As the title says, I's like to tap into the knowledge available here to find out what some of the most compact all tube or hybrid TV sets produced were. I am aware of the 8 inch RCAs from the mid 50s, but they despite having a small screen, are not light. I am also not that interested in owning a transformerless set with a metal cabinet, for safety related reasons.

I have a 7" japan built all tube Packard Bell BW thats the smallest set I have ever seen. Its transformerless and very light. I would call it kids size.

Interesting! I've never seen anything smaller than the RCAs I mentioned in the earlier post. Does it have any issues with heat build up? There can't be much space around the power tubes in such a small set.

CTC 17- I am in SERIOUS "Lust" over some of the beauties on yr Site...Please favor us w/a pic of the l'il Packard-Bell...(grin)

I may be way off base; but, didn't Panasonic build a 7" or 9" color set that used tubes?

I may be way off base; but, didn't Panasonic build a 7" or 9" color set that used tubes?

Wow! I would love to see that! Up till now, I thought the 10" GE "porta-color" was the smallest tube color portable.

On the RCA 8PT.... series they have lots of louvers and ran warm, but not terrible. Power transformer added weight, but also safety. I remember being a little kid and hauling my 22lb 8PT7032 (black) around with only moderate difficulty. :yes:

Decent Pix here...too bad this one is missing the mount for the stand on one side:
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-RCA-VICTOR-TV-MODEL-8PT-7034-PORTABLE-1950S-/230567652951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35aee72e57
Not affiliated,
jr

Un-restored childhood set, with stand:
http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=167786&d=1280258197

Wow! I would love to see that! Up till now, I thought the 10" GE "porta-color" was the smallest tube color portable.

On the RCA 8PT.... series they have lots of louvers and ran warm, but not terrible. Power transformer added weight, but also safety. I remember being a little kid and hauling my 22lb 8PT7032 (black) around with only moderate difficulty. :yes:

Decent Pix here...too bad this one is missing the mount for the stand on one side:
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-RCA-VICTOR-TV-MODEL-8PT-7034-PORTABLE-1950S-/230567652951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35aee72e57
Not affiliated,
jr

Un-restored childhood set, with stand:
http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=167786&d=1280258197

That is your childhood set? You should definitely restore it. I have one of these in grey. It is the version without the stand or antennas and it is one of my favorite sets. I definitely prefer it over the comparable models produced by GE and Admiral. The main reason being is that there are no PC boards. The RCA is all hand wired.

I never realized the RCA has a power transformer, that wins it some big points as far as I am concerned. Yours looks a lot nicer than the one on eBay, they sure also look sharp in red. How do the picture tubes hold up over time?

Indeed, that is the set that I bought as a kid with the first $100* I ever earned...washing the family dishes at 25 cents a meal. Been collecting TVs for a while :D

Since, I have collected Red, White, and Silver models with stands, and a Silver model without a stand, but with "feet" attached to the bottom. The "stand less" silver model that I have has a plastic implosion shield rather than glass. Has anybody collected the "stand less" model in any of the other colors?

*I believe list price was $129, but my parents had a friend at the RCA dealership.

jr

Update: It looks as if Phil has restored a Black "stand less" model:
http://antiqueradio.org/rca16.htm

The CRTs don't appear to have any unusual life problems, my orig CRT is still plenty bright/good focus. Right now the set has a horiz frequency problem that I need to fix
jr

Indeed, that is the set that I bought as a kid with the first $100* I ever earned...washing the family dishes at 25 cents a meal. Been collecting TVs for a while :D

Since, I have collected Red, White, and Silver models with stands, and a Silver model without a stand, but with "feet" attached to the bottom. The "stand less" silver model that I have has a plastic implosion shield rather than glass. Has anybody collected the "stand less" model in any of the other colors?

*I believe list price was $129, but my parents had a friend at the RCA dealership.

jr

Update: It looks as if Phil has restored a Black "stand less" model:
http://antiqueradio.org/rca16.htm

The CRTs don't appear to have any unusual life problems, my orig CRT is still plenty bright/good focus. Right now the set has a horiz frequency problem that I need to fix
jr

Mine is a stand less model in grey. It has four plastic feet on the bottom and the implosion shield is acrylic on mine. I do have a bezel with the glass shield I salvaged from a beat up red one that I parted out. I have thought about putting that bezel on mine. Mine has the original CRT which is still very strong and bright. These sets seem to hold up very well despite the fact they run so hot. If you look at the schematic, the circuitry is very simple. Being so compact there are no circuits that are not completely essential. I think the whole set only uses eleven tubes. Another thing i like is they are so common that getting parts is not difficult.

On these RCA sets as I remember almost all of the functions of the set except the horizontal output, HV rect. & damper use 6U8 tubes. Even the audio output stage uses either the triode or pentode portion of a 6U8.

