4 Zenith Space Command consoles!

[Adam]

1. 1966 B&W 14N22 chassis, 'N' model. It has the original SC300 remote, and a neat piece of glass that was cut exactly to fit the top. This is the newest B&W console I've ever seen with a remote.

2/3. Both 1967 25" colors, 23XC36 chassis, 'X' model. These use the SC600 remote with the tint control. I only have one remote between the two of them. One has the green halo, the other green dots. I'd like to find CRTs for both. That white cabinet is a rare one, never seen of those before…

4. 1970 25" color,12A12C52 chassis, SC600 remote. I think this one is the most interesting. I included a chassis pic. It's a hybrid set that uses just one module in the color circuitry. And it has this unusual tuner I hadn't seen before either. The power tuning will cycle through the 12 VHF stations, and 6 preset UHF stations. Missing the remote.

I haven't had time to even test out any of these. I still need to find a way to get that 1970 model (which is super heavy) down into the basement, because I need to do some work on the top of the cabinet.

[Jon A.]

Man, I like the first '67 and the '70 console. I guess you're concerned about the implosion hazard during and even after cataract removal, totally understandable. I think there are ways to completely replace the bonding material.

The '70 has an Ultramatic tuner. I saw a video that shows one in action close-up, pretty awesome.

Here's the video, tuner action starts at about 2:15.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRfwZFo5-u8

[Electronic M]

Are the CRTs weak?
There should be no issue with removing the glue and reattaching the glass with a bead of caulk. I have original 21FBP and 21GUP roundy CRTs where the glass on both were fitted with rubber gaskets on the edge (as a spacer and to keep dust out), but no glue, not to mention a rebuilt roundy where there is only a foam spacer on the edge holding the safety glass on....If those were considered safe in production sets, then taking a glue type (which in roundys the ONLY difference between types is the glue) and converting it to a gasket type should be no more risk than factory.
If your scared of implosion during the cataract removal, then bring it to me...I LOVE doing Zenith type cataract removals and would only charge you $10 labor + the cost of the cleaning solvents, caulk I use.

Those are all cool sets that I'd love to have (especially the 1970). The tuner on the 1970 set is VERY interesting. It seems like a precursor to the varactor tuner in my SS flat chassis Avanti. I have a 1971 12B13C52 that uses a similar chassis, but the single chroma module on mine is located more centrally (and uses a DIP IC).

[TUD1]

Very nice! I absolutely love that Marseille.

[jstout66]

Cool sets! Did you get them all from Doug?
I wouldn't worry too much about the halo, you won't notice it when it's turned on, and those were doing that by the time they were 10 years old.

[Adam]

Yeah these were all Doug's. I haven't even taken the backs off these yet, but I don't think the white one has a Zenith tube. It has a much worse cataract made up of black dots rather than the green halo usually seen with Zeniths. My plan is to wait until I either find an NOS replacement tube, or a later model Zenith with a 23V chromacolor tube I can swap out.

I swapped in a 23V chromacolor tube into this '68 Zenith earlier this year and it looks great.

[jstout66]

I recognized the tail lights from a Mopar.. lol
I think the white set is a tad older than 67. I had the 65 model, and in 78 I had a replacement Chromacolor tube put in. Boy did that make a HUGE difference.

[Adam]

23XC36 chassis, model 25X6545
I thought all the 'X' models were from 1967.

[zeno]

66, 67, 68 all show the french prov cabinet as
woodgrain. Not white.
66 has no remote tint. 6545H
67 has tint. 25X6545H
68 has tint. X6545H
All also came non remote. At that time Zenith hadnt settled
on all its models having the right model year letter especially
on radio & high end TV. Also the H ending ( cherry) should
be different for the white job. In latter day white was X. An
actual photo was probably in the "big book" as a separate
spec sheet.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[Jon A.]

I wonder if the '70 was one of two in Doug's stash. I thought that one was one of his favorites.

Originally Posted by jstout66

I recognized the tail lights from a Mopar.. lol.

I had to take a second look when I saw this. I recognize it now, the '72 Fury III.

[DavGoodlin]

That white French provincial cabinet looks almost identical to an RCA CTC12 roundy I have. Maybe it was some special order finish. Even the grill cloth is similar.

You could assemble a Zenith showroom

[Adam]

I started working on the 66 B&W. The only problems are with the power tuning and the remote. The CRT is nice and bright.

I have 24 Zenith TVs now

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Adam

1. 1966 B&W 14N22 chassis, 'N' model. It has the original SC300 remote, and a neat piece of glass that was cut exactly to fit the top. This is the newest B&W console I've ever seen with a remote.

2/3. Both 1967 25" colors, 23XC36 chassis, 'X' model. These use the SC600 remote with the tint control. I only have one remote between the two of them. One has the green halo, the other green dots. I'd like to find CRTs for both. That white cabinet is a rare one, never seen of those before…

4. 1970 25" color,12A12C52 chassis, SC600 remote. I think this one is the most interesting. I included a chassis pic. It's a hybrid set that uses just one module in the color circuitry. And it has this unusual tuner I hadn't seen before either. The power tuning will cycle through the 12 VHF stations, and 6 preset UHF stations. Missing the remote.

I haven't had time to even test out any of these. I still need to find a way to get that 1970 model (which is super heavy) down into the basement, because I need to do some work on the top of the cabinet.

The 1970 model has a very unusual type of UHF tuner, Zenith's Ultramatic. This could be set to stop on local VHF and possibly UHF channels as well. Your set is cycling through all 18 positions probably because the automatic tuning hasn't been set up yet; I don't think this model had "signal seek" tuning, in which the tuner would automatically find active stations in the user's area, not unlike Cadillac car radios of the '50s with the "Wonder Bar" electronic signal seeker that would find local AM stations. Signal seeking TV tuners didn't appear, IIRC, until the 1970s or so (I had one, an Emerson 19" table set, in the '90s that worked well, but would shut itself off during thunderstorms--even if the storm didn't cause a power outage; this set also had a feature that would shut it completely off 15 minutes after the TV station to which it was tuned signed off, a feature I have not seen since), although many remote TV tuners could be set manually to stop on local TV channels. On some Zenith sets, this was accomplished by a selector wheel with tabs for the 12 VHF channels. The tabs for the area's local channels would be set to protrude from the wheel such that they would activate the tuner; at least one Zenith TV I can think of, the 13" portable with the SC100 remote tuner, could even be set to shut the entire TV off by selecting one channel. I haven't seen that feature in any other make of TV (or Zeniths, for that matter) since. I think Doug has at least one of these portables in his collection.

[Adam]

I fixed the 66 B&W - it just had bad electrolytic caps in the remote chassis and the power tuning motor was gunked up a bit. I've always thought it was odd that on these SC300 B&W consoles they put both channel up and down buttons on the set like the SC400s have, but they're wired together so they both just turn the channel up.

[Adam]

Here's the '66 working. It produces a really nice picture. This is going to be my new main basement watcher. This one also has this cool piece of glass that was cut just to fit over the top.