While perusing the "Black Friday" ads on Thanksgiving, I noticed that Big Lots (a "closeout"-oriented store chain found in various regions of the USA) was featuring as a *Saturday* early-bird special a combination multi-function portable TV/radio/weather alert/clock/flashlight/etc. device for $10. I figured this might be about the last chance to get a brand-new B&W TV in a store, so, eh, I decided it'd be worth stopping by the local Big Lots store this morning to check it out.

Now, I've seen (and bought a few) of the last-gasp el-cheapo 5" B&W sets when they were closing them out at Best Buy and Comp USA for about ten bucks last year, and to be honest, they were mediocre (at best) in build quality and performance compared with similar 5" B&W sets from even 10 years ago. So, I was pretty surprised when I opened the box of my new ten-dollar-TV and found that the build quality was at least a notch or two better than other recently made 5" B&W sets I've seen.

So, what do you get for your ten bucks? You get a Vector "Stormtracker Elite" model WC300DSV, which combines the following bewildering array of functions into one rather compact portable plastic-cased (black and silver) device:

- 5" B&W TV (analog NTSC)
- AM/FM radio
- Weather radio with SAME weather alert functions
- Digital clock/calendar with alarm
- LED flashlight
- LED lantern
- Universal charger for cellular phones and other devices
- Crank-wind magneto that charges a small built-in rechargable battery (which can operate all functions *except* the TV even if there is no other source of power). There is also a battery holder for 9 "C"-size cells, which of course *can* power the TV in addition to the other functions.

Some details of note:

- Like most cheap 5" TVs of recent manufacture, the TV has a varactor tuner using a variable resistor attached to the tuning knob. *Unlike* most cheap 5" TV's of recent manufacture, however, this one actually has a *geared* tuning knob. So even though the tuner actually uses less than 180-degrees of the full 270 (or so)-degree travel of the variable resistor to cover any of the TV tuning bands, the geared 'fine tuning' knob more than makes up for it. Practically every recently-made 5" B&W TV I've seen simply had the tuning knob directly connected to the shaft of the variable resistor (even on models with a 'slide rule' tuning scale)

- An informal check shows TV picutre quality to be a tad better than most of the other last-gasp B&W sets I've seen. Tuner sensitivity is okay, but not remarkable.

- The AM/FM radio tuner appears to also be a varactor device rather than a variable capacitor, and controlled with a different knob. There is even a digital frequency readout for the radio, even though it's obviously not a digital frequency systhesis tuner. Knob is not geared, but does at least seem to use all of the rotational range of the pot. Still, it's better than the usual direct-tuning knob usually found for the radio tuner on these sorts of things lately. Informal checking on reception of a distant AM radio station shows radio sensitivity is pretty good for a cheap radio of this ilk (but certainly not spectacular). Audio quality is about all that can be expected from a dinky 2" speaker.

- Weather radio tuner does appear to be digital frequency synthesized, and the LCD can display alphanumeric weather alert messages.

- The LCD readout is backlit, but apparently only when using the Weather radio function. The backlight automatically switches off after a period of inactivity.

- the LED flashlight and lantern are pretty "meh" as you'd expect, though they are brighter than I figured and at least the switches for them seem to be conveniently located yet difficult to accidently activate.

- The wind-up charger for the backup battery system seems to work as advertised. I haven't tested to see how long the radio or lights will run on a full "wind". The backup battery will also be charged when an external AC/DC power adapter is connected or when the 9 'C' batteries are installed.

- I haven't messed with the clock functions or tried the universal phone charger. It comes with several adapter plugs for various brands of celluar phones.

- Build quality is okay but is only remarkable compared with the low build quality of most of the last-gasp 5" sets I've seen though. The controls/switches/knobs are reasonably well placed and designed, especially when compared with other last-gasp 5" sets. It does have a nice big easy-to-grab handle on the top, which would help facilitate use of the flashlight and lantern features. There are no A/V input jacks (like some of the other last-gasp 5" B&W TVs) , but it does have an external antenna jack.

