Here are some better pics of the TV tuner mod:

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php...8&d=1308613628

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php...9&d=1308613628

And the radio side:

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php...0&d=1308613628

I really wish she'd come back to the house. I last saw her Friday evening when her husband-to-be and his brother were moving stuff out of the house. I'm really happy that she's getting re-married (she's 50-something like me), but the fact that she's left this in an un-locked garage has me a bit worried.

Dave

As Dave A said, you need to get down there TONIGHT and buy that set. No questions asked, just make a deal and get it. You cannot loose! If someone else discovers this set, they will buy it immediately.

I'm in CT If you decide you don't want it let me know i will buy it! Thanks Eric

Heck, I would FLY to Connecticut and drive a rented truck 3200 miles back home if I could buy this TV for $500! I hope you get it soon.

Really, though, if you do not want to keep the set and restore it/have it restored for yourself, putting it on Ebay is probably your best bet to offer it to the widest group of people who would want it. Offer to assist the buyer if they choose a company such as Craters and Freighters to pick it up, pack it, and have it shipped to their home.

Anybody else notice the missing decals on the TV control side board? Also it looks like the board is mahogany rather than the tight grained walnut normally used, possibly replaced when tuner mod happened.
With all the dust can't tell if the radio side board has labels.

Looks to be a TRK-12 rather than a TRK-120, radio appears to have an eye tube, and the bottom kick panel looks to have the center open.

Biggest unknown is going to be the CRT, they can be rebuilt ($1000+), but a verified good one would make the set a lot easier to sell.

I think if I came across this set, I'd be inclined to leave the tuner in it. It's part of its history, the owners thought the set was worth spending a bit of money to update it and continue using it possibly into the late 40's or early 50's.

If you do end up with this set, the most important thing to protect is the CRT. If you aren't comfortable removing it then make sure the set is transported straight up, DO NOT let it tip over as you risk breaking the neck of the tube. If you do decide to remove the CRT, be extremely careful removing the high voltage cable on the CRT bell, over time this connection corrodes and if you pull on it you can pull the HV terminal off and run the risk of cracking the glass.

Looks like you will be upgrading your audio system - BIG TIME

Good Luck

Chuck

Does anyone have an idea as to what this monster weighs?

Dave

198 lbs.


I think so as well. It also seems to be very thin as seen by the edge of the wood in the cutout. It's actually a pretty nice looking job.

First, that IS a real set, and I'm dumbfounded! Collecting TVs for 35 years, and this is the first TRK-12 that has just popped up out of a house. You are indeed lucky!

My take on the tuner, is that it's a DuMont (Mallory) Inputuner. Somebody cut out the face plate, sadly, and retrofitted that tuner to replace the original 5-channel tuner. That does affect the value of the TV, but certainly doesn't kill it. I hope they didn't do any sawing and cutting on the chassis, but honestly since that was probably done some time right after WWII, it is a "grandfathered-in" butcher mod, and could be acceptable. Much as if someone added 1930s seatbelts to a 1912 Cadillac, in the 1930s.

There will be a lot of opinions on the value, and all I can say is that the right people have seen and posted on this thread, so you will get the true value if you sell. Let me put it this way: If I thought the set could be had for $2000, and I'm not misinterpreting anything in the pics, I'd be on the next plane with wallet in hand. But I also know someone else would be on an earlier plane with a bigger offer.

That TV is very dangerous to move, and I ask that you please be careful. The picture tube is not fastened in, and the wood mask with the safety glass lens is probably just sitting on the top of the TV; not fastened. It would not take much to break that CRT, and that would take the value down about $1000, assuming the tube is physically intact now. The big, heavy chassis on the bottom is also notoriously not bolted in, as there were lazy repairmen who would just loosely stick one or two bolts half way in. If I owned it, I'd carefully dismantle the TV, and move it in pieces. That MUST be done by an experience vintage TV hobbyist though, as there are quirks and tricks to it. I have the service manual and installation process manual for that TV, and so do most other members here, so if you have any questions, please do ask!

