This is on my local CL
 

And boy it's nothing but a run around.. First I ever seen a color roundie in my area, the ad says looking to sell quick.. Ad was posted on the 22nd I caught it on the 24th.. I called 3 times today leaving a message the first time. The guy finally answers the call.. He says well I don't know if it's there now, he mentioned he's into real estate, and that the set may still be there or may have been taken out and sold another way.. He says there's a problem right now, that he's in California for a week. I questioned about him getting a hold of someone to find out.. He was about to give me the address to the place and then decided not to.. He said the place has those big pad locks now.. Maybe a foreclosure or eviction? Well here's what the set looks like, I'm in a anxious attack literally pulling hair out.. Guy never called back of course. He mentioned he needed it out fast during the process, making me think he is hiding something from someone or something is being done illegally..

Sounds a little fishy.

What I was kinda thinkin', too..

I don't think the ad is fake. .There's no other collectors I know of around these parts.. Only other people that would be interested is someone who may want to fish tank it, or something like that.. There was a Magnavox on the Yahoo recycle group about a year ago, I got to it too late, after it was given away, and months later an ad pops up on Craigslist of a list of used vacumm tubes that were taken out of a Magnavox TV.. Humm I'm sure it's the same TV and the TV was gutted for other reasons..

Roundie Console
 

I wonder if it's been "necked" given the appearance of the shadows in the one photo taken at an angle. What I'm trying to say is, I don't think you missed much!

The TV is in bad shape. The CRT looks like the neck was knocked off or the tube was otherwise relieved of its vacuum (the phosphors are blown off the center of the screen), the tube has a cataract, and who knows what else may be wrong with the chassis. I don't know, however, whether the seller is just anxious to get the set out of the house or if there is some reason he has to have it out quickly. Or perhaps, as another poster mentioned, there may be something very fishy going on.

In any event, I don't think this TV will be good for anything much other than spare parts. I wouldn't even put in a new CRT -- given the set's condition, this might and probably would be throwing good money after bad, if the set has more serious problems such as a bad flyback, power transformer, or.......? The cost of a rebuilt tube for this set may very well exceed what the TV is worth in its present condition; since this set is well over 40 years old (no UHF, which dates it pre-April 1964) the power transformer, flyback, etc. may be NLA or very difficult to find these days.

I can't really tell if the CRT just has a bad cataract or has been necked.. As far as him wanting to get it out, I have no clue, maybe he thought he was going to get quick interest minutes after he posted the ad, and to make a quick few bucks while in the process of cleaning the house out.. I wish he could have gave me the address, at least then I can drive by to see if the TV is still in the house, or maybe even outside under a carport or something.. I'm hoping not to the side of the road.. I have to go through the game of trying to get a hold of him to get any kind of info out.. He'll probably see the number come up on caller ID and not answer..

It doesn't looked "necked" to me at all, just a bad (and therefore easier to fix) "cataract".

Looks like just a bad cataract to me too.

I'd just be patient. If no one else wants it, it'll likely be there when he gets back from CA. I can understand him not wanting someone stalking the place while he's out of town. ;) Bad timing on his behalf to advertise and leave town.

If it were necked the center would be black and the outside green not the other way around like it is....I say bad cateract, and if it is that bad it may not take much if any effort to fix.

I think Jeffhs is jealous or biased against most collectible sets. The issues he mentions (other than the CRT) are all possibilities on most collectible sets, but tend to be the exception rather than the norm. As many have said TV collecting is a hobby, and not a business and if you are in it to make money then you are in the wrong place. We put money in to these sets to enjoy them not to turn a profit. And by his logic nearly EVERYTHING I enjoy and have restored (for fairly reasonable parts cost BTW) is not worth it, a bad investment, and good only for parts. People restore 20's radios and motorcycles that have little left other than a conglomeration of rust molecules held together by dirt for Christ sakes! Something in that decent of shape should be easy, cheap, and fun by comparison....a pinch of howards on the cabinet, new lytics, replace paper and drop caps, some adjustments and it should be as good as new.

I can see some point of views on here.. Jeff maybe saying that just to help my OCD on this set, and I agree with Electronic M about the condition and some of other posters about it only being a cataract.. Well lets just hope I get this set in my hands..

I agree there are always drawbacks you can focus on if you miss out on it.

This is a true hunting expedition. Maybe would make a good story if you got yer hands on it.

Reminds me of the runarounds i have gotten when trying to rent a house in Texas once, some people are just not honest:nono:

I have dealt with a few of these realitor deals before. They don't get back to you then the set appears again a few weeks later double the price. Sounds like a foreclosure or tax seizure.

That was the TOTL RCA that year. It has UHF. Don't remember if it's a 15 or a 16. Worth picking up, if it's reasonable. Buying these old sets is always a gamble. The CRT and the flyback could be bad.

I was not even sure that was an RCA, but the knobs look familiar, like its a CTC16X from late 1965.:yes:

That explains why I have never seen one, folks in this area were too CHEAP to buy TOTL anything. :boring:

It's an RCA New Vista Color, and the guy only wants $50, and also says make offer.. I tried calling and his phone goes to saying this person is not excepting calls at this time..