- As packaged in the box, there is a promotional "hang tag" attached to the handle. Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I saw a new TV with a hang-tag on it.

- This particular one has a manufacture date of Oct 2006.

One thought-- this multifunction device is obviously designed with "emergency" use in mind. Given that, what use is an analog NTSC-only TV going to be in an emergency after analog broadcasting is discontinued? Consider how much more expensive it would be right now to build an equivalent device of this sort with an ATSC tuner in it instead...

Did they have the disclamer that it wouldn't work after 2009 anywhere?
I believe that's the law now, at least I've been seeing it around.

Is the flashlight analog or digital? :D

I would think that eventually the technology for for receiving standard definition digital TV or even HDTV could be installed into even a $10 b&w TV.
With the way the price drops on new technology, that doesn't seem too far fetched to me in a few years.

Did they have the disclamer that it wouldn't work after 2009 anywhere?

A regional chain (Fred's) sells Sanyo and a few other brands of old-tech tee-vees. Mentioned them the other day that they needed to put up a sign about "the change". And they were like "whaddya mean???" :sigh: It's amazing how many people still don't know.

Did they have the disclamer that it wouldn't work after 2009 anywhere?
I believe that's the law now, at least I've been seeing it around.

The newspaper circular had the disclaimer, but come to think of it, I don't recall seeing a disclaimer notice in the store. Funny, that, given that even the Goodwill stores around here are attaching big yellow notices to that effect to every TV on the shelf.

Is the flashlight analog or digital? :D

Well, it's either *on* or *off*, so, yes-- it could be advertised as a digital flashlight. :)

Oh, here are some pictures of this thing...

RCA Vector? :lmao: Looks pretty handy!

We got a Hog Lot's here, too...May just hafta get one meself...

What's the price on them now? :scratch2:

One thought-- this multifunction device is obviously designed with "emergency" use in mind. Given that, what use is an analog NTSC-only TV going to be in an emergency after analog broadcasting is discontinued?

My first thought is that the only thing the maker really cared about was getting the customer's money. :nono:
Tom

RCA Vector? :lmao: Looks pretty handy!

It's funny, but when I put the box in the car I had to do a double-take-- because just for a moment as I looked away from it, I thought I saw the name "Victor" on the box..! :eek:

Regarding YamahaFreak's question: The price tag on the box says $12, so that should be the 'regular' Big Lots price for it-- if they have any. I suspect these were bought specifically for this particular one-day sale promotion, so it's likely they won't still have them in stock. They did seem to be moving out the door fairly briskly at the store just in the short period I was there. (though partly due to a few folks who picked up 5 or 6 of them apiece) ...But if your local store does still have 'em, they'll probably be $12, which is certainly still super-cheap.

By the way, after playing with this thing a bit more, I found that the TV tuner sensitivity is actually a bit better than I originally thought. Sensitivity is still not super-impressive, but it is pretty good.

I was in CVS today and saw a bunch of 5" BW craig sets on the bottom shelf for 22.50, i was gonna get one but thought that given i had bought an almost identical set last summer at Job Lot for 14.99, This one was overpriced.

I would buy one of those 5" B&W TV's, if only there was one that had DC restoration. Apparently as recently as the late 1970's(!), there were B&W sets about 16-17" solid state that did have DC restoration, but none since that I ever saw.

I would buy one of those 5" B&W TV's, if only there was one that had DC restoration. Apparently as recently as the late 1970's(!), there were B&W sets about 16-17" solid state that did have DC restoration, but none since that I ever saw.

DC Restoration? (Please excuse my :stupid:ity)

Dc restoration means the set keeps a constant black level independent of scene content. In sets without DC restoration, the average video level is constant because the varying DC level is blocked by a coupling capacitor. So if the original scene has lots of DC due to having large bright areas, the set lacking DC restoration will reduce the average level, and all areas will get too dark, and the shadows will be cutoff and just be black blobs. On the other hand, in a scene with lots of dark areas, the DC level will be too high and the scene will show as washed out and foggy.

