Jeffhs,
I would hazard a guess that the box in-line with the power cord was a voltage-boosting transformer/regulator. TVs like your old Capehart performed pretty poorly to rural power service of the day, which tended to be a little low by the time it made it all the way out to the farm. The delivery/setup guy would have installed the booster to gain a little voltage (at the sacrifice of drawing a little more current) to make the TV perform like it did in the showroom.
This is just a hunch, though, without a more thorough description.
RP,
Spousal negotiations notwithstanding, I think you'll find the Capehart 325's picture to be as good as any set of the day. None of them will be a 42-inch plasma HDTV, but if you want the nostalgia of a quality B/W set, you've got a solid performer. I wouldn't expect any difference in contrast between stations, if it's restored well. Your Admiral's trouble does sound a little like AGC, but I've read that some of the cheaper early sets just did that. I have some reference material I'll post (if I can find it) that might help.
Everyone else,
Capehart made the finest equipment imagineable in the '30s and '40s. So did Farnsworth, although Farnsworth had more of an eye for the common-man's budget. It wasn't 'til they both merged with ITT that they started putting out garbage. I think that was around 1960. The Capehart TVs of circa 1950 are pretty top-of-the-line items. IMHO.
Oh, if anybody has a Capehart roundie or knows of one for sale, post it here please. Thanks. Sorry, Jeff, to hear you had one and lost track of it.
