National TV-7W
 

Seeing a National TV-7W on ebay got me thinking it was about time I took a closer look at mine.

I got it from the Elli Buk auction last spring sandwhiched between a Clifton and bakelite Emerson.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8...1378a57c_c.jpg

I suspect it was that very heavy Emerson that caused the top to mush down and front to pop out. Hopefully, it can be jacked up, glued and clamped back in place.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/1...51e86bbe_c.jpg

I'm pretty sure only the fine-tuning knob is correct. I suspect it will be very hard to find a full set of correct knobs.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3685/1...5f555216_c.jpg

There seems to be two versions of this set. This being the early with series string tube filaments, logo above the screen and no holes for a magnifier.

The only good picture I could find online was from the ETF

http://www.earlytelevision.org/images/national_TV7W.jpg

Here's an example of the other version.
http://www.myvintagetv.com/national_tv7w%20.jpg

I'm pretty sure that's a homebrew back.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3768/1...8dcca3b8_c.jpg

It kinda looks like two labels were removed and this one applied.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7305/1...4693a7ae_c.jpg

Two fuses are a nice touch :)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7422/1...376bf98e_c.jpg

Looks like an interesting set. Is this an Electrostatic one?

Definitely yes.

Yep, 7JP4 electrostatic CRT.

Now for the inside.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5536/1...f7a5393b_c.jpg

The AC line voltage selector is a nice touch.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3730/1...6047f164_c.jpg

Solid plywood bottom.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3763/1...4bfbbb7b_c.jpg

Simple cabinet interior.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3741/1...6ccc1e64_c.jpg

Finally, here's the chassis with dual speakers :music:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5520/1...64a89438_c.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/1...292fb8b5_c.jpg

Loads of room underneath. Should be a piece of cake to work on :yes:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7431/1...6585d259_c.jpg

I like they way the constructed the HV section with clip-in doorknob caps the horizontal deflection coupling.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5508/1...60e9d377_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7350/1...c9863030_c.jpg

Multi-deck rotary tuner switch.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2819/1...88b81b19_c.jpg

Cast aluminum fine-tuning gears.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/1...228e1860_c.jpg

Crappy old repair.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7374/1...6ace5cbd_c.jpg

HV oscillator coil. I sure hope it's still good :ntwrthy:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2866/1...67c78ed7_c.jpg

Now for a bit of cleaning.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/1...b671df86_c.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3749/1...7c7b3cb1_c.jpg

Chunky piece of safety glass.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5488/1...84fd0efb_c.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/1...9d9dbcbc_c.jpg

Ceramic sockets for the hor/vert oscillator and output tubes.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7351/1...34b27830_c.jpg

It's a guaranteed electron tube :)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/1...6e1c223a_c.jpg

That's better
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3804/1...1cd66811_c.jpg

That set is looking nice, the chassis is in great shape! Dual oval speakers, that should put out some dB's :) Looks like it is going to turn out to be a nice set.

That is just about my favorite 7-inch set. Only National would give you ceramic tube sockets!

http://antiqueradio.org/art/NationalTV-7W19.jpg

That chassis will polish nicely, too, if you're into shiny.

If I could only keep one 7-inch, it would probably be my Admiral 19A12, though. Performs very well and it just looks so darned cool.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Very nice :thmbsp:

I think my favorite 7" is the Airline 94GSE31088, but then I've never owned one and probably never will.
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1949Airline94GSE31088.JPG

I should have said, "of the 7-inch sets that I own," the National is one of my favorites. I'll probably never run across one of those Airlines, either.

I'll be curious to see what you think of the National's performance when you're done. I think it's a pretty good set, but there are lots of things I haven't seen (and I did the restoration on mine a long time ago).

Regards,

Phil Nelson

The schematic in Riders #2 shows a dedicated AGC and DC restoration rectifier so I expect it will work fairly well :)

Hi Bob,

This is going to be a great project. I look forward to seeing you do a full restoration. I have this same model only mine has channel 1 Most of channel selector knobs I have seen are chicken head knobs. On the chicken head version the fine tuning knob is the size as the volume knob. Based on your photo it looks like yours is the chicken head version because of the size of the fine tuning knob. On the other version the fine tuning knob is smaller. I usually only see the knob that covers the fine tuning in the later version models like the photo you show with the magnifier option. I am sure either would be appropriate. Hope this helps.

