Predictas?

[Sandy G]

Monochromeman-Welcome aboard, pal !! Always glad to have "old TV nuts" here !! Netherlands, huh? Interesting-how hard is it to come by Predictas over there? Were they sold there originally? There was a Kuba Komet on Ebay a couple weeks ago that set our tongues a-wagging-You ever seen one of those? What other sets do you have-we'd LOVE pictures !! Again, welcome aboard !!-Sandy G.

Thanks for the warm welcome, yeah, I am a certified old TV nut!I have about 35 sets, a mix of US and European sets.I got most of my Predictas in the States.I've made about 10 trips in the last 15 years to various swapmeets like AWA Rochester and Elgin.I've seen Predictas in Holland though, restored quite a few of them for people.There are a few, mainly jukebox dealers, who bring in old TV's occasionally.
There some nice old sets to be found here,in Holland 95 % of all old sets are made by Philips.In Germany there are still plenty early DDR sets like the Rembrandt and Rubens.They are very pretty and have round 12 inch picture tubes.
Unlike in the US, TV in Europe only really took off after 1950 and only those really early sets have round tubes, 99 % of sets made after about 1952 allready have rectangular tubes.Some of them are still quite attractive though.
I followed the Kuba saga,amazing set! I've only seen pics of them, unfortunately.I am actually contemplating building one myself.

I have attached 2 pics with a few of my sets, enjoy!

[Eric H]

Welcome Monochromeman!
A very nice collection!
What is the thing in the first pic with the Monkeys and Palm trees??

P.S. I sent you a Private Message.

Eric

Hi Eric, that is a very rare African monkey and palmtree TV set from Nigeria!
LOL! No, it's the insides of something called a Bimbobox.(Britney has nothing to do with it) It was made in Germany in the 50ties and features a coin operated animated monkey band.They actually move and play their instruments!You would insert a coin, a tune would play from a Tefifon player and the monkeys would move.Every department store had one, here in Holland.I remember them from my childhood.
The TV to the left of it is a French 819 line set from 1951, a "Voix de son Maitre"or His Masters Voice.The others are American and should all be familiar to you guys.
Cheers, Eric

[Charlie]

Welcome to AK Monochromeman! Those are some nice sets you have!

Yes, I recall having to build one of those verticle couplets for my Predicta. I think I built one for my b&w Curtis Mathes, also. As Steve K mentioned, their kinda fun to put together. They sure work a hell of a lot better than the original component!

Hi Charlie,nice to hear from you.I actually found this forum through you!A few months ago, while Googling for some info for my Philco roundie(got one of those too!)your name popped up and this started the ball rolling.I am also from Nederland of course!Nederland is the dutch spelling of Netherlands.
Yeah,those couplets scare a lot of people, but they are actually pretty simple, you have to keep them small though as they a tight fit on the PCB.
There is also this weird 90K resistor and cap combination in the vertical integrator, I use 2 47K resistors in series with 2 caps to ground, this works perfectly.

Eric

[Charlie]

Mono,

Kinda funny you found AK thru me, and that we both live in Nederland... but on opposite sides of the globe. This little city in SE Texas was started by Dutch settlers. A relative of mine (thru marriage) was born here, but her parents were some of the first Dutch to come here many decades ago.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it here on AK. Fine group of folks here with a very wide variety of vintage sets! We really do alot for each other in these forums.

[Indian Head]

For those of you that have had the 21" verticles (Continental, Pedastal, etc), are the chassis in those easier to get to?

I have worked on 2 different 1959 Pedastals and do find them much easier to service than the Holiday table models. Once the rear panel (which wraps around the sides) is removed, both sides (top and bottom) of the chassis is right there, exposed. It's the same chassis that is in the Holiday but is mounted vertically. If you don't mind sitting on the floor to work on it, you do not have to remove it from the cabinet. As far as the 1960 Continental goes, I have never had to work on ours. It has the same chassis as the 17" table models, mounted vertically, but I have never had the back off this set, so I don't know how it is placed and if both sides are acessable.

