Packard Bell TV sets were not very good.....

[electra225]

There was a Packard-Bell dealer in our little town named Gene Medley. Not much of a TV repairman, either. Mr. Wells was the Zenith dealer, Mr. Mitten was the RCA dealer. My future step dad and elmer, Sam, was the GE and Admiral dealer. Mr. Sylvester was the haberdasher and furniture store proprietor and sold Magnavox. Mr. Wells had the service contract with Magnavox, but didn't advertise the fact. Mr. Sylvester sold Stromberg-Carlson back in the day, but when TV and stereo started getting popular, he switched to Magnavox. He could still order S-C stuff if you wanted it and Mr. Wells would work on it, per their agreement.

I remember Sam saying how Gene had "stepped in it" with Packard-Bell and had more than his share of unhappy customers. Sam would go over to Gene's shop and try to help him with some of the issue he was having. Sam said P-B stuff was too "trinkety" and had components fail that either didn't fail in other brands or other brands didn't use those components.

Shango has been running a series on a NOS Packard-Bell TV from 1968 putting an hour meter on the chassis. He then documents failures via video. Very interesting series of videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0XdHLfGdIk

[hermitcrab]

Did they use the RCA chassis clone or did they make their own?... I believe Motorola made a RCA clone for their sets ...

[electra225]

Shango kinda explained that. I think it was an RCA clone, but P-B cut corners so they could sell to a price point. Shango is rather a P-B fan since they were built in LA where he lives.

[Dr. Radio]

Mr. Mitten was the RCA dealer.

Was he a cat?

Sorry. I'll show myself out now...

[electra225]

Mr. Mitten was an enterpreneur who had three business in town. He was just down the street from Mr. Sylvester and Sam. Mr. Wells had his Zenith business at home in his basement. Mr. Mitten owned a two-story building with full basement. They had the appliance/TV business in half of the front half of the building. His son ran the plumbing shop in the rear half of the building, and his wife has a smaller office on the first floor where she ran the insurance business. Probably close to 10,000 square feet per floor. The upper story was used for storage for the appliance/TV business, the basement for plumbing supplies. There was a full service elevator in the building. It had been a haberdashery in the olden days. Sam's building had been the old pharmacy and it was on the corner. There was an insurance/realtor next to him, then Sylvester's. The DeSoto dealer was next door. He parked his new cars in a lot down the street. Then the lawyer's office, then the accountant's office, then Mr. Mitten. He knew everybody. He was a deacon in the Christian Church in town. Nice guy. The reason all the buildings in this part of town had been repurposed is that there was a fire in town in the 1930's and had burned half the downtown. They moved most of downtown to the new commercial center, across the highway from "old town". Many of the service business had taken over old town due to it's availability cheaply and it had access to two highways. Now, old town is mostly antique shops and the new commercial center is now old town. They roll the sidewalks up at 8pm every night and every weekend. I don't think there is a bar in town anymore.

[Dr. Radio]

Mr. Mitten was an enterpreneur who had three business in town. He was just down the street from Mr. Sylvester and Sam. Mr. Wells had his Zenith business at home in his basement. Mr. Mitten owned a two-story building with full basement. They had the appliance/TV business in half of the front half of the building. His son ran the plumbing shop in the rear half of the building, and his wife has a smaller office on the first floor where she ran the insurance business. Probably close to 10,000 square feet per floor. The upper story was used for storage for the appliance/TV business, the basement for plumbing supplies. There was a full service elevator in the building. It had been a haberdashery in the olden days. Sam's building had been the old pharmacy and it was on the corner. There was an insurance/realtor next to him, then Sylvester's. The DeSoto dealer was next door. He parked his new cars in a lot down the street. Then the lawyer's office, then the accountant's office, then Mr. Mitten. He knew everybody. He was a deacon in the Christian Church in town. Nice guy. The reason all the buildings in this part of town had been repurposed is that there was a fire in town in the 1930's and had burned half the downtown. They moved most of downtown to the new commercial center, across the highway from "old town". Many of the service business had taken over old town due to it's availability cheaply and it had access to two highways. Now, old town is mostly antique shops and the new commercial center is now old town. They roll the sidewalks up at 8pm every night and every weekend. I don't think there is a bar in town anymore.

Greg, I always enjoy your stories. They are the best.

I wish things were simple now.

[electra225]

Sam, my step-dad and earliest elmer, was a near-genius when it came to fixing electronics. Shango reminds me a little of Sam. Sam hated working on TV. Wouldn't teach me about TV because he thought they were "miserable" and not something he wanted me involved in. Mr. Wells taught me a LOT about TV. Sam never owned a scope. He worked on TV with a signal generator and a VTVM. Most of his shop equipment was WW2 vintage. He was a stickler on having a drawing of what you were working on before you even took the back off. "Working on a set without a schematic is like driving a car with your eyes shut". He taught me how to read a schematic. Told me not to worry about engineering or how something is built. Just learn what to do when it doesn't work. Sam was not the nicest guy I ever knew, but he was good to me. Sometimes we get our blessings from places we don't look for them. I could write a book about my Uncle Fort. He was a cross between Briscoe Darling and Ernest T. Bass. A massively-built man, 6' 8" about 350 pounds of solid muscle. He never held a job in his life. He was a sawyer by trade. A sweet, gentle man who taught me more than anybody ever has except grandpa.

[Motorola minion]

I have seen zero P-B sets but Shang066 has been marathon testing a 1969(?) model that was new in box. Failures have been documented but I would submit any 66-72 RCA tube color sets had just as many issues, just alot easier to get parts.

[Motorola minion]

Did they use the RCA chassis clone or did they make their own?... I believe Motorola made a RCA clone for their sets ...

Actually, Motorola did thier own thing. Admiral, Philco, GE, Sylvania, Emerson/DuMont, Westinghouse, Sears and Magnavox all used RCA chassis in a 1962-64 color sets bearing their names