View Full Version : NIB Porta Color on eBay


Eric H
06-29-2005, 09:20 PM
1969 or 70 model?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5784542854

Since I was outbid I figured someone here might be interested.

tv beta guy
06-30-2005, 07:16 PM
I won it. This is perfect. I really wanted a late 60's Porta Color with the clock and timers. And this one is mint in the box... YES!

jstout66
06-30-2005, 09:00 PM
cool, and I bet it works PERFECTLY. I saw they said they only got "snow" when they turned it on, but I noticed in one of the pictures that the VHF leads were hooked to UHF. That is one NICE cool set!!!!!!!

colortrakker
06-30-2005, 09:24 PM
Looks a lot nicer than the $3 Porta I found at the thrifty today.

andy
07-01-2005, 12:30 AM
That was a bargain if it really is unused. I sold a used portacolor last year on ebay for about the same price.

Eric H
07-01-2005, 01:16 AM
Glad someone from AK got it!! :banana: :thmbsp: :D

frenchy
07-02-2005, 01:54 AM
That was a bargain if it really is unused. I sold a used portacolor last year on ebay for about the same price.

With the cardboard still on the handle I can't fathom this not being a basically unused set. I'm possibly the only person lazy enough to use a tv set and not even take that ugly cardboard off immediately. Nahhhh even I would take it off.
I have a really cherry 1st-year-model Portacolor so I let this one go, otherwise I woulda been bidding for that beaut above that price. How often you gonna find a new in box vacuum tube color TV set??? Awsome.

tv beta guy
07-13-2005, 09:22 PM
The TV is indeed mint, never used before except during the auction. Before I opened it, I checked out the box. Box is also in really great shape. I found a UPS label on it, with a date: Janruary 8, 1968! So this TV was most likely made sometime late in 1967.

The TV has everything with it. All paperwork and accessories, including the original earphone piece and UHF loop antenna. The cardboard around the handle and the tags on the front I plan on leaving them as they are.

I plugged it in. The clock works nicely. The cool part is the clock is backlit green! Now, mind you, I've never seen one of this vintage before, so this is all new to me.

Since it was already fired up from the auction, I just turned the TV on. Came up real nicely. Works just fine! Although it could use a little tweaking to the vertical height and the greyscale needs adjusted as it is way too blue. I really don't want to touch it yet, as it hasn't even been broke in yet.

Tunes channels perfectly. One thing I love is this TV has the backlit dials... That is one thing I love about old TVs :) This TV uses the same dot pitch as my 1976 Porta Color, but instead uses the triangular pattern instead of stripes. Looks far better IMO. I also found it neat that it has a degauss switch in the back.

I let it run for about 2 hours, with no problems.


Here are some pictures:

tv beta guy
07-13-2005, 09:23 PM
The box...

tv beta guy
07-13-2005, 09:24 PM
More of the box

tv beta guy
07-13-2005, 09:26 PM
Color bars...

And if anyone wants complete scans of all the paperwork, let me know. I'll have access to a scanner starting Friday.

wcarroll
07-13-2005, 09:38 PM
This is another set that I remember from my childhood... We had a PortaColor just like this one with the clock and all. Didn't it have a sleep timer that you could set to turn the TV off automatically? :smoke: Great find!

tv beta guy
07-13-2005, 10:09 PM
Didn't it have a sleep timer that you could set to turn the TV off automatically?

Yes it does. It is the control on the bottom below the clock. No alarm timer though.

I'd also like to add, that the sound on my 1976 Porta Color actually gets more bass and treble response than this TV. I figured they'd be about the same.

andy
07-14-2005, 01:27 AM
I'd love to see a close up of the clock controls. I have one of those, but the clock controls are broken and I have no idea what they original knobs looked like.

tv beta guy
07-14-2005, 03:38 PM
Closeup of the clock:

old_tv_nut
07-14-2005, 04:18 PM
If your camera doesn't lie, I'd say it's lack of red rather than excess of blue - but best to let it break in a while, as you say.

tv beta guy
07-15-2005, 07:33 PM
If your camera doesn't lie, I'd say it's lack of red rather than excess of blue - but best to let it break in a while, as you say.

That is another way to put it. It is actually blueish-green, with the slight lack of red.

Aside from that, the picture is very bright, and actually sharp for a Porta Color. I also like the fact the picture tube has a dark tinted screen on this one.

tv beta guy
07-19-2005, 12:51 PM
I scanned and uploaded pictures of all the paperwork if anyone is interested. It is in an 8.71MB zip file.

http://home.comcast.net/~tv_beta_guy/portacolor.zip

andy
07-19-2005, 02:32 PM
Thanks for the close up picture. It looks like there aren't really any knobs for the clock. It looks like the shafts just stick out. Am I seeing that correctly?

tv beta guy
07-19-2005, 07:35 PM
Am I seeing that correctly?

Yeah, pretty much that's all it looks like is just part of the shaft, no knobs.