G.E. Porta-Color
 

Someone offered me a tube type G.E. Porta-Color and I accepted. It comes on and lights up, has sound, but the raster tells me it needs filters.. who knows what else. It's a 9" or 10", nice small set. Not the most popular set but I like it. Lots of Compactrons.

I recently got one of those. did not need any parts replaced, had a color demodulation issue, would not produce greens (but the B&W grey scale was fine), I used a vectorscope to align on of the color coils, and it works perfect now. its was the HC model IIRC from 1967. I would get another in a heart beat, very cool.

Porta-Potties take a lot of ribbing from some quarters, but, dammitt, they WERE the 1st portable color sets, they were one of the LAST Tube-type consumer electronic devices made in this country-Maybe up til 1980- and they have a LOT of heart. Its not unusual to find specimens STILL working after nearly 50 years now...No, they DON'T really have good pictures, but they WERE "Portable Color Television sets" when THAT in & of itself, was really something.

I have 3 of them an non of them needed any capacitors. All of them had whisker shorted pots, mainly agc and vert size.

They do have have a safety cap in the horz circuit that will cause no high voltage. Check that first, its the big tubular one in the back.

Its going to require some troubleshooting, I seriously doubt a cap replacement will get you anywhere.

They are a fun little set.

I'll have to get the scope after it and dig out the Sams. It's too old to have the little compartment with the schematic and it has been almost 20 years since I cracked one open. Maybe it will clean up nice.

The Porta-Pottie was also the first inexpensive Color TV most low incomes could afford. And easily the most reliable color TV General Electric ever made.

My 67 is going strong completely orig except for some tubes

What cost $250 in 1968 would cost $1589.08 in 2012.
Think a low income family could afford that today?

Every time is see stuff like this i get all depressed at how this country is fading faster than a weak crt....

Aint that the truth!

The later ones might be had free/cheap as 'dead' if they have the rivets. I don't remember if they had them or not. The rivets were a money maker in the shop days. some solder an a piece of wire to permanently fix.

That set was out about a year when a lot of the Japanese imports were starting to hit the stores.
IIRC, Allied Radio started selling a Sharp-built Midland 14" color set for under $200 in late 1967. All three Milwaukee area stores sold out within six hours. The picture quality was a little better than the GE. :yes:

Next to the horizontal output tube there is a white ceramic tubular capacitor (probably Elmenco brand), replace it. When they go bad one end will blow out; I had one let loose while I was watching the set and it practically filled the inside of the cabinet with confetti (while the set kept right on playing, but with a poor raster).

Yes, this set was released about 1 year before the cheapie Japanese portables or table models got unleashed on our shores. The PortaColor was made up to 1980.

Lets raise a collective toast to that statement. :yes:
GE owes alot to Earl"Madman" Muntz, who showed how to do TV with fewer parts. :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntzing

While I could always troubleshoot and even get parts, my only beef with GE was that thier damned tuners really sucked in fringe areas. Sarkes-tarzan or something, I thing Mags used them too.

You reminded me of this video with that statement. I like to find the little Japanese portables because they're fun, but what happened regarding them in the '60s really sucked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szd7b...7_TV9VKkH0MMpw