Dc restoration means the set keeps a constant black level independent of scene content. In sets without DC restoration, the average video level is constant because the varying DC level is blocked by a coupling capacitor. So if the original scene has lots of DC due to having large bright areas, the set lacking DC restoration will reduce the average level, and all areas will get too dark, and the shadows will be cutoff and just be black blobs. On the other hand, in a scene with lots of dark areas, the DC level will be too high and the scene will show as washed out and foggy.

Oh, I get it now! :D

Yes, old_tv_nut described it perfectly. This is one reason an old B&W TV can look so good.

Frankly, I've never understood why DC restoration has been so conspicuously absent on B&W sets in general since the early 1950's. I can see why manufacturers started leaving it out during the "dollar engineering" days of the mid/late 50's, but it never really made a comeback even after the TV manufacturers generally stopped cutting quite as many corners in the 60's.


There did seem to be a bit of "revival" in DC restoration around the early 1970's (probably thanks in part to publications like _Consumer Reports_ that kept pointing this out), but it was pretty spotty, especially among USA-made sets; even my high-end Zenith 19" B&W from 1973 doesn't have DC restoration.

I've never really understood this, even on these 'modern' 5-inch cheapie B&W sets-- I mean, all you need for 'basic' DC restoration is a diode and perhaps a resistor and bypass cap, which today would cost at most a few cents-- or even nothing if the componentes were integrated into an existing IC used in modern sets.

But, yeah, I find lack of DC restoration rather *annoying*-- I never understood why it pretty much disappeared on B&W sets (and even *color* sets often didn't have DC restoration either), since it's a pretty obvious picture fault (at least to me)-- I would think that a manufacturer that included DC restoration could have turned that into a useful selling point. ...Perhaps give it a fancy "sales ready" name, like "Automatic Black Level Regulator" or "Lumi-Matic" or something like that. :D

The only possible explanation for leaving it out that I've ever heard is that TV stations at the time often didn't do a very good job at keeping black levels consistent anyway, so lack of DC restoration in the receiver wasn't considered to be a big deal. I dunno how true that was though.

Yes, old_tv_nut described it perfectly. This is one reason an old B&W TV can look so good.

Yep. For those who might still not be sure what effect DC restoration has on a picture, here are a couple of common examples where the effect becomes really obvious:

- Credit roll with white text on a black background-- on a TV with good DC restoration, the background will stay black no matter how much (or how little) white text is on the screen, and the white text will stay the same white. With no DC restoration, the "black" background may not go totally black, and will shift up and down in brightness depending on how much white text is on the screen, and horizontal "stripes" of darker grey may form around the white text as it rolls up the screen.

- Fade to black-- a TV with good DC restoration will actually fade to black. On a TV with no DC restoration, the scene will instead wash out into a mid grey.

Also, while only applicable to modern times, try watching any sort of "letterboxed" content on a TV with no DC restoration, and you'll see the "letterbox" areas of the screen pulse up and down in brightness as the overall brightness of the scene changes.

My first color TV in 1978 was a thrift-shop 19" Sears set that also lacked DC restoration. Yes, I learned what it was from Consumer Reports magazine, and once I knew (and looked at my brother's Sony set to see it), I had to have it.

I have never tried to watch any widescreen content on a B&W display (without DC restoration), but I can imagine it would look even more distracting than the set would on other content in general.

I have a 5 inch B/W TV made in 2001. There's nothing remarkable about it except for the fact that it can tune up to channel 83. Seeing as Channels 70-83 were converted to mobile usage in the 80's, it's weird for this TV to be able to tune those channels.

Comes in handy for listening to dispatchers, almost like a police scanner.

Color sets always had *some* DC restoration. It was often deliberately made to be 85% or so. The argument at the time was that it reduced the visibility of the variations in the transmissions. About the time the networks got things under control, cable came along and generally screwed up everything possible in terms of differences between channels.

