Lovely 1983 Zenith TV

[TUD1]

I didn't even bother to read it. The TV was on mute, and I was intruiged with all the pretty colors. Now I'm embarrassed.

[Jeffhs]

I liked Zenith TVs while the company was still around, and would still collect them if I had the room in my apartment. However, I do have a bunch of antique Zenith tube radios, along with two solid-state Trans-Oceanics (one AM-SW, one AM-FM-SW).

When I had the room to collect old TVs, I had two 13" Zenith portables, a knob-tuned L1310C from 1979 and a 1982 model with one-knob electronic varactor tuning. Back in the late '60s-very early '70s I had a bunch of old Zeniths, including a K2739 23" b&w VHF-only console from 1963, which I really liked because I had practically retubed it from the ground up (when I found it on a treelawn at the end of the street I grew up on, all but two tubes were missing). I'll never forget the first time I turned the set on after I installed the last new tube, and connected the set to the attic antenna in the house at the time. The picture was absolutely gorgeous (for b&w) and the sound was excellent as well. I expected the latter since the set had a large 6x9 oval speaker in the base of the cabinet below the CRT, a 6BQ5/6BN6 audio system, and a full-range tone control.

Unfortunately, Zenith started its downhill slide in the '90s (or perhaps even a few years before), with the sets that had the bad CRTs. However, I have a Zenith "Sentry 2" 19" table set from 1995 that still has its original tube; the last time I turned it on, it made a great picture. (To this day, I'm convinced I just happened to get a set with a good CRT simply by the luck of the draw, considering all the problems with Zenith CRTs of the period.) My set has a label on the back cover bearing the partial address of Zenith's main plant at the time, in Glenview, Illinois; however, the TV itself was probably assembled in Mexico, as were my two small Zenith color portables and even a 12" solid-state b&w Zenith I had in the late '70s. That little set lasted me 22 years, and was probably still working when I got rid of it in 2000 (no room for three TVs in this apartment). I left it near the trash barrels behind the building; the next day it was gone, so someone might have picked it up and used it a few more years. Just as well if the set was used another few years after I junked it, as it was working perfectly (only thing wrong was a jammed UHF tuner) and had a very good picture.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by TUD1

I didn't even bother to read it. The TV was on mute, and I was intruiged with all the pretty colors. Now I'm embarrassed.

Don't worry about it, just an unfortunate coincidence. It's another reason cable today sucks.

[TVTim]

Originally Posted by TUD1

She's got a nice picture with minimal bleeding.

Really decent picture. I like it, a lot!!

Congrats on your find.