Tungsten98
Newly Enlightened
When I'm bored, I like to go on ebay and look at outdated / vintage things of all sorts, although it usually falls into the category of lighting, electric or otherwise.
In my search for a coleman lantern, of the 'white gas' burning variety, I stumbled across this.... gem, let's say. I really don't know what to even call this device, and it doesn't seem to either. On the side, you can clearly see it marked "Multi-Functional TV Lantern", but on the cap for the 'flashlight' it's marked LanternTV, and apparently it's also called the King Cobra? Model D269. As is, the TV is completely useless. It relies on analog TV signals that were cut back in 2009. Pretty sure it was 2009. It is a black and white CRT, which I find odd given it's period of manufacture. Based on what little I could find, these seem to have been made around 98 to 04. It takes nine C batteries! Or, you can just plug it in with the included power supply, which is what I've done.
I'm kicking around the idea of getting an antenna adapter, some conversion hardware, and putting it on a loop of some black and white program, like a military training film or something. I'm not sure yet though. I mainly bought this because I find this.... concept so strange and unique. Sort of a 'it's so ugly it's cute' kind of way. The screen itself isn't that great of quality, even for 2002 standards, however. I wouldn't use this for any project that involved actually watching or playing something on this screen.
Here's a bunch of photos. In demonstrating this for photos, the incandescent lamp quit, so I'll have to source a replacement. Unfortunately it has no numbers on it. So, that'll be fun to find.
Now this is the part where I kinda rant a bit, so feel free to stop reading if that doesn't interest you. I occasionally indulge in talking out loud.
As I look at this product, I wonder who exactly it was for when it was first released. Since it's coleman branded, I immediately think that it's for "camping", or perhaps 'glamping' if you prefer. However, I could also reasonably believe that this could be marketed as a disaster type device. I'd hate to think just how many batteries you'd go through trying to power this beast in TV mode, presumably watching the weather channel.
This also has a siren mode on it, but omits any kind of flashing light which usually accompanies that sort of feature. I have not tried it, although I absolutely know I will accidently press it as it's situated right next to the power button. I would absolutely call that a bug, not a feature.
The thing that I've gotten so hung up on with this, is the fact this was made with a black and white CRT, and not a color flat panel of some kind. I assume flat panel tech (LED, LCD, etc) just wasn't cheap enough or refined enough at the time. I was very much a small child at the time so, I simply don't remember. A TV was a TV, and I only cared about it, if it had something I wanted to watch turned on.
I did some looking on portable TVs, and shockingly (to me) most of them are black and white. Suddenly, the inclusion of a b&w CRT in this device makes sense. Sort of.... It makes sense why Coleman opted for this, but it also blows my mind that b&w CRT TVs (albeit portable) where apparently common in the 90s and even the early 2000s. I was previously under the impression that after the color TV was invented, the b&w version quickly fell out of favor and simply had no reason to exist at that point. Apparently I was wrong, for reasons I don't really understand.
Oh well. As much as this device confuses and bewilders me in ways I'm not really sure of, I'm happy to have an example in my collection of things I really have no idea why I spent money on. Considering how little info exists on them online, they are readily available on that auction site if you want one for yourself.
In my search for a coleman lantern, of the 'white gas' burning variety, I stumbled across this.... gem, let's say. I really don't know what to even call this device, and it doesn't seem to either. On the side, you can clearly see it marked "Multi-Functional TV Lantern", but on the cap for the 'flashlight' it's marked LanternTV, and apparently it's also called the King Cobra? Model D269. As is, the TV is completely useless. It relies on analog TV signals that were cut back in 2009. Pretty sure it was 2009. It is a black and white CRT, which I find odd given it's period of manufacture. Based on what little I could find, these seem to have been made around 98 to 04. It takes nine C batteries! Or, you can just plug it in with the included power supply, which is what I've done.
I'm kicking around the idea of getting an antenna adapter, some conversion hardware, and putting it on a loop of some black and white program, like a military training film or something. I'm not sure yet though. I mainly bought this because I find this.... concept so strange and unique. Sort of a 'it's so ugly it's cute' kind of way. The screen itself isn't that great of quality, even for 2002 standards, however. I wouldn't use this for any project that involved actually watching or playing something on this screen.
Here's a bunch of photos. In demonstrating this for photos, the incandescent lamp quit, so I'll have to source a replacement. Unfortunately it has no numbers on it. So, that'll be fun to find.
Now this is the part where I kinda rant a bit, so feel free to stop reading if that doesn't interest you. I occasionally indulge in talking out loud.
As I look at this product, I wonder who exactly it was for when it was first released. Since it's coleman branded, I immediately think that it's for "camping", or perhaps 'glamping' if you prefer. However, I could also reasonably believe that this could be marketed as a disaster type device. I'd hate to think just how many batteries you'd go through trying to power this beast in TV mode, presumably watching the weather channel.
This also has a siren mode on it, but omits any kind of flashing light which usually accompanies that sort of feature. I have not tried it, although I absolutely know I will accidently press it as it's situated right next to the power button. I would absolutely call that a bug, not a feature.
The thing that I've gotten so hung up on with this, is the fact this was made with a black and white CRT, and not a color flat panel of some kind. I assume flat panel tech (LED, LCD, etc) just wasn't cheap enough or refined enough at the time. I was very much a small child at the time so, I simply don't remember. A TV was a TV, and I only cared about it, if it had something I wanted to watch turned on.
I did some looking on portable TVs, and shockingly (to me) most of them are black and white. Suddenly, the inclusion of a b&w CRT in this device makes sense. Sort of.... It makes sense why Coleman opted for this, but it also blows my mind that b&w CRT TVs (albeit portable) where apparently common in the 90s and even the early 2000s. I was previously under the impression that after the color TV was invented, the b&w version quickly fell out of favor and simply had no reason to exist at that point. Apparently I was wrong, for reasons I don't really understand.
Oh well. As much as this device confuses and bewilders me in ways I'm not really sure of, I'm happy to have an example in my collection of things I really have no idea why I spent money on. Considering how little info exists on them online, they are readily available on that auction site if you want one for yourself.