Congratulations on that find, and thank you for being smart enough to look into what you found, rather than do as some do, and just bang it home and stick it in the garage for future fiddling with, etc.

Charles

The TV is less than 500 feet down the street from my house. If I get it, I'm hoping to just carefully lift it onto a dolly and slowly wheel it into my garage. Then, with the help of my sons and a strong neighbor or 2, we'll bring it into the house once I'm certain there's nothing living in it. I'm hoping to not do ANY dismantling other than removing the back for inventory and pictures. I'll get most of the dirt and dust cleaned off and blown out prior to bringing it inside. I'll be careful to not pull on or disturb any of the internal wiring as I have no doubt that is has become somewhat brittle with age. I think that some of what I've learned through my restoration of 7 consoles will help in my being very careful with this.

Thank you one and all!

Dave

If you're going to trundle it down the street on a dolly, I would at least check beforehand that ALL of the chassis mounting screws are secure, and there is nothing whatsoever flopping around loose. Even then, I think you're taking a big risk.

My strong preference, as I stated earlier, would be to disassemble it for moving. You'll have to disassemble it for restoration, anyway . . . .

Phil Nelson

Whatever you do, PUH-LEEZE be careful !!

Phil:

Are you seriously suggesting that I disassemble this thing just to move it down the street? Were these things delivered in parts when they were new? Quite obviously, I've never dealt with a vintage television before, but I've never gone to those lengths in transporting old tube consoles. Would it be cautious enough to merely remove the back and check that the chassis are properly secured? Can I assume that the biggest danger is in possibly damaging the picture tube? I'm not gonna ride this thing down the street like a skate-board. ;)

Dave

Not that I would ever suggest this, but my TRK12 was moved from California to Michigan by a flaky, one man moving company. It took over a month from when he picked it up to when he delivered it as he roamed the country looking for junk. The crt was left in the set, and it all arrived fine.

Pre-war sets, and early post-war sets where delivered with the crt in a separate box and installed by the service technician in the home. If anything you might want to remove the crt, but this takes some knowledge of these sets to know how to do it, so it may be better left in situ for fear of damaging or imploding the crt. If you do want to remove the crt, we can post the step by step procedure to do so.

Darryl

Would it be possible to merely lift the CRT gently from the top, and pad it (around the opening) with a towel to try and immobilize it somewhat? Just how thin is that glass envelope? You guys are really starting to make me nervous. I had no idea that finding this would be akin to finding a pristine '60 Fisher President at a garage sale for 5 bucks. And I thought my '56 Fisher Custom Futura was rare!

Dave

From what I've been reading you have come across what looks to be a very rare set. Hope you end up getting it. If you've worked on tube radios, you're half way there, TV's are a bit more complex just watch the higher voltages/EHT and you should be fine.
BTW are those HPM100's in your avatar?

Cheers
Glen

They're Plexiglas (lucite) HPM-900's that Pioneer produced for their dealers when the 900's were introduced. They sound "okay" at lower volumes, but the bass tends to get flabby with increased volume. I have them mainly as display pieces.

Dave

Having never dealt with this, just how does one test a CRT? I have a Hickok 750, but that ain't gonna help here. I'm okay with replacing capacitors and out-of-spec resistors and such, but this is a whole new world for me. I would imagine there's a whole host of unobtainium contained in this thing. For instance, I don't have the knowledge or equipment to rebuild/rewind a transformer. And the only real thing I know about CRTs is that I'm happy to not have one on my desk anymore. Upon his return from WWII, my dad helped form the Mobile Radio division at GE. A lot of my basic electrical knowledge was garnered from him as I studied Mech. Eng. and Comp. Sci. in college and have been writing CADD software for the last 27+ years. Most of my understanding of tube-based amp topologies has been learned from the generous offerings by the members of AudioKarma, who walked me through the refurbishment of my '63 Fisher Custom Electra (my first console).

Dave

Dave,
Pre-war crt's are made from Pyrex and are very tough, but should be treated as any crt, with care. The best way to test them is in operation. You can of course at least check for a good getter and filament. These crt's use a 2.5V filament.

The crt is not actually loose in the set but is held in place inside the cardboard sleeve which is held by braces at the top. The rubber mask on top and wood escutcheon holds the crt down. If you do want to remove it, take the center wood escutcheon off (screws in the back and wing nuts towards the front), very carefully remove the socket and HV lead, and lift the crt AND cardboard sleeve straight up and out of the cabinet. You will be lifting the crt neck out through the yoke, so be careful not to put any undue side force on the neck. Just lift straight up.

You can see what the 12AP4 crt and cardboard sleeve look like here:
http://www.myvintagetv.com/picture_tubes.htm

Darryl

Thanks Darryl! Just how tight are those connections likely to be? I would imagine that there's going to be a fair bit of oxidation happening there. Is Deoxit of any value here to try and loosen the connections?

Dave

You wouldn't happen to have the pin configuration for this thing would ya? :D

Dave

Wow, 2011 and finds like this are still turning up! This is a real dream find.

I think the best value might be in selling it pretty much as-is, maybe just a gentle cleaning, and a test of the crt. It wouldn't take much of a crt tester for what you need to find out. I don't know personally if these used the same pinout as the postwar sets, but somebody here does. In all cases I know of, the filament pins were located on either side of the keyway. I sure didn't know these were 2.5v-that would have been my expensive mistake!

I've often thought that if I stumbled upon a CT-100, I would go straight to ebay with it. But if I found a TRK-12? I think I would have to hold onto it, if I could at all afford it. Now, if you don't have a big interest in old TV...sell, sell, sell! I wouldn't monkey with it much. This is the kind of set which, when being recapped, should be very carefully restuffed. Most of us on Videokarma will never have a remote chance of owning one of these, and will never see one outside of a museum.

Well, to be perfectly honest, I really have no interest in hanging onto it if I'm able to get it. It's really just too far outside the orb of my interests. And no, that doesn't mean that I'm offering it for sale here. I assume the rules here are the same as at AudioKarma. Besides, it's not even mine yet. But, due to the generous offering of information given by the VideoKarma membership, it is now my full-time job to get that piece into my possession. Who knows, if I can get it, I might just be able to fulfill my dream of owning a Fisher President console!

Dave

The value of these sets has stayed pretty much the same for 10 years. Because they are relatively common (for a prewar set) I don't expect they will go up as much as the really rare sets. I would put the set on Ebay with a reserve.

The socket should pull off easily. Just make sure to hold the crt base as you pull the socket so you don't stress the leads if the base is loose. As Chuck mentioned the biggest issue is with the HV lead. These tend to be very tight on their own, and can be corroded making things worse. If the button is stuck to the HV socket, you run the risk of breaking the lead off in the crt, or at the worst, cracking the glass in that area and ruining the tube. I have had these anywhere from very loose to extremely tight. It shouldn't scare you off, just be as careful as possible when removing that lead.


The 12AP4 uses an early 6 pin base with no key, just two large pins and four small ones. The filament is on pins 1 and 6 which are the large pins.

Darryl

Well, other than getting a Fisher President, a '66 (or so) Lincoln convertible would be kinda cool to have. :D

Dave

Thanks again Darryl! That's what I needed to know.

Dave

I would list it on eBay very much as-is. You will get more if the CRT has been tested and confirmed good. That's all I would do, apart from brushing off the dust.

Your market is a very small number of extremely finicky people, possibly including a museum or two. More than likely, they would prefer to do everything themselves -- including cleaning -- to ensure it's done their way.

Whatever you do, don't put Pledge or any other product containing silicone on the cabinet. Silicone oil contamination can create awful problems if someone later decides to refinish the cabinet.

