'81 12" RCA & '05 5" B&W TV's

[radiotvnut]

I wasn't even going to bother posting about these; but, I got bored. The one on top is an August, 2005 "Wega Tanns" 5" B&W TV/radio combo w/ AV input jacks. Yes, it's made in China. A friend found it in the dump and brought it to me. I have not even tested it. The last sets I saw like this in a store were $14.99 and I'm sure many will be tossed starting in about one week.

The next one is a 12" made in Taiwan '81 RCA B&W. A lady in her late '80's gave it to me and the only thing wrong with it was that she was unaware of the digital TV transition. About a week ago, she called me, explaining that her B&W TV in the kitchen had stopped working and wanted me to repair it. I asked her was the TV on cable or an antenna. She didn't even know, claiming that all she could get was one or two stations. I then explained the digital TV transition to her, telling her that the only way this set could be used in the near future was to either hook it to cable or to purchase a converter box. She told me that she was not interested in going to the trouble and that I could have the set. So, she comes and drives me to her house where I turn on the set and am greeted with snow. I tuned it to channel 11, the only analog channel left, and the set played fine. I explained to her again that she would lose channel 11 after 6/12 and I asked her if she wanted to hang on to the set until then. She said that I could go ahead and take it with me. The other channels vacated their analog spots shortly after the original 2/17 cutoff date and I guess I just now dawned on her that they were gone.

I had a white TV just like this one that I ended up giving away. Will probably give these away at some point. Like I said, I got bored and decided to post about them.

[Hemingray]

those RCA sets are quite nice. I have a white one that works just as nicely. Even after 6/12 I can continue to use it on both VHF and UHF between two DISH network boxes (The dual output unit is set to broadcast on UHF 54/60), my Dish HD Box on VHF 4, and a DTV box connected to a UHF modulator on channel 26.

[radiotvnut]

RCA made a ton of those little sets. The white one that I had was an '84 and this one is an '81. I've had them from as far back as '78 and I wouldn't be surprised if they were made before '78 and after '84. I did have a 12" RCA Thomson era set from around '88 that, IIRC, used the same basic chassis. The cabinet was more modern looking. I've seen a few of these with toasted CRT's. Other than that, they were usually trouble free except for the occasional bad filter cap or shorted rectifier diode. Really, most makes of solid state 9"/12" B&W sets were very reliable. The ones I remember giving the most trouble were the mid '80's Goldstar/Emerson/Samsung sets. Almost all of those lost their CRT's after just a few years.

Maybe I should start a collection of these since these were the first types of TV's that I actually repaired and made money off of as a kid back in the early '90's. Another one that I remember well was the 12" solid state GE's that used the "XB" chassis. I think that one was around from the early '70's until close to the end of "real" GE TV's in the mid '80's.

[compucat]

I really like that 12" RCA. I am still going to collect 12" B&W sets in spite of the analog switch off. The little 5" set would be great if the build quality had been just a little bit better. Those are some of the most compact 5" sets ever made that could accept internal batteries.

[AUdubon5425]

There's an old Esso station around the corner from me that still has one of those RCA sets on top of the drink cooler, and it still works. All they really do these days are tire repairs, brake tags and light repairs. They removed their last pump and tank three weeks ago, as they couldn't buy gasoline cheaper than some stations were selling it due to the low volume at their station.

I had two of those 5" sets within the last 4 years. Bought the first one for $11 new just for the novelty of buying a new TV for $11. Hmm, that's the first TV I ever bought new come to think about it! It lasted until sometime in '07 when one of the cats knocked it off the file cabinet. The second one I bought for $9.99 on sale at Walgreen Drugs, I watched it about three times - one day it wouldn't turn on and I threw it in the garbage. I can't remember the brand names but they were identical to the one in your picture.

[truetone36]

In one week we'll be inundated with these sets, as t.v. goes digital and they go to the curb. I've got an attic full of 70's-80's 12" B/W sets now and I'm probably gonna get a bunch more. A freind of mine still uses one of those RCA's as a daily watcher, with no cable or satellite, just rabbit ears.

[zenith2134]

Bumping this thread for two reasons. One, I've always liked those RCA's (owned one briefly, curbpicked castaway) and B) , , I wanted to ask: How many Videokarma members actually use a B/W television as their daily watcher/main set?

I have been known to. But at the moment I do not.

[radiotvnut]

Today, someone gave me a white 5" TV like this one with the wall wart. It works; but, looks like it has a bad filter cap. I tried the one shown here and it works fine.

It's not my main set; but, I do have a '69 Zenith B&W 23" console in my bedroom. I mainly use it to watch the 10 PM news.

[Eric H]

Try a different Wall Wart on that set, I've had some that were fussy about that, looked just like a bad filter cap.

[Robert Grant]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Bumping this thread for two reasons. One, I've always liked those RCA's (owned one briefly, curbpicked castaway) and B) , , I wanted to ask: How many Videokarma members actually use a B/W television as their daily watcher/main set?

I have been known to. But at the moment I do not.

My 24" Emerson had been my DW in much of 1980 and 1981, then again from 1989 to 1991, but is now rarely watched (to watch old programs on a regular basis, or to watch current programs when the other sets are being watched by other people and I want a big picture).

My most frequently watched B&W is an Action 5" B/W kludged for DTV (Zinwell CECB and NiMH battery pack), I never travel a significant distance without it.