Dos ANYONE here feel that our old "goodies" were REALLY meant to last 40-80 years??

[andy]

...

[DaveWM]

That really takes me back, what a time for the hobby. Top quality gear being sold in there as well (scott, Mcintosh HK). Prices were not cheap like the garbarge you find for sale now and what a huge selection of items being sold. "the shack" has really really gone to the dogs.

[TerrySmith]

Just last week I picked up a LG 42" plasma TV non-working off of craigslist. Ended up needing the ICM, which is the large module on the Y-sustain board. It was a royal pain in the a$$ to unsolder! Flat screens woudn't be so bad IF they would use better quality components namely CAPACITORS!

Summer of 1980 I stopped by a repair shop that was going out of business and got a 19" Zenith CCII with the 4-lead cap problem and the neck burned off the CRT. I replaced the capacitor an scrounged a 19" CRT from a junk set (not a Zenith) and stuck it in. Convergence was close enough, focus was a little off but had a decent picture! I used it for another 10 years and gave it to a friend who used it 5 or so years more. He gave it back and it was really beat up so I set it outside for another year or two and one day I decided to power it up- and it still worked! I really miss Zenith quality!

[peverett]

I cleaned out a TV shop a while ago and think that I have a couple 2 transistor radios laying around somewhere(If I can find them). I am not sure if they are Realistic brand though. I also have a box of brand new LLoyds AM transistor radios from the 1970s that were in the shop. I have put batteries in a couple of them and they work just fine. Probably not worth anything at all though.

[DrRick]

Where did you get the ICM?
I have a 42" LG plasma with a shorted ICM on the Y-sustain board.

QUOTE=TerrySmith;3002706]Just last week I picked up a LG 42" plasma TV non-working off of craigslist. Ended up needing the ICM, which is the large module on the Y-sustain board. It was a royal pain in the a$$ to unsolder! Flat screens woudn't be so bad IF they would use better quality components namely CAPACITORS!

Summer of 1980 I stopped by a repair shop that was going out of business and got a 19" Zenith CCII with the 4-lead cap problem and the neck burned off the CRT. I replaced the capacitor an scrounged a 19" CRT from a junk set (not a Zenith) and stuck it in. Convergence was close enough, focus was a little off but had a decent picture! I used it for another 10 years and gave it to a friend who used it 5 or so years more. He gave it back and it was really beat up so I set it outside for another year or two and one day I decided to power it up- and it still worked! I really miss Zenith quality![/QUOTE]

[ggregg]

Originally Posted by andy

Check out pages 8 and 9 for some cheap radios. They go as low as $2.99! That's about $20 according to the inflation calculator. I've never seen a 2 transistor ratio, but I bet they sold a lot of them.

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/ca.../1965-a_small/

I was thinking more of in the thirties instead of 1965 but I get what you are saying.

You know stuff has really gone to the dogs when we are talking about the quality of Lloyd's. I know, much it is not too bad, especially compared to what came after.

[DaveWM]

My clock radio is a zenith 6 tube set with an large ferrite rod antenna with some kind of noise cancelling going on, it has connection to the chassis thru a shielded cable. Great set and very good AM dxing. The chassis is classic zenith hand wiring. The only weak point is the dial string which just broke the other day, but of course an easy fix. It has the built in coffee pot outlet, and a sleep timer so I can plug in a TV or stereo, and have it auto shut off after about 45 min.

[wa2ise]

Speaking of Japanese AA5's, here is a chassis picture of one

And a similar complete radio

These were not very good.

[Dave A]

I counted 48 different AM/FM radios in the 1965 Radio Shack catalog. Now that would be 48 different cell phones. And don't miss the
"Americana AX-100" amp with 100 transistors and no transformer.

1965 was a time when we were flooded with a variety of economic choices including the good, the bad and the ugly. The bad won. Ugly is seasonal depending the designs showing up. BPC one year, silver the next, translucent next.

Then I went through the catalogs for the elusive 15GP22 and a few others...and they had them! One of few color tubes they ever sold. And not under the Lifetime banner.

1957 $235/$1881 today.
1958 $265/$2121 today.
1959 two different prices but with the same stock number. Also appearing for
the first time are the AXP and CYP at the lower price.
GP $235 and GP/AXP/CYP $128.
1960 $128/AXP only. GP gone.
1961 $108/AXP only. GP still gone. Nothing but BW after 1961.

And in 1961 you could still get that 19AP4 for your DuMont for $23.50. I quit after 1962 as I was too depressed to go on.

Dave A