Craigslist find: 2-18-08
 

I picked this RCA table set that was on craigslist. It was on the way home from work in Hillside so it worked out well. Surprisingly, someone else called who really wanted it but it was after I called to claim it. the man who owned the set was the original owner, immigrated to the US from Poland in 1970. He bought it after he got married in 1975. He was right, the tag on the back says February, 1975. Model FT505W. Actually the set is in really nice shape. I thought it would be a bit banged up, but not at all. Just dusty. He said he never had it serviced, always worked great. Thus, all of the back cover screws are still on the set and that means nobody was in there hacking up the circuits. He Just didnt need it anymore, but didnt want to throw it away. It was sitting on a card table in the corner of the basement. Both antennas are even intact and working! A good clean up will make it like new.

Its a CTC-58, which is a new one for me and the cabinet has many similaritys to the tube type sets. Its the vinal clad metal cabinet, plastic back and the tilt out control bin, just like you'd see on a CTC-38. It works fine, great CRT. Tuner needs to be cleaned as well as the brightness pot.

In my experience, both with estates and buying homes, Polish people (especially immigrants) take very good care of their stuff. The furniture and appliances are 50-years old, but you can eat off the floor. :yes:

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That GE w/ swing out doors is the same one Monty Hall gave away in '71/'72 on Lets Make A Deal. It has the same knobs and tri color badge that my '72 has. Nice set but that cabinet is really something....... It is cool that it still has its original stand. You always seem to find the good ones, Doug. Maybe we should all move to your area! LOL!

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????
 

:headscrat:scratch2::headscrat:scratch2::headscrat :scratch2:

The GE is a C-2 chassis. Definitly a unique design. I was the first to pull the back off. Looks like rats nest inside the way it was built. Doesnt look like it will be too fun to work on with circuit boards stacked upside down and tward each other. Wiring all over the place etc. It makes sense why techs didnt want to work on them. There was a special consideration though, there is a slide out plate on the bottom of the set to gain access to the underside of the main pc boards. This set needs work in the IF section, but I think I might get lucky on this one. Typical GE, uses the strangest tube types. The 8CB11 (3rd IF) was weak as can be. Both sarkies tarzan tuner tubes were shot. Shorted 8AL9 video output tube, so that explains why I cant control the brightness of the blank raster.
What surprized me the most is that this set actually uses an octal base horizontal output tube. It uses a 26HU5 which has a full bakelite base. looks like a 6DQ5 that is used in early color sets. I have about a million NOS tubes, but dont have those odd ball types you see in the GE's.

I might, let me know if you need any. If I don't have them, I can get them.:yes:
Mark

Yep, the General went through the trouble of designing that pull-out bottom panel so you can get to some stuff from the bottom, but good luck accessing much from the top! One of the ones I have has some issues related, I think, to agc & video but some of the components, well, you just can't get there from here! I ended up with the tube stash of a retired GE dealer so replacements don't usually trip me up.

Estate sale find: 2-23-08
 

Found a very interesting set yesterday. It was at 458 Dominion Dr., Wood Dale, IL. In a condo complex of all places! Very rarely do I come across combos. My back hurts today. It was like an engineering feat to get this set up the stairs around odd corners, out the door into the back of my truck safely. All of this had to be figured out before attempting to move this enourmous tank of a TV, otherwise, Id be stuck and have to start all over again. Forunately, the son of the original owner who passed helped me move it. This one is a 1969 Motorola Quasar works in a drawer. One very rare option, it has remote control! A motorola color set with remote is probably among the rarest of rare finds. Unfortunately it had to be a combo, so I can't keep it. A combo of this size is too big to fit anywhere in my collection so it needs to go.

Nice thing, it still works! Still has the orignal remote too. Take a look at the control panel. The intensity, hue, and volume are spring loaded toggle switches. I noticed the set didnt make any motor sounds when I adjusted the hue and color. I read up on how this system worked in the Motorola TRR-7 remote control manual. This set electronically controls those settings. A change in gain on two transistors simulates a change in resistance to the specified circuits, thus eliminating the need for a potentiometer. There is no motor drive. It uses an FET memory circuit to store a charge on a capacitor. This charge can last up to 1000 hours, so its called a "memory circuit". and was claimed the ultimate state of the art remote control system by Motorola. "No gongs chimes or other annoying noises" as claimed by motorola. Its still a motor drive VHF tuner though.

Never seen anything like it. Very unique set. TS-915 chassis, so this one is 100% solid state. All parts are dated "11M69"

thats a find!! never saw one like that. post pics in operation!!!

