1992 Zenith J0920X Portable Color TV

[rca2000]

I HATED working on those little sets!! Often, they would develop a "No start" condition, and some parts went bad on the board.(Can't remember what they were now..seems like a transistor and maybe resistor) It was NOT possible to repair the board in the set---it had to be removed--not the easiest thing to do. But I do NOT EVER recall seeing a bad CRT in one...they seemed pretty good.

[Robb]

I think Im going to have the labels redone on this set.
The tape holding them on is pissing me off !

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

The 14" Truetone was made by Sharp.
They always had a problem with heat related issues.
Sharp also made a Midland 14" set, that was sold in the late 60's for under $200.00. I also see them branded Wards Airline and even Motorola.

From what I remember of that set, it had an MIC model number prefix. Once, after it started acting up, I slipped off the back just to look inside and I remember it being full of NEC branded tubes. The set was in a black metal cabinet with slide controls for color and tint, with the rest being rotary controls. When I was getting stuff from that closed TV shop several years ago, I picked up a '73 Teledyne/Packard-Bell 14" color portable that has a different control layout; but, the chassis looks just like what I remember the one in our Truetone looking like.

I actually remember when my Dad got the Truetone. He bought it used in the early '80's for $75 from an older lady that our family knew. Later, he said that he knew that he paid her too much for the TV; but, he knew that she needed the money. Of course, back then, most any color TV would still bring a high price on the used market. Now, one can't hardly give one away.

The same lady also had a 19" solid state Truetone Sharp-built color TV from around '76-'77. It lasted until around '92, when a cap failed in the vertical circuit. I fixed it and she got another year or two out of it before the flyback went belly up. At that point, she replaced it with a 19" RCA CTC175 and I eventually had to fix the tuner connections in that set.

[davet753]

At that time, $300 was just about right for a premium Zenith model with a digital, cable-ready tuner. Zenith had other 13" models that were cheaper priced, but they were in larger cabinets.

I remember Zenith had a 19" cable-ready portable that we retailed for $329 (remote control model) and $299 (non-remote control model) about 1990 or so. In those days, anything around $299 was a good price-point for a full-featured 19" portable TV at independent dealers.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by davet753

At that time, $300 was just about right for a premium Zenith model with a digital, cable-ready tuner. Zenith had other 13" models that were cheaper priced, but they were in larger cabinets.

I remember Zenith had a 19" cable-ready portable that we retailed for $329 (remote control model) and $299 (non-remote control model) about 1990 or so. In those days, anything around $299 was a good price-point for a full-featured 19" portable TV at independent dealers.

I remember some Zenith TV's that used a non-cable ready digital tuner with a red LED readout and the the cable ready sets had a green LED readout. I also remember the non-remote models that had a standard power/volume knob; but, an electronic tuner.

Several years ago, the Zenith shop gave me what was probably the last knob-tuned Zenith 19", a "custom series" badged set that used the 9-470 module from circa 1988. I remember the CRT being weak; but, I rejuvenated it and sold the TV for cheap.

[davet753]

The "custom series" had the base models, and the step-up was the "Sentry II" models. IIRC, from there the Zenith line had "System 3", "Advanced System 3" and later on "Digital System 3".

I have a binder full of sales literature from the early to mid 90's. I need to dig through the garage and get it out. In fact, I'm sure I have the literature on the J0920X model.

[Robb]

Originally Posted by davet753

I have a binder full of sales literature from the early to mid 90's. I need to dig through the garage and get it out. In fact, I'm sure I have the literature on the J0920X model.

If you find it, can you scan and upload it ?

[davet753]

Here is a scan from Zenith's full-line 1992 catalog.

[davet753]

There were actually 3 of those models in 1992.

The J0920X was the entry level model with no remote control. I wrote in the catalog that I retailed that model at $269.95

The SJ0923X looked to be the same except for coming with the SC3310 remote control. I retailed that model at $339.95

There was an AC/DC model (J0930Y) that retailed for $299.95 (without a remote control).

While browsing through the catalog, I found it odd that the little 9" sets were actually part of the "custom series". I was thinking they were higher up in the Zenith line. Of course, this is my weak mind trying to remember things from over 20 years ago.

[davet753]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I remember some Zenith TV's that used a non-cable ready digital tuner with a red LED readout and the the cable ready sets had a green LED readout. I also remember the non-remote models that had a standard power/volume knob; but, an electronic tuner.

