1988 JCPenny portable color tv - Videokarma.org TV - Video

Lain94 · #1 03-31-2023, 10:57 AM

This 1988 JCPenny portable color tv has a 5.5" crt picture tube. It works great, aside from the pots being a bit dirty. Plastic is a bit yellowed but that is not a huge deal for me. I got this tv for free from a neighbor. I actually like it a lot and it is pretty simple to set up and use. It has a lot of manual controls still though despite it being from 1988 and not having any vacuum tubes aside from of course the CRT.

Seems to be low hour like many of these small tvs tended to be from my experience. All in all a free CRT tv is certainly always a great deal if you have the room for it lol.

https://imgur.com/a/X3xH5BC

Electronic M · #2 03-31-2023, 01:49 PM

My parents had a very similar Emerson from that period as a kitchen TV. The thing tended to vertically roll from time to time. I remember one day when the clutter around it was cleared finding the V hold control one the side and fixing that issue after YEARS of it being as it had been.

I eventually found another one dirt cheap and couldn't pass it up... Still have the car charger from the original for some reason.

dieseljeep · #3 04-05-2023, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electronic M

My parents had a very similar Emerson from that period as a kitchen TV. The thing tended to vertically roll from time to time. I remember one day when the clutter around it was cleared finding the V hold control one the side and fixing that issue after YEARS of it being as it had been.

I eventually found another one dirt cheap and couldn't pass it up... Still have the car charger from the original for some reason.

I only have one or two sets of recent manufacture that have vertical hold controls.
I was sorting through some of my small screen color sets and unearthed my 5" Sony Color Watchman. It's not labeled as a Trinitron, because it isn't!
I took it apart to see who made the CRT. The label states "Samsung Korea".
The picture quality is great, so is the sound! Also has an AM/FM radio.

vortalexfan · #4 04-05-2023, 11:10 AM

I have a portable Color TV very similar to yours that I picked up for $5 at the local SA thriftstore (which ended up closing up shop for good during the C-19 Plandemic) several years ago and it was a low hours TV that had a kind of dim picture that I was able to fix by adjusting the G2 adjustment in the back of the TV and it has a really good picture yet.

The only issue it has is that the controls are dirty/noisy, which I haven't been able to clean the controls because they're hard to get to, and an interesting feature that my TV has that most portable TVs don't have is that it has 300 ohm antenna terminals on the side which is nice because the TV can then be used with either a converter box or a RF Modulator or a VCR which makes it a very versitile TV and still useful in the digital era.

Mine is a Montgomery Wards TV from June 1981, I'm not sure who made it for Monkey Wards though.

I mainly use it for troubleshooting DVD Players and VCRs right now (because its small enough to fit on my workbench and not take up a lot of space) but I'm thinking of possibly using it in either my kitchen or my dining room, or maybe even my bedroom.

dieseljeep · #5 04-05-2023, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

I have a portable Color TV very similar to yours that I picked up for $5 at the local SA thriftstore (which ended up closing up shop for good during the C-19 Plandemic) several years ago and it was a low hours TV that had a kind of dim picture that I was able to fix by adjusting the G2 adjustment in the back of the TV and it has a really good picture yet.

The only issue it has is that the controls are dirty/noisy, which I haven't been able to clean the controls because they're hard to get to, and an interesting feature that my TV has that most portable TVs don't have is that it has 300 ohm antenna terminals on the side which is nice because the TV can then be used with either a converter box or a RF Modulator or a VCR which makes it a very versitile TV and still useful in the digital era.

Mine is a Montgomery Wards TV from June 1981, I'm not sure who made it for Monkey Wards though.

I mainly use it for troubleshooting DVD Players and VCRs right now (because its small enough to fit on my workbench and not take up a lot of space) but I'm thinking of possibly using it in either my kitchen or my dining room, or maybe even my bedroom.

Sharp made a lot of sets for M/Wards. Usually the CRT label has the set maker on it.