You know; I don't think I've ever seen a Quasar combo!! I've seen the 23" Motorola tube set in combos, but no solid state sets. Not even the early Quasar hybrid.

What's even MORE intriguing is that the "QUASAR" badge appears to be glued onto the bezel next to "MOTOROLA", which is screen-printed. Perhaps they added the Quasar name mid-production run?

Nice save!

Charles

I wondered that too. Also, the Quasar name is not in the "correct" typeface either, which further suggests that this might have been made right when Motorola was introducing the "Quasar" name.

I've never seen one of those "Works-in-a-Drawer" sets with remote before-- neat!

I've seen only one of these before. A friend in Arkansas had one in his living room that he'd had since it was new. Had all the paperwork to it and everything. It worked fine, too. When he went to a nursing home (he was 87)
his daughter was going to throw it out, fortunately I was able to go get it before the trash man got it, and I found it a good home. It's now in the living room of my ex-boss and is his daily watcher.


Dumont-First with the finest in television.:yes:

I had a standalone "works in a drawer" set once, it was pretty neat. I got rid of it because it had a ruined cabinet. You mentioned you can't keep it, I like this one, call me if you can't find a new home for it.
Mark

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Estate sale find: 3-8-08
 

Went to a few more sales this weekend and found a couple sets. Picked up a sears table set from around '75. Sale at 499 E. Park Ave, Elmhurst, IL. Its solid state, but looks much like a tube type set and built like one too. Very heavy. Its a japanese made set. I think its a sanyo based on the model number. Got it for $7.50 half off.
The second to last sale turned up a nice Zenith. Sale at 5314 Madison Ave, Skokie, IL. Its a '66 model 8308 with the swivel base. Uses the 25NC38 chassis. I wish i knew more about "central service company" Its a big tag on back of almost every Zenith TV I find with a map of the sales/service locations thoughout chicago area. They are gone now, but must have been some huge electronics dealer back then that everyone went to. Based on the amount of vintage stuff I find, most of it has this tag on the back. Almost like the "best buy" of the 1960's. It was plugged in. I asked how much it was and the lady tells I wont want it as it doesnt work. Supposedly they turned it on and it made some noise then they shut it off and left it alone. They said I could have it for whatever I thought was a fair price. So I took it for $10.00. I turned it on and as you would expect, it worked. Some fine tuning and it should be good as new. Obviously it has a new RCA colorama CRT installed with no signs of cataracts. The tube is dated 22-70, but was installed in September 1973 according to the repair tag in the set. the orignal owner has a list of the repairs over its life up until 1979 on a list taped onto the back of the TV, including what was wrong and what was done to repair it. This TV did pretty good. It only had a horizontal output tube, HV rectifier, CRT and the dial lamps replaced in its life at different times. No serious troubles, assuming this list included all repairs. Its a cheapie cabinet, the composite photofinish sides and top. The swivel base assembly is of high quality with a ball bearing swivel plate.

Nice Zenith! I like it when they tell you to "make a fair price". Great save!

Nice sets! That Zenith has the exact control layout as my Uncle's set that I destroyed when I was a kid. The cabinet and CRT is still buried in the basement. That sears looks like a Sanyo or Toshiba. Is the cabinet metal or plastic? I used to see a lot of Sanyo made Sears sets in metal cabinets.

I too like it when they tell you to "make a fair price". The only problem is when your idea of "fair price" and theirs are two different things.

Estate sale find: 4-5-08
 

Picked up another 4 tuber. Found at a sale at 355 W. Harrison St. in Elmhurst. Its a later one, model E4001W from 1974. Its the plain basic TV, no AFC or chromatic button features. Has the plain super video range VHF tuner, and basic non-lit tuning dials. Uses the 19DC22 chassis. This is how I remember these TVs as a kid, kind of dirty and from a smoker home but not beat and destroyed. Once the TV gets warm, it emits that stale smoke smell. I remember this well from when Id bring these home back in the early to mid 90's. Smelling the stale smoke while looking through the back cover seeing the tube filiments light up through the layers of dust. Good memories! Has fair use, but still works well. Trippler replaced at one time with the ECG replacement. TV was sitting in the basement on a shelf with some office supplies.

Nice save Doug!! A little plain but VERY nice, I'd welcome one of those into the collection any day.:thmbsp:

I know that smell quite well! On one hand, I can't stand smoke...but the odor does take me back. One of my most recent finds ('70 Sears color portable) positively reeks of menthol cigarettes...but when fired up it takes me back to when I was a kid, living with my parents, the "Kool Filter King & Queen"

Same here... I have the asthma to prove it :thumbsdn: .

