The affiliate link to the portable TV sets are below 👇 Tyler 7" Model: amzn.to/3vOTBv4 Supersonic 7" Model: amzn.to/3upQ7i1 Milanix 7” Model: amzn.to/2zH6rUu Tyler 10” Model: amzn.to/37HepJS Link to the Digital TV Dongles for Android Phones Micro-USB model: amzn.to/2YezIzx USB-C model: amzn.to/37IdPf0 Link to my review on Milanix 7” TV ruclips.net/video/B3esRYKYxWk/видео.html Link to my review on the Digtial TV Dongle for Android Phones Micro-USB model: ruclips.net/video/ao0Y8sX3faI/видео.html USB-C model: ruclips.net/video/3xrq52hCIKc/видео.html
Have you taken a look at the Tzumi Magic TV? www.ebay.com/p/26013657939 Can work on any android and iphone that has wifi. I have two, fried one trying to hack it to work on my own wireless instead of just its own but with a good antennna it works great
While watching this, I kept thinking, “Why talk about this now when ATSC 3.0 is coming?” Thanks for addressing it at the end. I bought a portable color TV in the 80s and it was helpful when we lost power during natural disaster. I’ll wait until 3.0 rolls out to hear which TVs get the best reception.
In addition to the old portable TVs you've mentioned, I can recall the handheld Casio LCD TV's from the late 80's. The screen was only 2.5 to 3 inches or so, but they were cutting edge tech at the time.
I had the first color one with the clip-on light, for when these was insufficient ambient light to see the back-lit screen. Clam shell design. I sold it on eBay right around the digital transition as "The First Color LCD TV". Which it was. It was nice to have, but I don't miss it.
Me, and a friend of mine in middle school where the only 2 kids we knew who had SEGA GAme Gears, and I was jealous when he got the TV tuner for his b-day, and I begged my mother for it, but she would never budge to get it, saying it would just drain more batteries, which of course she was right, and eventually she got me the official SEGA branded rechargeable battery pack instead lol!
Yes, I had a very small one, about the size of a deck of cards, b/w only. It was great when I was flying a lot and used to have to sit in airports for hours between planes.
I had a Citizen boombox with a built in tv back in 1988. Black and white LCD screen, I belive, along with AM/FM radio and cassette. I also had a Citizen with a color LCD in 1994. This I got when I lived in Greece. There was a time when the newspapers had coupons that you collected. This newspaper had an offer where if you got 40 coupons, you sent it to the newspaper along with 10,000 drachmas (about $62 back then), you got the TV. I think the newspaper was the Αδέσμευτος (Unattached, meaning independent). Cost 100 drachmas a newspaper.
@@tron3entertainment Back in the early 90s when I was in the military, I had a Sony Watchman (tv version of Walkman). During Operation Desert Storm my entire unit was sitting on the flight line with gear to deploy to Iraq. I had a hundred guys bunched around me trying to get news while I watched AAFES. We sat there for hours, long enough that they had to bring us all little shoebox lunches from the Air Force. Eventually they told us 'It's all over, pack back up and return to your base'.
Years ago Radio Shack had a large warehouse in Fort Worth where all of their returns and broken items were sold. It was a really great place to find stuff to repair for little money. I loved to go there.
That and the endless jokes hack comedians made about them asking for your ZIP Code when you purchased batteries. Radio Shack used to be bomb. You could get all kinds of transistors and capacitors. If you were interested in electronics or making your own stuff, that place was great.
Waswestkan if all the people that miss Radio Shack so much would have shopped there more often they wouldn't have gone out of business. All the way back to the late '70's their TV's and stereos were way over priced. One of their Optimus stereo systems was a lot more expensive than one you could buy at your local stereo super store ( Stereo Town or World Radio where I lived) and had worse specs. I bought a Pioneer receiver, Kenwood turntable and Advent speakers at Stereo Town in 1979. I would have spent over $100 dollars more for Optimus. I still have the Advents. Radio Shack was only good for finding 30' modular phone cables to hook up your dial up internet.
I remember the old portable TVs. I hope they bring back the hand cranked ones. After Hurricane Katrina my hand crank powered radio and lights were life savers! I still have a solar/hand crank radio I used back then to get news and to listen to music. It REALLY helped!
I also miss the brick and mortar Radio Shack stores. They were one of the best "one stop shopping" small electronics store with reasonable prices. Although it may not be same experience, they still do have an online store.
Antenna man - I really appreciate how clearly and thoroughly you explain things. And you always provide helpful links to products and info. Keep up the good work young man.
I miss Radio Shack because I have a pretty decent Samsung big screen tv with a great picture but the instant on died this week. If I had somewhere to buy the handful of capacitors it needs I could probably fix it.
I miss the stores also. Growing up in Chicago, I remember the previous store called Allied Radio. They carried all the old tv tubes and capacitors that were not available any where else. I also had a great Allied stereo receiver that was able to get fm stations as far away as Indianapolis. Ah, the good old days!
70s kid here, anybody else remember the Radio Shack free battery club? Once a month you could get one free battery. Was great for getting 9-volts for my treasured little red Sinclair transistor radio.
I bought a Haier 7" in 09 and it still preforms good today. The remote broke 8 years ago and the internal battery only runs for an hour [use to be 3 hours] but for $56.00, it does the job for me.
I got the same one. My remote still works great as I use the tv as a security camera monitor now. My battery is still good too but I rarely use it as it is on a battery backup.
LOL. I still have that Jensen 5" B&W portable tv laying around in a plastic bag. Last time I turned it one there were only a couple of spanish channels still broadcasting. That little tv has some fond memories. When I was driving for a living, back in 2001, I remember watching 9-11 as it unfolded on this little tv.
I miss the AM FM TV and Weather band radios. I hope they do a AM FM DTV sound and Weather band radio. You think those kind of radios will be made somewhere along the way?
AM FM DTV are only available in Japan but ISDB-T 1SEG. UHF CHANNEL 13 - 62 (UHF CHANNEL 14 - 63 in the Philippines and Brazil). Cheap Japan brand like Logitech and most expensive Japan brands that sells DTV sound radios in Japan: Sony and Panasonic.