There were some really small JVC and other Japanese all-tube portables in the 60s and even early 70s. I think the JVC Delmonico 7" portable from the mid 60s might be my vote. I think it's a series set (non-power transformer), but not sure.

Charles

I have 2 of these sets, I got them years ago when you could toss out a tv on the front lawn and the town would take it away. I used this one for several years, never had any trouble with it, heat does not seem to be an issue with this set at all. The pc board has no heat marks on it, no warping etc. It even has a few nice big wire wound resistors mounted up near the top of the plastic case, and still no melting or warping of the case either. I think both of these sets worked when I picked them up too, no telling why they got the hook, its not like they took up much more space than a shoe box.

Panasonic Model: AN-109
Screen: 8 1/2"
Width: 13 1/2"
Height: 9 1/2"
Depth: 10"

Close, The RCA 8PT7032 measures:

Screen: 7 1/2" (diagonal)
Width: 8"
Height: 8 1/2" (counting wire stand, but not the fancy tilt stand)
Depth: 13" (counting the antenna housing)

Total: 884 Cubic inches, vs 1282 for the Panasonic, but I bet the Panasonic weighs less than 22 lbs. :yes:
jr

Just before introduction of the GE PortaColor sets, GE made a very light small 12" b/w set that used Compactrons, and very few of them at that, and it was a good performer and very light and small. They retailed for (I think) $99.95. I had a red one (They came in colors). Alas, my dad got rid of it when I talked him into getting me a PortaColor, which I still have. Those GE b/w sets were made well up into the PortaColor era.

I used to find a good many of those early-to-mid '60's el cheapo B&W's. The first ones were VHF only and I remember one model that had a 5-tube clock radio built in. The cabinet designs may have changed; but, GE used the same basic circuit for their tube type 12" B&W well into the '70's.

http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/gem111asd.jpg
GE made a bunch of these little B&W 9 inchers.

RCA also made a small plastic 9" portable in the late 60's or early 70's.

You've probably seen the Mod Psychedelic warped Checkerboard version on eBay before but they came in other colors too.

I have a blue one around here somewhere but I can't find it just now to take a picture.

I don't think it's any smaller than that Panasonic but it's certainly lighter than the RCA personal Portable of the 50's.

As for CRTs in the RCA's I've only found one weak tube out of a total of 14 sets (two of which were parted out) compared to the 9" GE in which nearly every 9QP4 CRT is bad and was in fact subject to a recall or service bulletin back in the day.

Another problem with the GE is the plastic front gets brittle and the CRT mounting holes break off, I've had to Epoxy pretty much all of mine back together, they are broken after shipping guaranteed, this doesn't stop them from selling for insane prices on eBay though. :no:

OTOH the GE can be recapped in a hour or so and only weighs 13 pounds or so.

In short, the RCA was the grown ups set, Kitchen Den Office, and the GE was for the kids room, even though it was a hot chassis and could electrocute the little rug rats. :D

In short, the RCA was the grown ups set, Kitchen Den Office, and the GE was for the kids room, even though it was a hot chassis and could electrocute the little rug rats. :D

OTOH, In all fairness, although the RCA has a power transformer, it also has a capacitor and resistor (.001uf, 100 kohm) from the line to chassis...so one can get a little "tingle" if the cap is ok. If the cap shorts...Well,.... :yikes:

jr

http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/gem111asd.jpg
GE made a bunch of these little B&W 9 inchers.

That's the style GE I was talking about earlier. I remember them not having a "real" CRT socket. Instead, they had individual lugs that slid over the CRT pins. If I found one of these today for a reasonable price, I'd grab it.

That's the style GE I was talking about earlier. I remember them not having a "real" CRT socket. Instead, they had individual lugs that slid over the CRT pins. If I found one of these today for a reasonable price, I'd grab it.


I remember these as being 12", not 9" CRT's. The PortaColor of course was 11" and I remember the color set as having just a wee bit smaller screen, as I have owned both (and still have the PortaColor.)

The early '60s 11" Admiral "playmate" (tube-compactrons?) was very compact and pretty thin, considering its screen size. Years ago, I had one of these in red... very cute!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Advertisement-Admiral-11-inch-Playmate-TV-/120600048765?pt=Magazines&hash=item1c1452b47d

not affiliated,
jr

http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/gem111asd.jpg
GE made a bunch of these little B&W 9 inchers.

Nice little personal portables. That's the same model I have, with the "flesh" color cabinet. Mine needs a crt, 11HP4, totally dead cathode, but is otherwise in fine condition. A roadside find.
Kevin

I should probably clarify that the GE sets I was referring to above were the 1956-7 models like this one.
http://www.vintagetvsets.com/images/ge2.jpg

GE seems to be the king of cheap, they made some of the crappiest sets from the 1940's on, the Locomotives and it's kin for example, nice to look at but a really cheesy series strung chassis with lousy build quality, those cheap 19" plastic sets from the late 60's that were everywhere for a while, with the knobs on the bottom apron and full of Compactrons, The Porta Color.

