My new porthole

[Charlie]

For some time, I've wanted to have one of the popular Zenith "porthole" or "circle sets" of 1950. I haven't really seen them within my reach here in Southeast Texas... and if one did pop up in my general area, I was usually gone at sea and unable to go after it. Typical.

Thanks to Jody (peverett), it seems I've finally got one... sort of I suppose. It's not a Zenith... it's even better... a Raytheon from 1950! Model C-1602 (Sams 99-14). The set was just a little ways outside of Houston, so, it wasn't very far for me to go after it.

The set uses the 16AP4, and it checks well into the green on my B&K 470. It does take a little longer than most tubes to get there... a little over a minute... but it gets there and stays. Not bad for a CRT that's over 50 years old and is of the metal/glass type. The previous owner said he believed the CRT had been replaced, and it seems so since the CRT in the set is an RCA with a 1952 date code on it. I'm sure Raytheon would have used their own brand of tubes in the set.

All of the main components look to be in order inside the set. There was plenty of dust, and so far, all I've done is clean it out. I haven't even pulled the chassis to look underneath. I suspect changing all the capacitors will likely be all that's needed since it doesn't appear there were any major failures.

The cabinet is in decent shape. There are some scratches... nothing too serious. Also, it appears that someone painted the room this set sat in... without covering it up first. There's white specs of paint all over the top of it. The wood has a pretty color to it, so I suspect I'll strip and refinish the cabinet later.

I kinda thought the set should have displayed the "Maytag" brand. Unlike the Zeniths, this set tilts the screen up just slightly... and kinda makes it resemble a front-loader washing machine! A friend of mine saw it the other day... and gave him the creeps! He though it looked freaky. Some people simply have no taste.

[Eric H]

Wow Charlie, that is a really neat set!
You hardly ever see a Raytheon, much less a large Porthole.

The cabinet looks pretty good from here, I think it'd have to be pretty bad before I'd remove the original finish!

[Sandy G]

I was thinkin' the same thing, Eric...Charlie, that bad boy looks WAY too good to go messin' w/the finish...Congrats on a SUH-WEET find !!

[Charlie]

The photo doesn't really show the scratches. I'd say this cabinet is "presentable". However, I can see it looking sooo much better. We'll see. If I refinish it, it won't be anytime real soon.

In any case, it's rather unique looking to say the least.

[polaraman]

Charlie,

Jody posted that when you were bobbing in the ocean. Glad one of us got it. I will have to stop by and see it working on my next trip. I noticed that it is at the cabin and not your house. My Raytheon does not have a click stop tuner. It is great for DXing. You can go all the way through the VHF and UHF with one knob. It is more like a stereo tuner than a TV tuner.

Did you stop by and see Bruce. Is the TV shop still standing?

polaraman

[CarlV]

How cool that one is, nice grab!



Carl

[Eric H]

It just occured to me the irony of a guy who works on a ship having a "Porthole" TV

[Charlie]

Rich:

This Raytheon has an interesting tuner. There is no drum or wafers... instead there's a couple of plungers that move up and down into the lower part of the chassis. It's quite sturdy feeling.

Yes, it's up here at the cabin. Not too much room at my other place to keep it... as you well know.

I have not tried contacting Bruce yet... I'm not sure if he even has a phone or not anymore. I will drive to that side of town in the next few days.

Carl:

Yes, this one's pretty neat. I'm glad I went for it. You don't see Raytheon's such as this very often.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Eric H

It just occured to me the irony of a guy who works on a ship having a "Porthole" TV

Yep yep... I've kinda thought about that myself, Eric. Funny to think that it took me this long to get one. The porthole in my room is just slightly smaller in diameter than the screen of this set.

[John Marinello]

Interesting configuration for the anode connection, looks just like the dag ground on a later model set.