AM FM TV band radio but analog tuning knob can be used in Japan (76 - 95 MHz) and Eastern Europe (65 - 74 Mhz). AM/FM/SW/TV band radios are also sold recently in China.
I'm buying a "Tyler" portable TV now! You rule. BTW, we used to have the stores you mentioned: Kmart, Aimes, Sears and Radio Shack in my state (RI). All are gone except for Walmart. Thanks for the memories. :)
Back in 2005, I bought a 5" TV to use while on an extended RV trip across the South West. I used it to watch the local 6:00 NEWS where ever I stopped for the night, and one evening TV show. It was a nice way to enjoy dinner and a show, while out in the 'wilds'. Miss that.
I'm here after watching an HSN video on Trexonic almost buying a Tyler like you mentioned. Also I worked at good old Radio Shack as my first job out of college back in 1987 when the PC, portable cellular phone and camcorders came out.
I have used the RCA model you show in your video to set up antennas . It has a external 75 ohm input. You can watch the signal meter and slowly rotate the antenna for best signal and picture. Runs on 4 aa batteries for a couple hours.
This is one of the reasons I bought the original "PSP"s from Sony entertainment. They were to have come out with an antenna that would have fit in top of the game unit and obviously you could have watched TV. It was the rage in Tokyo. Everyone had one. That was back in the early 2000's... Well, it never happened and I think that's why the PSP bit the dust.... I still play it every now and then...
3 things 1. You must very close to that tv station for it to not be pixelating while holding the tv in your hand 2. I don’t think atsc 1.0 is going to be reliable in extreme weather 3. I wish the fcc and crtc would set an atsc 3.0 conversion date like they did with atsc 1.0. From what I’ve heard it would really help people in rural areas.
I have a "14 inch battery TV flat screen. The negative is you have to look downward to view because it's liquid crystal. But its great to help locate antenna signal and it also include FM stereo that you can switch to using the remote. Also, like my 75 inch nano TV, this little thing has has built in 'stereo surround' feature.
Great video! I have three portable TVs and the emergency factor is a big consideration. Please be more elaborate on compact antennas that can be stored with emergency TVs and batteries and run time considerations. Thanks again for the video Great job as usual!
Man I miss Radio Shack, it was one of my grandfather's fav. stores, as he would always buy his batteries there, and I would oggle over the LCD games as a little kid when we went, and I was so happy one day he said pick any LCD game you want, and I ended up with a race car game as my first handheld game. it was also where my family got our first portable B/W TV for camping which had a radio, and built in emergency flashlight.
this is awesome! I had seen this video and didn’t realize it was yours because RUclips has change the way that the titles appear on my iPhone. anyway, your cell phone story is probably the best part, because I am a ham radio operator and a bunch of us were working a public service event about 25 years ago and the people we were working with had a supervisor that swore up and down she didn’t need us because she had a cell phone. well guess what happened when the traffic on the cell phone circuits got overloaded? You guessed it she couldn’t make her calls and she decided that she needed us after all. and I did not realize that you could still buy some form of portable digital TVs. Just for fun I’ll have to check that out.
have they fixed the doppler problem with portables? my early days experience is that it simply does not work as portable unless you are stationary. ANY and I mean ANY motions. 1mph movement is enough to completely erase the signal. IE they (my early days experience) can not receive a signal while MOVING. my Clubwagon van had a head unit with TV tuner. I connected a DTV box to it so the critters in the back could watch TV in the back of the van. yep. the MOMENT I moved at all no matter how slow. POOF signal vanished.
The doppler problem usually happens if you go beyond 5mph. You can sort of walk around a bit if the signal is strong but if weak you have to keep it stationary or hook to an external antenna. The current standard cant be used in a car.
One of those original analog portable tv sets was a Goldstar (now known as LG). My own personal portable digital tv is a 7 inch Digital Labs model DT-191SA I bought on ebay cheap. It's been reliable but I have to use an attic mounted antenna preamp to get anything signal-wise.
Sony used to make a portable TV called The Watchman (in line with their Walkman portable stereos) that I used to really want, but they were pretty expensive. Samsung was making cellphones that had built in digital TV tuners and antennas for their S.Korean customers as OTA Digital TV was a thing there for a while.
Would like to add to the mix: Slingbox. It's essentially a dead product but it still works. I have a Slingbox 350 connected to a cable box and can stream to my phone over WiFi and cell service. There's a app for Fire TV although it seems to have an audio delay on my newer FireTV Cube 2nd gen.
I still have a Radio Shack black-and-white pocket TV (rebadged Casio?) from the mid-1980s with a backwards translucent screen that you watch with a mirror. You either attach a backlight, which halved the battery life, or you watch it outdoors without the backlight in sunlight or in a well-lit area. I also had a Casio color pocket TV from the late 1990s that had a much more easily watchable TFT screen and I often used to watch it on the commuter train from Montreal to Pincourt (a town southwest of Montreal Island), a trip that took around an hour, and, even inside the train, I could pick up American border stations from Plattsburgh, New York. The picture was snowy but still watchable. I'm sure that's not possible anymore, since Montreal's too far from Plattsburgh to pick up digital TV signals (not without a fairly tall outdoor antenna) and also because it's difficult to watch even nearby digital signals from inside a moving vehicle.
Keep up the great work. Also you can get a friend or family member to run scans for you and let you know what channels your picking up or missing and then you can move your antenna if need be and then they can rescan etc etc until you get the best position.
I'd wait for the ATSC 3.0 being regular, unless you are staying still. Does not work well in-motion. Then again, your 3.0 comparison proved it, but I knew that from a couple older portable DTVs I had.
I got a Digital Prism brand 7" set with remote and charger at a garage sale this year for peanuts. I was going to sell it, but I like the idea of keeping it around as an emergency set for power outages. The tuner is decent, but it has no antenna. Maybe I'll get one of those flat things you stick on the wall that everybody talks about :)
I have no idea what you're talking about, because portable digital television receivers were available in around 2008 or 9 or 10 or so. I bought a couple just to see how good they worked. And they worked pretty well. And they were plentiful in stores and online shopping at the time. They received the local digital channels in my area. I regret breaking the only good one I had. Taking it apart because I was fascinated. But it had a fantastic picture when it was working, but very tiny sound. And it scanned and received channels like any other flat panel tv.