Phil Nelson

If you do put it on eBay, I might suggest two tips: If you don't have a fairly long seller history, you might want to have a friend list it for you, who does have a long history and preferably with big-ticket items. Also, you might want to make a reference to this discussion thread in the listing, so that non-AK members who haven't read this thread, will see several comments by some very well-respected TV historians. There have been quite a few fakes on eBay, and that can be a big factor in people not bidding; especially if they're overseas. There are several TV collectors overseas with whom I've traded large sets, and they have a network of shippers here in the USA, and it's not a big deal to accept a winning bid from those collectors. At least one of them is on AK.

Charles

Well, I've been an ebay member since Feb. 2000 with feedback score of 364, 100% positive, with 45 being as a seller. I've never sold anything for over $1000, but have several sales in the $300-$600 range with nothing but glowing praise in my feedback.

And what's involved in preparing one of these for shipment overseas or do their shippers take care of it?

Dave

Just how does one test a CRT? Is this something I could do myself or is it best to haul it (the CRT) to a repair shop for testing? A quick Google search turned up nothing in the way of vintage TV restoration shops in CT.

Dave

Testing a CRT requires a special CRT tester, you'd need to find someone near by that has one.

Testing the tube in that set requires more than just a standard tester. You will need someone who knows what they are doing, with clip leads to connect the tube to the tester. I can see if there is a collector near you who could test it for you if you like.

Thank you again Steve. If this ever comes to fruition, I will take you up on that kind offer.

Dave

Whether it is shipped overseas or within the USA, the shipper would handle all of the details as directed by the buyer. You would only have to agree in your Ebay listing to cooperate with the buyer's shipping arrangements (as in, you will answer your door when they arrive, and let them into your garage :) ), after payment is received, of course. I have done this and had no problems.

Your personal Ebay experience as described is fine for this item.

Well, as I haven't been able to catch up with the lady that's been living there, I got in touch with the owners of the house (she was renting, as the owners were xfered to France). The owners tell me that she is supposed to be out by the end of the month and if the TV is still there in July, it's mine for the taking. I took a stroll down this evening to check on it and it's still there. I can say that the decals on the Radio side are still there, yet very dark as though they were stained over. I was able to make-out the the word "Victrola" around one of the radio's selector knobs. The tuning indicator (needle) for the radio still moves in response to the knob! The panel on the TV side is indeed quite thin. Perhaps 1/8". The TV tuner reminds me a bit of a KLH 21 radio tuner in that the tuning knob turns at (perhaps) a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio in relationship to the tuning indicator (needle).

Dave

My guess is that when the TV tuner was replaced, its new panel was stained in-place and the radio side was hit at the same time to try and make them match.

Dave

RCA Factory Service ran around after the war converting these sets to the post-war channel 2-6 scheme. My 120 has the conversion. This set got a mod by someone else to get the continous tuner in place complete with the panel change.

This one got some good woodworking to get the new cutout right. A third party or the true owner is my guess. A timeline of the Inductuner introduction will help set the time of the change.

If the lady is AWOL, I would contact the owners and politely offer to buy and install a sturdy padlock on their garage. Give them (or their local agent) all the keys, so they know you're not trying to pull something. Explain that you got your heart set on that funny old thing in the garage and it's worth the cost of a padlock to make sure it doesn't disappear from their property.

Phil Nelson

Here's my TRK-12 on the left, in very rough shape which I found for almost nothing. But the nicer replacement cabinet on the right cost me almost $1,000 - empty! A modified, but restorable cabinet in good overall shape like yours with modified but probably restorable innards would have to be worth a lot more than an empty cabinet.

http://njarc.org/sica/SIMG5184.jpg

As Steve says, prices can be all over the place. You have no easy way of telling whether the picture tube in the set is good, but good CRTs had been bringing up to $2,500 - IF you could find one.

I'm over in New Jersey. If you need help moving it, just ask.

Phil Nelson is right. You need to do WHATEVER it takes to take possession of that set NOW!!! Don't wait for next week or next month. The longer you wait, the greater the chance something will happen to sour the deal. Quit talking about it and GO GET IT! :-)