Roy

TV’S&MORE

I was thinking you could get knobs off an old National TV signal booster but it appears they only have one knob. You could use that knob to make your own. Sometimes you can get these boostewrs cheap on eBay for $5-$10. http://tv-boxes.com/boosters/natl-tvb2.jpg

It seems National couldn't decide whether to put their logo on the top or bottom of the face. A picture of one of two that I have with the logo on the top.

Bob, go to closed ePray auction 231124855530 , and select "see original" and you will find two original adverts for this set, one (or both?) which seem to show a modernistic brown chicken head, instead of the later style knobs.

The pictures of the restored set in the auction show the more common knob. The seller is the green pool table guy in Florida.

Jas.

Thanks for the info. I'm sure I can dig up a chicken head knob.

Good idea, I'll keep a look out for one.

It is not really a generic chicken head. Here is a photo of the one from my channel 1 set.

Tim you are correct in your responce. I should have been more specific about the chicken head knob. I just learned how to post photos today. Here is a photo of mine

Thanks for the great closeup photos. I'll dig through my stash and see what I can find.

about 2 months ago i was looking around on craigslist like i do everyday when i check my email ,and i seen a lady with a airline like that one for sale . her son couldnt make it work so he took a 80's model tv out of its plastic enclosure and fitted inside the airline cabinet and thought it was made good that way and was selling it after he moved out . i contacted her and asked if she had all the parts and she said thinks so ,but i would have to look at it . after along trek to no-mans land with my G.p.s i made it up to here house ,i had to talk the airline out of her house ,dealing with some of these craigslist people is getting stressful, i had the airline in my trunk with 90persent of the parts.

I have to look up my Riders. My Sams only covers the transformer model completely, with a small addition, covering the transformer-less model. They also don't show the voltage selector switch.
The model I would really like, would be the metal cabinet one, with the transformer power supply. Dream on! :sigh:

You can download a scan of the Riders at the ETF: http://www.earlytelevision.org/tv_sc...s_postwar.html

The voltage selector switch is shown right on page one. I think it works like a buck boost transformer.

My metal one with has the power transformer on the outside with no switch. The wood cabinet has the switch.

Thanks!
Another set with a strange IF frequency.
The last time I saw one of those sets in the flesh, was 1959. I didn't have the money to buy it. :sigh:

Hi Bob,

If you have difficulty finding the original four center knobs you might want to try and fabricate some using grey National NC radio knobs painting them the appropriate color and gluing in a brass insert. If you look at the center knob in the first photo and compare it to the outer knobs you can see they are the same except the center knob does not have the insert and the outer ones do. The center knob is the same knob used in many National NC radios. I have seen these on ebay quite frequently also at ham swap meets. The inserts are actually pretty easy to make. I took a jewelry/ metal fabrication class at the local community college a couple of years ago we made something very similar these. If you end up going this route I will check to see if someone in the class would make some. I could get the brass at Ace hardware.

it also looks like there was a small record player in the top compartment ,but thats the only part i never got, does anyone have a picture of it.

The size and shape suggests that it was an RCA 45J changer.

thats what i thought to ,and still a tight fit for a 45 thats why i like to a picture of it . it must have been a early compact tv/radio/phoneo /combo in its day.

It's an RCA RP-168 changer, this one is correct for the set:
http://www.vintagetvsets.com/temp/airlinechanger.jpg
.
Did you get the radio chassis? There's a bunch of wires under there that don't belong.
I can also send you the art work if you want to get a new dial scale printed out for it. Kinkos can do that on some clear plastic but you have to reverse paint the gold on yourself.

This is basically a Sentinel TV-400 with an added radio chassis.

I should probably split this off into a separate thread so we don't hijack Bob's post?

yes i got both chassie and the crt all she had, the kid put in a 80's model tv in the cabinet .good thing he dint drill or cut on the cabinet ,for now i just put it on the shelf for later. the reason i posted it here they saying they never ran across one before ,i thought i would show the one i found. apart from that i dint think anyone would be interested.

