Suprise hoard!
 

In soviet 'Merica TVs come to YOU! :D

Several months ago I was approached at a radio swap meet by a local fellow that was helping a friend clear out a basement full of tube TVs. He wanted to know if I had any interest and I did.

Fast forward to Saturday...I woke up to my folks telling me someone called earlier asking to talk to me. I honestly had forgotten about our conversation and it took a moment to click. After some talk I somehow was under the mistaken impression that they were coming Sunday...They came Saturday.

I had the first pick (someone else was interested), and I primarily wanted the table sets and Roundy color, but wound up taking it all because the other guy said he did not want consoles (also the consoles both had UHF which helped tip the scales) and if I did not take them they would be headed to the land fill.

All was free on the condition I fix the 7" table set, but I gave them $40 anyway.

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What I consider to be the prizes of the load: Silvertone metal cabinet roundy color, Zenith SC300 portable with tube based remote chassis (which IIRC dates it to '62 or earlier), Bakelite ~16" admiral, ~20" Zenith metal table set (I've sorta wanted one), and possibly that CBS console with the funky UHF slider tuner.

The bad: the open heater on the loose 16TP4 (that I had high hopes for using in another set), the moto table model with aftermarket legs (which helped sell me on it) as well as the admiral console are having the glued wood sides fall off.

I also got a box of tubes, a spare back or two, and a monochrome Silvertone part's portable (unless someone has an empty cabinet available).

The only CRT I've tested yet is the loose 16TP4....I hope the others test significantly better. :D

I'd have tested the other CRTs already but time has been scarce. Between a computer rebuild (recap) that dragged out, the load of TVs and a friend visiting Saturday evening I ran out of time to prepare and decided to skip the local radio swap meet Sunday. My folks have a rule that anything I get that ain't new has to stay in the garage overnight...This time of year I'm not supposed to keep things in the garage such that either parking space is not usable. So Sunday I cleared all but the two monochrome consoles before taking Mom out for an early Birthday dinner, and shopping for a gift for her actual B-day...By the time I was done with all that lifting and standing had me tired and sore so I laid down and finished reloading software on to my computer project.

Tonight I hope to test some CRTs and tear into some new projects (I've even got a fresh order of caps)....I've been stuck on a dog video problem in that RCA CTC-36 I got in Indiana back in fall, and I've temporarily run out of damns to give that TV, so I'll shelve it till I get more.

I wonder if the Silvertone has that super el-cheapo chassis. I only saw one!
The CBS Columbia set has novel UHF cable drive setup and fold down chassis.
The last set they made.

A lot of people were asking where you were. Looks like you had a valid excuse for being absent.

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Looks like you have the bottom half of a Fiberglass Sears Suburbanite there, did you get the rest of it?

Nope. What you see is what I got. Should I ask them to look for more of it?

I did a bunch of testing and variacing today....Full report pending.

I would, they are rather scarce and pretty cool looking if they're in one of the more colorful cabinets.

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php...1&d=1484630792

Man, not even a woodgrain decal on that one. That HAS to be rare.....

Not bad! Mine looks to be a gray or white model...I'll still check. CRT is original and strong.
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That is the second plain-jane-no-wood-grain Silvertone roundy to enter my collection (see the first below). :D Spell check is having a fit with that last sentence.:banana:
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/...y/DSCN0430.jpg
Both look to be CTC-15 clones based on tube count. Dave, was that odd ball a oddly laid out RCA clone?..The new one sure is. PCBs are rotated, and or set at odd angles on the chassis, PCB layout is tweaked, and the whole chassis is secured by lips on the front and three screws on the rear (reminds me of a D16 Sylvania chassis mounting). CRT woke up on it and I've got sound+raster+faint ghosts of unsynced video+color noise working the chroma pots. I think she'll live.:banana: (Raster pic is lousy because it was the only one I could get before my camera battery died.)
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Fascinating that my model CBS was their last! Another interesting thing about that set is that the owner said that one day decades ago while it was turned off and not being messed with the safety glass just randomly shattered on it's own...Apparently they stored it after that. I recall it having an upright doughnut chassis like many portables of the day, but did not know it folds down...Cool.:thmbsp: I still need to test CRTs on the 21" monochrome consoles and move them out of the garage.

More to come later.

The Silvertone is the common Warwick built RCA clone. The one, I'm referring to is a series string, two stage IF with a form of a LE8 color demod circuit. Minimal tube count.
On the CBS, the tubes face the inside of the set. Removing the back exposes the wiring side of the upright chassis. :scratch2:

WOW! Great score! I like the Sears (Warwick) roundy color! It looks like a cheaper version of your other Silvertone roundie.

Interesting, I'd love to see a schematic of that Silvertone.
Your right on the CBS. I've recently discovered I got all the original paper work for it (+ the schematic sheet of the sam's :thmbsp:) in the schematics to previous owner gave me. :banana: The CRT in the CBS tests in the ? zone (between good and bad), but I've seen tubes in the middle of bad make a reasonably bright watchable picture.

It basically is...It looks to have two legs up on my older one: chassis can be easily pulled without needing to get a wrench under the cabinet, and it has UHF.

Bringing the 23" tin can Zenith up on the variac gave me this.
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Pretty good for a weak CRT. Sound and picture were good, so once the vertical gets recapped it should be good to go.



After resolving power switch confusion on the ~17" space command portable Zenith, it too came to life.
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Sync is pretty much non existent, and something (can't find it) is VERY lightly smoking. It is full of bumblebees and other sketchy cap types so some issues are to be expected. The remote is untested, and the power tuning seems to be dead. I plan to dig more into this soon.

The Bakelite Admiral (Yay, I finally have a Bakelite TV again! :banana:) has a weak, but still usable 17" metal cone CRT.
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Anyone know if the white paint around the screen is factory or aftermarket?

Worth everything you gave and much more Tom, great haul of interesting stuff! I have a 17" bakelite Admiral similar to that.

I think that paint may be factory tho' Mine has a full sheet of safety glass, attached at the upper corners, that also covers the bakelite brown crt mask.

I have a dilemma with the Motorola: should I fix it or part it out? The cabinet finish ain't bad, but the glue holding it together is bad. I've got all the pieces, I dig the cabinet style (especially the unusual look of it being on those aftermarket legs), and it has a good CRT. On the down side the chassis is rusty, and it has a 16TP4 in it....I have a recapped Grinnel that needs that CRT (it's current one is BARELY watchable with a brightener), but have a deal pending with Benman (that was before he said he was going over seas, and I've not received payment) for the Grinnel, I only wanted to sell the Grinnel because I did not have a good CRT for it....I don't know whether to sell the Grinnel and fix the Moto, put the CRT in the Grinnel and scrap the Moto, or fix both and swap the CRT around/look for a second. I do have another loose 16TP4 with an open heater...If I can re-weld that tubes and make it usable I may just keep both. What say you?

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The 21" Admiral console at the far left had the exact opposite reaction of mt other sets to my tube tester....The other sets woke up slowly to being good. The Admiral came on full blast, and slowly died...It's a local rebuild. The side came unglued from the cabinet, but it is otherwise in prefect shape. If one of my good 21" spares will fit it then I'll probably re-glue the side, recap it and find it a new home.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/313/31...0ee047cf_n.jpg

Finally I was given a random mystery tool...Anyone know what this is for?
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Thanks! My Admiral has a plastic safety screen that fits in the CRT cutout. I may end up stripping and repainting that area if the original paint does not clean up well.