Seems like they were focused on weight and cost savings very early on.
I did however have a 19" Color GE I bought new in late 79 that was a very good set, 10 years and only one minor problem.

That little GE is very cool! Nice colors too!
It reminds me a little of the RCA size wise,Im surprised to learn GE had such a cavalier attitude towards quality even back then.

That little GE is very cool! Nice colors too! it reminds me a little of the RCA size wise

Close, The GE 9T002 (turquoise) measures:

Screen: 8" (diagonal)
Width: 9 1/2"
Height: 9" (counting the antenna, handle and feet)
Depth: 14"

Total: 1197 Cubic inches, vs 884 for the RCA, but it weighs less, only 13 1/2 lbs.
jr

it weighs less, only 13 1/2 lbs.
jr

Because it's made of Aluminum Foil and Cardboard. :lmao:

Really, the cabinet is Aluminum and the bottom is a piece of Masonite, the RCA is Steel throughout except the front trim, which is cast something or other.
The GE's do work pretty well if you can find one with a good CRT.

The early '60s 11" Admiral "playmate" (tube-compactrons?) was very compact and pretty thin, considering its screen size. Years ago, I had one of these in red... very cute!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Advertisement-Admiral-11-inch-Playmate-TV-/120600048765?pt=Magazines&hash=item1c1452b47d

not affiliated,
jr

I have a couple of those, both white-well, one is dingy yellow-greyish white- but they work, & IMHO, are "Cute". The CRT is almost square, w/rounded corners...And they ARE very thin. Terry said mine was made in 1964.

My Playmate 13 was a deluxe model. It was the same physical size as the 11". Two stages of IF with keyed AGC. Had UHF and it was a good DXer. The 13 had a tension band CRT, where the 11" had a plastic safety lens. BTW, it was black with chrome plastic trim.

My Playmate 13 was a deluxe model. It was the same physical size as the 11"

Wow! I am surprised they could cram a 13" jug into that model. I may be remembering wrong but I thought the 11" model was about 11" wide by about 12" high, by perhaps as little as 8" deep... but I haven't seen one in a long time.
Sandy, could you perhaps measure your 11" "playmate" and post ?

jr

Mine's 8" from the back of the CRT "cup" to the front of the set...

One of the cute little 11" Admiral "Playmates" just turned up on the 'bay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ADMIRAL-TV-1960S-Tube-Portable-11-SPACE-AGE-Vintage-/360338760199?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e5dd2207
not affiliated,
jr

Seller sez it is 8 1/2" depth, 13" height and 14" length, or about 1547* cubic inches... not even close to the RCA, but I bet it is lighter ! :)
*really slightly less, due to curved back and front...hard to estimate, but even if the average depth was only 6", it still be more total volume than the RCA.

Wow! I would love to see that! Up till now, I thought the 10" GE "porta-color" was the smallest tube color portable.

On the RCA 8PT.... series they have lots of louvers and ran warm, but not terrible. Power transformer added weight, but also safety. I remember being a little kid and hauling my 22lb 8PT7032 (black) around with only moderate difficulty. :yes:

Decent Pix here...too bad this one is missing the mount for the stand on one side:
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-RCA-VICTOR-TV-MODEL-8PT-7034-PORTABLE-1950S-/230567652951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35aee72e57
Not affiliated,
jr

Un-restored childhood set, with stand:
http://www.videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=167786&d=1280258197

I like these little Rcas,the base is very modernistic.
Were they available in turquoise as well?

I like these little Rcas,the base is very modernistic.
Were they available in turquoise as well?
The only colors that I have seen listed are red, black, white and silver... a friend re-painted one lemon yellow (after some "bodywork" it needed to be re-painted) and it looked quite good... I saw a chrome one somewhere as well.
jr

I've got one that's a greyish beige...Naturally, it is the best cosmetic condition of the 3 I have, but the CRT's about shot...

I've got one that's a greyish beige...Naturally, it is the best cosmetic condition of the 3 I have, but the CRT's about shot...

Here are the 4 colors that I know about... perhaps what I am calling "white" is really beige...or you have the grey/silver model... or do you have a yet a different color?
jr

Hey Folks, I am in need of the centering rings for my G.E.9T002 8in. series strung tube set. Can any body help with this missing piece, or, how can I make something to work just as well. Pete . . God Bless . . . . .

Hey Folks, I am in need of the centering rings for my G.E.9T002 8in. series strung tube set. Can any body help with this missing piece, or, how can I make something to work just as well. Pete . . God Bless . . . . .

See if you can find an old purity ring from an early Japanese rectangular color set. They sure looked like they would work in that application.