Estate Sale Finds in 2010! - Videokarma.org TV - Video

drh4683 · #1 01-02-2010, 11:37 AM

Happy New Year

Kicking off 2010 with a couple TV finds right off the bat. Hard to believe yet another year flys. 2010 marks the 7th edition of the "estate sale finds" thread.

There were actually a few estate sales on new years day and I took advantage of the opportunity to see what was out there. Just one sale, at 9801 S. Carpenter St in Chicago. You know you're in a good area of the city when all the homes have those iron bars with pad locks in front of all the windows and doors...

I found a 1974 RCA XL-100 Mural TV (hotel model) with what appears to be the original stand. The TV was on the stand backwards as shown when I found it, those brackets must somehow retain the TV, but I havn't looked into it yet. Works fine, and yes, you're seeing analog TV pulled in off the rabbit ears! We have quite a few low powered UHF stations on the air still and even one on VHF, channel 6.

In the garage was a silvertone combo, probably a '65 or '66 model. I'd say its been sitting out there for about 10 years. It was free, so why not. Im sure the TV doesn't work, or else it wouldn't be out there. Not in bad shape, just alot of dust and debris on the cabinet.

For the record, here are the previous estate sale finds threads:

estate sale finds in 2009
estate sale finds in 2008
estate sale finds in 2007
estate sale finds in 2006
estate sale finds in 2005
estate sale finds in 2004
additional finds in 2004

In 2003 estate sale finds got posted as a new thread when they were found:

2003 finds A
2003 finds B
2003 finds C
2003 finds D
2003 finds E
2003 finds F

Kalamazoo-DJ · #2 01-02-2010, 12:03 PM

I am a sucker for combo's..... my back dont really care for them but they are unique in my opinion. those are nice sets you have.

Jeffhs · #3 01-02-2010, 12:07 PM

I thought TV stations weren't permitted to transmit analog signals as of June 12 last year. Why are there so many analog TV stations still in Chicago? There is only one analog station left (that I am aware of, anyway) in the Cleveland area (W51BI in Kirtland, east of the city in Lake County, Ohio); I'm not sure if that station is still on the air, as I have cable (Time Warner) which does not carry the station at this time. Are these analog translators going to be around awhile, or is there a cutoff date by which they must either convert to digital or go off the air?

RobtWB · #4 01-02-2010, 12:08 PM

You are fortunate to live in such a rich area for mid century to mid 70's housing. Always seem to be the best goodies at those estate sales.
Nice sets BTW.
Did those RCA bunny ears come with the set? I have looked for over a year for that vintage of RCA set top antennas to go with my XL 100 consoles but the only place to find them is on eBay - and the shipping is always more than the price of the antennna set.
Sorta the same with Zenith set top antennas - very hard to find - but would like to stumble upon a '77 model to go with the CC2 table top set I got from you - even though it has built in antennas.

Jeffhs · #5 01-02-2010, 12:10 PM

Duplicate post - please disregard

I thought TV stations weren't permitted to transmit analog signals anymore as of June 12 last year. Why are there so many analog TV stations still in Chicago? There is only one analog station left in the Cleveland area -- W51BI in Kirtland, east of the city in Lake County, Ohio -- and I'm not sure if that station is still on the air. Are these stations (including the ones in Chicago) operating under some sort of special temporary authority and are expected to go off the air or to cable eventually?

BTW, I've been following your estate-sale finds threads in VK since you started posting them seven years ago, and it still amazes me how you are able to find room to store all those old TVs you're finding, especially large consoles such as the Silvertone console pictured in your post. You must have a huge storage building somewhere near your house; that or else your basement is a hundred times or more larger than most.

radiotvnut · #6 01-02-2010, 01:29 PM

Doug, looks like you're getting 2010 off to a good start with a couple great finds. I always liked those SS 19" RCA's with the stand up chassis. Very good picture on those sets. Those vertical chassis RCA's were probably among the best SS sets they made.

I assume that Silvertone is built by Warwick. I wonder if it's all tube or is the stereo SS.

Jeff, only full power TV stations were required to discontinue analog broadcasting and go to digital. The low power stations are not required to terminate analog at this time. In my area, we have one such station - channel 47, which is a translator station for the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

jr_tech · #7 01-02-2010, 01:41 PM

"There is only one analog station left in the Cleveland area -- W51BI in Kirtland, east of the city in Lake County, Ohio -- and I'm not sure if that station is still on the air."

From FCC records, it appears that this translator is still transmitting in analog... they have a construction permit to go digital, which expires 12/29/2011.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=67934

It appears that no firm deadline has been set by the FCC for low power (and likely translators, as well) to transition to digital.

http://www.dtv.gov/lptv.html

jr

DaveWM · #8 01-02-2010, 06:32 PM

Nice silvertone!

bgadow · #9 01-02-2010, 09:43 PM

The Silvertone looks like a direct competitor for the Airline I picked up recently. A real shame they have to be so darn big. A nice start!

*zenithfan1* · #10 01-03-2010, 09:38 AM

Cool Silvertone! Those don't pop up often. You're off to a good start this year.

drh4683 · #11 06-05-2010, 10:44 AM

I was able to get to that sale over at 5532 Natzchez Ave on my lunch break yesterday to grab that '67 Zenith. The house was indeed congested. I didn't get to meet any of the relatives, but the people running the sale were nice. In fact, I got rather unusual treatment, not only did someone help me move the sets, but for the first time, more than one person at the sale actually thought it was cool that I collect and repair old TV's. I didn't get the strange looks or "what are you going to do with it" comments.
I did pick up that Blue metal cabinet Zenith portable. Its a '63 model in pretty nice shape. Still sitting in the corner of the bedroom like where it was originally pictured.
Then to the basement to check out the '67 Zenith. It isn't a bad set, it just needs a good cleaning. Its a power tune only which is OK. It has a 20X1C36 chassis.
However, there was a surprise of a find as Bob did not mention it. It could have easily been missed though considering the basement was packed. I had intentions on going to this sale either way when I was checking out the sale list earlier this week as whenever I see an old B+W set, I normally have hopes that older color set exists.
In the back corner of the basement there was another wood paneled room... I saw what appeared to be the top corner of some kind of console TV, all kinds of stuff on top of the cabinet, and stuff in front of it so it was completly blocked. I moved the chair and box out of the way to see what it was and I was shocked to see it was a Zenith roundie! And its not a 25MC33 as I would have expected. Its the 24MC32! I have no idea if either sets work but both are totally complete and have their original CRT's. Its nice to go to an estate sale and be surprised by seeing something unexected! Estatesales.net is great, but it takes the fun out of things to a certain extent.

All the sets were $10.00 each. Nobody running the sale was capable of helping me out as usual, but there was a guy in the basement who looked like he was capable of helping me out without giving me the usual "Can't help you, I have a bad back" routine. He was looking through the tools, he could hardly speak english with a heavy Polish accent, so I tried to communicate with him if he could help me move the TV's and I would buy his tools for my appriciation. He was all for it. His tools only cost $5.00 and he was more than happy with the trade off. So it was a good experince all around.