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-   -   Another Zenith Porthole (http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=224782)

jeyurkon 04-19-2009 10:32 PM

Another Zenith Porthole
 
Looks nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=160329641461

John

John Marinello 04-20-2009 12:15 AM

That is a 16 inch set, 1950 model.

Old1625 04-20-2009 04:09 PM

Very Nice! :thmbsp:

One thing for sure: The shipping's gonna cost. Those sets--even as lowly 12" table models are extremely heavy--AMHIK.

I remember back about 25 years ago looking at one very similar model in someone's attic. I went to the address to look at an old Zenith floor model set, and a man opened the door to the ding of the bell.

He glowered down at me from a height of about 6'5", and looked like any of the Chicago Bears could be his pipsqueak younger brother. Put some more hair on him and call him a gorilla. He even groaned and grumbled with each breath like the ape bouncer in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" He gruffly beckoned me in, and I followed him to the second floor of his rambling old Victorian, then the third floor, then up a winding stair into the attic, an ooky stair that felt like it was going to give way at any moment under this guy's massive AVDP.

I was glad I had a flashlight on me as I peered at this set in a back corner of the attic.

I mumbled something about needing an outlet to plug the set in and see what it would do. He said "There's an extension cord end run up from below over there." And before I could offer to help he stooped down and placed the palms of his hands flat on each side of the cabinet of the heavy old set, and lifted it high off the floor and carried it closer to the power source as if it were made of styrofoam, and gently placed it down. (Yoiks!)

He claimed that the set worked OK a few years ago, but only pulled in the local station.

Being "Dangerous Dave" I plugged it in and turned it on....After I twiddled the various knobs a bit to compensate for corrosion the set actually produced a reasonably bright raster. But no snow, no sound, anon a distinct smell that made me shut things down quickly. Obvious re-cap job on deck here....

I gave the guy some figures that were well out of the range he cared to spend. He paid me some cash for my troubles, and that's the last I saw of the set.

7"estatdef 04-20-2009 05:41 PM

I'll betcha my '49 Mayflower 10" weighs 20pounds more than my 1950 16" console porthole. That Mayflower is a brute!

Terry

John Marinello 04-20-2009 07:39 PM

1 Attachment(s)
I wonder what they dumped all over this set to make it look nice?
You can see two droplets of something, looks like Coke or creosote, on either side of the Zenith emblem.

zenithfan1 04-20-2009 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Marinello (Post 2687235)
I wonder what they dumped all over this set to make it look nice?
You can see two droplets of something, looks like Coke or creosote, on either side of the Zenith emblem.

Very interesting. Good eye John. It looks kinda like oil too.

Eric H 04-20-2009 08:03 PM

That's probably the tar from all those 1950's Luckys. ;)

jeyurkon 04-20-2009 09:13 PM

Are you sure it's not a shadow?

John

Ampico-kid 04-20-2009 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeyurkon (Post 2687567)
Are you sure it's not a shadow?

John

I agree John....it looks like a shadow. The camera was angled up when the flash went off and it looks like it cast a shadow.

Bob

John Marinello 04-20-2009 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeyurkon (Post 2687567)
Are you sure it's not a shadow?

John

Not a shadow. That is a machined flat surface there.

jeyurkon 04-21-2009 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Marinello (Post 2687834)
Not a shadow. That is a machined flat surface there.

I went back and looked at the other photos. You're right, the feature is still there when viewed at different angles.

John

Eric H 04-21-2009 02:17 AM

I think they rubbed it down with some Restore-A-Finish or some stain and they didn't quite get it all off.
The finish looks a little too fresh & wet to me.

zenithfan1 04-21-2009 03:27 PM

They definitely did something to it, I wouldn't buy without seeing it in person first.


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