Name that model...?

[Tom_Ryan]

Wow....check this one out .... Item# 250334417579 on eBay any idea of the model? http://cgi.ebay.com/TV-TRANSFORMED-o...mZ250334417579

Seems like a shame to gut the set and give it a coat of paint. I wonder how have been sold this way?

[radiotvnut]

Looks like a mid '70's GE. Actually, there's already a thread on here discussing that same set!

[zenith2134]

I agree with radiotvnut in that it's a GE of that era. Personally, I think those were good sets which were capable of very good performance when working. One plus about the GEs I've seen is that they were often simpler (tried and true) designs. A perfect example is the use of vacuum-tube based chassis circuitry, which GE continued apparently into the 1980s.

May not be the rarest set, but, more often than not, price is in the eyes of the observer.

To an art expert, this may be an ingenious idea. I'm a biased TV man, so I'm the wrong guy to ask. See you on the boards.

[Tom_Ryan]

Yea, I know ... but I wanted to start a thread to discuss the technical aspect of the TV set . The back, although mounted backwards seems to be a Zenith design, perhaps a color set; however, the front controls seem to be absent of color controls, unless they are hidden. I guess I could spend a few days looking though hundreds of old SAMS I got. Just thought it would be easier to ask. Can anyone come up with the exact model?

[zenith2134]

It sort of looks like the color controls are located under the right bottom of the CRT's bezel. Hard to say a model number or chassis, but I'm sure the other guys know it.

If this was a tube set, I can almost guarantee that GE got a decent sound out of this set's speaker/audio section. Even the mid-70s 'cheapies' seemed to make a 6"x9" speaker sing if connected to a VCR recording or decent stereo source component. By the late-70s, most manufacturers of course utilized IC-based amplifiers for their sets, later to be paired with digital stuff by the 80s. Monophonic rocks! (With the right gear )

The GEs I've seen from this era typically have pretty decent tuners. Fringe reception can be quite good if the RF/IF is up to original specs still. Channel 3 is as clear as a bell!

You know why I like to save the not-so-collectable sets sometimes? They are our future, as the TV hobby was once non-existent. Roundies were gutted and left for trash. It wasn't until many years later when they could be sold for real money. If there aren't any 1975 portacolors left intact one day, finding one would be a real treat.

[radiotvnut]

I've seen some mid '70's GE sets that had a tilt out control bin similar to RCA. If that was a solid state set, it probably used the (IIRC) MA or MH chassis. That was a 25" delta gun set with plug in modules. I've only seen a couple. The YM chassis (mid-late '70's) came after that and was not a very good set, IMHO. The CRT was a 25" inline tube that used a large neck like the delta gun tubes of the day and these tubes didn't hold up very well. The flybacks were also a high failure item in the YM chassis. Around '79 or '80, the EM chassis came out. These were a royal PITA to service, was prone to have bad solder connections, and I've seen a fair amount of flybacks fail in these. Somewhere around '81 or '82, the PC chassis came out and stayed around until GE got out of the TV business in around '87. This was a single board solid state chassis and was probably the best SS set that GE built. There were a few caps in the vertical and power supply circuits that would fail; but, that's no big deal. So, that covers the bases on what was probably in this cabinet. The most likely chassis was the MA/MH or YM.

[bgadow]

I noticed the tube cap earlier and agree it doesn't look like what GE was using then, though I haven't seen one in a little while. I had probably a half-dozen solid state GE consoles at one time or another, including one my parents bought new around 80-81. I think that was the only real decent one of the lot! Most were intermittently dead. They did make liberal use of tilt-out controls. My guess is that if it isn't a GE then it might be a store brand. A closer look at the control panel would tell us for sure.

[radiotvnut]

I looked a little closer, long and hard. That tube cap looks like what Wells-Gardner used. I did notice what looked to be controls under the bezel. That would be more proof that it was built by WG.

[zenithfan1]

I won't touch this one with a 10 foot pole! Most here know why. Quietly backing out of room.........