Magnavox 19" find at the thrift

[zenith2134]

Just stopped by my local thrift and bought a 1984 Magnavox 19C309 for 5 bucks. Knob tuned set in good overall condition, fake woodgrain and all.

I'm surprised at how good the picture is BEFORE all the usual tweaking. Must have been a low-hour set. Haven't even opened it up yet.

Was built in Greenville, TN October 1984. Assuming it is a NAP product.

Once I open the back up I'll know who made the CRT and I'll post some pics if anyone is interested.

[radiotvnut]

I've worked on a few of those. They were good sets. I wouldn't mind seeing some pictures.

[zenith2134]

Here we go:

The CRT is a 19VMFP22 with an EIA code of 312 (Sylvania) although its labeled NAP Made in U.S.A.

HV is 27.5kV. I like the layout of this set, its just the type of set I'm best at servicing. Singleboard, knob tuners, large neckboard with clearly labeled drive and cutoff controls. Got this one looking real good

So, in general, this was a long-lived chassis? I see Nichicon capacitors and other quality parts on the board. The speaker is labeled 'Onk'--that can't be Onkyo, can it? It's 1.5 watt at 4 ohm, FWIW.

Apologies for the low-rez pictures. I am using my laptop's internal camera.

[zenith2134]

Just a note also: These shots were taken with the TV on my basement floor and no antenna attached. VHF channel 7 analog. All that was connected to the 300 ohm posts was a 75 to 300 balun adapter. Another testament to the power of analog television.

Come to think of it, I'll probably use this set in my basement with a converter box and UHF loop antenna. Using my portacolor down here at the moment.

[radiotvnut]

Those sets also sported the Philco and Sylvania badges. In fact, the control placement and knobs are very similar to my '81 (pre-NAP) GTE-Philco. I remember reading somewhere where NAP bought Sylvania for their CRT division. Those C3 chassis were fairly reliable. I've seen the usual power supply problems, vertical problems, and that yellow retrace cap by the HOT crack and burn a few times.

Correct me if I'm wrong; but, I think this may have been the last NAP chassis to use a rotary tuner. Every NAP set that I've seen after about '84-'85 had a digital tuner.

[zenith2134]

I think I had this exact set at one point. Could have been an '83 though.

Anyway, it is interesting to hear about Philips and their relations with Sylvania CRT's....Wonder which factory these tubes were made at? Batavia, NY?

[AUdubon5425]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Correct me if I'm wrong; but, I think this may have been the last NAP chassis to use a rotary tuner. Every NAP set that I've seen after about '84-'85 had a digital tuner.

The 19" Magnavox I had for years was a digital tuned set - not cable ready. It was made in late 1985 - I received it for Christmas that year. If there was still a knob-tuned set available I really don't think my parents would have spent the extra money for a digital one.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

The 19" Magnavox I had for years was a digital tuned set - not cable ready. It was made in late 1985 - I received it for Christmas that year. If there was still a knob-tuned set available I really don't think my parents would have spent the extra money for a digital one.

They were much less common after about '85; but, there were still some made.

I've seen one 19" knob tuned Zenith set from around '87 and an RCA XL-100 from the very late '80's that still used a knob tuner (CTC136, IIRC). There were a few RCA/GE consoles (CTC130) from around '86 or '87 that had the single knob varactor tuner as well as some Panasonic/Quasar consoles from the same period with knob tuners.

Emerson, KTV, Samsung, Goldstar, Megatron, and other "off brands" had knob tuned sets up until '93, when the Gov't required closed caption decoders to be built into all sets.

I used to sell many knob tuned TVs to older people that were intimidated by TVs with pushbuttons.

[zenith2134]

Some more info: This set uses a switched mode PSU. Apparently the CRT was used in several arcade monitors back in this time. I ran a search and the tube number came up multiple times. Must be a decent crt.

[radiotvnut]

I've seen very few bad NAP CRT's.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Just a note also: These shots were taken with the TV on my basement floor and no antenna attached. VHF channel 7 analog. All that was connected to the 300 ohm posts was a 75 to 300 balun adapter.

You must be in a very strong signal area if you are getting such a good picture on that set, using just a 75/300-ohm matching transformer and no antenna. (You are the second person here I have seen so far who has reported this--AK member AUdubon5425 was the first.) How far are you from the NYC TV stations? There doesn't seem to be any ghosting, multipath or other distortion in the picture either. I mention that because I read in the old Electronics Illustrated magazine about 35-40 years ago an article about the problems New Yorkers were having with multipath and ghosting problems in the city at that time (caused by signal reflections off the World Trade Center and other structures in downtown Manhattan), and probably the suburbs as well. Your area seems to be a suburb of New York (I did a Google search for Belle Harbor before starting to write this), but as I said, your area must have incredible signal strength or else you have an unusually clear shot at the transmitters atop the Empire State Building.

[zenith2134]

It's not that we're very close to the transmitters; it's that there are literally no tall structures between the Empire State Bldg and where I live, it's all residential. A bay seperates us from Brooklyn and the skyline is clearly visible from the other end of my neighborhood (only 5 blocks across)

EDIT: I had to open the set up again because I neglected to set the height control accordingly now that i hooked the Maggie up to my cable converter. Silly mistakes, huh... All they do is waste my time :: But the TV looks nice.

[spkrman57]

Interesting Magnavox 19" I have.

It is a digital chnl selection, Model RD4258SL with date of OCtober 83.

One label says "NAP Consumer Electronics"

All I can say is I hooked up a DVD player to it and the picture was incredibly sharp.

I have had one problem with it though, I lost chnl 10 a few weeks ago. I was using antenna since I currently have no cable service. The other VHF chnls come in ok though.

I just got my converter coupons yesterday and will get a converter to keep using this nice running TV. Plus I love the fact that there is a flip down drawer for all the adjustments, none of that on-screen modern garbage they sell now days.

I did buy a new digital TV, a LG 22", not bad but smaller than my Magnavox 19" for overall viewing across the room!

Did Magnavox have NAP build this TV set for them?

Regards, Ron

[zenith2134]

Cool! Save it! Sounds like a quality TV set. As for the channel 10 issue, it could simply need the tuner cleaned out. What does the picture look like on channel 10? Snow? or black screen?

North American Philips bought up the Magnavox, Sylvania, and Philco names from General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) who already owned Sylvania and built them at Batavia NY and other locations in the USA. This was in the early 80s and apparently built these sets in Tennessee at the original Magnavox factory. The chassis were designed by Philips and the CRT's are Sylvanias as far as I can tell.

[AUdubon5425]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

They were much less common after about '85; but, there were still some made....

I meant Magnavox/NAP sets in particular. I saw a 19" color Zenith with knobs that was from '87-'89 at a thrift in February - made in Mexico I think.