Zenith Space Command "500" TV - lucky find

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Snade

Found this at an estate sale in Elmhurst, Illinois, paid $10.

19" Zenith SC 500 portable, Chromacolor.

Model SC1950-6
Chassis: 19DC12

Cabinet is in very nice shape and the two antennas work fine.

Included two Space Command remotes. Wow!

The TV works and the remotes work, but some channels come in black and white only and there are horizontal white lines across the very top of the picture. Can't seem to get anything on channel 11 (PBS).

I don't work on TVs, so maybe I will ask Doug if he can bring this up to speed. I don't live far from him in Batavia, IL.

Very lucky find for me. Photos below. Snade

You didn't say if you had your set on cable but if you're using an over-the-air antenna, the reason you see some channels in b&w may be simply that the fine tuning may be off. Color TV is very demanding as far as 100-percent correct fine tuning is concerned. You could have the same problem with channel 11; if the fine tuning is really far off the mark, you can lose your entire signal--video, sound and all. Again, color TV is nowhere nearly as forgiving as b&w as far as tuning errors go. Back in color TV's early days, technicians would often go out on service calls for "no color" on a new color set, only to find that the fine tuning control is just the least little bit off center. A simple twist of the wrist was often all it took to restore the picture to full (as NBC used to say in their early years of colorcasting) "living" color. Also, some people never quite got the hang of adjusting color controls (not just the fine tuning) properly, which is probably why all TVs made in the last 15 years or so, and all sets in current production, are set up for practically set-and-forget operation--take it out of the box, put it on a stand, connect the cable or antenna, turn it on and forget the rest. I used to know people who would watch their color TV with an absolutely hideous looking picture--oversaturated colors, flesh tones so far off it wasn't funny, etc. It never seemed to bother them, as long as the picture was there at all.

The horizontal white lines across the top of the picture are probably horizontal retrace lines. These are often visible, especially on older sets, if the brightness is set too high; I'd try lowering the brightness to see if the lines disappear. The chances are they will. If not, however, the problem is likely in the retrace blanking circuitry which, these days, requires a skilled technician to correct. I've read enough of Doug's posts here on AK to know that he knows his way around TV circuitry (especially Zenith) very well (did he work for Zenith at one time?), so if fine-tuning or brightness adjustments don't get your set working as it should, have Doug take a look at it. If he's near you in Batavia, it won't be that much of a drive to get the set to him.