I've tried every way possible to get the stench out of TVs. The problem is that the high voltage draws the smoke particulates into the set, and they collect as a thick goo on the back of the tube. Washing the tube very well with 409 (Windex won't work because it won't break the oil base cigarette smoke). Then basically leave the set outside for a few weeks. That works somewhat, but you will never get the smell totally out.

One side comment: For the same reason that the smoke coating is so tough to get off, it will preserve the old 1940s piano gloss finish perfectly. Dr. Dan has an RCA 741PCS projection set that was in a mens' club, with God knows how many patrons smoking all the time. When the cigarette smoke was all cleaned off, the lacquer finish was absolutely as new. No fading, no crazing, it was beautiful. Still the stink from inside the cabinet, though.

Charles

Too often when i come across old audio receivers and amps there is that brown haze over the aluminum faceplate and knobs.

I usually use Nevr-Dull to polish it away (gotta use a hell of a lot of it though!) then use non-ammonia Windex to clean the rest. As you guys said, inside is tougher.... Sucks when you need to disassemble every last bit just to clean a heatsink or transformer that's already working as it is!

Gee, this thread was getting buried-better get busy, Doug! I wanted to jump in here as I have, at long last, come up with my first real estate sale find. Background: as I have mentioned before, we hardly ever have them around here. Most estates go to auction, but there have been more and more showing up. Anyway, last week we were on vacation out in Kentucky and the local paper listed about a half-dozen sales. I only had time to make a couple. The first one was the winner, a nice little house at 4008 Gartin Avenue, Ashland, KY. After walking through the inside and the garage I was pretty dissapointed-no electronics, and prices were through the roof. Then I heard 2 good things from one of the operators: everything is half-off, and don't forget the basement. Oh, there is a basement! And sure enough, as soon as I rounded the corner there sat a TV. Well, no, nothing real exciting. It's an Admiral Nova II "suitcase" portable. I think it was the only thing in the house that wasn't priced; the woman working down there said they would have to try it out but my wife quickly let her know that I didn't care if it worked or not. For $3 it was mine. No cord so we couldn't have tried it, anyway. I did try it tonight and it works just fine. This is model C2057P in Sams 975-1 from 1968. When I first spotted it I thought something looked familiar, then I remembered its close cousin on an album cover (see pic).

There were a couple other sets down there but I decided to pass. One was a mid-70s Panasonic and the other was an early/mid 70s GE with a smoked gray front cover. Both were 12" bw sets.

My other find, the next day, doesn't qualify as an estate sale find-got it at the Hillbilly Flea Market just north of Ashland, for another $3. This is the newest version of the Philco Seventeener that I've seen. Not sure offhand of the year; the model is P2710BR, which Sams only lists as being in 1156-SED (special equipment) and I know it is a little older than that. Anyway, it works too. Not that I needed more of this kind of set but it is nice to bring something home on these trips.

Great finds, and stories! Always nice to know they're still out there. :thmbsp:

The Admiral set is neat. The Seventeener was just never my favorite style set, but its still very worthy of being a collectible. They both look great!

Those are good finds.
Ive basically had no luck at the estates for the past few months now. Like somebody just turned the switch off and now its nothing but 80's consoles and empty TV carts. Getting the chinese roundie was a nice addition though while not a local find. I'll be going to some more estates tomorrow. The search continues.

Estate sale find: 6-28-08
 

Finally! Some old sets show up at the estates! Ive been consistently going to sales on saterdays and try to go to all of them that look like there is older stuff in the home. That generally ends up being about 10 or so each week. I was pretty bummed out not finding anything but empty carts and gutted cabinets.

I did start off seeing yet another gutted cabinet. That sale was in Oak Lawn. It was a ctc16 with the bezel and back cover still intact. I didnt take the cabinet, but I took the back cover screws as those are handy to have. Too bad, the cabinet was mint. There was a ctc-58 console in the living room but I left that too. It was in sad shape cosmetically and CRT was toast. Had a new sony on top which also hacked the cabinet up.

