i wonder why no one else wanted it(a Zenith roundie from'66)

[rca2000]

I just won a Zenith roundie color set ,on Ebay. It is a 24nc31 model, making it a 1966 model(probably the last year you could get a roundie Zenith).

Thing is, no one else seemed to want it. it looks pretty good from the picture, with a little bit of de-lamination, but not too bad. it also appears complete. I paid a BIG, $15.50 ,for the set. This means, of course ,another "Tv run" soon, this time to Indiana, to get the set.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

[Sandy G]

Jack- Guess you got lucky. I got one of those Sony KV-4100s (3.7 color set microcassette, AM/FM) for something like 25 bux offa the 'Bay once. Cassette dont work, otherwise its fine.generally they go $100 or more. Great score !! -Sandy G.

[jstout66]

Jack! That is one cool set. I didn't even see it in the eBay listings and I always check out the collector tv listings. I would have loved to get it, but I'm not close and would have been unable to pick it up. Good luck with it!!!

[colortrakker]

This guy's site can probably answer the "Why didn't anybody want it" question. The travails of a guy and his family who had a set very similar to this one.

[Stlouisian]

I have the exact same model and cabinet style as your TV. Mine was free from a local guy in St. Louis, MO. Mine even came with two copies of the SAMS for it, :P. The CRT is good but has slight cataracts and is a rebuilt CRT. Mine has a color sync problem. Here is a pic of the TV in the garage with an antenna attached on Channel 5.

[Carmine]

Where the hell did you find that site? A whole website about some guy who's ticked-off about unknown network TV shows getting bumped for local stuff? Thirty-five years later?????

He also must not know crap about electronics to be recommending anything over a Zenith of that era!

Must have been a bunch of real klutz's to bust three knobs off the set too!

[captainmoody]

I think if that guy had a perfect set that never went out he still would complain! He loves to rant and rave...
BTW, Stlouisan, We are going to have to send the tv police over there if you keep setting tv sets on their side in the dirt!

[Chad Hauris]

The rant and rave about the Zenith round color is probably because the shop he took it to did not do a proper job but still charged a lot. This guy must not have seen many other round TVs, for as we know they can provide very good performance.
He was probably just the victim of a bad service shop. A competent shop would have really gotten the problem fixed and made the repair last.

The Zeniths are the best made sets of this time period. Every one I have got has come on and produced a picture and sound when I tried it for the first time. Most of the repairs were for fairly simple stuff like arcing HV filament leads, degaussing thermistor, or the plate lead came loose off the HO tube. I have one that I just replaced the CRT on (22" rectangular, though) and this was its 3rd CRT! They watched the rebuilt one that was in it till they could see it no more. No chassis repairs needed except to HO plate lead connection.

[bgadow]

While Zenith hasn't always had it's act together, their TV's of the 60's seemed to be bulletproof. Of my 2 Zenith roundies, one needed only a focus rectifier and the other needed an on/off switch. (there were some minor picture defects, but they were of the leaky cap/weak tube variety) Other makes from that era always seem to have more serious problems.

[Carmine]

He was probably just the victim of a bad service shop. A competent shop would have really gotten the problem fixed and made the repair last.

Yeah, I had the same thought. It's too bad that a bad service experience will put people off to an otherwise good product. (This happens so often in the auto industry that it ain't even funny!) I always hope that bad techs (both TV and automotive) who take shortcuts or outright rip-people-off, will burn in an extra hot section of hell along with the scam-artist TV preachers!

However I will admit that I surfed around other parts of his site and enjoyed it very much. He seems to have the same fascination with old commercial buildings that I do

[captainmoody]

Zenith quality speaks for itself for that era, We quite often see Zenith roundies and rectangular tube sets (still working) at estate sales and sometimes on the curb! This tells me that they outlasted all the other stuff that was out there at the time.
I can always find a Zenith in decent shape, But many of the RCA Moto and others of the era have been scrapped out 10 or 20 years ago!

[Big Dave]

The webmaster of that site also doesn't answer emails. I found that site a while back.

Even our beloved old Zenith sets konked out occasionally. Remember the days of "take it where you bought it?" We did take our first color set where we bought it (and water tank too) and regretted it. Our first color set was an Airline (Montgomery Ward). It was purchased by my father in time for the Watergate hearings. Anyway, they called Wards when it first needed repair and they screwed it up more. They then called an independant (Mr.Y.), who was our repairman ever since, before I started fixing the sets.

To give you an idea how bad Wards was, here's something i heard about my grandparents' first color set (also an Airline).
I heard that the Wards tech decided they needed a new picture tube (I think under warranty). The tech replaced the CRT right in their living room. Anyway, the same guy that screwed up the TV also screwed up the water tank (also long gone).

The webmaster of that site seems to have a chip on his shoulder. He could have won his battle with the instant on and had a set that was unreliable, especially if the hack repairmen they used worked on it. Four trips out to replace a light bulb should have been a clue to use someone else.

Anyway, his beef with the real Zenith makes me appreciate mine even more.

[Stlouisian]

CaptainMoody,

If you come to St. Louis and help me get the Zenith working good, I will put it in my living room out of the dirty garage floor.

;-) ;-)

Ross

[asynchronousman]

a Motorola!

Please read the website more closely, as it's about classic TV and the woes of early UHF stations trying to find good programming to clear and frustration on his part about pre-emption of network shows by fickle station owners. It's yet another sad commentary on the numerous failures of pioneering broadcasters in many towns.

Not so much of a rant after you finish and there are a/v clips that are somewhat interesting, especially about game shows.

I mean, what were YOU watching in 1969, and did you even HAVE an alternative to the networks?