Australian made GE television

[john116]

Hi - attached is a picture of a GE television, made in Australia, and purchased in 1969.

Just wondering if there is an American equivalent/similar looking set, and what that set's model number is?





Thanks,
John

[Celt]

Pic? Where?

[john116]

Pic added correctly this time. Apologies.

[Celt]

Good looking set!

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by john116

Hi - attached is a picture of a GE television, made in Australia, and purchased in 1969.

Just wondering if there is an American equivalent/similar looking set, and what that set's model number is?





Thanks,
John

It looks like a 1966 19" GE portable. IIRC, the thumbwheel knobs were for brightness, contrast and vert hold.
Ours had the VHF tuner on the top and the UHF tuner, where your VHF tuner is located.
Ours had mostly compactron tubes and series string, low B+ hot chassis.
Reliable, good performing sets. They even made a hospital model, with a big isolation transformer and grounding line cord.

[john116]

Hi,

The Australian version also uses mostly Compactrons, series string heaters, but with a transformer as well (I assume to drop the 240v here down to 120v or so). The front panel actually has UHF and VHF embossed in it, although obviously there is only a VHF Tuner. Australia didn't have any UHF back then. Also the rear panel has two vacant holes marked UHF for the antenna terminals. Circuit diagram available here for anyone interested:

https://vintage-radio.com.au/docs/ge...it-diagram.pdf

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by john116

Hi,

The Australian version also uses mostly Compactrons, series string heaters, but with a transformer as well (I assume to drop the 240v here down to 120v or so). The front panel actually has UHF and VHF embossed in it, although obviously there is only a VHF Tuner. Australia didn't have any UHF back then. Also the rear panel has two vacant holes marked UHF for the antenna terminals. Circuit diagram available here for anyone interested:

https://vintage-radio.com.au/docs/ge...it-diagram.pdf

Thanks for including the circuit diagram. The circuit looks the same as the USA version. The only thing, I don't recognize is the 9BJ11 1st and 2nd IF tube, but then I'm going by memory.

[Telecruiser]

Didn't Australia use 625 line 25 fps TV? Would an American TV work by just tweaking the horizontal and vertical, or were more modifications needed? Or for that matter, did Australia use something different? I was in Australia back about 1973 and everything was black and white, but I thought the standard was more or less a monochrome PAL system Inquiring minds want to know...

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Telecruiser

Didn't Australia use 625 line 25 fps TV? Would an American TV work by just tweaking the horizontal and vertical, or were more modifications needed? ...

That, along with a different sound suncarrier frequency, would be about it. And the tuner needs to tune different frequencies.

[john116]

Hi, yes, 625 lines, 25 fps. My small collection of US standards monochrome sets run nicely with those standards, but these days using a digital set top box and an american sourced RF modulator. Minor tweaking of vertical and horizontal is all that is required.

[Telecruiser]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

That, along with a different sound suncarrier frequency, would be about it. And the tuner needs to tune different frequencies.

That's what I thought, but I wanted to check if I remembered correctly. Thanks for the refresher!

[tom.j.fla]

United States model is M400BGR etc, DB chassis there are a few differances but otherwise the same down to the 9BJ11. All the best,Tom.J

[john116]

Tom, thanks for the specific model number. Would love to see a picture of that model, and also, if anyone has one for sale, would be keen to buy one. I'd pay for shipping to Australia of course.

John

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by john116

H... Circuit diagram available here for anyone interested:
https://vintage-radio.com.au/docs/ge...it-diagram.pdf

I wonder why they didn't have a tap on the secondary of the power transformer to feed the heater string, instead of having a dropping resistor. Less waste heat to vent.

[john116]

Cheaper probably.