Remember that World Series between the SF Giants & the Oakland As? A co-worker brought in his little portable set, so that he could watch the game. THEN......the Loma Pieta earthquake hit. Our factory was about 50 miles north of San Francisco, and so it rocked us pretty good too. Lost We all power in the plant.....except for his little TV. All of us sat in the lunchroom for the rest of our shift (....waiting for the power to return )....but huddled around that thing.....at least able to watch the news reports.
Great Video, I remember about the time of the DTV transition. There's just one or two portable DTVs, and at the time you could find at radio shack, target, and only in Japan they had add on for your PSP to watch with special antenna that can pick up digital OTA. I thought since this time of the transition of DTV things would become for flexible to watch your local programs on the go. But now we have wait awhile for ATSC 3.0 to watch on our smartphones.
I have always wondered if portables were still bring sold. I miss a small tv in my kitchen, and I will definitely check out your video description! Thank you for sharing this much needed information. I used to live in Scranton, and I well remember the Radio Shacks, Ames, Kmarts, etc. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I had a tiny battery color tv during the Northridge earthquake. I could see the epicenter out my window. With battery tv I could see local news. They really can come in handy.
Decades ago, my first portable TV was a 3-inch B&W Citizen brand reflection model (brighter sunlight = better reflected image!). Batteries-4 AAA-lasted over 10 hours! When analog broadcasting ended, a 3.5mm base band input jack allowed connecting as a monitor (useful with old style video camera slung on your shoulder). Relying on positive memories of using that analog portable, I bought a 4" (maybe 5"/?) color digital model that lasted only a few hours on 6 AA batteries. GONE was the longevity, convenience, and utility I associated with the B&W analog model which, when tuned to TV signal, could be intermittently/repeatedly turned OFF/ON (for conversation or commercials)... no, turn digital portable OFF/ON and tuner starts search mode from scratch, possibly taking over a minute to return to same frequency... major inconvenience, major lost utility, and the reason digital portable has resided in some box... somewhere... not at all missed, used only until original batteries were deleted. (Yes, it SHOULD have been returned... perhaps, I thought, some reasonable need will appear: nope, 'never did... but then I wasn't installing roof antennas! ;-)
Another great video. Great work. You bring up a good question, with all this Cord Cutters movement, many are looking for a TV that perform well with a good OTA antenna, with good program guide menus (some brands have much better menuing for EPG I found out) with great new picture. Yet, the only, and I mean the only reviews you can find online have to do with streaming this or that. Try to find any TV reviews that clearly show menus, performances and features relating to OTA... Not much at all...
3:38 I had the same model under a different brand name too. I returned it because I tried using it at the beach. The screen wasn’t bright enough, and the reception was unstable. I used a UHF loop instead of the built-in rod. (Ironically, I was in Myrtle Beach and received no local stations but received Wilmington, NC stations instead traveling straight down the coast over the water.)
Tyler. I bought a Coby 7" at Best Buy right after the digital conversion. Gets the digital stations great, I put a TV amp in my car hooked to the car antenna. It's Ok when parked, but can not be used when traveling because of the dopler effect. Also it is Ill legal in PA. to watch TV while driving.
Thanks for the info! I've been looking for one but gave up years ago thinking it was a lost cause. Now I'm going to buy one. I still have my portable Jensen 5" TV like yours. I still use it for DXing NSTC stations this time of the year for skip on the low VHF channels. So far, I've picked up Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela here in S Arizona. I'm hoping I can find a portable with both a analog and digital tuner.
In my camper I have a small flat screen with a DVR that operates on 12 volts or 120 volts with adapter. Works awesome. I have an Omni antenna on the roof that does operate with an amplifier that is also 12 volts.
Portable TVs are going to make an even bigger come back in the future considering the fact that ATSC 3.0 is he technology that reduces motion interference and interference from other objects
That's because that has been the nature of mass production A company wanting to market a new product, take stock of what they currently manufacturing, to see if compoments alreading being used can be used to create that new product.
When the digital changeover took place I was able to find a Philips DVD player with a DTV built into it. If you’re within a certain distance of the station everything is great. Nice product but now I live outside of my local stations reception area. Was small but a smart investment at the time. Also had a smaller Casio colour TV that I used to watch on the MetroBus on the way home. Used to watch the WB in the afternoon. Good times. Used to get neat comments about it. I also miss Radio Shack. It used to have great shortwave radio equipment and radio parts that I used in my SWL hobby.
I worked for RS in the early 2000's. Portable TV's didn't sell so they started going disco-deval. (Discontinued-Devalued.) I bought a 4" color TV only for $8. Yes, 8 bucks! Being a floor model it was missing a rear plate which covered the rear connectors. But I was able to get that through the RS parts department. Then I bought two 4" B&W portables with a tape deck and CD player respectively. I think I paid like $15 and $30 respectively. I still have them. I have used them various ways and even connected a digital tuner to them to see what kind of picture I would receive. Those TV's have amazing clarity when it has a clean signal, which it almost never did with OTA reception. One of my favorite things was using those plug-n-play TV games for a portable arcade experience. Sometimes needing an adapter to do so.
Thanx Tyler. I had given up on battery portable TV when digital broadcast brought it to an end. I chunked my analog 5" Tv but when my dad passed around 4 years ago, I inherited his. Its still useless but I'm keeping it as a keepsake - and maybe a museum piece for whenever I get any great-grandkids - lol. Anywho - I had not given any thought to the possibility of portable digital TVs. It should come in handy!
Vizio used to make a seven-inch digital TV with the best screen I have ever seen on a portable set. (Model VMB070.) It's a shame they were discontinued.
Can any of these run on DC power or battery power? Also, need to know the screen sizes and resolutions supported. Watch to use it as a large portable FPV monitor.. i.e. fying quadcopter outside 1080p/720p at 50fps with HDMI in on DC voltage 12v-17v. Size should be around 30" so 44" TVs are kind of too big. It doesn't have to be weatherproof, but a ruggetized build for moving about often would be helpful. Think more for camping, than for sitting on a porch.
I have one in my horse trailer, and with an exterior antenna it works okay. The main problem I have is that you used to be able to find 12” to 15” sets for small spaces, like on a kitchen countertop or in the bathroom (I have one stashed in the linen closet, which I turn on to catch the news and weather when I’m getting ready in the morning). But as you point out, you won’t find one in a mainstream brand. Which probably shouldn’t matter, since ALL TVs are likely made by a handful of Chinese manufacturers in this day and age.
I have a 17 inch ATSC TV a 2022 model and light enough to feel portable.I connected a cable to the antenna terminal and it automatically detected channel 3 on my cable box and the reception is excellent.
K-Mart, Sears, Radio Shack, Ames?!? Great list of failed retailers. I did buy one of those portable TV's after the conversion and it was junk. Standing out in the back yard, antenna fully extended, clear evening skies and 15 miles away from the transmitters in a major metro area, I got like 2 channels. Even those pixelated. Gave up on them. Don't remember the brand - some eBay Chinesium - and packed away somewhere.
Is the sensitivity of the tuner decent? Do they vary? I want a sensitive tuner in a portable, if possible. The dinky whip antennas, do they get any stations? Thanks.
I have the Ermatic tuner. It is great, but my question was regarding tuners in portable TV sets. Which is the most sensitive? The Ermatic is a great tuner. The only other one that rivals it, a bit better is the one in my old Big Dish receiver that has a an OTA tuner. The unit is a Pansat 9200. The tuner has a meter and it detects signals I cannot get a peep from on any other tuner, even ones that will not lock. No guide on it, but if I want to check for the weakest signals, it shows. I wish they had TV tuners with the sensitivity of a good FM tuner. I can get regularly digital FM stations from Seattle at 150 miles away. I cannot do that with any TV tuner. You have to get that 40 DB threshold to get a decent lock with a TV signal. No TV tuner has that kind of sensitivity that I know of.
I still have a little red portable analog TV/radio combination which still works. The radio bands work as is, but you have to use an adapter to hook it up to a digital cable box for the TV to work. Still useful for a small cramped space, but it wouldn’t do you any good if you didn’t have a working cable connection (or I suppose a digital antenna would work too with an adapter) but it can’t work on it’s own anymore.
I have a DVB-T2 dongle which connects to a smartphone or dongle here in the UK. What people do here is get a portable TV, orient the antenna vertically and complain it doesn't work. Problem is, high powered transmitters in the UK are broadcast at horizontal polarisation. I'm in a town over 50km (31 miles) away from the main transmitter here and with a horizontally oriented indoor aerial, can get all the multiplexes including the weakest, a lower powered commercial HD one. Just for fun, I made a dipole out of two bits of kitchen foil and used it to see if I could pick up even the weakest signal. And I could. Meanwhile people keep telling me that its impossible to pick up digital TV indoors and you must use an external antenna.
Since you use the portable TV's for outdoor antenna placements, do any or all of them have signal/quality meters???? That is paramount to a good antenna installation.
In the pre-internet days during the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles I had a battery-operated portable color TV and I was one of the few people who could see what was going on.
The affiliate link to the portable TV sets are below 👇
Tyler 7" Model:
amzn.to/3vOTBv4
Supersonic 7" Model:
amzn.to/3upQ7i1
Milanix 7” Model:
amzn.to/2zH6rUu
Tyler 10” Model:
amzn.to/37HepJS
Link to the Digital TV Dongles for Android Phones
Micro-USB model:
amzn.to/2YezIzx
USB-C model:
amzn.to/37IdPf0
Link to my review on Milanix 7” TV
ruclips.net/video/B3esRYKYxWk/видео.html
Link to my review on the Digtial TV Dongle for Android Phones
Micro-USB model:
ruclips.net/video/ao0Y8sX3faI/видео.html
USB-C model:
ruclips.net/video/3xrq52hCIKc/видео.html
Have you taken a look at the Tzumi Magic TV? www.ebay.com/p/26013657939 Can work on any android and iphone that has wifi. I have two, fried one trying to hack it to work on my own wireless instead of just its own but with a good antennna it works great
While watching this, I kept thinking, “Why talk about this now when ATSC 3.0 is coming?” Thanks for addressing it at the end. I bought a portable color TV in the 80s and it was helpful when we lost power during natural disaster. I’ll wait until 3.0 rolls out to hear which TVs get the best reception.
Expensive
oh yes the cable!
Radio shack was my go to electronics place for years.👍👊
I miss them too. I used to use them for getting enamel wire, capacitors, resistors, bulbs, etc. Now the only way to get that sort of thing is online.
@@Rebel9668 RadioShack still exists online!
@@rafaelperez9652 I just Googled and found a RadioShack 22 miles North of me.I had no idea.👍👊
FRYS ELECTRONICS IS THERE STILL but computer components area is stocked with AS. SEEN ON TV junk
The ACE hardware for ELECTRONICS/ online sells mobile phones and junk
In addition to the old portable TVs you've mentioned, I can recall the handheld Casio LCD TV's from the late 80's. The screen was only 2.5 to 3 inches or so, but they were cutting edge tech at the time.
I had the first color one with the clip-on light, for when these was insufficient ambient light to see the back-lit screen. Clam shell design. I sold it on eBay right around the digital transition as "The First Color LCD TV". Which it was. It was nice to have, but I don't miss it.
Me, and a friend of mine in middle school where the only 2 kids we knew who had SEGA GAme Gears, and I was jealous when he got the TV tuner for his b-day, and I begged my mother for it, but she would never budge to get it, saying it would just drain more batteries, which of course she was right, and eventually she got me the official SEGA branded rechargeable battery pack instead lol!
Yes, I had a very small one, about the size of a deck of cards, b/w only. It was great when I was flying a lot and used to have to sit in airports for hours between planes.
I had a Citizen boombox with a built in tv back in 1988. Black and white LCD screen, I belive, along with AM/FM radio and cassette.
I also had a Citizen with a color LCD in 1994. This I got when I lived in Greece. There was a time when the newspapers had coupons that you collected. This newspaper had an offer where if you got 40 coupons, you sent it to the newspaper along with 10,000 drachmas (about $62 back then), you got the TV. I think the newspaper was the Αδέσμευτος (Unattached, meaning independent). Cost 100 drachmas a newspaper.