Another unspoken reason for lack of DC restoration is that it reduces beam currrent on scenes with lots of bright areas - so, you didn't have to be so precise in making sure the customer couldn't overload the HV section if he cranked the contrast to max.

Also, before the days of video processing ICs, where the "contrast" (actually now a "picture" control) could be controlled by DC, the beam current limiter had to work by reducing the black level- so, if the cutomer pushed the "contrast" too high, when an extra briight scene came along, the black level would be deliberately pulled down to limt the beam current. This could be for two reasons: protect the HV/horizontal sweep and/or limit Xrays.

Once the picture drive level could be controlled by a DC voltage, it could be used ot limit beam current, and there was no excuse for not having 100% DC restoration. This was the last gasp for B&W chassis, however, and the philosophy of less than full restoration hadn't died yet.

Studio monitors, of course, always had full DC restoration, but generally they made lousy TV's for other reasons, like maybe they expected clean signals and wouldn't sync worth a damn on noisy, ghosty over-the-air signals.

Another big reason professional monitors did/do not work well in a home environment is the general public's desire to have their TV as bright as the sun if possible. Studios (other than in the on-camera area) are pretty low light.

- Fade to black-- a TV with good DC restoration will actually fade to black. On a TV with no DC restoration, the scene will instead wash out into a mid grey.


I had a 12" Zenith B&W from 1987 that must have had DC restoration because when the scene would fade to black, it looked like the set was off. I never knew what it was at the time but I always noticed that the better sets could do that. I don't think any of the black and white sets I have now feature DC restoration.

I have a 5 inch B/W TV made in 2001. There's nothing remarkable about it except for the fact that it can tune up to channel 83. Seeing as Channels 70-83 were converted to mobile usage in the 80's, it's weird for this TV to be able to tune those channels.

Comes in handy for listening to dispatchers, almost like a police scanner.

MRX, Don't you live near me in Detroit? I've never been able to pick anything up on UHF 70-83, and I've tried DX'ing that before.

I have 88.7 FM set as a preset on my upstairs '78 Zenith set!

MRX, Don't you live near me in Detroit? I've never been able to pick anything up on UHF 70-83, and I've tried DX'ing that before.

I have 88.7 FM set as a preset on my upstairs '78 Zenith set!

:yikes: I didn't know you could do that!

Oh yes! Channel 6's audio spectrum is VERY close to the start of the FM radio band! Just about ANY dial TV can bring in 89X (88.7 FM) just by fine tuning the dial. Some TV's I used to have could get up to 95.5.

And as for using a TV to pick up dispatchers. It's possible, but inreasingly rare these days due to encryption and frequency switching. I used to pick em up all the time.

Oh yes! Channel 6's audio spectrum is VERY close to the start of the FM radio band! Just about ANY dial TV can bring in 89X (88.7 FM) just by fine tuning the dial.

And as for using a TV to pick up dispatchers. It's possible, but inreasingly rare these days due to encryption and frequency switching. I used to pick em up all the time.

I gotta go try that with my '63 GE. :yes:

You used to be able to pick up at least "half" of cell phone conversations on the upper UHF band...Not really very well, & not often, but I've heard 'em there...Really more of a technical oddity than any serious eavesdropping...

Here's another thing I used to play with:

Those toy walkie talkies that operate in the 49 MHZ range, usually they have an adjustable coil inside them. I could break into Channel 2 and 3's audio carrier and hear my voice on TV.

Here's another thing I used to play with:

Those toy walkie talkies that operate in the 49 MHZ range, usually they have an adjustable coil inside them. I could break into Channel 2 and 3's audio carrier and hear my voice on TV.

On national television?! What have I been missing?! :D

Uh, it's limited range. maybe 20-40 feet away from the TV at most.

Uh, it's limited range. maybe 20-40 feet away from the TV at most.
Oh.


...:stupid: