Beginners guide to Vintage TV Restoration?

[Tube TV]

Originally Posted by TheNixer

Ha ha, are we that lonely? Yikes. I was the one who posted about the Sams Photofacts being thrown away. Hopefully that isn't the norm with all libraries. I will say this site has some really great people on it who have done everything to help me out. I'm a bit interested in how this thread goes since I have my first vintage set in the garage.

our libarary threw out some nice books , including one called " How to use test probes " It was a Rider pulication from 1954 , and was real handy for various TV and radio service jobs . One day I went in the to get it , and it was gone , later on I asked about it , and I found out it was dicarded .
So I was on Ebay and found one in New York , and now I have my own copy .
There are quite a few old TV books on ebay , and they are really handy to have . The great thing with a vintage book is it deals just with tubes and equipment from that particular era . I would highly recommend any of the Rider publications , and for basic do it yourself you there were a few TV books done by Art Margolis in 1962 and 64 , I got these years ago and they were a great beginners book with lots of test pattern pics and everything in plain english .

Welcome to our TV world here on AK .

[cdmarion]

Thanks for the warm welcome,

My vintage electronics repair experience is pretty limited, I have a basic understanding of electronics, I've done some basics like tube testing, tube socket replacement, chassis removal, and wire replacement. All on radios. I've never really diagnosed anything other than a bad tube or tube socket. I have more experience with solid state microcontroller electronics. I can read schematics and can also solder. I do understand the dangers of HV but still a little nervous about sticking my hand somewhere it doesn't belong.

I have many vintage radios I can use for the learning process and have considered this. I think starting by recapping a radio is good advice. I plan on doing this while gathering info on the TV restoration. I have and have read the Antique Radio Restoration Guide so I'm good to go there.

I own three TV's, a 1952 RCA Lindale model #21T227, a 50-51? Admiral Tele-Bar model #32K146 and an Admiral model #421M16N, this is the one I plan on starting with. This is one that I'm most willing to risk to my lack of experience. I Just bought this one locally for $35 and have not plugged it in yet but I'm going to assume it does not work. All the sets mentioned above have repair needs.

What I lack is the basic knowledge of how the many different TV circuits work, which we all know is key to proper diagnostics. I'm hoping to find this in the soon to be purchased books. I am planning on going to the Early Television Convention this May, I live in Cincinnati so I'm about one and a half hours from the museum.

A lot of the questions I had have been answered in this thread already. Please keep it coming.

Chris