Unbelievable find (at least for me). Need some help.

[BigZach1000]

Hi there,

I just joined this forum and I appreciate seeing other people that care about old TV's. I have loved old TV's since I read about Baird as a kid. I have wanted an older TV just for my own enjoyment and to look at but I have never had the luck of spotting one in my many stops at antique malls or they were too far away to pick up.

The other night I was driving down a side street and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a cabinet with weird shaped porthole with some knobs sitting on someone's curb and I knew right away it was an old TV. I am hardly an expert, but it is a Motorola 12VK11R. It is in a mahogany case and has a speaker under the screen area. The screen is 12 inches and the main tube is round with the top and bottom "cut off". As far as I can tell, they made this model about 1949-1950. I have seen pictures of the 1950 and this one is different and looks older, so I am assuming that it is a 1949. It is in beautiful shape and only has a few scratches and a little bit of motor oil spilled on the top. The inside chassis and tubes look dusty but great. It is missing one knob insert piece for the channel knob on the front.

After the local TV repairman informed me that it would be OK to plug it in and see what happens. Low and behold, all of the tubes lit up and I got a picture. I am completely dumbfounded that this machine still works after 60 years with parts that have to be at least 40 or 50 years old. The only problem is that the image is not centered. It seems to be centered down and to the right. I have adjusted all of the adjustment knobs on the back and none of those seem to have an impact.

I will take some pictures if anyone is interested. Some questions: Does anyone know if there are many working examples of this model? Why is the picture like that and how can I fix it? Also, is it possible to get another knob piece to replace the one that is missing?

Thanks for reading my rambling,

Zach