If my set is a correct example, which it may not be as it was shipped around to various RCA places as a test bed ....

It most certainly was NOT "realigning" the coils! The alignment range on my oscillator coils if FAR too small. In fact, except for (current) channels 3 and 4 its insufficient to get the sound carrier to tune properly into range of the fine tuning, which even on 3 and 4 barely has enough range.

The coils were actually rewound. This is obvious looking at them.

The tuner design is very, very bad indeed. The main problem is that the tuning wafers on the switch are too large in diameter, meaning that wires are too long. The coils are too big. Some are not even coils ... they are straps that are very low inductance. In fact I had to augment the width of one
by soldering on a strip of copper sheet about 3/16 x 3/4 inches to get
one coil to tune correctly (to the "intermediate" channel set to which my set is tuned.). I do note that I have tried heterodyning
"cable series" channels down into range of channels 1, 2, and 5 (oscillator frequency under the incoming frequency) and they
work fine by fine tuning the frequency synthesizer.

Also the 6J5 was likely the best tube to use, in its time, but still, the distance from the socket tabs to the tube elements is rather too long.

Congratulations ! ~ Yah - the tv can wait........

.

Simply flabbergasted. Amazing.

Best to leave that one totally alone.:smoke:

I spoke again briefly with the original store owner's grandson and he has promised a full write up of the history of his grandfather, the shop, and the television as well as he can remember/dig up. He thought he might also be able to provide photographs of his grandfather (Clayton Amerman) and of the shop where the television sat for its life. I will of course share anything I receive about the set here.

As for the set itself, I would hesitate to call it completely original and new. I put new in quotes because it was "new" to me, and "new" to any home besides the store from which it came. The finish is in very good condition, but not perfect. There are some spots on the finish that are a little dry. Adding a coat of wax helped tremendously, and I suspect if the set had been treated with some wax every few years it would have looked like it rolled off the assembly line yesterday. Also keep in mind the chassis has been worked on after leaving the factory because the postwar tuner upgrade has been performed. I was able to slide my phone behind the television chassis and I also see a few replacement capacitors. I don't know if these were done at the time of the tuner upgrade or not. All in all the set is incredible, but as with every other 76 year old television, it's not perfect.

I would very much like to find an original owner's manual for the set some day. Does any one out there have an original they would be willing to part with? I know the manual is a rare find, but if you have one I'd sure love to hear from you.

Rest assured this will stay in its original state minus a bit of clean up here and there. There are plenty of other sets to mess around with...

Here are some interesting photos I've taken.

Under television chassis, I spot 10 postwar replacement capacitors, how many can you spot?:

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/...psum6doe1o.jpg

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/...psllkyy70q.jpg

Original channel frequency ranges scribbled out when they did the postwar tuner upgrade:

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/...psqx4fllhe.jpg

The shop owner and location stamped on the television chassis, Clayton Amerman Peapack NJ.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1875ktgm.jpg

Interesting about the replacement capacitors. Now I wonder if the set got regular use in the store during the first few years of it's life.

I spot at most 3 caps that look different from the ones in my TRK12. My set
had a couple of red ones.

That is the nicest tv I ever saw! I agree, hook it up to a variac, switch to tv and see what happens...
I know I would!

I tried that very thing when I got the set....I also couldn't resist! Sadly no raster and I didn't leave full voltage applied for long enough to troubleshoot.

So...what's the verdict? Are we going to restuff the caps and return them to their age-old positions? Get it working?:smoke:

Here's another vote for gettin' it to work. There are quite a few folks who claim there were NO TVs B4 the War...I ran into a self-styled "Expert" who KNEW my Porthole was prewar..

Being prewar, it probably only saw a little use prior to the suspension of broadcasting "for the duration". May possibly have been used for in-store demos after the war? Fabulous find any way you look at it!!!

TV broadcasting never totally ceased during WW2. Here's an interesting read as posted on the ETF site: http://www.earlytelevision.org/ww2_history.html.

-Steve D.

Absolutely amazing. You are very very lucky. I wish you all the luck in the world with the set.

You have a "NOS" complete TV! (you lucky #$%) My vote is to get it going but re stuff all the caps to keep it authentic. A set so original and perfect is a once in a lifetime thing. It would be a shame to not see it working as nicely as it looks. In Aus we simply can't get anything like that. Jealous? Absolutely!!

I don't know if I would call it NOS. The set was never sold, but the owner used it for demonstration at his shop. I'm still trying to get the original owner's grandson to write up a history of his grandfather and his shop. Maybe I'll bug him again.

Definitely :thmbsp:

Your TRK-12 deserves what can be done with a radio:

http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=269062

If your set would be NOS I'd leave it in it's original condition too. In your case you have the great opportunity to bring a really great and unique device back to live :yes:

vts1134, I haven't visited here in a while but while searching to get into a different discussion I just happened to come across your post which was a great "find" in itself. Just want to add my congrats on a once-in-a-lifetime acquisition! :thmbsp::thmbsp:

Just go one cap at a time. Restuff and fill/dip in amber wax, and return them exactly as found. Take a gazillion pics of all circuits. Slow and sure.

You are one lucky dog,you!! That set is just beautiful, and I'd bet any amount the TV section will come to life! Take care of that piece of television history!!

oldtvnut, are you receiving the messages I keep sending you....?

I would at least replace the filter capacitors in the high voltage section; it probably wouldn't take much of an overload to fry the unobtainium high voltage transformer. What an outstanding find!

John, are you a PARS member? If not, we would love to have you aboard.

Either you replace all the paper and electrolytic caps and get the set working, or you leave it as it is. There isn't any middle ground. Caps that old will be bad, and there are other irreplaceable parts, such as the horizontal and vertical output transformers, that could be destroyed by powering up the set without recapping.

It's getting dressed up for Christmas....

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4813/...b8a90903_c.jpg[/url]

Some History
 

John,
I know you haven't been able to get the store owners grandson to give you a written history yet, but could you give us a "Mini Series" history? Like perhaps an " as you know" history? Things like what kind of department store did it come from and how long had they been closed and perhaps the size of the town it was located in. Also, things like how you heard of it and how you acquired it and perhaps some tidbits exchanged at the time when you picked it up, etc., etc. Congratulations on finding this set, Wow so amazing !
Thanks John, it would be appreciated. My curiosity is killing me ! ! ! Hehehehehe.

Thanks again,
Dennis

It deserves to live again! It's screaming to play, I can here it! LOL

Commercial...
 

Here's a 7 minute ad for one or one that looks similar.

https://archive.org/details/Magicint1955

Click "Show All" to download...

I have earlier advocated caution when digging in to restore equipment. I have been at it 50 years and my adage is if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I have left resistors which have drifted so long as they do not affect performance. Even then, I replace only with period components. I go to the trouble of restuffing capacitors but I will leave leaky paper capacitors if the parallel bridged resistance is less than on tenth the leak. In any case it should not affect performance and keeping it maintains originality.

I observe the same philosophy with electrolytic capacitors. I would have first tested and reformed the electrolytics in the TK12 before applying power. I would reject an electrolytic if it shows more than 1ma at full rated voltage. If the capacitor fails, I carefully cut open the can and insert new capacitors and refit such that the repair is almost impossible to see.

As Phil said, the equipment is only original once. I would refrain from using it unless it has had a thorough vetting. I feel the leaky paper capacitors are the biggest threat followed by the electrolytics. Please take time and be patient when tackling this machine.

Congratulations. I'm sure this kind of thing doesn't happen that often anymore. Kind of like those barn find muscle cars.