The 4th sale I went to was the best one, as thats where both of my TV finds were at. The sale was on the south side at 3751 W. 57th st. in Chicago. First set was a '73 RCA 18" portable with cart in the bedroom, its a CTC-59. So I was happy to find that. As I walked into the kitchen I could hear the flyback ring from a TV in the sun room. As I walked into the room, I could see the edge of the cabinet and it looked good! A mint '67 CTC-25 was sitting there playing with a great picture off the rabbit ears! I couldn't believe it. Its a swivel base set too. The set was on for a while, the cabinet was very hot. Looked at the back and all the cover screws were still on there which is a good sign. I pulled the back off and I got extremely lucky once again. This is another 100% original TV with every single original RCA tube. The back was pulled once to clean the tuner it looked like. The shield wasn't reinstalled but was sitting on the bottom of the cabinet. The color is a bit weak but the CRT is strong and the focus is very good. Got both CTC-25 and CTC-59 sets 30% off. Cost me $39.00 for both. They did the math wrong, 30% of $55 for both sets should have been $38.50, but who cares. Im not a cheap skate. Hopefully the ctc-25 isn't going to be one of those sets that needs a bunch of original tubes replaced (like all of the 6GH8's!). Both sets are true survivors as they were both upstairs in a clean house. Really rare to find an RCA without having major service. Lots of times the back cover is hanging on by one stripped out screw and a torn off model tag always adds to the dissapointment. You all know missing or damaged model tags is a big pet pieve of mine. Both these RCA sets were complete which was a nice change of pace.

Getting home was a joke. The day was about perfect. You can see the picture of the house in chicago how nice it was, that was about noon. After the last sale at about 3pm I could see some really dark clouds out west. I was on the north side of the city at this point about to head for home. THe wind picked up and I got very nervous as the RCA in back only had furniture pads protecting it. I pulled into a shell station at irving park+pulaski (for those who know chicago streets) and had to wait for 1.5 hours for the intermittent thunderstorms to finally pass. I kid you not, not 10 seconds after I pulled under the canopy did it start to pour! What luck! I finally left the station at about 4:45! Bought some food in the mini-mart waited in the truck and relaxed for the time. The people who ran the station didnt care that I waited which was nice. Didnt hit a drop of rain back to the house. Need to get a cap on my truck. Rarely do i have tarps in the back. Would be simple enough to have had one with me but for some reason it was left behind. Go figure.

btw, the old radio next to the gutted RCA was sold.

You done well, Doug! Two very nice sets. I have not seen a CTC59 in ages. I think mine was a "trans-vista color" model with a rocker switch to turn it on. Is yours an XL-100 or an Accucolor?

I hope you continue to find stuff from here on out. I know it can get very depressing and irritating to go home empty handed week after week.

Doug always seems to find the best old TV sets (Zenith and others) in and around the Chicago area. I wish I were that lucky. I live in a small town (population 3,220) outside greater Cleveland, where people don't seem to throw out old TVs very often. The last time I saw a console TV out for the trash here was several years ago, a couple streets over from my apartment. It was a 25" RCA color console from around 1978, with the RCA Nipper logo (His Master's Voice) on the front panel. I have no idea if it worked or not. The only other old TV I've seen here was a small RCA 12" portable, about seven years ago (roughly a year after I moved here). The set was sitting on a treelawn only a few hundred yards or so from my apartment; I should have grabbed it on the spot.

I don't see old sets in my area that much either. If I see any consoles , they are mostly 80's RCA at the Goodwill store. I did see 2 Zenith Chromacolors a few weeks ago.

If you see any Zenith Chromacolor or Chromacolor II TV's and the price is right, grab them! These are getting harder to find by the day. The same holds true for the early solid-state consoles by RCA (TransVista or early XL100), Motorola (Quasar works in a drawer), Sylvania, etc.

Like you, I see more '80's and later consoles than any of the older stuff. I could have bought a nice looking mid '90's RCA console for $25 from my first grade teacher who was having a moving sale. I knew I'd be hard pressed to get my money back, much less make a profit; so, I left it. It really is a shame that people won't even pay $25 for a later model cable ready remote color TV just because it's "one of those old looking floor models".

000

Nice finds! I am glad your dry spell is over! {hopefully:D}

The radio next to the CTC-16 cabinet also looks like a nice one.

That Admiral "Nova II" set reminded me of a small Admiral color portable TV my aunt and uncle had in the 1970s, after their 1960s-vintage 23" Sylvania console went belly-up. The tuner cluster on your Admiral is identical to the one on theirs, except your Nova II has a larger CRT and is b&w.

IIRC, the Philco "Seventeener" 17" b&w portable was a successor to or predecessor of the company's "Briefcase 19" nineteen-inch set. The latter was introduced in 1961, while the former must have appeared in Philco's line of b&w portables at least a year or two later.

I don't know much about the Seventeener, but the Briefcase 19 was a heavy set, even though it did not have a power transformer. (I had a Briefcase 19, a trash-day find, in the early 1970s until 1975 or so; worked very well all that time.) Blame most of the weight of the Briefcase 19 on the 19" CRT (the Seventeener was probably just as heavy with its 17" tube) and the fact that there was a fair amount of metal in the set, including the cabinet, which was all metal except for the CRT mask. This set also had a unique built-in rabbit-ear antenna; the dipoles were actually built into either end of the handle, which could be rotated 90 degrees in either direction (the dipoles retracted into the handle for carrying as well). Haven't seen a TV since with an antenna like that, and may never see the likes of it again. :no:

Over the winter I posted about a set I got from one of my extended relatives. It was a late 80s Magnavox console; nice cabinet but lots of chassis problems. Since I could find no interest I junked it.

This relative, a sweet little southern lady with lots of charm, passed away recently. Someone I will really miss around the table at Christmas. Well, the family has been cleaning the house and they asked if I wanted the other console TV. I didn't know about this one, and wasn't sure what to expect. Since the first one was the "daily watcher" I figured this one must be older. How old? What make? My imagination, as usual, ran wild. Well, no, it did not turn out to be a Motorola Quasar remote set in a Drexel cabinet...not quite :) But it isn't exactly junk. I got it tonight: Magnavox T989-14 chassis (shows up in Sams 1418-2 from '74) This must have been the most popular cabinet style they offered as I've seen quite a few over the years. This one appears very clean inside and out. At first I held out hope that it might be a tube chassis but, no, it is solid state. I haven't dug into this enough to see if the tuning is electronic or just electric; pushbutton, nonetheless. And, yes, it is remote, complete with the orginal transmitter. One oddity is the digital LED display, nevermind that it's hidden behind a door. Pretty early use of that technology.

I haven't tried the set yet-I have no place to put it so it has to ride in the back of the truck for a least another day. I didn't feel like running an extension cord down the driveway. My stepmother said it does work; it has the original Magnavox crt (EIA # 337, Westinghouse)

I guess I will put out my usual pitch: does anyone want to come down and get this set? It is almost gimmicky enough for me to keep it, but there really, really isn't any room.

While I was shuffling sets tonight I also got the GE CTC-146H that my father bought new in the spring of '90. Lots of hours on this one, but still going. Someday I may regret it, but I can't collect everything! It will go on freecycle.

I think the T989 was the second Magnavox SS chassis. The T979 was the first. The T995 was the third and was made throughout the middle to late '70's. The T989 had instant on; so, I hope the CRT is still good. Around here, the T995 was much more common than the 979 or 989 chassis. I think the T974 was the last hybrid chassis. I hope someone can save this set of yours as I don't think it's very common.

BTW, would anyone know what the last year was for a tube / hybrid Magnavox color set?

I actually got a tube-type color console TV at an estate sale! I haven't found a tube type console set in about 3 years so this is a rare find for me.

It's a Sylvania large console with folding doors over the screen. Has a 1975 RCA black matrix 23VALP22 replacement CRT in it...Has HV AC at the rectifier but no DC (likely problem in 6BK4 grid-cathode circuit). It looks like maybe from around 1968? The IF stages are transistorized and the rest is tube. Has a power tuning motor but no remote receiver.

I made a video showing the cabinet, chassis, testing and checking for HV with a neon lamp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyvyHJKns-w

An update on the Magnavox: I finally got enough junk cleared out of the way to bring the set inside. When I first plugged it in I was struck by the loud hum of the remote chassis. The set powered up but with a weak raster and no reception. I pulled the back and found the following: the tuner is a Rube Goldberg design. It uses a regular old click-stop tuner (with a knob hidden behind a secondary door) plus a limited number of UHF presets. The tuner is motor driven, as is the volume control. The tuner display isn't really LED-the segments are lit, apparently, by individual subminiature lamps. One is intermittent and one appears to be burnt out. The dust cover is missing from the tuner; I cleaned it but that had no effect on reception. The video module seems looser than it should be; I cleaned the contacts and put it back. The CRT is weak, but not dead. I ran it for an hour or so at 8v and that helped. Another more pressing problem is that there is arcing in the focus control circuit. One end of the pot goes to ground through a resistor and the wiper has a spark gap to ground. I'm getting a steady blue spark at the ground end, which I don't understand. Someone had unhooked the sparkgap, and hooking it back up basically killed the set, so I undid it again.

I don't know that I will put much more time into this. Maybe I'll give it until the end of the month and if nobody shows any interest I'll just junk it. The gimmicks are nice, but it is a largish set. One more thing: my stepmother kept commenting about how nice the cabinet is and how they just don't make things like that anymore. What she doesn't know: the cabinet is about 75% plastic, with most of the rest being particle board. As expensive as this set had to have been when new, I'm not sure it has any solid wood anywhere on it.