Smallest all tube portable?

[radiotvnut]

I used to find a good many of those early-to-mid '60's el cheapo B&W's. The first ones were VHF only and I remember one model that had a 5-tube clock radio built in. The cabinet designs may have changed; but, GE used the same basic circuit for their tube type 12" B&W well into the '70's.

[wa2ise]

GE made a bunch of these little B&W 9 inchers.

[Eric H]

RCA also made a small plastic 9" portable in the late 60's or early 70's.

You've probably seen the Mod Psychedelic warped Checkerboard version on eBay before but they came in other colors too.

I have a blue one around here somewhere but I can't find it just now to take a picture.

I don't think it's any smaller than that Panasonic but it's certainly lighter than the RCA personal Portable of the 50's.

As for CRTs in the RCA's I've only found one weak tube out of a total of 14 sets (two of which were parted out) compared to the 9" GE in which nearly every 9QP4 CRT is bad and was in fact subject to a recall or service bulletin back in the day.

Another problem with the GE is the plastic front gets brittle and the CRT mounting holes break off, I've had to Epoxy pretty much all of mine back together, they are broken after shipping guaranteed, this doesn't stop them from selling for insane prices on eBay though.

OTOH the GE can be recapped in a hour or so and only weighs 13 pounds or so.

In short, the RCA was the grown ups set, Kitchen Den Office, and the GE was for the kids room, even though it was a hot chassis and could electrocute the little rug rats.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Eric H

In short, the RCA was the grown ups set, Kitchen Den Office, and the GE was for the kids room, even though it was a hot chassis and could electrocute the little rug rats.

OTOH, In all fairness, although the RCA has a power transformer, it also has a capacitor and resistor (.001uf, 100 kohm) from the line to chassis...so one can get a little "tingle" if the cap is ok. If the cap shorts...Well,....

jr

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

GE made a bunch of these little B&W 9 inchers.

That's the style GE I was talking about earlier. I remember them not having a "real" CRT socket. Instead, they had individual lugs that slid over the CRT pins. If I found one of these today for a reasonable price, I'd grab it.

[Phototone]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

That's the style GE I was talking about earlier. I remember them not having a "real" CRT socket. Instead, they had individual lugs that slid over the CRT pins. If I found one of these today for a reasonable price, I'd grab it.

I remember these as being 12", not 9" CRT's. The PortaColor of course was 11" and I remember the color set as having just a wee bit smaller screen, as I have owned both (and still have the PortaColor.)

[jr_tech]

The early '60s 11" Admiral "playmate" (tube-compactrons?) was very compact and pretty thin, considering its screen size. Years ago, I had one of these in red... very cute!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Advertis...item1c1452b47d

not affiliated,
jr

[stromberg6]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

GE made a bunch of these little B&W 9 inchers.

Nice little personal portables. That's the same model I have, with the "flesh" color cabinet. Mine needs a crt, 11HP4, totally dead cathode, but is otherwise in fine condition. A roadside find.
Kevin

[Eric H]

I should probably clarify that the GE sets I was referring to above were the 1956-7 models like this one.


GE seems to be the king of cheap, they made some of the crappiest sets from the 1940's on, the Locomotives and it's kin for example, nice to look at but a really cheesy series strung chassis with lousy build quality, those cheap 19" plastic sets from the late 60's that were everywhere for a while, with the knobs on the bottom apron and full of Compactrons, The Porta Color.

Seems like they were focused on weight and cost savings very early on.
I did however have a 19" Color GE I bought new in late 79 that was a very good set, 10 years and only one minor problem.

[GeorgeJetson]

That little GE is very cool! Nice colors too!
It reminds me a little of the RCA size wise,Im surprised to learn GE had such a cavalier attitude towards quality even back then.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJetson

That little GE is very cool! Nice colors too! it reminds me a little of the RCA size wise

Close, The GE 9T002 (turquoise) measures:

Screen: 8" (diagonal)
Width: 9 1/2"
Height: 9" (counting the antenna, handle and feet)
Depth: 14"

Total: 1197 Cubic inches, vs 884 for the RCA, but it weighs less, only 13 1/2 lbs.
jr

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

it weighs less, only 13 1/2 lbs.
jr

Because it's made of Aluminum Foil and Cardboard.

Really, the cabinet is Aluminum and the bottom is a piece of Masonite, the RCA is Steel throughout except the front trim, which is cast something or other.
The GE's do work pretty well if you can find one with a good CRT.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

The early '60s 11" Admiral "playmate" (tube-compactrons?) was very compact and pretty thin, considering its screen size. Years ago, I had one of these in red... very cute!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Advertis...item1c1452b47d

not affiliated,
jr

I have a couple of those, both white-well, one is dingy yellow-greyish white- but they work, & IMHO, are "Cute". The CRT is almost square, w/rounded corners...And they ARE very thin. Terry said mine was made in 1964.

[dieseljeep]

My Playmate 13 was a deluxe model. It was the same physical size as the 11". Two stages of IF with keyed AGC. Had UHF and it was a good DXer. The 13 had a tension band CRT, where the 11" had a plastic safety lens. BTW, it was black with chrome plastic trim.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

My Playmate 13 was a deluxe model. It was the same physical size as the 11"

Wow! I am surprised they could cram a 13" jug into that model. I may be remembering wrong but I thought the 11" model was about 11" wide by about 12" high, by perhaps as little as 8" deep... but I haven't seen one in a long time.
Sandy, could you perhaps measure your 11" "playmate" and post ?

jr