Predicta on American Restoration
 

Did anyone see this episode recently on the History channel? Someone brought in a 1960 "Continental" Predicta for them to "restore". The owner wanted it gutted and an LCD put inside. Rick quoted them $2500 to cosmetically restore it and convert it. Wow, what a deal! At that price why not just get a Telstar replica second hand for probably less than $1000?

glad I missed it. Seems like a real hack job (from reading the promo). Now if they would film a Banderson restoration that would be worth it. These stupid shows are worthless IMHO.

I was warned about that episode and skipped it. I just missed out on getting a "Continental" at an estate sale last year and would get really PO'd seeing one destroyed.

After watching about a dozen other episodes of AR, it seems to me their specialty is removing rust, welding and painting. The electronics and engines get farmed out.

...And the guy who owned it claimed to be the owner w/his dad of a TV production house...You'd THINK somebody who was at least peripherably "In the Business" like that would know enuff to know THAT was a BIG No-No..

I've met several folks over the years from the "creative" side of the TV/radio business who have absolutely NO respect for the hardware or the technical side of the industry whatsoever. They view such things as annoyances they need to deal with with to do their work, nothing more.

I had to look up the episode just now since I missed it. I haven't watched all of it yet, but the guy who brought it in wants to use it to display a corporate highlight reel in the lobby of his office. Seems like kind of a waste for such a cool TV, but I guess it's his choice.

i was sickend over the whole mess ! there's nothing restored on that show ,just repaint and cheap inturnal parts put in ,and he farms out so much of the work that the price when he gets done is a joke.

Well, on the plus side, they did make the cabinet look fantastic.

The thing I hate, though, is that they acted like the 'had to' modernize it for it to be able to play DVDs. Well no, they didn't. They could have used an RF modulator, or they could have done like I did with my Zenith and pipe in composite video just after the IF stages (though depending on the what the Predicta's circuitry looks like they might have needed an additional input amplifier for the video).

I think the real reason for the flat panel was because the thing was going to be on all the time, and you'd have greater energy cost and more maintenance to do on a tube set under those conditions, but I still think it's a dumb thing to use a Predicta for.

Wonder if, for some strange reason, he KEPT the guts & didn't shit-can 'em ?

The destruction of the set, and all the dumb ass factually incorrect comments really ticked me off!

If it is really 'the rarest TV'(yeah right!:rolleyes:) then why the hell would you gut the electronics?:screwy:

If I lived in Nevada, and had stupid money to waste I think I'd bring in a electrically restored metal cabinet set and have him restore the cabinet just to show the public that the electronics in these are perfectly restorable, and that collectors will turn their nose up at cabinets without the original electronics.

I've thought the exact same thing, haha. I think they'd be able to do a great job with my Zenith cabinet, but as someone who neither lives in Nevada nor has much money, I'll have to take care of the cabinet myself.

This show and others, like Counting Cars, etc., are talked about on car forums a lot too. All of them are pretty bogus, full of incorrect info and inflated prices. Some guys say they have seen their work on stuff that was in a show. They say it looks nice on tv; but in person it's sloppy, done cheap and fast.

I've got a friend who had a little dealing with the Pickers. On the show they make it look like Danielle in Iowa gives them leads and they show up without knowing what's in store for them. The truth is everything is done out of New York City by a producer. Before they go anywhere, they have to have photos and descriptions of whats there, which is forwarded to the guys. They sometimes even pick out what they are going to buy on camera before they get there. All the arrangements are made out of New York. It's all staged!

I catch glimpses of TVs & radios all the time on "Pickers" that I just CRINGE that they pass over..

ONE time they picked up a Predicta, and then they traded it for something that I didn't think was nearly as cool straight out of their van on the same trip! Why?

Just watched the episode.

Well, at least it wasn't fishtanked. It still lives on as a TV set. Was kind of hoping that the dad's reaction during the unveil was "What the $%&^ did you guys do to that beautiful, rare original set?!?!"

The cabinet work actually looked pretty good to me, but then I'm not a great woodworker/cabinetmaker. Didn't care for the DVD loading slot through the grillecloth. I might have tried to make the bottom wooden molding removable, and hide the DVD player behind it. In a corporate lobby application, why not just have provided a signal input, and put the DVD player in the reception desk or office area?

The mounting bezel for the flatscreen was pretty nicely done. I probably would have taken the flatscreen apart, as mounting a bare LCD panel would be easier and take up less room than dealing with the plastic cabinet. A larger LCD might have fit inside the CRT housing if they removed the LCD cabinet.

I hope that they at least saved the guts for future restoration work or gave them to somebody who will. If the owner was dead set on using an original Predicta 8 hours a day in a commercial setting, conversion was probably the smart way to go. Those sets weren't all that reliable when they were new, and limited repair parts availability makes maintaining a "daily driver" an iffy proposition. I agree that one of the Telstar repros would have been a preferable choice to what they did, and maybe cheaper?

Had to laugh at the comment about remote controls being a lab curiosity at the time of the Predicta. Guess they never came across a Flash-Matic or "Lazy Bones" Zenith then? Cringed a bit when the guy had the bare CRT (which might have been in great shape for all we know) sitting on a workbench, tilted back onto the neck...:yikes: