Unusual TV game system seen on VCFED

[SiriusHardware]

This is so unusual I thought others here might like to take a look at it over on vcfed -

https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?th...ystem.1247016/

Looks like a more or less standard Philips portable TV with three inline 3.5mm jack on the side which I would guess are audio in, video in, and power-out to the wired handheld units, one of which is obviously the 'game' system itself and the other the controller for the second player.

It's said to be from the UK but I can not recall ever having seen anything like it here.

[Nickthedentist]

Could you post the pics from that site here? I can only see the thumbnails as a non member.

[Phil__G]

VCF is well worth joining Nick

[SiriusHardware]

Here you go Nick - I wouldn't normally take material wholesale from another forum thread but I didn't realise there was no access to the full sized images for casual visitors. I've done it this one time solely to try to help the OP to identify his system.

If any of you recognise the system and are members of vcfed please let the OP know via his thread on vcfed, anyone who knows it but is not a vcfed member and has no wish to be so, please let us know the details here and we will forward them onwards to the OP on vcfed.

[cmjones01]

Interesting. I can't identify the game system, but those Philips TX portables were somehow popular for modifications. Our school had a couple of dozen of them (not quite identical to the one in the photo, the black bezel extended further back and the whole case was less rounded, but very similar in layout) with BNC connectors in place of where the tuner's antenna socket had been. They were used as composite video monitors with BBC Micros and were, to be honest, rubbish. There was no black level clamping, so dark details would disappear whenever anything bright appeared on the screen, and the picture geometry and sharpness was nothing to write home about. Reading 80 column text was a struggle. But they were only cheap portable TVs, and they probably made the difference between having monitors and not having monitors.

Chris

[ortek_service]

Thanks for the better photos, here, as I too found non-members couldn't view the original attachments on that forum.

It's certainly a rare system, I've not seen or heard of before (Not even one in any of the Computer museums? - that do have early systems like the Magnavox Odyssey & Fairchild Channel F (= Adman Grandstand), I've seen.
And doesn't appear on the CfCH's pages:
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/2693/Philips/
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/...ames-Consoles/

In the absence of any schematics etc. for this Philips unit, it would be nice to see some photos of the boards inside, to confirm if all the games console circuitry was built into the controllers - or whether there was an extra board inside the TV (But not really enough connections on the plugs from the controllers to do that back then, as would need a lot of multiplexing / digitising)

[SiriusHardware]

I'm amazed you aren't on vcfed Owen - granted it is quite a USA-centric site but I would have thought a lot of the content would be right up your street.

those Philips TX portables were somehow popular for modifications

Maybe it was particularly easy to add a composite input to that model and the chassis must have been at a safe potential even when the unit was running on mains.

[ortek_service]

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

I'm amazed you aren't on vcfed Owen - granted it is quite a USA-centric site but I would have thought a lot of the content would be right up your street.

Well I haven't often found things I'd been particularly interested in too often, as maybe more games systems and USA Computers focussed. Whereas this area / Stardot are probably best for British Computers (especially those from Cambridge companies). But I may well join, for better access to attachments.

those Philips TX portables were somehow popular for modifications

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Maybe it was particularly easy to add a composite input to that model and the chassis must have been at a safe potential even when the unit was running on mains.

Yes, B&W portables were often essentially 12V-powered - to allow them to be truly-portable and used in Caravans etc.
So they usually had a mains-isolation transformer in them, that stepped down to this first when most TV's had a 'live' chassis back then and required isolated antenna sockets and control knobs / isolation transformers on any AV etc I/O's.
But there were conversions, putting quite-heavy magnetically-shielded mains isolation transformers inside these - before SCART and moved to SMPSU's made this commonplace on ones since the mid/late 1980's.
And Ferguson etc. did battery-operation conversions for their TX9 Colour portables, as well as making a special version that had additional RGB or YUV inputs for use with Home computers.

[Nickthedentist]

Basic telly model might be 12B711: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?p=762038
The photos in post 5 clearly show the mains-isolating stepdown transformer. Late 1970s to early 1980s apparently.

Are people thinking that the whole lot was made by Philips? Or that some small enterprise built the games add-on and modified Philips sets?

[SiriusHardware]

Someone in the original vcfed thread has also identified that base TV model. The hand control parts look quite professionally produced with injection moulded / screen printed casings and a full keypad on one of the units - plus that moulded three-prong 'jack plug' with one offset prong to ensure correct insertion - whether they were also made by Philips or someone else is yet to be determined.

TBH I had thought that someone here would pipe up and say "Oh - yes - got one of those" but it really is seeming to be a very unusual item.

The good thing for the (presumed American) owner is that it will probably have a socket for external DC power so it should run as a self contained system with an adequate DC power supply.

[Maarten]

The only way to identify the model is by the type label on the back as they all look very similar. I'm pretty sure Philips made this or similar models with built in game.