Porta-Color on You-Know-Where...

[Old1625]

Originally Posted by andy

I blasted a short out of a tube once before. One of the grid wires was shorted to something else. A car battery is massive over kill, but it will work if it's a dead short. A 5A bench supply is more than enough.

Had a fairly decent supply at the time. But not a working isolation transformer for the set. Not trusting the inherent isolation of the power supply, and mindful of the delicate circuitry of the rest of the set, the car battery seemed like the magic at the time. Just power the set up and wait for it to misbehave, and have the alligator leads at the ready...

BTW I have nothing against overkill if the resources are there, and it doesn't tax 'em too much.

[radiotvnut]

The set in question just sold for $70! Did anyone here get it? I saw that final bid and I thought about all the ones I used to sell as a kid. They would bring anywhere between $20 and $40, depending on how well they worked. That was in the early to mid '90's. I would like to find one of these again; but, not bad enough to pay $70 for it.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Old1625

2) Some of the compactron tubes used in some sets of this vintage are made of pure unobtainium.

Probably because I used all them up on radio projects like this:
http://pw2.netcom.com/%7Ewa2ise/radios/compaa3.html

[zenith2134]

Cool projects wa2ise!

I paid 50 for my portacolor, but I couldn't resist, the thing looks like it was in a time capsule

[zenithfan1]

Hey guys! I won the set!! I'll post pics as soon as it arrives {in one piece I hope!}

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

Hey guys! I won the set!! I'll post pics as soon as it arrives {in one piece I hope!}

Glad to know it's in the Audiokarma family. I do think that's about a '74 model. I had a '76 once that had the same control layout but had newer style knobs.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Glad to know it's in the Audiokarma family. I do think that's about a '74 model. I had a '76 once that had the same control layout but had newer style knobs.

Thanks for the info, I'm pretty excited,I've never owned a Porta-Color before.I have those other two GEs but they're 19 inchers. This one I can take with me! I am determined enough that when the death of analog comes, I'll bring the converter and powered antenna wherever a portable set goes....unless it's a battery powered portable, unfortunately, those sets will be mostly crap then

[Sandy G]

Glad you got it ! I have 3 Porta-Pottys, a toob one of uncertain vintage-I NEVER have learned how to "mouth" one- & 2 SS models from like '84. The SS models aren't strictly Porta-Colors, but they still use that sort-of round coarse CRT & have a complete lack of "modern" features-so I guess they sorta count.

[andy]

...

[dtuomi]

Originally Posted by Adam

Is that that one you got from me? I bought that from a thrift store when I was in Michigan, never did any repairs to it, as far as I know (except for missing the antenna) it was still totally original.

Yeah its the same one I got from you, Adam. I think I got a good deal, looking at what they go for on eBay. I'm sure I hadn't paid that much, and I walked away with about 4 sets.

The only problem I had with it was it started having the vertical issues a while back. But about the time I posted a help message on Audiokarma to see about tracing the problem the set got scared and decided to fly right. It hasn't had a problem since, and I put a lot of hours on it at the office.

Unfortunately a co-worker of mine had left the set on overnight on my day off. When I came back (after 2 days) the boss just had a fit. The set was fine, it was still playing channel 20 like it was supposed to. But he didn't like the idea of having a vacuum tube television running for a few days unattended. I didn't have a heart to let him in on the secret that all the CRT's running in Master Control 24/7 happen to be overgrown vacuum tubes as well. Anyway, Portacolor has retired from service, but not through any fault of its own. I'm using a small mid-80's b&w Zenith set (which incidentally I got from Adam in that same trade) which is solid state. Its actually a pretty good set, but I miss not having color.

David

P.S. Congrats to the guy who won this set, they're a hell of a lot of fun.

[Old1625]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

Probably because I used all them up on radio projects like this:
http://pw2.netcom.com/%7Ewa2ise/radios/compaa3.html

Nice! I added that one to favorites.

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by Old1625

Those were remarkable little sets for the time. But remember....

1) The dot pattern on the screen is of exactly the same density as for larger CRTs of the time. This means iffy resolution at best.

I forget the CRT numbers, but the original CRT type that GE used for the first model-year Portacolors was indeed like that, but the later one used after the first model year was much better (if you put one of each side-by-side, the difference in dot pitch is really easy to see!). However, when GE switched the PortaColor from a dot-phosphor CRT to a stripe-phosphor CRT in the early 1970's, the resolution went right back down again.

[Old1625]

Originally Posted by Whirled One

I forget the CRT numbers, but the original CRT type that GE used for the first model-year Portacolors was indeed like that, but the later one used after the first model year was much better (if you put one of each side-by-side, the difference in dot pitch is really easy to see!). However, when GE switched the PortaColor from a dot-phosphor CRT to a stripe-phosphor CRT in the early 1970's, the resolution went right back down again.

The one I had was definitely an earlier model, judging by the predominance of tubes.

The evolution of CRTs in that model of GE set is a interesting thing to know. Thanks!

[zenithfan1]

Yup, 70 bucks was too much, I put my high bid in like that because I wasn't around a computer when it ended. I didn't expect to pay that much! It does work, however it needs a lot of attention, tubes are good, CRT is questionable which is kinda uncommon for these. Found mold inside and some rust. Good news is: The cabinet is mint, and the problems are not too hard for me to fix. Nothing I haven't seen before. I am just a little disappointed with the description of 100% working but thats the way it goes on the bay, they will say anything to sell sh*t for the highest price. I have pics and will post them tomorrow.
Mark

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

Yup, 70 bucks was too much, I put my high bid in like that because I wasn't around a computer when it ended. I didn't expect to pay that much! It does work, however it needs a lot of attention, tubes are good, CRT is questionable which is kinda uncommon for these. Found mold inside and some rust. Good news is: The cabinet is mint, and the problems are not too hard for me to fix. Nothing I haven't seen before. I am just a little disappointed with the description of 100% working but thats the way it goes on the bay, they will say anything to sell sh*t for the highest price. I have pics and will post them tomorrow.
Mark

I think a lot of epay sellers simply just don't know better. They are untrained in electronics and just want to make a fast buck on the latest item they dug from a dumpster or bought at a yard sale for $1. They think if an electronic item lights up or makes some noise, then, it's considered to be working. I buy (or, try to buy) a lot of old radios, record players, etc. on epay and they rarely work as good as the seller would have you to believe. What's really sad is the fact that some of this so called working crap will bring more than the same item from someone who has obviously restored it and knows what they are doing. I now bid on most items as if they do not work regardless of what the seller says. If I get outbid, then, so be it.