tim did with his, but I should know he recapped it right away and moved it along.

Speaking of TV's in cars, someone who gave me a 9" Philco-Ford TV with battery pack, even (Japan-made) that was ordered as an option in a 1966 Lincoln Town Car.

Sandy: Where do we maintain the DX log? as a sticky:scratch2: in anti-cue radios or elsewhere? There is FM DX I need to record every summer around here.

Thanks, jr. That's the photo I was remembering. And very interesting history of the Highway Hi-Fi!

You're quite welcome... for grins, I poked around a bit more and found the *actual* issue on a very interesting site that appears to have tons of the magazines that some/many here might remember.

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-News/50s/Radio-News-1956-04-R.pdf


http://www.americanradiohistory.com

incredible site!

jr

the radio used 6BA6 & 6BE6

I think they were 4BE6 and 4BA6, or 3BE6 and 3BA6. They could have used one of the TV IF tubes as the AM IF stage, like in an AM-FM set. And some TV sets used a pentagrid tube for sync circuit work, and with some switching that tube could be used for the AM. Though it may be too much switching.

I own a 1232 and a 1270 both sets have a power transformer, so 6 volt heaters all around. All the best, Tom