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  #16  
Old 03-27-2015, 07:34 PM
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David Roper David Roper is offline
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Heh, this effort had escaped my attention til now. I'll check mine when I get home. I think it's a 4B; it has the 7F8 converter.
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  #17  
Old 03-28-2015, 11:22 PM
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The serial # is 2932. I do not see a chassis designation nor a date. It was frankenstuffed into a later cabinet so those labels are wrong.
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  #18  
Old 03-29-2015, 01:07 PM
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Yep, you're already in the database You have the second oldest one on record. They didn't date them and it likely does not match any published service info.
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  #19  
Old 08-07-2015, 07:45 PM
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Ok bandersen my set shows March 14 1948 and the number on the chassis is 16303 so I guess you can add this one to the list, and it's working. I have another that I broke up for parts and that number is 29216 dated March 1 something the other number and year has rubbed off.
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  #20  
Old 08-07-2015, 10:59 PM
Geoff Bourquin Geoff Bourquin is offline
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I have 2 VT-71s.
S/N 16400, date stamp 3-48 (i think...rusty). Has channel 1 and NO fine tuning.
The set works, but gets some sort of noise gets into the video after about 10 minutes. CRT is weak. Good winter project finishing the restoration on this one.

S/N 91178, no idea of the date; rusted off. I think it says ch.1 around the knob (decals badly damaged by water), and it has fine tuning. this might not the right cabinet for this one, so not sure on the ch.1 part.
Lots of rust everywhere. CRT really weak. Lots of burned stuff around the fly, it'll be a long time before this one gets powered on, if it ever does. I stole tubes from this one to fix the other set.

These sets spent 30-40 years in a barn. I guess I'm lucky there's anything left to restore

Last edited by Geoff Bourquin; 08-07-2015 at 11:06 PM.
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  #21  
Old 08-08-2015, 08:42 AM
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Is it a safe assumption that Motorola in this era was one of the three largest selling TV makes? I think Motorola was only behind RCA in the late 1940's on TV sales.
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  #22  
Old 08-08-2015, 11:13 AM
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decojoe67 decojoe67 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KentTeffeteller View Post
Is it a safe assumption that Motorola in this era was one of the three largest selling TV makes? I think Motorola was only behind RCA in the late 1940's on TV sales.
With their 7" sets priced under $200, Motorola really gave the public with they wanted at the time. Considering how many of these sets exist today, it's easy to see that they sold well! Very soon the public wanted larger screens though, and with the improvements in programming, were willing to pay more for a set.
First chance I get I'll get the serial number of my blonde VT-71. It's as early a model as they come with the non-copper chassis, non-side-mounted lower front panel, channel 1, and no fine tuning. It also has the early sharp-edged HV box. The date stamped on the rear of the chassis even baffled the seller I got it from as it clearly says "1946"! Obviously this must be just a stamping error, but upon close inspection there is no indication that the "6" is a partial "8". It looks clearly like a "6"! It actually was purchased from the original owner, an old radio/TV repairman here on LI, a couple of years ago!:
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  #23  
Old 08-08-2015, 01:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KentTeffeteller View Post
Is it a safe assumption that Motorola in this era was one of the three largest selling TV makes? I think Motorola was only behind RCA in the late 1940's on TV sales.
I've seen far more VT-71 sets than I've seen 10" RCAs. IMO Moto probably well outsold RCA until the 12" and 16" sets caught on.
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  #24  
Old 08-08-2015, 03:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by decojoe67 View Post
With their 7" sets priced under $200, Motorola really gave the public with they wanted at the time. Considering how many of these sets exist today, it's easy to see that they sold well! Very soon the public wanted larger screens though, and with the improvements in programming, were willing to pay more for a set.
First chance I get I'll get the serial number of my blonde VT-71. It's as early a model as they come with the non-copper chassis, non-side-mounted lower front panel, channel 1, and no fine tuning. It also has the early sharp-edged HV box. The date stamped on the rear of the chassis even baffled the seller I got it from as it clearly says "1946"! Obviously this must be just a stamping error, but upon close inspection there is no indication that the "6" is a partial "8". It looks clearly like a "6"! It actually was purchased from the original owner, an old radio/TV repairman here on LI, a couple of years ago!:

Could you post a photo of that date stamp. 1946 does seem a bit early for a VT-71. It could be a very late '46 prototype or pre-intro set sent to distributors or high volume dealers.

-Steve D.
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  #25  
Old 08-08-2015, 03:59 PM
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From the Motorola site:

"1947: Motorola Golden View Televisions
Motorola introduced a line of Golden View televisions in 1947, beginning with the VK101 Consolette model. The Golden View VT71 table model television was designed to be affordable and more than 100,000 units sold in one year."
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  #26  
Old 08-08-2015, 05:58 PM
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decojoe67 decojoe67 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve D. View Post
Could you post a photo of that date stamp. 1946 does seem a bit early for a VT-71. It could be a very late '46 prototype or pre-intro set sent to distributors or high volume dealers.

-Steve D.
First chance I get I'll do that Steve. I have placed right now where it's a bit of a hassle to move. I should've took photo's earlier. My repairman, who I got it from, who got it from the original owner, has seen many of these sets and noticed that this one was quite unique.
Joe
UPDATE:
I got to the back of my set and I think, according to Bob's production data, I've deciphered the info. My set has "TS-4-O" stamped on the back of the chassis. I'll assume the "O" is a "D". The serial number is 13604 which would be a very early 1948 set. The stamped date reads March 6, 1946, which I assume the "6" is a mis-stamped "8".

Thanks Bob for all your info!

Last edited by decojoe67; 08-09-2015 at 08:28 AM.
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  #27  
Old 09-28-2015, 10:00 AM
WISCOJIM WISCOJIM is offline
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Another one on ebay to add to your list. November 19, 1948 serial 58736.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281811654668
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Motorola TS-4J Nov 19 1948 serial 58736.JPG (11.9 KB, 12 views)
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  #28  
Old 09-29-2015, 02:43 PM
mike685s mike685s is offline
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VT-71 Date

TS-4G 34819 Jun 12 1948
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  #29  
Old 03-06-2017, 08:30 PM
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Zenith26kc20 Zenith26kc20 is offline
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Pulled my TS-4J down and looked up to see if it was in the database. Looks like no, so, here it is.
Serial#54321
October2, 1948

Still use it for night news!
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  #30  
Old 03-06-2017, 08:50 PM
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There are two on eBay right now that you can read the dates & serials on, one is
52797-Oct/4/1949
and the other looks like
54849-Oct/12/1949

So basically 2000 sets in eight days.
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