@@tron3entertainment Back in the early 90s when I was in the military, I had a Sony Watchman (tv version of Walkman). During Operation Desert Storm my entire unit was sitting on the flight line with gear to deploy to Iraq.
I had a hundred guys bunched around me trying to get news while I watched AAFES. We sat there for hours, long enough that they had to bring us all little shoebox lunches from the Air Force. Eventually they told us 'It's all over, pack back up and return to your base'.
Radio Shack was great until they tried to become a cell phone store.
*SIGH]* why is it with Radio Shack is mentioned in a video many have to trot out old worn out opinions?
Years ago Radio Shack had a large warehouse in Fort Worth where all of their returns and broken items were sold.
It was a really great place to find stuff to repair for little money. I loved to go there.
That and the endless jokes hack comedians made about them asking for your ZIP Code when you purchased batteries.
Radio Shack used to be bomb. You could get all kinds of transistors and capacitors. If you were interested in electronics or making your own stuff, that place was great.
as a former manager, I completely agree. I left before that happened though as I saw it coming.
Waswestkan if all the people that miss Radio Shack so much would have shopped there more often they wouldn't have gone out of business. All the way back to the late '70's their TV's and stereos were way over priced. One of their Optimus stereo systems was a lot more expensive than one you could buy at your local stereo super store ( Stereo Town or World Radio where I lived) and had worse specs. I bought a Pioneer receiver, Kenwood turntable and Advent speakers at Stereo Town in 1979. I would have spent over $100 dollars more for Optimus. I still have the Advents. Radio Shack was only good for finding 30' modular phone cables to hook up your dial up internet.
I remember the old portable TVs. I hope they bring back the hand cranked ones. After Hurricane Katrina my hand crank powered radio and lights were life savers! I still have a solar/hand crank radio I used back then to get news and to listen to music. It REALLY helped!
I also miss the brick and mortar Radio Shack stores. They were one of the best "one stop shopping" small electronics store with reasonable prices. Although it may not be same experience, they still do have an online store.
Antenna man - I really appreciate how clearly and thoroughly you explain things.
And you always provide helpful links to products and info.
Keep up the good work young man.
I miss Radio Shack. We had 1 since i was a teen here in town then they shut down
I miss Radio Shack because I have a pretty decent Samsung big screen tv with a great picture but the instant on died this week. If I had somewhere to buy the handful of capacitors it needs I could probably fix it.
I miss the stores also. Growing up in Chicago, I remember the previous store called Allied Radio. They carried all the old tv tubes and capacitors that were not available any where else. I also had a great Allied stereo receiver that was able to get fm stations as far away as Indianapolis. Ah, the good old days!
@@mikekrim1003 Did you know Radio Shack bought Allied Radio and they were Allied Radio for short time.
@@mikekrim1003 l remember going to the one on Michigan and lake right before they closed i miss them they came in handy at times
70s kid here, anybody else remember the Radio Shack free battery club? Once a month you could get one free battery. Was great for getting 9-volts for my treasured little red Sinclair transistor radio.
Tyler watching a Tyler TV set. How cool is that! I wish you would have had that Tyler portable that would be such a wonderful conversation piece.
I figured these things disappeared into the same black hole that swallowed boom boxes and portable CD players.
Hold up, I still use my autographed by some unknown Rap Artist, Boom Box. But I had to hire a teenager to carry it around for me.
I acutaully bought a portable cd player.
Living in California and PG&E power outages very common here, my portable TV has been very helpful
I bought a Haier 7" in 09 and it still preforms good today. The remote broke 8 years ago and the internal battery only runs for an hour [use to be 3 hours] but for $56.00, it does the job for me.
I got the same one. My remote still works great as I use the tv as a security camera monitor now. My battery is still good too but I rarely use it as it is on a battery backup.
tyler is so cool filling a niche you dont hear about....i love radio tuners for that reason too...
LOL. I still have that Jensen 5" B&W portable tv laying around in a plastic bag. Last time I turned it one there were only a couple of spanish channels still broadcasting. That little tv has some fond memories. When I was driving for a living, back in 2001, I remember watching 9-11 as it unfolded on this little tv.
I miss the AM FM TV and Weather band radios. I hope they do a AM FM DTV sound and Weather band radio. You think those kind of radios will be made somewhere along the way?
AM FM DTV are only available in Japan but ISDB-T 1SEG. UHF CHANNEL 13 - 62 (UHF CHANNEL 14 - 63 in the Philippines and Brazil).
Cheap Japan brand like Logitech and most expensive Japan brands that sells DTV sound radios in Japan: Sony and Panasonic.
ATSC got pixelated.
AM FM TV band radio but analog tuning knob can be used in Japan (76 - 95 MHz) and Eastern Europe (65 - 74 Mhz).
AM/FM/SW/TV band radios are also sold recently in China.
I have one autographed by Spock I picked up when they decommissioned the enterprise.
TYLER! You're the best! Had no idea that there were still battery-operated TVs available! NICE.
Yes That You Asked
I made you a donation in gratitude for this video. I had no idea I could buy a dongle for my cellphone. Thanks you so much my Man, My Antenna Man!
I'm buying a "Tyler" portable TV now! You rule. BTW, we used to have the stores you mentioned: Kmart, Aimes, Sears and Radio Shack in my state (RI). All are gone except for Walmart. Thanks for the memories. :)
Back in 2005, I bought a 5" TV to use while on an extended RV trip across the South West. I used it to watch the local 6:00 NEWS where ever I stopped for the night, and one evening TV show. It was a nice way to enjoy dinner and a show, while out in the 'wilds'. Miss that.
Still have a Magnavox BF39 model and a Sony Watchman from the mid 1980's.
I loved RadioShack. I remember having a portable TV back in the 1990s. If I recall I think I had a radio on it as well.
Great video Tyler!! Never even thought of a portable TV for outdoors till this video. Thanks!!
I had a sharp hand held. I loved it.
I'm here after watching an HSN video on Trexonic almost buying a Tyler like you mentioned. Also I worked at good old Radio Shack as my first job out of college back in 1987 when the PC, portable cellular phone and camcorders came out.
