Need help with Pacific Mercury Model 4321

[LukeSimon]

I need help with this Pacific Mercury Model 4321. It has a socket for a "color attachment" and the label says that it can be used to receive color television. I am confused because this model TV was released in 1953, which is before color TV broadcast. Does anybody have a Photofacts, schematic, or any information about this TV? What does the color attachment do? Any idea where I could buy the color attachment?

[Tom9589]

Look at the date in picture #4: October 10, 1950. The adapter referenced is for the CBS field sequential system which predates the RCA fully electronic system. That's the color system with the color wheel.

[LukeSimon]

Originally Posted by Tom9589

Look at the date in picture #4: October 10, 1950. The adapter referenced is for the CBS field sequential system which predates the RCA fully electronic system. That's the color system with the color wheel.

I was faintly aware of the pre-NTSC color TVs thanks to the Early Television Museum. So I guess the color attachment looks something like this?

[dishdude]

Wow! What a cool set! I'm shocked it still had the Good Housekeeping sticker on the screen glass. What's the story behind this set?

[LukeSimon]

Originally Posted by dishdude

Wow! What a cool set! I'm shocked it still had the Good Housekeeping sticker on the screen glass. What's the story behind this set?

A friend found it at an estate sale in LA, nearby the former location of Pacific Mercury's HQ. She wanted to know if I was interested. I am mainly focusing on collecting non-solid state color NTSC TVs. The CBS color TVs are really cool, but beyond my current skill level. If anybody is interested in this TV, let me know and I will pass you over to my friend.

Curious though, what does the sticker potentially indicate? That it was a showroom model?

[Electronic M]

That set is a regular monochrome NTSC TV. As long as you don't remove that adapter plug is it no different from any other average monochrome TV of it's time.

Those adapter plugs weren't even wired into the TVs circuits on many makes and models (it was just a gimmick to convince the customer that was reading about color development in the news that his expensive new TV wouldn't be unusable in a year or two).
A few makes did connect the color adapter plug into circuit. Sometimes the block-off plug had some jumpers to open sweep time constant circuits to allow the adapter to change the sweep rates, other times the plug is effectively just a collection of test points for various signals and power supplies.

Most makes that sold TVs with an adapter plug never sold an actual adapter.

TLDR: that adapter plug is a probably an historically interesting marketing lie, and that is a normal black and white tube TV.
If you work on and collect normal black and white TVs this one should be the same but with some interesting color TV history talking points associated with it.

[AlanInSitges]

The Good Housekeeping seal was not uncommon on a variety of products of that era, from appliances to hardware to food products. It is provided by the Good Housekeeping Institute, affiliated with the magazine, for over 100 years now, though you don't see it all that often these days. It's an organization that has test facilities kind of like UL or Consumers Union. If they tested and recommended a product manufacturers could license the seal and offer a money-back guarantee for the product. It was mostly a marketing gimmick.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by AlanInSitges

The Good Housekeeping seal was not uncommon on a variety of products of that era, from appliances to hardware to food products. It is provided by the Good Housekeeping Institute, affiliated with the magazine, for over 100 years now, though you don't see it all that often these days. It's an organization that has test facilities kind of like UL or Consumers Union. If they tested and recommended a product manufacturers could license the seal and offer a money-back guarantee for the product. It was mostly a marketing gimmick.

CBS Hytron tubes had the Good Housekeeping seal on the bottom of their tube cartons.

[Tom9589]

We had a Hallicrafters model 818 which has a color adapter plug. It had two connections within the set. One was to the plate of the sync separator. The other connection was to the top end of the contrast control in the video amp's cathode circuit.

Here's the real question. How did they change the horizontal frequency and vertical frequency to show the CBS standard picture. I didn't see any mods of deflection circuits that would change those frequencies. Considering that the CBS system had a horizontal frequency of 29,160 Hz, would the typical flyback operate well at that frequency?

As TomC said: probably just a gimmick.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Tom9589

We had a Hallicrafters model 818 which has a color adapter plug. It had two connections within the set. One was to the plate of the sync separator. The other connection was to the top end of the contrast control in the video amp's cathode circuit.

Here's the real question. How did they change the horizontal frequency and vertical frequency to show the CBS standard picture. I didn't see any mods of deflection circuits that would change those frequencies. Considering that the CBS system had a horizontal frequency of 29,160 Hz, would the typical flyback operate well at that frequency?

As TomC said: probably just a gimmick.

I've read accounts of people retuning the H osc and messing with the vertical to watch experimental CBS color broadcasts on regular monochrome sets. I believe in most sets with strategic RLC time constant switching it can be done.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Tom9589

We had a Hallicrafters model 818 which has a color adapter plug. It had two connections within the set. One was to the plate of the sync separator. The other connection was to the top end of the contrast control in the video amp's cathode circuit.

Here's the real question. How did they change the horizontal frequency and vertical frequency to show the CBS standard picture. I didn't see any mods of deflection circuits that would change those frequencies. Considering that the CBS system had a horizontal frequency of 29,160 Hz, would the typical flyback operate well at that frequency?

As TomC said: probably just a gimmick.

What you describe sounds like it would only act as a tuner/IF/sync separator for a separate CRT/Sweep/Video. Others supposedly intended to change the sweep on the existing CRT. That would be enough to watch CBS color in black and white, and with the addition of a wheel, in color.

[Steve D.]

1951 Admiral color optional ad. TV hang tag & color adapter connection.

[kvflyer]

Originally Posted by Steve D.

1951 Admiral color optional ad. TV hang tag & color adapter connection.

I have an Admiral 26R12 and it has that plug/socket on the rear of the chassis as well. I don’t remember if the socket was wired.