Believe it or not, I'm not full of crap

Ok, here's the deal..........a feller local to me has several sets that he may end up giving me (or selling cheap). One is my ever lovin Heath GR-2000 and the other is a RCA XL-100. Both work.

But the kicker is the bomb he dropped on me (he had made no mention of this in earlier e-mails):

"The other one is an RCA Victor: Berkshire. This one is a B/W
TV with swinging doors that close on the face of the TV. Again this one is working, but one of the knobs finally gave up the ghost. My sister may not be willing to part with this one because of the magnificently crafted wooden enclosure."

According to what I've found on the web, this is a early projection TV with a built in record player and radio:

http://www.myvintagetv.com/rca_berkshire_regency.htm
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1948-RCA-Ber...front-PROJ.JPG
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1948-RCA-Ber...rojConsole.JPG

Does this sound correct? Can I assume this is worth more than the typical old set? Am not trying to get rich, but wouldn't complain if this thing is worth a few sheckels either. Please let me know ASAP as am going to try to see it today. Thank you Mrs Kalabash!

Anthony

[Rob]

Better rent a pickup truck and hire a couple of gorillas with strong backs. Yes, this is a rare find.

Originally posted by Rob
Better rent a pickup truck and hire a couple of gorillas with strong backs. Yes, this is a rare find.

Well, I do have a 1 ton flatbed truck and most of my friends smell like gorillas so I think I've got it covered!

Will keep everyone posted.

Anthony

[Carmine]

My sister may not be willing to part with this one because of the magnificently crafted wooden enclosure.

Maybe one of her friends will suggest junking all those nasty and dangerous, tube-style guts, and installing something modern from Wal-Mart's electronic section? You know, something that works with modern electricity...

[ChuckA]

Anthony,

The Berkshire is a great find, I see you pointed to the Regency on my web site. It is a monster set, I don't believe there were other sets larger than the Berkshire line. The Regency tips the scales at 545 lbs, the Breakfront at 850 lbs. It took 4 BIG movers to bring mine into the house, hasn't moved since.

Because they are so big the market is very small. Prices range from next to nothing if you find one at a local auction to a couple thousand $ for a nice one on the collector market.

The radio/phono only units are the rarest in the Berkshire line with less than 100 of each model produced, about 250 of each TV model were made.


Chuck

Originally posted by ChuckA
Anthony,

The Berkshire is a great find, I see you pointed to the Regency on my web site. It is a monster set, I don't believe there were other sets larger than the Berkshire line. The Regency tips the scales at 545 lbs, the Breakfront at 850 lbs. It took 4 BIG movers to bring mine into the house, hasn't moved since.

Because they are so big the market is very small. Prices range from next to nothing if you find one at a local auction to a couple thousand $ for a nice one on the collector market.

The radio/phono only units are the rarest in the Berkshire line with less than 100 of each model produced, about 250 of each TV model were made.


Chuck

Hi Chuck, seems there are actually 4 Berkshire models within that range. There was a Secretary, Modern both of which had a radio and phonograph only and the Regency, and Breakfront which had in addition, a projection TV. See this:
http://www.mulhollandpress.com/BerkshireBreakfront.htm

I've performed a search on our grand site here and found the travails of the repair of one of these sets. The owner just e-mailed me and I'll finally get a chance to speak with him tomorrow. Why some people play these endless games of e-mail tag is beyond me, but I realize that that's just what it takes sometimes. C'est la vie.

Anthony

[Rob]

OK,

la vie

There I said it!

Originally posted by Rob
OK,

la vie

There I said it!

Mercedes boo koo, mon sewer. You funny (lookin), that's one of MY lines! What a horrific situation.......we think alike!!!!!

Anthony

[ChuckA]

Originally posted by heathkit tv
Hi Chuck, seems there are actually 4 Berkshire models within that range. There was a Secretary, Modern both of which had a radio and phonograph only and the Regency, and Breakfront

Anthony,

Actually there are 5 Berkshire models: Breakfront Model B1 ($4100), Regency Model B-2 ($3200), Secretary Model B-3 ($2500), Modern Model B-4 ($2300), Contemporary Model B-5.

The hardest unit to repair is the radio chassis built for RCA by a company called ARF, the amplifier is pretty much straight forward, the TV is time consuming but quite easy to do, and because it has the same chassis group as all the '46-'49 RCA projection TV's, parts are readily available. The last item that needs to be done to make it play like new is to have the spherical mirror in the projection unit re-silvered.

Chuck

Originally posted by ChuckA
Anthony,

Actually there are 5 Berkshire models: Breakfront Model B1 ($4100), Regency Model B-2 ($3200), Secretary Model B-3 ($2500), Modern Model B-4 ($2300), Contemporary Model B-5.

The hardest unit to repair is the radio chassis built for RCA by a company called ARF, the amplifier is pretty much straight forward, the TV is time consuming but quite easy to do, and because it has the same chassis group as all the '46-'49 RCA projection TV's, parts are readily available. The last item that needs to be done to make it play like new is to have the spherical mirror in the projection unit re-silvered.

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

The depth of your knowledge is only exceeded by the depth of my depravity! The owner reports that it's still working (how well remains to be seen). Am curious what the spherical mirror looks like. Have described the set to some friends and they can't believe that there were projection models way back then! As with so many things, there's nothing really new.

Automatic transmissions in a sense can be traced all the way back to at least the Model T........that used a planetary gear arrangement along with "bands" (which in this case were applied by the driver with foot pedals instead of hydraulically)

Anthony

[Sandy G]

Anthony- Yep. And them bands wore out quickly, & changing them was a real pain-in-the-tuccis. You could get a little more life out of 'em if you went backwards a lot-equalised wear. Another thing about them old Fords was the gas tank was in the cowl, right in front of the windshield, & gravity fed, so if it wasn't full, you had to keep it above the carb. Backing up a hill helped that, along w/stretching the life a little bit on yr transmission bands. A '26 roadster lived 2 houses away from me when I was a kid-guess where I spent a lot of my time when the guy was fooling around w/it ? -Sandy G.

How about that thermo siphon cooling system? And why was it that everyone felt compelled to fool with the coil spark gap all the time? ZAP!

Speaking of fuel systems, you familiar with the vacuum tank arrangement? As you may have surmised, I've worked on lots of old cars..........as far back as the 1920's. Was fortunate enough to have gotten started in the biz in the mid 70's right before the old car craze really took off, also learned from old timers who had worked on these jalopies when new. Lots of old first hand oral history there (talk about mixed metaphors!)

Anthony

[Sandy G]

Ol' Henry didn't believe in dangfool things like water or gas pumps- which was OK as long as the cars were new & weren't pushed too hard. The thermosiphon system lasted til well into the flathead V-8 era-& the early V-8s pretty much ran hot. I remember that '26 had a Boyce Motometer on the radiator-& the guy watched it like a hawk when he drove the T in the summer. T-models just had 2-wheel brakes as well, which made stopping a bit problematical. But since you rarely went much faster than a fast trot, it wasn't that big a deal. A T was better than walking, or riding a horse, but not much. -Sandy G.