Rca Projection Tv In Junque Shop
 

Eric,

Below are the partial text fo som emails form this place in CA who had a TLS 86A, and wanted $1000 for it. I told them what is was. As I already had one, I was not tempted.

But maybe someonw would like to follow up, so here is teh data. Attached is a copy of the photo they sent me of the unit.

-John

PS When I post a message with attachments, how do I get teh attachments to show up in the body of the message, instead of be appended at the bottom as links?

**************************************

John
We would like to get $1,000.00 for it and you arrange for your own shipping.
Jo Walsh
The Blues
Sales Rep.
1-800-use-levi

***************

We are in Redlands, CA. Our shop is located at:

The Blues
114 E. State St.
Redlands, CA 92373

*********

> From: [email protected]
> Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 17:56:46 EDT
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: Model 86A

> We don't know! It is tube but it doesn't have the cord to plug it in but it
> looks to be around the 40's so probably black and white.
> This is the information that is on it:
> Property of Enginering Department of National Broad Casting Co. Inc.
> Engineering Inventory 4770
> N
> B
> C
> Model TLS-86A
> Serial #01062
> Consisting of MI-15300A, MI-15501A,MI-15302A
> RCA
>
> Eclipse Pioneer Dio.
> Bendix Aviation Corporation
> RCA Part P970181
> Serial #4496
> OTW
>
> Was hoping you knew what this was and what it does?
> Help!
> Jo Walsh
>

The 1940s vintage RCA projection TVs using the 5TP4 CRT operated at just under 30KV. I don't know what the life expectancy of the CRTs was, but they did develop a borwn "burn" in the phosphor with use, whcih got darker as the hours went by. The unit Eric showed in his link was the big brother of my unit, which used a 7NP4 (or was it a 7WP4?) CRT operating in the 50KV-70KV range. Very scarey.

I recall reading about an RCA projection set that was used to televise closed-circuit events in theaters, in the 1940's....it said it used 80 kv. on the CRT.

John, that is the exact same set I was talking about.
$1000! Back a couple years ago would have considered 1/4th that much but now I don't really even want it.

So what is one worth anyway?

Eric,
Value is a hard thing to establish. But in general, collectors do not seem to be as fond pf projection sets as I am. You probably saw the RCA 648PTK which just sold on ebay for $300. I think that is undervalued....but that is just me. And there are probably only 2 or 3 of those RCA TLS 86A projectors known....so should that meke it more valuable? Hard to say. But as I said, I really like projection sets.

John raises a very interesting point about value which I learned working on vintage cars.....just cuz something is rare doesn't automagically mean it's valuable.

There's a silly olde tyme saying: It's rare nowadays because nobody wanted it when it was new......in other words, if no one wanted it then why would they want it now? Obviously that's not quite true, but that WAS the prevalent attitude before the rage of collecting everything.

Anthony

With over 30 years of collecting "things" I also came to the conclusion a long time ago, that being rare and being valuable do not necessarily go hand in hand.

Just look at a Zenith 1000Z Stratosphere radio, production was about 750 units and it cost $750 in 1935, one sold last year for $42,000 and one just recently for $50,000 and there are 40 of them accounted for. I know of TV's that had production numbers in the low 100's (if that) and only a couple accounted for that wouldn't come close to those prices.

The only TV I know of that has been quoted as having a value in the $40K range is the RCA RR-359.

It still ends up that the value of a "collectible" is only what the buyer and seller agree on.

John, I have to agree with you - love those big projection sets! :thmbsp:

If I was near California I'd probably have that TLS86 sitting in my living room.


Chuck

It seems to me that the things that are collectible are those associated with pop culture and have some decorator value, or things that the 30-50 year old crowd remember as fun from their youth. The projection sets, especially the type you use with a seperate screen would have been industrial or institutional items and not seen so much as a "fun" item.
Just like a 1957 Chevy Bel-air might have a lot of collector value, but a 2 ton truck or school bus from the same year really doesn't and would be a lot cheaper...even if they may be rarer.

Of course, collecting things, like big old projection TVs, which the rest of the world is not in llove with is not all bad. It does mean that the collection is not going to make a good retirement invstment plan. But it also means I can collect a bunch of 'em and not have to mortgage the farm to do it!

Lucky thing for me too...that I really enjoy equipment which doesn't have a lot of fantasy or collector value!

I guess what we really need, and I hope for, is that our collections are built up of items that are not in high demand, and then after we have them then they DO become high demand items! My tv collecting started when many of then were available for the taking so to some extent that has worked out.
Marlin

Setchell Carlson
 

Found this Setchell Carlson 19" set at the old tv shop I hang out at. Chassis number 301 in Sams 742-3. The set's a little dirty, but looks like it should clean up well. No idea yet of what the insides are like.

I have a couple of sets very similar to this. The picture is not quite as square, so I believe that mine are older models.

I probably don't have any TV's which have become high demand items yet, but have got some things when they were considered junk which have evolved into fad items, such as Ampex 350 and 351 tape recorders and "preamps" and 5AR4, and 7591 tubes.

From the tv shop...
 

I brought this home from the tv shop today. It's a 17" RCA portable that has legs bolted to the sides. I don't really find the set itself to be very attractive, but, it is kinda cute with the legs attatched. Couldn't find a model number. I am guessing somewhere between 1958-62.

The front of the set is plastic and the back is metal. The plastic is in pretty good shape... no cracks. The metal back will need to be sanded and repainted. It's missing a knob, but, I think I will be able to find something blend in.

Not sure of the condition of the insides... haven't taken the back off yet, and, it will probably be several days before I get around to it.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo... my camera doesn't always focus.

Neat little set Charlie, early 60's I'm pretty sure. Never seen one with the stand before, is that custom to that set?

I've got one of these in black, but not that cool stand! One way to sort of date it is that later models got nuvistors. (mine doesn't) Mine works pretty well but for an arcing hv that I need to track down.

I have a couple of those from the TV shop in Athens. One is missing a knob just as this one is.

No stand though.

Once I get the back off, I'm sure i'll find a number to look up the sams.

The stand bolts into the side of the cabinet, so, it allows the tv to tilt up and down. You can actually turn the tv upside down. Probably not a good idea while trying to watch your favorite show. :no:

Not as crazy as it sounds, if you also flip the deflection yolk, or the horizontal wires and the vertical wires, to right the picture when the set is "upsidedown". Then the set becomes a left handed set, with the controls positioned for the convenience of soufpaws (left handed people). This assumes a reasonable "top" to the flipped over cabinet. Not just lots of vents like most sets' cabinets have.

These sets were designed this way so that they could be sold in Australia too :naughty: :lmao:

Anthony

Not Mine, but drool-worthy
 

Two mint, never used 1953 Philcos.

Yow

Linky

Man! Who's got those babies? Talk about an undisturbed time-capsule!

Fess up, that's photoshopped! LOL Really, that's too cool! What's the story behind them?

Anthony

They are from this site: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~postr/MRT/misc.htm

This was discussed on the Antique Radio Forum recently http://antiqueradios.com/forums/Forum6/HTML/001696.html

He no longer owns the sets but they were found in a closed up TV store some time back.

I have been to this museum...it's in an old school house in Huntington, West Virginia...it has a wide variety of stuff including TV, old radio, broadcast equipment. It seems odd that a museum would sell something unless a private owner merely had these sets on loan to the museum and chose to sell them.

Or unless they either really needed the money or were made an offer they couldn't refuse (visions of a horsehead sticking out of a Predicta)

Anthony

I stop in the museum when I get out that way, one of the better ones I've seen. One time I was in there they had an RCA that I think was a projection set, kinda rough shape, and there always seems to be a pile of stuff in the front room (the old gym) that I think is saved up for an auction, not sure if its yearly or? Last time I was there one of the new things in the tv display room was a CTC-11. It would seem like they would have saved one of these for the museum to display.

Maybe they are a "museum" in the same sense as a certain radio "museum" in St. Louis. :scratch2:

Found a nice little admiral 19" last week.
 

It is from 1960, sams #506,and is chassis #15e1. It is a cold chassis, with a 5u4, mounted ABOVE the transformer, on a little shelf, not attached to the transformer itself(guess this was done for beter heat dissipation). The chassis is pretty nice, with 14 tubes plus the CRT. It is in real good shape, with all knobs in place, but missing the antenna.

The cabinet is metal,kind of a tan color, wit a silverish front. and there is no UHF, and does not appear an option for it.


I took it in the house, gave it a while to warm up, and opened it up. after some preliminary checks, I decided to "fire 'er up".

SHE LIVES! I have a crt, that is in quite good shape, and not the original(it has an RCA silverama tube I am not sure if it has a date code of 64 or 66, 'cause I think the number I saw was "646something"

I have a decent picture, and pretty good reception. fly is good, and does not get hot after 10 min.or so. The caps are marginal, as the vertical started creeping up from the bottom, after about an hour(proabbly the cathode bypass cap).