I have used the RCA model you show in your video to set up antennas . It has a external 75 ohm input. You can watch the signal meter and slowly rotate the antenna for best signal and picture. Runs on 4 aa batteries for a couple hours.
This is one of the reasons I bought the original "PSP"s from Sony entertainment.
They were to have come out with an antenna that would have fit in top of the game unit and obviously you could have watched TV.
It was the rage in Tokyo. Everyone had one. That was back in the early 2000's...
Well, it never happened and I think that's why the PSP bit the dust....
I still play it every now and then...
I have a TV tuner for my Sega game gear still. Of course it's useless now,but was cool at the time
Another great video! I lost power here in Ohio last week, and I really could have used a portable TV!
3 things
1. You must very close to that tv station for it to not be pixelating while holding the tv in your hand
2. I don’t think atsc 1.0 is going to be reliable in extreme weather
3. I wish the fcc and crtc would set an atsc 3.0 conversion date like they did with atsc 1.0. From what I’ve heard it would really help people in rural areas.
I have a "14 inch battery TV flat screen. The negative is you have to look downward to view because it's liquid crystal. But its great to help locate antenna signal and it also include FM stereo that you can switch to using the remote. Also, like my 75 inch nano TV, this little thing has has built in 'stereo surround' feature.
The RUclips channel nobody asked for but we all needed
Radio shack was an awesome store. I still have a pair of large speakers with 15 inch woofers. They still rock the house.
I'd buy a portable tv, if priced reasonably. That would be nice to have on camping trips, or fun on any trip just to see what could be tuned in.😃
Don't you have a phone or a tablet?
Great video! I have three portable TVs and the emergency factor is a big consideration. Please be more elaborate on compact antennas that can be stored with emergency TVs and batteries and run time considerations. Thanks again for the video Great job as usual!
Man I miss Radio Shack, it was one of my grandfather's fav. stores, as he would always buy his batteries there, and I would oggle over the LCD games as a little kid when we went, and I was so happy one day he said pick any LCD game you want, and I ended up with a race car game as my first handheld game. it was also where my family got our first portable B/W TV for camping which had a radio, and built in emergency flashlight.
Great info. Good to have when the power goes out. Thank You!
this is awesome! I had seen this video and didn’t realize it was yours because RUclips has change the way that the titles appear on my iPhone. anyway, your cell phone story is probably the best part, because I am a ham radio operator and a bunch of us were working a public service event about 25 years ago and the people we were working with had a supervisor that swore up and down she didn’t need us because she had a cell phone. well guess what happened when the traffic on the cell phone circuits got overloaded? You guessed it she couldn’t make her calls and she decided that she needed us after all. and I did not realize that you could still buy some form of portable digital TVs. Just for fun I’ll have to check that out.
have they fixed the doppler problem with portables? my early days experience is that it simply does not work as portable unless you are stationary. ANY and I mean ANY motions. 1mph movement is enough to completely erase the signal. IE they (my early days experience) can not receive a signal while MOVING. my Clubwagon van had a head unit with TV tuner. I connected a DTV box to it so the critters in the back could watch TV in the back of the van. yep. the MOMENT I moved at all no matter how slow. POOF signal vanished.
The doppler problem usually happens if you go beyond 5mph. You can sort of walk around a bit if the signal is strong but if weak you have to keep it stationary or hook to an external antenna. The current standard cant be used in a car.
I still have my old 5" Portable TV. I use it to adjust my Dish antenna now.
One of those original analog portable tv sets was a Goldstar (now known as LG). My own personal portable digital tv is a 7 inch Digital Labs model DT-191SA I bought on ebay cheap. It's been reliable but I have to use an attic mounted antenna preamp to get anything signal-wise.
I still have a couple of them from about 30 years ago! And they Work!
They wont pick up anything
3:50 I did not know that you had your own Portable TV brand. LOL
Sony used to make a portable TV called The Watchman (in line with their Walkman portable stereos) that I used to really want, but they were pretty expensive. Samsung was making cellphones that had built in digital TV tuners and antennas for their S.Korean customers as OTA Digital TV was a thing there for a while.
@josha254digital tv is still on air in South Korea
I have one of those little RCA portables. Long as you have a decent antenna it works. The built in one is worthless.
Would like to add to the mix: Slingbox. It's essentially a dead product but it still works. I have a Slingbox 350 connected to a cable box and can stream to my phone over WiFi and cell service. There's a app for Fire TV although it seems to have an audio delay on my newer FireTV Cube 2nd gen.
I still have a Radio Shack black-and-white pocket TV (rebadged Casio?) from the mid-1980s with a backwards translucent screen that you watch with a mirror. You either attach a backlight, which halved the battery life, or you watch it outdoors without the backlight in sunlight or in a well-lit area.
I also had a Casio color pocket TV from the late 1990s that had a much more easily watchable TFT screen and I often used to watch it on the commuter train from Montreal to Pincourt (a town southwest of Montreal Island), a trip that took around an hour, and, even inside the train, I could pick up American border stations from Plattsburgh, New York. The picture was snowy but still watchable. I'm sure that's not possible anymore, since Montreal's too far from Plattsburgh to pick up digital TV signals (not without a fairly tall outdoor antenna) and also because it's difficult to watch even nearby digital signals from inside a moving vehicle.
Keep up the great work.
Also you can get a friend or family member to run scans for you and let you know what channels your picking up or missing and then you can move your antenna if need be and then they can rescan etc etc until you get the best position.
I'd wait for the ATSC 3.0 being regular, unless you are staying still. Does not work well in-motion. Then again, your 3.0 comparison proved it, but I knew that from a couple older portable DTVs I had.
Radio Shaq rocked! It was one if my fave stores!
I got a Digital Prism brand 7" set with remote and charger at a garage sale this year for peanuts. I was going to sell it, but I like the idea of keeping it around as an emergency set for power outages. The tuner is decent, but it has no antenna. Maybe I'll get one of those flat things you stick on the wall that everybody talks about :)
RadioShack had those few years where they had those super stores, around the country
I have no idea what you're talking about, because portable digital television receivers were available in around 2008 or 9 or 10 or so. I bought a couple just to see how good they worked. And they worked pretty well. And they were plentiful in stores and online shopping at the time. They received the local digital channels in my area. I regret breaking the only good one I had. Taking it apart because I was fascinated. But it had a fantastic picture when it was working, but very tiny sound. And it scanned and received channels like any other flat panel tv.