John

[yagosaga]

Philco Predicta Television 1959 Barberpole,restored!!

Buy it now for EUR 2,000.00 or EUR 1,400.00 starting bid on German ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...158477766&rd=1

What are the normal prices for a Predicta like this?

[andy]

...

I think 1400 Euro for a restored blonde Barberpole is an excellent price!
But then again, I own the set...
Cheers, Eric

[Carmine]

I meant to welcome Yagosaga when he showed up, but since this thread has some welcome posts for Monochromeman, I'll kill two birds with one stone.

Welcome top the both of ya. Yagosaga, I believe you live close to my in-laws who are in Emen (sp?).

I was on the look-out for interesting vintage electronics when I went to Germany in 2002. I had some luck in my grandfather-in-laws apartment, in Hann Meuden, which he had occupied since 1942. He was moving out after 60 years (Would you believe the landlord tired to charge him for cracked plaster from a bomb that fell nearby in WWII!?!?) Anyways his was liquidating his belongings, and since nobody wanted the old tube radios, I grabbed those. I have switched the smaller one over to 110v, but have yet to even remove the larger Grundig console from the shipping wrap. I played both of them (they still worked good) while I was over there and needed something to listen to in English (I got VOA, and BBC from London).

He also had what "might" have been a color 60's vintage Telefunken set, but that had sadly been gutted into a small bookcase! About the only thing worth saving was the the emblem, which I've attached to my cheapo computer monitor. I also had some pictures I took at the VW museum of 50s-era German sets, but because of bad lighting, they're not even worth posting. The video record of my trip, including all the last-chance video of the apartment, was wiped-out by security equipment at the airport.

[El Predicta]

I have about 50 Predictas. Started collecting them in the 90's. Have all models except the blonde tandem. Thought I'd never have much of a market, except VRPS, until eBay came around. A side story is that these sets can be profitable to rent. Like when Dan Rather signed off on his last newscast last week..there he was on a 17" Predicta on the studio set. Spots like that seem to cause spikes in sales or rentals.

A properly restored Predicta does deliver a good picture. To work on them successfully, it helps to have drawers of parts just for Predictas-the tubes, the caps, resistors, tube sockets, solder wick, etc. Two different picture tube/yoke set ups for test jigs will help tremendously and will take care of most needs. Besides Sam's, the Philco service info helps. Most chassis's ,except for bad flybacks (rare for those to be bad), can be restored reasonably. That includes several tubes (if needed), many new caps & resistors, + preventative measures like coating the flyback with multiple coats of "corona dope", cleaning the chassis, cleaning/lubricating all controls & tuner, alignment, etc., etc.

Soon, I can post pictures of all the models I have.

[yagosaga]

Originally Posted by Carmine

I meant to welcome Yagosaga when he showed up, but since this thread has some welcome posts for Monochromeman, I'll kill two birds with one stone.
Welcome top the both of ya. Yagosaga, I believe you live close to my in-laws who are in Emen (sp?).

Thank you for wellcome me. I do not know Emen. But in the Hanover region there is a village called Eimen. Do you mean it?

Originally Posted by Carmine

He also had what "might" have been a color 60's vintage Telefunken set, but that had sadly been gutted into a small bookcase! About the only thing worth saving was the the emblem, which I've attached to my cheapo computer monitor.

I didn't see a Telefunken color set with that emblem from the 60's. Are you shure that it was a color tv set? In the 60's, Telefunken had built two different chassis':
http://bs.cyty.com/menschen/e-etzold...alcolor708.htm
http://bs.cyty.com/menschen/e-etzold...alcolor740.htm

Originally Posted by Carmine

I also had some pictures I took at the VW museum of 50s-era German sets, but because of bad lighting, they're not even worth posting.

Yes, I know these sets. But they are not original. They have a new chassis inside an old cabinet.

[andy]

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