Vintage TV's anyone?

[dartman]

The first color set we ever had I bought in 74 with my berry picking money I saved all summer. Bought a used Zenith 69 23" console for 115 delivered.
It was my personal set and had them put it in my tiny bedroom, ticked my step dad off to no end but he refused to buy us a color set so I bought my own.
I let him watch Hee Has on it and us kids watched a lot of cartoons and shows on it. Was all tube and would heat my room nicely in the winter. I calibrated the color guns myself so it showed a true b/w picture and tweaked the focus till it was as sharp as it could be.
That sorta started me into TV repair and I started collecting tubes and parts. We never had to buy another set for years as I always had a nice one in stock.

 

[universaldave1]

I have one of the remotes Human is talking about.

I will replacing the old electrolytic in the power supply as soon as I can afford to buy one. It will be at least $15.

 

[human]

Yeah Dave, that one appears to be for an early color set but otherwise pretty much the same as I remember ours except the buttons were all white. Brings back memories...

 

[human]

Ours looked more like this

Found this image on eBay. I'm pretty sure this is the one we had. I distinctly remember the oval shaped buttons. It was pretty cool in that you never had to worry about batteries dying because there weren't any. The whole system was pretty rudimentary. The buttons on the remote would activate electromagnetic relays to accomplish the desired function. The TV set had a manual VHF tuner that was essentially motorized. If I recall correctly, you still had to get up and tune the UHF stations by hand. And the relay activated by the mute button made a godawful loud buzzing sound for about a second. I remember being about three or four years old, definitely before I learned to read, figuring out which button did what with the express purpose of teaching myself which button NOT to press!

 

[tolivac]

Remember a feind of mine had a "remote control" dog-a small poodle.He would respond when you pushed the buttons a a Space Command remote-One button made the dog come to you,sit,go away from you,or bark.He trained the dog to respond to the remote.Right now I have a Hitachi RP set that has 3 CRTs in it-reproduces 1080 video really well.15 yrs old and counting.CRTs are known reliable display devices.LCD displays are really to young to determine age and reliability.I bought a used RCA color console before my father went to color.He bought a Sony-same with me years later.The Hitachi replaced a 27" Sony-gave that to a freind that needed a TV.2 K video is used in present cinema digital projectors-4 k is the future.The projectors can be upgraded by replacing the light engine-and also adding a laser illumination system.

 

[vacerator]

I have a working 1982 RCA 25 inch colortrak oak swivel base console.
My absolute favorite vintage TV set is the 1969 Zentih Amundsen 23 inch dual speaker console in the Drexel furniture Danish modern walnut cabinet.

 

[suckolux]

I remember when our Admiral was about 8 years old? just before it died, when you walked in front of it with change in your pocket it would move the volume I want to say?UP I think Sound I presume

 

[arh1953]

Here's something you don't see every day

Beautiful mid '60's Magnavox color console with sliding tambour doors.



http://modesto.craigslist.org/atq/5396017121.html

 

[arh1953]

Dramatic Far Eastern Contemporary in Ebony

Black & white, possibly 27" screen, Astro-Sonic.



http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/atq/5439698512.html

 

[universaldave1]

I got the

1967 RCA Victor CTC-25 home safely. The picture is absolutely phenomenal. Super crisp and sharp with very strong colors.

 

[tolivac]

I would be very leary of carrying an unprotected CRT in the back seat of the car-and the chassis sitting on the seat without restraint and no heavy cardboard or wood under it to protect the seat.The few times I carried a set in the car-put it assembled in the trunk without problems-had to tie the trunk lid.If you could haul it in a truck or SUV,the better.Another thought if you can take the legs off the cabinet-this helps.Did this with radio and Hi-Fi consoles,too.

 

[vacerator]

Nice,

and a vintage Buick to go with it all.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

my 2 tv's aren't vintage, but late eighties and early nineties. Pictures later...

 

[countryford]

Here are just a couple of my vintage TVs. The first one is an Admiral. As you can see it still works. The second one is a Magnavox. It currently doesn't work. The third one is an RCA/Zenith. The console is an RCA with a radio/phonograph. Someone at some point removed the RCA TV and installed an 80's Zenith TV. It works. They did such a good job, that you can barely tell. The third one is a Zenith. I picked it up at Goodwill for $1.00. Currently doesn't work. The last one is a Spirit of '76 Zenith. Also works.

 

[countryford]

Here are just a couple of my vintage TVs. The first one is an Admiral. As you can see it still works. The second one is a Magnavox. It currently doesn't work. The third one is an RCA/Zenith. The console is an RCA with a radio/phonograph. Someone at some point removed the RCA TV and installed an 80's Zenith TV. It works. They did such a good job, that you can barely tell. The third one is a Zenith. I picked it up at Goodwill for $1.00. Currently doesn't work. The last one is a Spirit of '76 Zenith. Also works.

 

[universaldave1]

You have

Some nice TV's, Countryford.

 

[MPN]

Then you saw it . . . now you only see 2/3 of it ! ! !

These old sets are ok if you don't mind ONLY SEEING TWO THIRDS of the picture . . .

I almost had a wet dream when I saw my first OLED set in Costco ! ! !

 

[universaldave1]

If somebody handed me an OLED TV, I'd have a tough choice to make. Sell it or smash it. The title of this thread is "Vintage TV's, anyone?", not "Old TV's suck and modern ones don't."

 

[MPN]

Who said that ? ? ?

"If somebody handed me an OLED TV, I'd have a tough choice to make. Sell it or smash it. The title of this thread is "Vintage TV's, anyone?", not "Old TV's suck and modern ones don't."

It's simply A FACT that the ANALOG (NTSC) Broadcast Standard is NOW OBSOLETE ! ! !

I NEVER said that OLD TVs SUCK, but ya have to admit that DIGITAL (ATSC) TVs ARE LIGHTYEARS BETTER ! ! !

WHY ? ? ?
1. Picture Resolution NEVER IMAGINED with analog TVs.
2. 16:9+ Aspect Ratios - 100% of Digital (ATSC) Broadcast Picture is Viewable.
3. Many have built-in Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound with Subwoofer Output.
4. WiFi to wirelessly beam audio/video from computers, phones/handheld devices.
5. Are easily wall-mountable.

Model Ts were great cars in their day as well as being collectable today, but I'll take my Mercedes on a cross country trip HANDS DOWN in summer temperatures any day. I just LUVS THAT AIR CONDITIONING insteada sittin' in a puddle of sweat ! ! !

You wouldn't just be resentful of things you either aren't willing to buck for, of afford to buy over getting a FREE throw-out TVs would ya ? ? ?

If anyone here has an OLED TV they're contemplating SMASHING, throw it MY WAY ! ! !

 

[universaldave1]

You can keep your

PLASTIC, MADE IN CHINA, THROWAWAY OLED thing, and I'll keep my QUALITY, MADE IN USA, BUILT TO LAST set. I have NO PROBLEM with not having WIFI connectivity or WALL MOUNTABILITY. My TV's will stay where a TV is supposed to be. ON THE FLOOR. And by the way, I was GIVEN a Vizio phlat skreen set several years ago. I HATED it so much that I gave it away.