Look what the cat dragged home!.
 

http://m9.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0658i.JPG
I got me a 1938 Westinghouse WRT 703, It uses the TRK-12 chassis that was made by RCA.
Overall it's in great condition and the restoration will be slow and meticulous.


http://m2.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0663i.JPG



http://m1.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0664i.JPG
A modification to the tuner was the big bad thing that happened to this set.
I promise that I will not turn it into liqueur cabinet or fish tank this one, My mission is to return the set back to it's original condition.


http://m3.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0582i.JPG
Aside from a cabinet in fine condition take a look at the chassis pictures,
No rust.


http://m1.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0552i.JPG
How about the HV chassis that is pristine and clean.


http://m0.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0586i.JPG
More clean.

http://m8.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0588i.JPG


http://m2.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0636i.JPG
Here is the Television signal and deflection chassis, Note modification to tuner.


http://m7.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0627i.JPG
bottom view.


http://m2.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0642i.JPG
Tuner modification.

http://m7.i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1....IMGP0654i.JPG

I will be attending the Early Television Convention and will get a good look at the sister set at the museum. Until then I will just hand rub some Howard bees wax into the finish. :yes:

That cabinet doesn't need to be restored, I hope you mean just electronic restoration!

Nice find.

You don't want to mess with the cabinet, clean it and wax it.

Someone did an excellent job replacing the original tuner with the inductuner. Probably why it lasted in such good condition, was a daily user for a lot of years after those sets were retired.

Don't see anywhere that an FM detector was added, interested in seeing if they modified the existing AM detector for FM sound or just left the AM detector in place.

The chassis' are relatively easy to work on, just time consuming with the number of caps to do.

Chuck

Wow!! Wanta sell that cat of yours :-)

Ooooooh. Me likey!

Beautiful set. How do I get a cat like that?

That is a well layed out chassis.
When its recapped it will really open up the space.

I'm in LOVE...

You're cat sure does like you. Usually they only bring home dead mice.
Congratulations on the new set. I agree that the tuner modification was done very neatly. It's too bad from an originality standpoint that it was done, but it is part of its living history. Leaving it in place helps to tell the story of that particular set, taking it out helps to tell the story of that model. Do you know anything about the set's past or original owners?
If the set uses the same rubber CRT mask as the TRK-12 (I can't imagine it doesn't, but others might be able to confirm) you can get a reproduction for your set. If you look about a third of the way down this page you'll see it listed http://www.earlytelevision.org/class..._for_sale.html

Carefully cleaning with Howard Restore A Finish and waxing using Howard
Feed N Wax I was able get this cabinet looking real good in it's original finish
with a few tiny beauty marks (paint spots). Beyond that I will seek wise counsel.

Thanks John, I contacted Barry regarding the CRT mask listed in the link and he has one available.

Whoa, nice save! And I thought my 41-year-old Zenith was well-preserved. In my opinion it needs nothing aside the usual common-failure component replacement.

Must have been a male cat, they tend to be the more loving of the species.

WOW,

You have a wise and very powerful cat ! !

Our cats seem to not bring more than the occasional mouse.....

I'll have to talk to those cats a bit....

The cat whisperer...

Wow, give me an idea where your cat went for hunting!:lazer:
What about the pre-owner? Who gave it away without torchure?:whip:
Please send me a PM if there are more!:yippy:

TV-Collector :stupid:

Suddenly it's 1938. What a beautiful piece of history.

Must be a big cat, like ours:
http://www.wa2ise.com/cricket.jpg

If I can keep any more nicks off my Zenith for another 35 years I'll be golden. Keep in mind that my Zenith's cabinet is plastic and particle board, so it probably never had the shine of that thing.
Not that I know much at all about cats, but is that a Maine Coon? I hear that they're smarter than average, and bigger.

Wow, that is a very handsome set. At this stage, I think you could consider that Inductuner part of its history. I would not be bashful about restoring the TV and using it as-is.

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

For a few milliseconds, on first opening the thread and spotting this beautiful cabinet, I wondered why someone posted a floor model radio picture in the early TV section.

I think with these sets, Westinghouse certainly out-did RCA on the cabinet style!

Does anyone know what TV stations were in British Columbia back when this set was new?

For that matter, what vintage is the Du Mont tuner?

And hey, while at the ETF convention, if you wish to downgrade your new set to a RCA TRK 12/120, the ETF has an empty cabinet in this year's auction.

http://www.earlytelevision.org/2013_...n_120_cab.html

James.

I do know that my town Prince George did not get television broadcasting until
1959 so if this set would have arrived here when new it would have been one hell of a long wait!

http://i.pbase.com/o9/42/971642/1/15....amber003i.JPG
yup powerful and mean

James,

There was no television broadcasting in B.C. in 1939-40 when that Westy was introduced for sale. Doubt that experimental TV existed anywhere in the Northwest U.S. that might have been viewed in B.C. I agree that is a much more stylish cabinet then the RCA Victor TRK-12.

-Steve D

He was just a domestic short hair cat, but bigger than most. He could stand his hind legs on the floor and have from paws on the table edge and just barely get his head high enough to see the tabletop. Smart enough to stay off the busy road out front (we don't let our cats outside anymore).

RR:

A great find, and a beautiful series of photographs. You've documented your new unit very, very well.

By the way, there is an old TV to the left of the cabinet in one of the pictures towards the bottom. What is that?

By the way, I hate cats. Maybe . . . okay . . . in something like Almond Guy Ding . . . . .

What a great piece of non-RCA history. I wonder where that one was built :scratch2:, since there were so few made.
It is possible Westinghouse wanted to show a TV in thier display at the World's Fair just like RCA and GE did.

This set is actually from 1939. The Westinghouse sets, like the Silvertone sets, were all built by RCA and all use the same chassis. RCA designed different cabinets for the Westinghouse and Silvertone models. These sets were never sold to the public and made strictly for display at the Worlds Fair and for promotional use by Westinghouse and Sears. Afterwards, most were recalled and many were rebadged as RCA. My Westinghouse WRT700 (RCA TT-5 variant) was rebadged "RCA" while my Silvertone 7272 (also a TT-5) was not.

There were about 250 total Westinghouse sets made of the various models and about 50 of the Silvertone: http://www.earlytelevision.org/us_sets_made.html

The crt mask is the same for all three TRK-12 variants. The ones Barry has were made by Ed Schutz (the guy who does the VT71 masks) from a perfect original I had and they fit very nicely.

Darryl

Woof!

Nice find. Do your best.

...and think "factory.":smoke:

Dang! A prewar Westinghouse next to a 21CT55...I wish I had the means to put those two models in the same room together.

That is a fantastic find. I agree that leaving the existing tuner in it is very appropriate; that tuner itself is a nice piece of hardware with the double disc scales and channel 1 on it.

I always dream of the big find someday in kijiji or a garage sale but it is pretty much just that,a dream. But I see that you have found one in Prince George, and I realize anything is possible. Congrats on the beautiful set!!!

Wow, that's some find! Someone took amazingly great care of that set over the years.

Congrats. Awesome set!