Found a 1974 Wards Airline portable color TV! - Videokarma.org TV - Video

drh4683 · #1 01-02-2016, 06:01 AM

I found this at an estate sale in the area. It's a 1974 Wards Airline 12" hybrid color portable. The set was sitting in the basement and had a "Free" sticker on it. I simply picked it up and carried it out of the house and got to bypass the huge checkout line as well! The people running the sale were shocked to see someone interested enough to take it away. In fact, the one guy helping run the sale said to me "You are probably taking it only because it was free". I told him no, I would have bought it if it had a reasonable price on it, but I won't argue with Free! The guy goes "THAT FIGURES!" Well, that was their loss.

After I got home, I took the back off to check it out. This is another lucky TV as the original owners didn't leave it plugged in, so the instant-on didn't destroy the CRT. It's nice and strong yet and the set still works well. As you can see, it's made in Taiwan. That's because this set was actually made for Wards by Admiral and was built by AOC, which of course was Admiral Overseas Corp (Admiral's Taiwan plant). Admiral was one of Montgomery Wards main electronic suppliers next to Warwick in the 60's and 70's. This one must be one of the very last tube hybrid sets they made. It also has the newer "WARDS AIRLINE" script on the front, but the CRT label and tubes still have the old styled cursive "Airline" script. I think 1973 was the transition year they switched to the new logo. Most date codes on components throughout the chassis are early to mid 1973, but the CRT appears to have a 1974 date code. So it's a real deal Admiral designed set, just made in their Taiwan plant. You can see some of the parts inside look domestic while others are clearly foreign. A true hybrid in more ways than one. Admiral was one of the first US electronic manufacturers to open a foreign plant, and did so in 1967 when they started their operations in Taiwan.

DSC02497 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02499 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02502 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02504 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02507 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02508 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02511 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02514 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02518 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02522 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02523 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02525 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC02529 by drh4683, on Flickr

jstout66 · #2 01-02-2016, 06:39 AM

What a neat set! I was gonna say rebadged Admiral before I read your description, since Admiral always had the screen size stamped into the bezel. And ya.. chassis has a combo Jap/American look about it.
These sets sure are rare now, since they were easy to toss after analog went away.
I see I'm the first to reply to your post. Will pray I don't see any "you better re-cap the entire thing or she'll burn your house down" posts haha

dieseljeep · #3 01-02-2016, 09:43 AM

I have the Admiral version of that set. The set uses 300ma series tubes that are not that popular or expensive. Many of them are only $1.00 each at the Florida place. Look on the dollar list. Minimum order of ten tubes.
Naturally, the 30JZ6 is like $14.00. It looks like yours is pretty well wasted.
It looks like Wards had several suppliers at the time, including GE.

Electronic M · #4 01-02-2016, 12:44 PM

That is a nice one. The side by side tuning knobs look reminds of a portacolor.

dieseljeep · #5 01-02-2016, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electronic M

That is a nice one. The side by side tuning knobs look reminds of a portacolor.

I was looking through an Electronic Technician schematic book, that had the original factory prints. That was the book, they would include with a subscription to the magazine, probably long defunct.
There was a schematic, covered under Admiral that was almost identical to the Porta-Color circuitry, except the screen size. The artwork was typically Admiral, so it was possibly a clone design.

dishdude · #6 01-02-2016, 02:04 PM

It does look very Porta-color. I wonder what the price difference was when new. This set looks a little higher quality and more grown up than a PC.

***Eric H*** · #7 01-02-2016, 05:16 PM

I wonder what the dot pitch on the screen is? Got any screen shots?

Username1 · #8 01-02-2016, 07:34 PM

You better replace every last capacitor or it'll burn your house down.......

Very nice set ! If Doug goes to every estate sale ~ He will eventually own one of
every tv almost forgotten by time..... Especially these odd-balls.... Good Find !

.

Electronic M · #9 01-02-2016, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I was looking through an Electronic Technician schematic book, that had the original factory prints. That was the book, they would include with a subscription to the magazine, probably long defunct.
There was a schematic, covered under Admiral that was almost identical to the Porta-Color circuitry, except the screen size. The artwork was typically Admiral, so it was possibly a clone design.

Interesting.
IIRC Kamakiri found an admiral portacolor 2-4 years back.

bgadow · #10 01-02-2016, 09:27 PM

I had a couple of these, one I think was a little newer with a 13v tube, if I'm remembering right. I passed them on to another VK'er. Neither were in as nice a shape as this, though. Very clean, like most of Doug's finds! What I found of these, and the 12" Sears I had, was that I could never get the color to where I was happy with it. I'm not sure if it was me or the design of those sets, though.

BigDavesTV · #11 01-02-2016, 09:43 PM

Congratulations, Doug, on a great find! I hope to someday find one of those Admiral or MW sets. I recall working on a couple of them, way back, at the TV shop I worked in!

Sandy G · #12 01-02-2016, 10:30 PM

Cyoot l'il fella-Me LIKEY !

consoleguy67 · #13 01-03-2016, 05:07 AM

Doug,
The next time you're in your Time Machine, could you bring me back a nice Zenith or Magnavox roundie? You seem the be the best at finding the best examples of these vintage sets.

Thanks,
Frank

dieseljeep · #14 01-03-2016, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgadow

I had a couple of these, one I think was a little newer with a 13v tube, if I'm remembering right. I passed them on to another VK'er. Neither were in as nice a shape as this, though. Very clean, like most of Doug's finds! What I found of these, and the 12" Sears I had, was that I could never get the color to where I was happy with it. I'm not sure if it was me or the design of those sets, though.

I worked on one of the first models of the Admiral 12" set, USA built, CA 1968/69. Like all the earlier small screen, low focus voltage CRT's, when new had a fair-to-great picture. Most didn't age gracefully. Focus suffered as they aged. Admiral used their own CRT's, which weren't that great to begin with.

Carmine · #15 01-08-2016, 08:31 PM

That's a nice tv, but you should know that it will not receive a digital transmission, so it is essentially useless. I am surprised so many don't realize this by now. That is probably why it was marked "free" and they were skeptical of your motives. They may has thought you would simply smash it on the sidewalk, leaving a mess to clean and an environmental disaster.

You should also consider replacing the capacitors.