I've been into vintage TV's for years and can tell you that you have a VERY rare set there! I can only remember seeing one other in a photo. It's easily as rare as a pre-war.
It would certainly be worth the time and expense to restore it!
I'm envious! :)

I picked up mine on eBay for what I thought was a fairly steep BIN price, the next one that turned up went for twice as much! They are a sought after set.

the reason i posted it was early on in this thread Phil nelson and Bandersen was talking about how rear this airline model was, when i seen the picture bandorsen posted i said thats the tv i picked up 2 months ago, so posted 2 pictures of it on the ad he posted. i thought he like to see there was another one out there .i was able to get every part from the lady while i was there ,but the record player and was glad to be getting what i did and getting out of there.

I found a TV-2 booster but it's so nice I'm going to keep in intact rather than scavenge the knob.

https://v4s.yimg.com/so/7344/1250674...79eb7bf5_c.jpg

https://v4s.yimg.com/sk/3746/1250995...328ae279_c.jpg

National TV-2 Booster
 

Here are some more photos of the booster I took while cleaning it.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/1...17fbfd8a_c.jpg

https://ycpi-farm8.staticflickr.com/...b18dfaf3_c.jpg

It has a turret tuner with removable sections inside.
https://v4s.yimg.com/so/7426/1251003...171963a4_c.jpg

https://s3.yimg.com/so/7305/12509912...5ca96576_c.jpg

http://ycpi-farm6.staticflickr.com/5...575ddb97_c.jpg

Neon bulb pilot lamp
https://s2.yimg.com/sm/5487/12510039...436aebde_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7293/1...5fd481b7_c.jpg

Nice score. I always thought the National emblem was a nice touch these boosters. They made 2 versions of this one with the knob and one without.

When I first purchased this set the previous owner he told me when had plugged it in and turned it on and he said it started smoking. Needless to say I was concerned but, not discouraged. Hopefully the smoke was friendly smoke and not the transformer or filter choke. When I got home and pulled chassis from cabinet I found that the brightness control and the on-off / volume controls were frozen and they had been turned around and around pulling the connecting wires from there connections wrapping the wire with a resister attached into a ball around the pots. It appears that what ever was used to lube these controls has a tendency to dry up freezing the controls in position. On my other National TV-7M all of the controls in the front are very stiff and frozen in the rear probably because those are seldom adjusted. I was reading a very early videokarma post from 2003 where the owner of the exact same TV needed to disassemble clean and reassemble his controls because they were frozen solid. I am hoping I can get by just using Deoxit to loosen these controls without having to open them up. I saw on Phil Nelson’s website he had to take one of these controls apart to make a repair. From the picture I saw they seem to be the friction pad type. Are these more fragile than other types? What’s the best type of lube? I have some dielectric silicone compound would that work? I think I have everything I need to get started. I am curious see Bob’s restoration of his TV when he gets time to start on it. I am sure it will be very informative. Maybe we can compare notes. I Don't want to hijack Bob's post but,my question seems related to the topic. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Regard’s

Roy (TV’S&MORE)

It would probably be good to try your Deoxit on the controls a couple of times, particularly the shaft areas, to see if it will soak in over a period of time. If you have no success, try WD-40 on the outside of the shafts. When you get done (whether you succeed without disassembling the controls or not), Deoxit has another product called Fader Lube that should be good for the interior parts of the controls (particularly after using WD-40). I think I bought mine at a Guitar Center store.

Thank's Chris. I will go get some today. I have seen this deoxit product before. I quess I should have read the can.

I finally got around to working on this TV :) I decided to restuff all the caps since most of the originals were still present. I also used carbon comp resistors as much as possible.

The first thing I did was puzzle out some old repairs like this twist-loc that had been jammed in.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7576/...f454b9dc_c.jpg

Once I cleared out that mess, I found some NOS parts to replicate the original look.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3937/...012fcdf1_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5616/...aaf1f9c0_c.jpg

I'd never seen these SOLITE type of caps before. They turned out to be very easy to restuff :)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7530/...c59222cc_z.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7548/...26cb4ced_z.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5600/...08d64864_z.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7539/...bfbcfc7c_z.jpg