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  #16  
Old 05-04-2006, 10:53 PM
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Cory Cory is offline
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I've heard first-hand stories about all the sales gimmicks used back in the day, and these "features" were well hyped. "Oh sure Mr. So and So, step up to this set here, in a year or two when color is popular you'll be glad you bought a color-ready set."

I've also heard stories that some folks thought their picture would suddenly be in living color with the addition of an external adapter plugged right in the back. Some sets didn't even have any connections to that rear jack. Others have a plug with a jumper that completes the B+ to the set.

Reminds me of the Phonevision jack on the back of one of my Zeniths:
http://www.chicagotelevision.com/pay.htm
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  #17  
Old 05-07-2006, 09:39 PM
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see
http://www.earlytelevision.org/cbs_color_converter.html

and
http://www.earlytelevision.org/crosley_converter.html
plus much more on CBS color on the ETF site
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  #18  
Old 05-08-2006, 02:32 PM
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A few years ago, there was a small thread talking about seeing color on black and white screens... just for a moment. I had remembered seeing a color star on a set from when I was a kid.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5388
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  #19  
Old 05-20-2006, 11:21 PM
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Pete Deksnis Pete Deksnis is offline
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Got the Admiral today...

Thanks to Dave Sica who picked up the Admiral and handed it to me today at the Sarnoff Library in Princeton. Sure enough, it has that magic 1951 'color' connector on the rear.

Questions: Did they use a dual CBS-color/NTSC flyback? Was the connector there to add a color wheel? Was it there to convert an NTSC b&w set to display CBS color in b&w?

Here's what I found in this page just added to my site.

http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/potpou...e_Admiral.html
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  #20  
Old 05-20-2006, 11:43 PM
Steve K Steve K is offline
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Pete:

I can not answer your questions about the color adaptor to your set but I attached a scan from an Admiral brochure explaining the addition of color to their line of 1951 (I believe) sets. I have a 51 motorola with a color socket but at least that one is hooked up on the inside! I think it has a connection to the video, vertical sync pulse and b+.

Steve
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  #21  
Old 05-20-2006, 11:50 PM
Steve K Steve K is offline
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Oops, here's the scan.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg admiralcolor.jpg (114.9 KB, 35 views)
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  #22  
Old 05-21-2006, 12:16 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis
Here's what I found in this page just added to my site.
Interesting reading... I bet your findings were a MAJOR disappointment!
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  #23  
Old 05-21-2006, 07:25 AM
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Pete Deksnis Pete Deksnis is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie
Interesting reading... I bet your findings were a MAJOR disappointment!
More amused than ticked I guess at finding the empty connector: hardware of the day actually seemed to support the historic record. And the lesson only cost fifteen bucks.


Interesting bit of copy, Steve. It first encouraged potential buyers NOT to delay a set purchase because 1951 Admiral TV converted to color gave you a "Bigger picture" would be "Lower Cost" was "...a revolutionary achievement by Admiral engineers", and had "Freedom from Obsolescence."

I found the last dozen or so words on the page to be the most interesting: Admiral copywriters referred to the CBS Color system throughout, until they added "...color can be added regardless of what system of telecasting is ultimately adopted."

Talk about CYA. Either CBS or NTSC color from an Admiral. It just depended on the electronics behind the spinning wheel.

Actually they were right. CBS had a companion-type adapter in the works. Colordapter and Col-R-Tel for NTSC color were a reality five years or so years later.

Update: SteveD just provided a nice ad showing my set stuffed in a console. It's been added to the bottom of the page.

Last edited by Pete Deksnis; 05-21-2006 at 09:05 AM.
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  #24  
Old 05-21-2006, 01:02 PM
smoker76 smoker76 is offline
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That's hillarious! I wonder if any Admirals or others had wires connected to the color receptacle? I guess there never was an Admiral CA100 to plug in the dummy plug?
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  #25  
Old 05-21-2006, 06:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smoker76
I guess there never was an Admiral CA100 to plug in the dummy plug?
Out of curiousity, I looked up "CA100" on the Sams website... and it turned up nothing.

I'm at work on the ship right now, so I can't look in my old Sams index. If anyone has an old index, take a peek and see if it might be listed in there. Sometimes I've found old models listed in the paper index that aren't listed in the online index.

Perhaps the CA-100 was something that was "in the works" when the set came out, but never quite made it. Admiral might have decided to ditch the idea and concentrate more on an actual color receiver.
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  #26  
Old 05-21-2006, 06:43 PM
andy andy is offline
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---

Last edited by andy; 12-07-2021 at 02:23 PM.
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  #27  
Old 05-21-2006, 07:00 PM
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Pete look at it this way, you have something even more rare than a color compatible set, you've got an Admiral with the plastic control door still intact!
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  #28  
Old 05-21-2006, 07:34 PM
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polaraman polaraman is offline
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Pete,

What is the model/chassis number for the Admiral? The SAMS might have some clues as to how to hook up the color adapter. The SAMS for my 1951 Stromburg-Carlson (chassis 119M5A) has the connections drawn up for a color wheel/adapter.

polaraman
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  #29  
Old 05-21-2006, 07:55 PM
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wa2ise wa2ise is offline
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Talking

Today that set could be converted to color very easily. You know the drill: Remove old chassis. Throw it out. Go to WalMart and buy some POS made in China with the same sized screen. Hack install it in the old cabinet. Hot melt glue the old knobs crudely to fake it. .... ...

Of course if you wanted this set to last, you'd restore the old chassis. It would last about ten times longer than the Chinese color TV chassis....
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  #30  
Old 05-21-2006, 08:04 PM
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Pete Deksnis Pete Deksnis is offline
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The model is 17K12 and there's an 'N' stamped near the model. Am not home so don't now know the chassis number.
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