PortaColor New to me. - Videokarma.org TV - Video

6GH8cowboy · #1 02-03-2026, 02:42 PM

Been 50 years plus since I actually had my hands on a GE PortaColor. I triaged this and it seems to have all three guns but short vertically. I'll be checking it out for tin whiskers and cleaning it up. There's a pretty stout layer of crud throughout. All original tubes of the exception of the horizontal output tube and they have code dates of 1970.

tomdot99 · #2 02-04-2026, 12:26 AM

Nice PortaColor. I have one that looks almost identical but is a year newer, H-4 chassis.

I would replace the white .1uF and .047uF capacitors near the horizontal output tube. They are prone to blow up and spray aluminum confetti everywhere.

6GH8cowboy · #3 02-04-2026, 01:11 PM

Yeah I hear you. I've seen that happen on previous repairs with other sets. Still looking this one over. First thing I'm gonna do is clean up the multi pots on the back due to the threat of tin whiskers. It currently does have a vertical problem . All the tubes are original so I will be testing them. I'm going to be in Orlando next week for for the Orlando Hamcation. I can stop by and pick up replacements while I'm in town. Most of these are only $3 apiece I guess because they're considered oddball 8 Volt and 11 Volt tubes and such. After I get it cleaned up I'll be checking some resistors to see if there's any out of tolerance. It would be nice to have a complete service manual for it so I can align the IF's and the chroma bandpass but I may not need to anyway. I'm surprised at how little information there is about these porta colors out there.

Back in the day when I was in the business we considered these almost useless gutless wonders. I guess I really didn't pay attention to the progress that was being made and what this set represented of what was to come. Now I'm proud to own one!

tomdot99 · #4 02-04-2026, 01:22 PM

The video and chroma circuits are so simple on PortaColors, they are very sensitive to weak tubes. I replaced the 11BT11 video output and 6AC10 color amp tubes on mine and it made a major improvement. Adding DC restoration helped too.

If yours is the H-3 chassis, there is an original SAMS manual for sale on EBAY.

6GH8cowboy · #5 02-05-2026, 08:50 PM

The sweep tubes are good for sure. I tested the rest and like you mentioned they are very weak which is not surprising being they are all original. I will be picking up some replacements in Orlando next week. The IF amp, video, and the color outputs were very weak indeed. . I did remove the multi pots and clean them, they did have tin whiskers. I did clean some of the circuit board I think at this point though I'm gonna take a good air blower and see what I can do with that. It appears that the electrolytics are still good. In looking through some information that I did have on a GE roundy, the color demod is almost the same and if I need to align or rebalance that will guide me. I am finding a number of high reading resistors (the kind I call wooden resistors). They are the type I will find in 50s and 60 radios and amps. These resistors have slightly rounded edges and muted color bands, a far cry from the Ohmite resistors that never seem to age. More on this project when I get the tubes.

kf4rca · #6 02-07-2026, 07:47 AM

Was that a RSF (road side find) or a TSF ( thrift shop find)? I remember when those were fairly new, they didn't make a very good picture.
If you can't find what you need at Orlando, I've had good luck with Ebay. The prices are all over the place, though.

6GH8cowboy · #7 02-07-2026, 01:43 PM

I found this on a local Offer-Up ad. This was about 15 miles from my house. Came down from up north and the guy had it in his man cave for a number of years.
Vacuum Tubes Inc in Orlando is the go to place for most any tube need. They have used and NOS. $25 is all it will take to get the 7 tubes I need (NOS).

These were the same dot pitch as the 21s and we called them the gut-less wonder back in the day. I have service info on a 21 roundy that is almost the same circuit for color other than a 3.58 amp after the crystal resonator. Even the same 6AC10 amp for the CRT. I guess the 3 IF's are kind of wasted on a lo res CRT like this.

tomdot99 · #8 02-07-2026, 02:38 PM

If yours has the H-2 chassis or later, it should have the 11WP22 picture tube which has a noticeably finer dot pitch than the 11SP22 original.

kf4rca · #9 02-08-2026, 07:41 AM

Vacuum Tubes Inc. is on Ebay as well for us who can't make to Orlando. How far are they from the OBT?
I should have saved my old 5762 tubes for them, instead of throwing them away!

6GH8cowboy · #10 03-04-2026, 08:16 PM

Things are coming along decently. The CRT is good and has the finer pitch. I am having an issue getting an actual picture through it. The snow has high contrast with no signal so I'm suspecting an AGC issue I did look at the pot and there's no whiskers, At least not anymore. Curiously I have randomly checked a few of the resistors with the "wood look" and sure enough there are quite a few way out of tolerance. Because of the nature of the circuit board I'm hoping to come across a factory manual / schematic so that I can be a little more surgical In checking and replacing resistors. The less I manipulate the circuit board I think the better.

Hope to get a decent manual that has correct part IDs and locations that coincide the PCB placement.

WM221HWD3

tomdot99 · #11 03-07-2026, 11:04 PM

Good luck with your AGC issue. I assume you tried the AGC adjustment on the back of the circuit board?

You are right to be concerned about manipulating the PCB board. I loosened the board to re-solder the connections to the vert output tube, broke some traces and now have no vertical synch! These PCB boards are delicate!