Last Tube TVs?

[Sandy G]

I have 2 all-tube 9" sets, a Panasonic, & a Singer that was likely made by Panny, that are from the 1969-71 time frame, I'd say..Panasonic stuck w/tubes longer than Sony did, I'm pretty sure.

[radiotvnut]

GE made some 9"/12" B&W sets (SF chassis) almost as late as the porta-colors that were hybrid. I think '74 was the last year that RCA offered any TV's with tubes and '75 was the last year for Zenith. Admiral might have hung on until '76 and we know that GE hung on until at least '77 with the porta-color. I used to have a Sams Photofact from '77 that covered a Sanyo 12" B&W with tubes; but, the chassis might have been out for a year or two before Sam's picked it up. Except for the possible exception of some cheap "no name" imported 9"/12" B&W TV's, I'd say that the GE porta-color was the end of the line for tubes, with most other US companies closing the door on tubes in '74-'75.

[YamahaFreak]

I am mistaken; the Sony I had did have a larger picture tube-probably in the 8-9 inch realm. I do recall seeing exactly one Capehart TV-an early to mid 80s 13-inch set with knobs. (Fully solid state, of course)

[andy]

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[YamahaFreak]

Originally Posted by andy

I think the only tube set Sony made was the short lived Chromatron that was sold only in Japan.

That's interesting to know. Did Sony simply enter the TV market later than other manufacturers?

[radiotvnut]

The only full tubed Sony products that I've seen are some reel to reel tape recorders.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Admiral's 9-inch B&W sets were all-tube (or mostly tubes) in 1974; my brothers both had those sets.

[wa2ise]

I remember that 60's era Zenith B&W sets used all tubes except for a rectifier diode and a transistorized UHF oscillator in the UHF tuner (which I thought strange, as it seemed at the time transistors were bad at doing high frequencies). I have an RCA from around 1957 that is all tube (of course) except for a video detector diode, a 1N34. But I think these are not what we are thinking of when we say, partially solid state.

[andy]

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[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by andy

Their first TV was the little 8" portable in 1959-60, and that was all solid state except for the HV rectifier.

Yeah, even their SECOND TV-The 5-300 series had a HV rectifier, too, I think.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Yeah, even their SECOND TV-The 5-300 series had a HV rectifier, too, I think.

It actually used *three* of the tiny 1DK1s in a HV tripler circuit

jr

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

It actually used *three* of the tiny 1DK1s in a HV tripler circuit

jr

That's the thing that I LOVE about this site ! The level of technical knowledge is nothing short of AMAZING..

[davet753]

Originally Posted by zeno

GE portacolors were probably the last, also they had a
19" , C-2 chassis IIRC that probably was almost as late.
They were used in many store brands & started at $250.
A real toilet IMHO. Zenith ran the 4 tube hybrid til F-line
1975 as a leader 19". They also had a 14" 1/2 tube
chassis that may have sold in G-line but dont remember.
Most ended in 74-76, people didnt want tubes anymore.

73 Zeno

The 4 tube Zenith chassis was one heck of a good set. In the early 1990's, I threw out several of them (many of which still worked) because I could no longer sell a tube type TV. I wish I had one now

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by zeno

GE portacolors were probably the last, also they had a
19" , C-2 chassis IIRC that probably was almost as late.
They were used in many store brands & started at $250.
A real toilet IMHO. Zenith ran the 4 tube hybrid til F-line
1975 as a leader 19". They also had a 14" 1/2 tube
chassis that may have sold in G-line but dont remember.
Most ended in 74-76, people didnt want tubes anymore.

73 Zeno

I don't think, there's any set that stayed in production as long as the Porta-color. It seems like 11 or 12 years running, with minor revisions. OF course, the last models came out with the high voltage focus CRT.
I tried doing a little research, regarding these sets. It seems like the first set was a HB chassis, which was a 1966 model set. That one uses a 11SP22.
I really don't think, they built them after early 1977.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I don't think, there's any set that stayed in production as long as the Porta-color. It seems like 11 or 12 years running, with minor revisions. OF course, the last models came out with the high voltage focus CRT.
I tried doing a little research, regarding these sets. It seems like the first set was a HB chassis, which was a 1966 model set. That one uses a 11SP22.
I really don't think, they built them after early 1977.

Makes me think of the Apple IIe, which stayed in production from January 1983 to December 1993 with some revisions (the biggest one in '87) in spite of Jobs' attempts to kill off the line. These computers were in my 4th-6th grade classrooms and were aging even then. They remained in the elementary wing at least until I finished junior high. Funny how technology progressed so slowly even back then. I'm certainly not complaining about that though.