Remember that World Series between the SF Giants & the Oakland As? A co-worker brought in his little portable set, so that he could watch the game. THEN......the Loma Pieta earthquake hit. Our factory was about 50 miles north of San Francisco, and so it rocked us pretty good too. Lost We all power in the plant.....except for his little TV. All of us sat in the lunchroom for the rest of our shift (....waiting for the power to return )....but huddled around that thing.....at least able to watch the news reports.
Good information on portable sets. Also will look at past videos to see if the answer to my questions. Thanks.
you always have good info! thanks!
Great Video, I remember about the time of the DTV transition. There's just one or two portable DTVs, and at the time you could find at radio shack, target, and only in Japan they had add on for your PSP to watch with special antenna that can pick up digital OTA. I thought since this time of the transition of DTV things would become for flexible to watch your local programs on the go. But now we have wait awhile for ATSC 3.0 to watch on our smartphones.
I have always wondered if portables were still bring sold. I miss a small tv in my kitchen, and I will definitely check out your video description! Thank you for sharing this much needed information. I used to live in Scranton, and I well remember the Radio Shacks, Ames, Kmarts, etc. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I had a tiny battery color tv during the Northridge earthquake. I could see the epicenter out my window. With battery tv I could see local news. They really can come in handy.
Thank you for being so informative
It helps a lot
Decades ago, my first portable TV was a 3-inch B&W Citizen brand reflection model (brighter sunlight = better reflected image!). Batteries-4 AAA-lasted over 10 hours! When analog broadcasting ended, a 3.5mm base band input jack allowed connecting as a monitor (useful with old style video camera slung on your shoulder).
Relying on positive memories of using that analog portable, I bought a 4" (maybe 5"/?) color digital model that lasted only a few hours on 6 AA batteries. GONE was the longevity, convenience, and utility I associated with the B&W analog model which, when tuned to TV signal, could be intermittently/repeatedly turned OFF/ON (for conversation or commercials)... no, turn digital portable OFF/ON and tuner starts search mode from scratch, possibly taking over a minute to return to same frequency... major inconvenience, major lost utility, and the reason digital portable has resided in some box... somewhere... not at all missed, used only until original batteries were deleted. (Yes, it SHOULD have been returned... perhaps, I thought, some reasonable need will appear: nope, 'never did... but then I wasn't installing roof antennas! ;-)
Another great video. Great work. You bring up a good question, with all this Cord Cutters movement, many are looking for a TV that perform well with a good OTA antenna, with good program guide menus (some brands have much better menuing for EPG I found out) with great new picture. Yet, the only, and I mean the only reviews you can find online have to do with streaming this or that. Try to find any TV reviews that clearly show menus, performances and features relating to OTA... Not much at all...
Great video - also thanks for the links to the devices - keep up the good work!
3:38 I had the same model under a different brand name too. I returned it because I tried using it at the beach. The screen wasn’t bright enough, and the reception was unstable. I used a UHF loop instead of the built-in rod. (Ironically, I was in Myrtle Beach and received no local stations but received Wilmington, NC stations instead traveling straight down the coast over the water.)
Nice change of pace. Thanks!
Tyler. I bought a Coby 7" at Best Buy right after the digital conversion. Gets the digital stations great, I put a TV amp in my car hooked to the car antenna. It's Ok when parked, but can not be used when traveling because of the dopler effect. Also it is Ill legal in PA. to watch TV while driving.
Holly crap. someone has a car going fast enough to cause DOPPLER EFFECT!
Thanks for the info! I've been looking for one but gave up years ago thinking it was a lost cause. Now I'm going to buy one. I still have my portable Jensen 5" TV like yours. I still use it for DXing NSTC stations this time of the year for skip on the low VHF channels. So far, I've picked up Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela here in S Arizona. I'm hoping I can find a portable with both a analog and digital tuner.
The Milanix and Tyler models have analog tuners as well as digital tuners built in.
@@AntennaMan Cuba uses DTMB, Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela uses ISDB-T.
You can buy portable ISDB-T TV receiver built in for that Countries.
Radio Shack was epic when they had lots of CB, Ham, Shortwave, DIY etc stuff.
In my camper I have a small flat screen with a DVR that operates on 12 volts or 120 volts with adapter. Works awesome. I have an Omni antenna on the roof that does operate with an amplifier that is also 12 volts.
Portable TVs are going to make an even bigger come back in the future considering the fact that ATSC 3.0 is he technology that reduces motion interference and interference from other objects
That digital tv you showed looks more like the tablets you can buy today.
That's because that has been the nature of mass production A company wanting to market a new product, take stock of what they currently manufacturing, to see if compoments alreading being used can be used to create that new product.
When the digital changeover took place I was able to find a Philips DVD player with a DTV built into it. If you’re within a certain distance of the station everything is great. Nice product but now I live outside of my local stations reception area. Was small but a smart investment at the time. Also had a smaller Casio colour TV that I used to watch on the MetroBus on the way home. Used to watch the WB in the afternoon. Good times. Used to get neat comments about it. I also miss Radio Shack. It used to have great shortwave radio equipment and radio parts that I used in my SWL hobby.
I worked for RS in the early 2000's. Portable TV's didn't sell so they started going disco-deval. (Discontinued-Devalued.) I bought a 4" color TV only for $8. Yes, 8 bucks! Being a floor model it was missing a rear plate which covered the rear connectors. But I was able to get that through the RS parts department. Then I bought two 4" B&W portables with a tape deck and CD player respectively. I think I paid like $15 and $30 respectively. I still have them. I have used them various ways and even connected a digital tuner to them to see what kind of picture I would receive. Those TV's have amazing clarity when it has a clean signal, which it almost never did with OTA reception. One of my favorite things was using those plug-n-play TV games for a portable arcade experience. Sometimes needing an adapter to do so.
