24 inch Muntz restoration has begun

[Steve McVoy]

Experiment with the horizontal osc. screen grid resistor. You may be able to reduce the width without losing HV.

[MRX37]

You know, reading up on Earl Muntz, I think he had the right idea, at least with TV's.

I don't know about reducing the amount of IF gain to simplify the circuit, but simplifying the rest of it doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.

The simpler something can be made, the less there is that can go wrong, and really, a black and white TV shouldn't have to be that complex.

[Steve McVoy]

Problem was that he eliminated things that were needed unless you lived close to the transmitter. Sync was touchy, and gain was marginal, so that AGC couldn't handle fading very well. Also, as you've discovered, no width adjustment.

[Eric H]

Very cool though it's hard to get a sense of the size from a picture.

Is that Julia Child on the screen or Dan Aykroyd?

[MRX37]

If I were to build a TV, I'd go with as simple of a design for the chassis that could provide good performance. I wouldn't do this to save on costs, but to make repairs and servicing easy. I would use a CRT that would last for at LEAST 20 years, probably a studio monitor grade CRT.

So, I guess I'd go cheap on the chassis, but all out on the CRT. To me, the CRT matters the most.

[ohohyodafarted]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Very cool though it's hard to get a sense of the size from a picture.

Is that Julia Child on the screen or Dan Aykroyd?

It was a cooking show on the local PBS station, Don't know who she is.

I will try and post another photo later this week with a 12lp4 next to it for size comparison. That should give you a good idea how huge this crt is. although it is still 6 inches smaller than the tube in the Dumont Royal Soverign. I guess that one qualifies as gigantic.
Bob

[Tubejunke]

I swear the picture of the working set on the right looks like COLOR!!!

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi,

In electronics engineering, the art of designing a device with minimal components as cheaply as possible is called "Muntzing". This set is a pure example of Madman Muntz engineering. Worked OK 10 feet from the TV station! Not so hot when the TV station was a DX catch!

[ohohyodafarted]

Well, the cabinet refinishe project took longer than I expected. 2 weeks total. Cabinet had a number of major gouges and scratches, so the repair work was more involved than originally thought. Front doors were of particular difficulty, as they took about a dozen coats of lacquer to level all the scratches. One coat per day with wet sanding every other coat.

I hope to one day get a good crt for this set. This one is not very good. I have to drive the video so hard that it causes poor picture detail.

Below are several photos.

First one is the chassis sitting next to an RCA 12" to get an idea of the size of the crt.

Then the complete set sitting next to an RCA 21" console for relative size comparison.

The last 3 are just to show.

All in all an interesting set, but picture quality is inferior to most of the sets I have worked on. I think a better crt would improve that issue a great deal though.

Enjoy!

[John Folsom]

Wow Bob, that really looks great!

[Tubejunke]

I tell ya those two crt's look a heck of a lot different in size than 9". Anybody else get what I'm saying?

Great job on the Muntz! They may be cheap but this is on nice looking set. Much more stylish than many better made sets I have seen, like G-E's to name one.

[ohohyodafarted]

Tubejunkie, I don't follow you.

The difference in size between the Muntz 24 and the RCA 12, sitting on the bench is 12 inches.

The difference in size between the RCA 21 inch console and the Muntz is 3 inches.

Where are you comming up with 9 inches. Or did you think the Muntz was a 21 incher. The Muntz is a 24 inch roundie.

[Tubejunke]

Sorry, my mistake. I think what I did is got to thinking about the picture and scrolled back and saw 12" and right under it 21". Somehow I went on and applied those #'s to my thoughts on the picture. Brain Fart bigtime!!

Its funny after I posted that I got to thinking that the two complete sets in the other picture look a lot more than 3" different in size. At least I got the math right. I think....

[Reece]

Nice work! Wow, there's a lot of unused acreage underneath that chassis! Bet that drove Muntz nuts wondering how he could save a few pennies by cutting back on the sheet metal.

Reece

[John Marinello]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

I hope to one day get a good crt for this set. This one is not very good. I have to drive the video so hard that it causes poor picture detail.

And Yoda knows a brand new 24AP4 is on its way...