All in all, it is a good find. Best off, the price was right-- FREE! A garbage find, right on my own street. I ALMOST missed it, it was between a garbage can, and another bag, and looked from the side to be a box. But somethng kept telling me it was not, so ,I went back to check, and saw the knobs on the side. At first ,it looked like a Zenith, then, after I got it home, I discovered It was an Admiral. No matter.

This is the second week in a row, i have found an old tv, near my house, in my own neighborhood, and it has been a LONG time, since I found much of ANYTHING, in this area.(see my thread on the Sony kv-9000, to find out about tonight's find) And, this was ONE house down, from where I found the MR-71 tuner, 3 years ago, that I sold on the bay, for $600, that same year.


I took a couple of pictures, but I still have to reload my camera software into my computer, after my loss of my hard drive, earlier this month. I'll get them up, soon.

Jack Benny on Zenith Porthole
 

Just experimenting with a new Digital Camera so thought I would post a few pictures. These photos were taken with the Nikon 5200 in the "Sunset" mode.
The video source is from a DVD I bought for a dollar at a Dollar store.
Jim

Don't you love those dollar DVDs? Most of the good old shows are available, though I've only seen two volumes of The Dick Van Dyke show.

Dollar DVDs
 

Where are these $1 DVDs available? There is a Dollar General store in my hometown; I wonder if that's where they are. I have a subscription to Netflix, but if I can get classic TV shows on DVD for a buck I'll jump at the chance.

BTW, the picture on classicradios's Zenith Great Circle console (aka Porthole) is great--I don't care if it is from DVD! I don't know what vintage that set is (late '40s or '50s), but no matter. It's a Zenith, and all Zeniths made during the pre-GS era (late '40s to late '80s) were good--excellent, even. I once had a Zenith 23" console which I rescued from a trash pile, minus the tubes. Retubed the whole set (except the 1J3 HV rectifier and the CRT, which were still in place) and was rewarded with an excellent picture on Cleveland's three VHF network stations at that time. We moved three years later, so I had to get rid of that set. Nearly broke my heart to do it, especially after all the work I put into getting it going again. However, in 1977 I found another Zenith SC300 portable on the curb some distance up the street from my home. It worked well for a year, then the horizontal output tube went gassy, throwing the keyed AGC system out of gear (I'll say--the picture on all three VHF stations was so weak and washed out I couldn't watch it). Couldn't find another HO tube (one of those oddball novar tubes with a non-standard filament voltage) locally or anywhere near where I lived at the time, so the set was relegated to my basement and eventually put out for the trash. The next day I bought a new Zenith 12" solid-state b&w portable, which lasted 22 years (and was still working amazingly well when I got rid of it a year after moving to my apartment--I already had two color TVs, one of which is a Zenith which still works, and well, after almost ten years, so I had no use for the small portable any longer). Oh, I suppose I could have found someone who could have used the set (even though the UHF selector was jammed on one channel), but I had too much else going at the time.

I've gotten the dollar DVDs at Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart. I think Target has some in their dollar section in the front of the store.

I have gotten them at Big Lots, but the quality has been iffy, like they did not worry about focusing the projector in the transfer process.
Marlin

I was checking up on this thread yesterday when a delivery man walked in: "Is that a TV? Wow! That thing has got to be worth a lot of money!" He just couldn't get over it!

For Christmas I got a Dick Van Dyke DVD; Last year I bought my wife an Andy Griffith DVD for a few dollars at Dollar General. The Food Lion had them during the holidays pretty cheap, but not $1. I might have to buy a cheap second player for use in the tv room. Too much hassle to disconnect the one in the living room everytime I want to play with one of the old sets.

Jim, that is a sweeet looking Porthole! I love that cabinet style with the smooth wraparound corners. :thmbsp:

It is a great console TV, By far my favorite. Many many sets have come and gone but this one always remains. Eric, Do you still have that metal cone 12UP4 CRT? That You mentioned in the other thread. Sure could use it to finish up the tabletop version Porthole set I have. (Same model year as my console)

I've only seen the dollar DVD's at Wallmart and a few Dollar stores. I bought Jack Benny (3 episodes on the DVD) and TV Detectives. I also have the TV connected to Tivo so when TV Land broadcasts something decent I record it and play it back on the vintage set. TVland has been quite a dissapointment lately with shows like Wings, Macgyver, etc... When will they bring back the Honeymooners! or more 1950's shows. Oh well, I have plenty on DVD now anyway.
Jim

Jim, I haven't heard from anyone wanting it for the $25 Porthole yet, so unless someone let's me know real soon that they bought that set and want it, it's yours.

Eric

Eric:

I'm picking up the $25 porthole set tomorrow. I wanted to test the crt first before I gave you a call. I do have a good 12LP4 that might work in that set with some slight modification.

Steve