Several years ago, the Zenith shop gave me what was probably the last knob-tuned Zenith 19", a "custom series" badged set that used the 9-470 module from circa 1988. I remember the CRT being weak; but, I rejuvenated it and sold the TV for cheap.

You're right. My 1992 catalog shows a 19" model S1902S and a 13" model S1320S that has a volume control knob, a red LCD display, and is not cable ready. By 1992, all the cable-ready models (13" and larger) had on-screen display.

I was off a little bit on my recollection of the series names. In 1992, the Zenith line included (in ascending prices) the custom series, Sentry 2, System 3, Advanced System 3, a line of projection sets called "Digital", and the most expensive "Sound by Bose" line.

[Jeffhs]

There was also, if memory serves me correctly, a line of Zenith color sets that had sound systems the company called "SEq". These were used in Zenith's higher-end color TVs and may have even been used in the firm's first projection sets.

BTW, I have a Zenith "Sentry 2" 19-inch color TV, now 18 years old and still working like new. (It should, as I only actively used it for four years in the mid-late 1990s until I moved and replaced it with an RCA CTC185, which I still have as well.) The only problem with it, if you want to call it a problem, is the gray paint on the cabinet is flaking off in spots, revealing the black cabinet beneath. The Sentry 2 sets were one step below System 3 and were, again if I remember correctly, some of the last sets made by Zenith of Chicago to use the original Zenith lightning-bolt logo as the first letter of the name "Zenith"; the name appeared just above the remote sensor on the vertical control panel to the right of the CRT, looking at the set from the front.

I also owned two Zenith 13" color portables, one of which was part of Zenith's "Custom Series" of portable televisions in the 1980s. My "Custom Series" set had one-knob varactor electronic tuning, as well as a faux woodgrain plastic cabinet and front panel; I purchased it in 1982. The other, my first new Zenith color set which I purchased new in 1979, was their model L1310C. This set was in a rather nondescript black cabinet, with silver color trim around the edge of the top of the set. I left both of these sets at my former home when I moved to an apartment 13 years ago; I have no idea what happened to them after I left the old house for the last time. The TVs were still working like new at this time, so if they were unceremoniously junked after I left town it would have been a shame; however, I wasn't even around when the house was being prepared for sale (long story and OT), so I have absolutely no clue what actually happened to the sets. For all I know they may well have been junked and sent to a landfill.

[radiotvnut]

I remember the SEQ stereo badge being on Zenith's from the bad CRT era.

During the '80's and early '90's, I remember my school having a bunch of 25" wooden cased Zenith table model "custom series" TV's that used a pushbutton electronic tuner with a green LED readout and a standard volume/power knob. Years ago, someone gave me one of these sets that they found by a dumpster at a school that used the 9-181 chassis. All that was wrong with it was a cold solder joint in the vertical circuit that caused intermittent vertical deflection. Several years later, a church gave me a similar set that would only groan and produce a moderate hiss from the speaker. All power supply sources were low and the culprit turned out to be a dead shorted low voltage electrolytic cap inside the tuner module. After the bad cap was replaced, the TV worked fine. It's been my experience that TV's that come from schools and churches are usually in decent shape with strong CRT's because those sets didn't see nearly as much use as TV's in the average home.

[davet753]

SEq stands for "Spatial Equalization". It their effort towards a simulated surround sound. I remember it did improve the sound. You could turn the option on and off in the menu.

SEq was found on any stereo model, regardless of the model line. Stereo sound and SEQ models were available in every line except for the custom series.

[Robb]

Just watched this sucker tonight. It has such an amazing picture on it !
I wish it had a remote though !

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Robb

Just watched this sucker tonight. It has such an amazing picture on it !
I wish it had a remote though !

If you are using this TV with cable, the cable box will almost always have a remote, unless the cable connects directly to the antenna port at the back of the set. However, if you are watching the set using an OTA antenna (I don't know if Canada's DTV rules required all TV stations to convert to digital when that country converted to all-digital TV as did the US, or whether you still have NTSC OTA stations alongside the digital stations for standard definition on older CRT sets), you still must change channels, etc. at the set. Zenith did, however, make a version of this TV that had a remote, but the catch was there was no on-off button on the set itself on the remote models. If the remote went bad for any reason, one had to either use a switched AC outlet to turn the set on and off or physically plug/unplug the set from the AC wall socket.