Solid State Finds

[mr_fixer]

bgadow, I remember that Panasonic color set. Every neighborhood has it's cool family. The place where all the kids hangout. Well they were the Tuckers in the late 70's during my childhood. and Mrs Tucker had that Panasonic on their kitchen table. which we would watch while my friends would finish their breakfast before starting our day of adventure. That tv brought back some nice memories. Logan

[bgadow]

A couple more that came my way recently. These sets are pure "white bread". A pair of GE's: first is an 'AB' from the early 80s. JCFitz gave it to me not long ago. Just needed a new speaker (old one was intermittent.) The other one is its big brother, an 'AC' from about 1980. I guess its the only thing I have right now with the "Performance Television" label. Woo-hoo, exciting! A woman I met through freecycle remembered me when she was on the way to the dump with it. She said it just quit but it powered up fine for me. Usual intermittent tint that I've seen on all of these and the old portacolors, too. This one has "color monitor". I wouldn't have paid money for either set but for free I thought I should give these Portsmouth-built portable a home.

[peverett]

I also have both of these sets. I have gotten the larger one working. It was also intermittant on power up. If I remember correctly, it was a bad soldier joint. Mine has been used with a video game or something of that affect, so has numbers burned in the screen. This does not seem to be noticable when the set is operating, only when the set is off. I also have a version of the larger one with a cream colored case. It works also, but the CRT is not in the best of shape, so the color is not as good as other wood grained one.

[zenith2134]

I have a Portsmouth 13" from 1984. It has an outstanding picture, by anyone's standards. Some lady down the block was chucking it about 2 years ago, it had the usual loose solder and dirty contrast/tint controls.

Cool thing about this one is that its got electronic tuning and remote. makes a good kitchen set.

Also, when did GE stop putting the folded-up service manual in the back of the cabinet? I was shocked when I saw that!

[bgadow]

As I recall both of these sets have the mini-manual. Maybe they kept using them until they bought RCA? As mundane as some of it is, I always have a soft spot for GE stuff. It's what I grew up with.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

I have a Portsmouth 13" from 1984. It has an outstanding picture, by anyone's standards. Some lady down the block was chucking it about 2 years ago, it had the usual loose solder and dirty contrast/tint controls.

Cool thing about this one is that its got electronic tuning and remote. makes a good kitchen set.

Also, when did GE stop putting the folded-up service manual in the back of the cabinet? I was shocked when I saw that!

The last GE chassis I saw with the small service manual inside was the PC chassis. I think that particular chassis was around until '87. I have an '86 console PC chassis set that has it. There were other GE chassis out in the mid to late '80's that did not have the manual. These were the chassis that were made by someone else.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by bgadow

As mundane as some of it is, I always have a soft spot for GE stuff. It's what I grew up with.

Me too! When I was a kid I had a portable just like your "Performance Television" it diedif I find another I'll get it to "capture some of my youth"

[Thyratron]

Originally Posted by bgadow

There was a later 70s RCA console and a 19" Zenith which looked for all the world like it was mid-70s, but turned out to be a 1983 model. (dual click-stop tuning) Must have been the cheapest thing they made that year.

I saw one not too long ago that might be one of the last of the type. It was also a Zenith, 19", with the dual click tuners, '70s in basic design, but all black (no woodgrain and minimal brushed "aluminum"/chrome). The year? 1988!

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Thyratron

I saw one not too long ago that might be one of the last of the type. It was also a Zenith, 19", with the dual click tuners, '70s in basic design, but all black (no woodgrain and minimal brushed "aluminum"/chrome). The year? 1988!

I had one of those that said "Zenith Custom Series" on it. I think about '88 was when most major manufacturer's phased out rotary tuners. The only thing newer that I've seen them on were some off-brand stuff from the early '90's. I've got an all black Sears LXI set from '90 that has rotary tuning. The chassis looks like a GoldStar.

[Thyratron]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I had one of those that said "Zenith Custom Series" on it.

That was the one. As I was looking at it, I was wondering what exactly was "custom" about it! Still, I should have picked it up just for how unusual for the time it was.

[radiotvnut]

In the early '90's, our school had some 25" table model Zenith "custom series" TV's in a particleboard cabinet. These had digital tuners; but, a standard pull on/volume knob. These sets did not have any sort of A/V jacks like the early '70's RCA "Mural TV" tube sets that were replaced by the newer Zenith's. BTW, I liked those old RCA's better than the newer Zenith's.

[bgadow]

Maybe those custom series sets were built to spec for someone like Kmart or something, that just wanted a bare-bones set to sell? '88 sure is late for a "major" player like Zenith to be building such things.

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Maybe those custom series sets were built to spec for someone like Kmart or something, that just wanted a bare-bones set to sell?

"Custom Series" was just a name that Zenith put on their low-end sets for a while in the mid-80s until early 90's. You had "Custom Series" -> "System 3" -> "Advanced System 3" -> "Digital System 3". The "Custom Series" line name was essentially replaced with the "Sentry 2" line name.

I remember still seeing a few bare-bones switch-tuner color sets (mostly lowball "house-brand" sets) in stores right up until 1993 when the FCC mandated closed-caption decoders on color TVs 13" and larger.

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

The last GE chassis I saw with the small service manual inside was the PC chassis. I think that particular chassis was around until '87. I have an '86 console PC chassis set that has it. There were other GE chassis out in the mid to late '80's that did not have the manual. These were the chassis that were made by someone else.

Funny, I was just thinking about those little mini service manuals last weekend when I found a weird little mid-80's GE "Omni 5" microwave oven-toaster-conventional oven-broiler combo unit at a thrift store. Kinda strange little combo unit-- basically a suped-up toaster oven combined with a low-power microwave oven. I bought it just out of sheer curiosity just because it seemed so weird. Anyway, when I took the top cover off the thing, I noticed an envelope pasted on the inside of the cover-- and yep, inside was a folded-up mini service manual much like those that were found inside GE TVs. (!) [Oddly though, while GE did make microwave ovens in the USA at that time, this particular one was labled as made in Japan; I think the GE TV manuals only appeared on USA-made TVs]. I wonder if other GE appliances were like that?

[bgadow]

An old friend of my father stopped in a few months ago and told me to come by his house someday and get the tv sets from his garage. From his description I pictured an 80s console. I was in no hurry. Today he stopped by again, teasing me about not getting those sets yet. Turns out he brought them along. Well, I'm glad he thought of me. Not sure what I'll do with 'em. Top is another 10" GE 'AB'; bottom is a 19" Midland (Taiwanese) that I had half a hope might be a late hybrid but nope. And the third set is an el Cheapo 'Action' 12" bw made in China; runs off a wall wart.

Someone else stopped by last week and asked if I wanted their 'garage' tv. From their description it could be anything from a '66 Admiral to a '76 GE Time will tell.