Thanx Tyler. I had given up on battery portable TV when digital broadcast brought it to an end. I chunked my analog 5" Tv but when my dad passed around 4 years ago, I inherited his. Its still useless but I'm keeping it as a keepsake - and maybe a museum piece for whenever I get any great-grandkids - lol. Anywho - I had not given any thought to the possibility of portable digital TVs. It should come in handy!
DFW has analog channel 22 if you're a fan of tv shopping
Vizio used to make a seven-inch digital TV with the best screen I have ever seen on a portable set. (Model VMB070.) It's a shame they were discontinued.
Can any of these run on DC power or battery power?
Also, need to know the screen sizes and resolutions supported.
Watch to use it as a large portable FPV monitor.. i.e. fying quadcopter outside 1080p/720p at 50fps with HDMI in on DC voltage 12v-17v.
Size should be around 30" so 44" TVs are kind of too big. It doesn't have to be weatherproof, but a ruggetized build for moving about often would be helpful. Think more for camping, than for sitting on a porch.
Do any portable digital TVs have a coax input? Reception is bad in my area.
The Milanix and Tyler model do.
I have one in my horse trailer, and with an exterior antenna it works okay. The main problem I have is that you used to be able to find 12” to 15” sets for small spaces, like on a kitchen countertop or in the bathroom (I have one stashed in the linen closet, which I turn on to catch the news and weather when I’m getting ready in the morning). But as you point out, you won’t find one in a mainstream brand. Which probably shouldn’t matter, since ALL TVs are likely made by a handful of Chinese manufacturers in this day and age.
I have a 17 inch ATSC TV a 2022 model and light enough to feel portable.I connected a cable to the antenna terminal and it automatically detected channel 3 on my cable box and the reception is excellent.
I still have my little 3.5inch RCA portable tv. I use it for power outages. It's the best.
I tried a supersonic 7inch, it didn't work to long.
Are 12 volt tv's still around? I had one one the family mini van way back when the kids were small. It was a life saver on long trips.
Yes most of the TVs I attached in the description come with 12 volt adapters
@@AntennaMan thank you!
K-Mart, Sears, Radio Shack, Ames?!? Great list of failed retailers. I did buy one of those portable TV's after the conversion and it was junk. Standing out in the back yard, antenna fully extended, clear evening skies and 15 miles away from the transmitters in a major metro area, I got like 2 channels. Even those pixelated. Gave up on them. Don't remember the brand - some eBay Chinesium - and packed away somewhere.
I had one like that before. It was VERY bad with reception. They've gotten better.
Is the sensitivity of the tuner decent? Do they vary? I want a sensitive tuner in a portable, if possible. The dinky whip antennas, do they get any stations? Thanks.
I already have a video on this topic. Watch it below: ruclips.net/video/FhZ7H-cwFCk/видео.html
I have the Ermatic tuner. It is great, but my question was regarding tuners in portable TV sets. Which is the most sensitive? The Ermatic is a great tuner. The only other one that rivals it, a bit better is the one in my old Big Dish receiver that has a an OTA tuner. The unit is a Pansat 9200. The tuner has a meter and it detects signals I cannot get a peep from on any other tuner, even ones that will not lock. No guide on it, but if I want to check for the weakest signals, it shows.
I wish they had TV tuners with the sensitivity of a good FM tuner. I can get regularly digital FM stations from Seattle at 150 miles away. I cannot do that with any TV tuner. You have to get that 40 DB threshold to get a decent lock with a TV signal. No TV tuner has that kind of sensitivity that I know of.
I still have a analog one from 2000, it still works since we still have analog tv
My digital Samsung died this week, but my older Sony Trinitron is still going strong.
@Gregory Dahl i live in brandon manitoba canada, theres one analog tv station still going
Nice little tv Tyler thanks for the video.👍👍👍
I still have a little red portable analog TV/radio combination which still works. The radio bands work as is, but you have to use an adapter to hook it up to a digital cable box for the TV to work. Still useful for a small cramped space, but it wouldn’t do you any good if you didn’t have a working cable connection (or I suppose a digital antenna would work too with an adapter) but it can’t work on it’s own anymore.
I really miss my five inch black and white tv. Do these work without a cable hookup ?
Great video
Thank you
Great informative video once again!
So does analog still works or no?
Yes it has an analog tuner built in.
I have a DVB-T2 dongle which connects to a smartphone or dongle here in the UK. What people do here is get a portable TV, orient the antenna vertically and complain it doesn't work. Problem is, high powered transmitters in the UK are broadcast at horizontal polarisation. I'm in a town over 50km (31 miles) away from the main transmitter here and with a horizontally oriented indoor aerial, can get all the multiplexes including the weakest, a lower powered commercial HD one. Just for fun, I made a dipole out of two bits of kitchen foil and used it to see if I could pick up even the weakest signal. And I could. Meanwhile people keep telling me that its impossible to pick up digital TV indoors and you must use an external antenna.
I've lived off grid in Trapper Creek Alaska for 18 years now. I've had a portable TV the whole time.
Which portable TV do you have and how long has it lasted you?
Good video. I ordered a 7 inch supersonic on Amazon.
I have a portable TV already with the current digital format will I need a portable TV that's 3.0?
Yes.... if it takes off.
It works great connected to my aerial lol
Since you use the portable TV's for outdoor antenna placements, do any or all of them
have signal/quality meters???? That is paramount to a good antenna installation.
Yes, this portable TV has sort of a signal meter. Under the channel setup it will show either "poor, normal, or good" for the signal. ebay.to/37TAzIT
I took out my dad's GPX portable TV that has a first generation ATSC tuner. I set it up on my desk so I can watch some Judge Judy while I'm working.
In the pre-internet days during the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles I had a battery-operated portable color TV and I was one of the few people who could see what was going on.
Antenna Man, I have a question toward those old television sets. Did those built in antennas ever work?
I just want a Sony Watchman again :D
I watched my portable back in 1985 while riding out Hurricane Kate. The only show I could get was the local channel showing Entertainment tonight.
Wow. Portable TV. Radio shack.. the days.. might have 2 grab me 1. Never know. Good vid antenna man 😁👍🏾