1984 19" Zenith & others

[radiotvnut]

Someone who I've known for a long time dropped off this load of stuff at my house, for free. We have a 19" Zenith color TV from 1984 and it appears to use the 9-181 style chassis, a 3.5" Sampo portable B&W TV/radio/cassette combo from '87, a 13" Orion from 2000, a NIB Magnavox DTV converter (can't get enough of those), a Philips TV antenna, and a Philips DVD player that he says has never been used (said it was a gift and they never used it because they already had one).

I haven't applied a signal to any of them; but, the Zenith and Orion both light up.

When he called to see if I wanted the stuff, he indicated that he'd like to get some money for the portable B&W. I explained to him that they were not worth much, since everything is digital and you can't pick up anything on them anymore. When he brought the stuff, I asked what he was looking to get for the B&W. He said he didn't know and I offered $15. He told me not to worry about paying him; but, if I ever sold it, I could give him some of the money. I offered two more times to pay him; but, he said no.

Then, we got to talking about how not many people want old TV's anymore and he said that they recently had an estate sale for his late Mother in law. He said her TV was much newer than the ones he gave me and they couldn't even get $10 for it.

I'll probably end up giving the Orion away and I'll find a place for the rest of the stuff.

[dishdude]

Zenith and Sampo look pretty interesting! The Sampo looks a lot older than '87.

[radiotvnut]

I too was shocked that the Sampo is as new as it is. I would have thought late '70's-early '80's.

[radiotvnut]

The Zenith plays well and looks to be a fairly low hours set. The only problem is there is a tiny black spot towards the bottom of the screen, where it looks like a bit of the phosphor flaked off. When watching from a normal distance, it's really not noticeable. It indeed uses a 9-181 signal module and a 9-186 HV/horizontal module, with the small start-up board that attaches to the horizontal output transistor heatsink.

[Marco-nix]

The Zenith and the Sampo, okay , the Orion is good for pieces....it's my own opinion.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Marco-nix

The Zenith and the Sampo, okay , the Orion is good for pieces....it's my own opinion.

Good in pieces is more like it.

[radiotvnut]

Actually, the Orion might go to a new thrift store that's opening to support a homeless shelter (along with two or three more BPC/SPC sets). If they can get a few dollars for them to help their cause, that's better than me destroying them and it's also better than my blood pressure going up when I can't sell them on the facebook "baby clothes and cell phones" pages.

[zenith2134]

Hey, that cabinet design was used by Zenith for many years. I have a 9-181 chassis from '82 with it, and an '86 with the 9-470 mainboard. Any other variations of these basic sets?

[radiotvnut]

There may have been some late 9-160 based TV's with that cabinet style. I know there were some hospital sets that used a 9-160 module with that cabinet style; but, those had electronic tuning. I had a '91 Zenith hospital set with this style of cabinet, a 9-470 module, electronic tuning, and the control layout looked like the hospital sets from 10 years earlier.

[zeno]

9-181 sets without an auto color switch can be vastly improved
easily.
All sets without the switch have auto color ON always. Especialy
the first year sets this made the colors a pukey orange -brown
color.
To kill the auto color just ground the blank pin on the connector
from the secondary control PCB. It can make a HUGE difference.
After I found out what was wrong we did all the sets we sold.
I told the FSM at the distributor what I was doing & he pulled
a Sgt Shultz.
I know nothing, I see nothing, I say nothing, I hear nothing.
The he told me NOT to tell the cats in Chicago about it, he
would bring it up.

73 Zeno

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by zeno

9-181 sets without an auto color switch can be vastly improved
easily.
All sets without the switch have auto color ON always. Especialy
the first year sets this made the colors a pukey orange -brown
color.
To kill the auto color just ground the blank pin on the connector
from the secondary control PCB. It can make a HUGE difference.
After I found out what was wrong we did all the sets we sold.
I told the FSM at the distributor what I was doing & he pulled
a Sgt Shultz.
I know nothing, I see nothing, I say nothing, I hear nothing.
The he told me NOT to tell the cats in Chicago about it, he
would bring it up.

73 Zeno

Thanks for that information. I recall having a console with this chassis and if I got the fleshtones right, the sky was the wrong color. To get a blue sky, the fleshtones were on the orange side. I notice this Zenith is a little that way; but, not as bad as the console. I'll open this one up and try what you suggested.

[radiotvnut]

I jumped it out and it helped a great deal. It's a 4-pin plug on the 9-181 module, that runs up to the secondary control board (plug 2B7, IIRC). I simply soldered a jumper from the blank pin to ground.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by zeno

9-181 sets without an auto color switch can be vastly improved
easily.
All sets without the switch have auto color ON always. Especialy
the first year sets this made the colors a pukey orange -brown
color.
To kill the auto color just ground the blank pin on the connector
from the secondary control PCB. It can make a HUGE difference.
After I found out what was wrong we did all the sets we sold.
I told the FSM at the distributor what I was doing & he pulled
a Sgt Shultz.
I know nothing, I see nothing, I say nothing, I hear nothing.
The he told me NOT to tell the cats in Chicago about it, he
would bring it up.

73 Zeno

Yeah, and take all of the credit. What a scag.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

Yeah, and take all of the credit. What a scag.

I dont think so. Modifying a set is verboden. Zenith also
must have lost a big suit in a fire. We were told if we ever had
a set that had an open flame to confiscate it & get it to Cambridge
immediately if not sooner.

Roger was a good guy. I can not confirm this but it comes from very
reliable sources. See the scene in the movie "Midway". Thats Roger.

Next and last up is the fighters group, to wrap up the strike with strafing. The Zeroes streak down to 100 feet and stitch up the runways. They are too fast for most AA guns, but one AA shell hits a Zero’s non-armored fuel tank, and it balloons with a mighty explosion. One Zero’s bullet hits the back of Sgt. Carl Fadick’s helmet and goes right on through, without touching him. The Americans shoot back with whatever weaponry they have. Gunner “Deacon” Arnold uses his Browning Automatic Rifle, and Pfc. Roger Eaton fires his 1903 Springfield rifle. Neither score any hits.

73 Zeno

[radiotvnut]

Triplers and flyback transformers on 9-160 modules liked to shoot flames from time to time. Wasn't that a 9-160 based set that caused the lawsuit?