I've been blessed by Royalty... ZENITH Royalty

[Charlie]

Yesterday, I stopped at an antique store in Beaumont that I hadn't been to before. Something had been going thru my mind about that store... and I found out what it was... a 1956 Zenith Royal X I've always wanted one of these, and this one was just calling out to me.

I hadn't even been in the store 60 seconds when I spotted it. There was a tag on the front, and when I read it, my heart nearly stopped! It was on lay-a-way for someone else!! Then, I noticed there were some dates on the tag... dating back to July 15th. I wondered about that, so I asked the lady behind the counter. She told me some lady put it on layaway in july and made two payments since then. They've been calling here regularly in hopes she'd come in to finish paying and take it home... they never hear from her.

I told the lady I wasn't going to leave that store without buying it... paying in full (I hadn't even asked how much yet). She turned and grabbed the phone... called the guy that it belonged to (turned out to be the shop owner). They were on the phone for two or three minutes, and then she came to me and said I could take it for 175. I said, "okay, but I'd like to test the picture tube first if I'm going to pay that price." She says, "Oh it works... we played it regularly until the analog TV went off air."

I was a bit surprised. She plugged it in and turned it on... the damn thing came on! I'm sold!

I paid for it, and told her I'd be back in the morning to pick it up. Today, I went to get it. After getting it in the truck, another lady came to me in the store and said my name. Come to find out, one of my 8th grade teachers was there selling items. Wow... I had more grey hair than she did!

Okay, I get it home. The set is quite clean! There was a little dust inside... nothing serious. Considering it's over 50 years old, I figure the person it belonged to must have had a clean house! The TV sets on top of a stand like Jim's (classicradios) '63 Zenith Roundie (the base on mine swivels). I didn't even realize this at first... found out when we tried to pick it up! The insides are very nice... like new... even the yoke cover is like new! It's still kinda soft and shiny. The tuner feels solid. The cabinet is the fake stuff, but in good shape. There are a few light scratches... but still very nice looking.

The CRT is a 24DP4A. Looks like it has an ion trap on it... I thought A versions of B&W tubes didn't use ion traps??? Anyway, the tube test weak on my tester, but still puts out a picture. Being they had been running the set regularly, I went ahead and plugged it in without a variac. The picture is scrunched some, but hey, not bad considering it's age.

It looks like half the tubes have been replaced. The latest date code I could find was 1967. Thru a hole in the chassis, I could see a black beauty that had a big crack in it. The vert hold took a few minutes to stabilize. Still, not bad.

Seems that re-capping this set will simply improve what I have right now. The picture is surprising clear (it's connected to my Dish receiver right now), although it's a little dark... likely due to the weak CRT. Considering the damn thing plays as is, I'd say that's pretty good.

For now, i've put it in my living room... which isn't very big at all. WOW... this set is much larger than I thought it was!