Zenith 1961 BW rescue from snowbank

[DavGoodlin]

poking through Craigslist is drudgery until you see something interesting. Normally, typing a brand name yields more than "vintage TV" or "Antique TV", etc.
This one was a "curb alert" in disguise, located a block from where my Grandfather grew up and around the corner from a TV shop with an Admiral sign out front, still selling antennas and other miscellany and NOS.

i called and spoke with someone who was preparing a rowhouse for rental, and needed this set out before the city inspector came By the time I could get down there, it was tossed outside with snow-freezing rain on the way. I hustled down there just as it was getting dark and found this sinking into a snowbank. Dirty and spackled, it should clean up well.

Zenith Chassis 16H23
The CRT cup was cracked, causing a wave of uneasiness before I was able to lay it on its side and squeak it into my wagon.

Back cover shows evidence of careless moving
Then I was relieved to find all but one of teh original screws holding the back on, carefully removing it I found a pretty nice looking inside

VHF tuner and UHF tuner to rear

Very original looking
Zenith tube location stickers were helpful when I was just learning to troubleshoot

Tube chart with signal flow
The UHF tuner was also pretty well disguised, I had only seen VHF-only models before.

Zenith's starfish knob
The control door cover reveals a FOCUS control, very rare on any BW set

All the controls in this drawer, even focus
Time to plug 'er in and start at 80 volts, slowly increasing to 115.
DO NOT TRY THIS with just any TV of this era. i cant say I was surprised, these were the finest and toughest monochrome sets ever made.

Zenith H2735 with flash



After "warming up", the vertical begins the upward roll out of control range, forecasting a strategic re-capping which I had done to a 1964 Zenith 19"
My next task is to flip on it side, remove the $ervice $aver cover over the chassis bottom and get to work.