Think it was a ctc15. Top of the line at the time and It does have UHF. A very good set indeed. My cousin owned one just like it. They lived in caruthersville MO. He owned several Big Star stores, and always bought the best. Always wondered what happened to his tv. He and his wife have since passed away. Oh well, maybe one day it will turn up.

could be a first generation CTC-16 chassis. I have one with the same knob lay-out.

Update Sunday: I called and this time it rang and he actually picked up.. He said he was coming from a wedding in New Mexico and so on, I asked when was he planning on being back in town, he said Thursday.. He was very apologetic about not getting back to me and mentioned about service to his phone.. He said that he works with these guys and sometimes they let him put stuff on Craigslist, I said well I hope the set is still there and hasn't been tossed out or in someone's hands that would turn it into a fish tank. He said well I hope it's there still too and call me anytime tomorrow.. So my concern is if the set is still there..

Well today was my happy day.. I finally got an answer today and the guy gave me the address and the locked box code to get inside and trusts me to pay him this Thursday when he returns.. He's wasn't sure if the house wasn't cleaned out yet.. As I was entering I saw stuff lying on the floor thinking to myself the set must still be here, as soon as I fully entered the front door the set was sitting there waiting for me.. The guy mentioned that a lady kept calling that was very very interested in it as well for a theatre, hum I mentioned to the guy she must be wanting to prop it somewhere and gut it out.. I told him I'm going to fully restore it original.. Got it home, tested the CRT and the guns slowly came up to the middle good, blue for some reason goes well into the good and then slowly into the red.. The socket on my CR-70 is kinda screwy i think, and I'm not sure how to set the universal adapter on this thing for color CRTS.. I took out the Hor out, damper, and vert out tubes and powered the set on, it came on with static tuner sound, the electrolytic cans started to get warm and noticed a smell so I powered down.. This looks like an easy restore.. Another thing is the UHF knob is totally locked, won't budge..

Definitely looks like a 16. Congrats!! Looks like an easy restore. Like the cabinet. Dual speakers or just the one on the left?

It's dual speakers..

Nice!

That's great that you saved it! And your seller came through too.

That's the earlier version 16, while the 16x being the later. Still a great set. I see the kine bias is set full-on. Either it was not set up properly, or the CRT is pretty sick. Still a great find.

very nice set

Another veteran gets saved from the Fishtinktankers ! Great day, all around !

Excellent. Nice looking set. :thmbsp:

Love seeing another one saved!

Way to nail em down, tvcollector! Don't worry about the UH&F tuner, they're just for looks (unless you use a B&K analyst to broadcast your in-house channel)

That will make a super nice picture when set up and cataract is removed.

I went ahead and fired it up with the horizontal output, damper and vert output tubes, I did get a raster, a horizonal color bar like it's in service mode even though it's really set in normal mode, the bar is nice and bright and very sharp, encouraging news the CRT looks to have lots of life..

Could just be a dirty service switch. That seems to be quite common when a set hasn't been powered up in a long time.

Nice find!

-Clark

Thanks guys for the compliments.. Yes I'm glad I saved it from being a gutted prop or fish tank... I think the person who sold it to me is more happy about that too..

I made a short video of the TV.. I had to turn down the brightness so you all can see the colors a bit better, in service mode it displays two horizontal color bars, I don't know if this is normal or not (I thought all three colors) It shows a strong red, and a more clear color, (Sometimes the camera sees the bar a blue color) I can adjust a more greenish with the drives.. I'm worried about the CRT and if it's good.. I can't remember correctly if the service mode is suppose to display all three color bars or just two.. In normal mode I know I have vertical issues, you can see the color bar jump like the screen wants to fill.. I'm just concerned about the CRT seeing how my number 8 socket is screwy on my Sencore CR70.. Here is the video..


http://youtu.be/5fpiq4qIUSg

Either a vertical issue or a VERY dirty service switch. Try cleaning the switch first. You need to check all the tubes in that section. May be a bad cap(more likely)

I'm not worried about the vertical issue, I cleaned the service switch, I'm more worried about the CRT, before restoration is started.. I can't remember correctly if thats the way the service mode is suppose to display the bars (only two), or should it be three? Im just making sure that the blue gun wouldn't be out in the CRT..

should be 3. turn the drives down all the way and try red, then blue, then green turning the previous one back down before the next. One gun may be weaker than the others. the CRT is probably OK. looks pretty bright

There's two drives green and blue, I turn those up and down and I get either a greenish color or a clearish color on the bottom bar.. I go over the the red, green, blue screen section and I can get the bottom bar to turn blue or green, but still only two bars...

Sorry, I meant the screen controls. Over to the right of the green and blue drive controls

With the screen section turned all the way down on all colors, I get a dim (top bar) red, and the bottom bar a dim blue.. The blue gets brighter as I turn the blue drive up, I turn the blue down and the green up, the bottom bar turns green.. I turn the red up and the top red bar gets a brighter red..

I think the CRT is OK, at least it will be watchable. all 3 colors seem like they are there. maybe it's time to purchase a CRT tester. They are pretty cheap on eBay or someone here may have one to sell. Do you have a tube tester?