Bakelite Admiral - Videokarma.org TV - Video

***Eric H*** · #1 05-16-2008, 06:34 PM

Chassis: http://cgi.ebay.com/1946-Admiral-Con...QQcmdZViewItem

Cabinet: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Admiral-...QQcmdZViewItem

7"estatdef · #2 05-16-2008, 08:39 PM

Dang! I thought mine was it bad shape.
Terry

mkoser · #3 05-16-2008, 11:18 PM

1+1 equals a pretty sweet TV

Too bad it would take me about 2,209 miles to make the round trip to pick them up. I'd have to take my ford pickup which gets 16mpg, at $4 a gallon means I'd spend $552.25 in gas doing it....

Probably gonna pass on this one

MK

Bob E. · #4 05-17-2008, 12:19 AM

Is that CRT a hard one to find? I have a friend that is restoring one of these (she's new to the vintage resto-game...) and it has a very weak CRT, but is otherwise very immaculate. I'd be scared of having either one of those auctions shipped, and what is that crap in the bottom of that cabinet, anyway? Looks nasty...

My friend also has an Admiral table-top roundie set, also with Bakelite cabinet, which has a decent CRT, as well as a cool set of rabbit-ears that have little flying-saucer-shaped knobs on the tips! Both sets are scheduled for recap jobs and detailing. She has a real knack for finding these treasures!

--Bob

bgadow · #5 05-17-2008, 09:08 PM

Not the hardest crt to find, but well worth saving if it's good. Worth mentioning-has your friend tried adjusting the ion trap?

7"estatdef · #6 05-19-2008, 08:06 AM

It's a 10BP4. As crts go it's one of the most common.
See link for a good looking Consolette

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67156

Terry

kbmuri · #7 05-19-2008, 09:59 PM

I couldn't resist, so I bid the minimum, which took it (I was the only bidder). It's the Admiral Roundie From Hell's twin sister. We'll see (if UPS doesn't destroy it) how well it works...

It's a 12LP4 set. That or 10BP4's are getting harder to find, but not impossible (yet). If UPS doesn't smash it, the bid price + shipping is about the going rate for a working 12LP4, so I didn't risk much.

If it works (with good audio) I'll probably clean it up and keep it.

I'm driving distance to the bakelite cabinet, but I don't really like it, it's way overpriced, and I'm skeptical that the completely-dissolved-to-dust audio chassis will clean off the bakelite without leaving some sort of mark. To be that bad, it must have been in standing water for years. Can't imagine the bakelite survived that, unaffected.

kbmuri · #8 05-19-2008, 10:23 PM

p.s. - Great job on your Admiral, 7"estatdef. In case anybody noticed, the cloth strap holding your CRT down exits its chassis clamping brackets at an angle slightly towards the center of the CRT. The strap exits the chassis significantly away from the CRT in the eBay item I won. that's the easiest way to tell mine's a 12LP4. I see yours is a 10BP4. The Admiral Roundie from Hell was a 12LP4. The chassis' look completely identical though...

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112459

kbmuri · #9 06-13-2008, 10:05 PM

The chassis finally arrived today. I paid by Paypal on May 19th. It's June 13th. Oh, well. Good news is it arrived without damage. I tested the 12LP4 and it's at 9.7 mA emission (8mA is good, 10mA is new). Life test is 12 seconds, 10 seconds being good and 15 seconds being new. So it ought to have a bright picture. Ad says "it does work", but I'm not ready to plug it in just yet. The power-supply/audio chassis has 2 "squirrely" 5U4s that eventually settle down as "good" but I should probably replace them. This one has a push-pull 6K6 audio out (the Roundie from Hell was a single-ended 6V6). According to Sams, this means it came from a combo-radio-phonograph unit, not just a TV set. Both 6K6's are in the "?" zone and need replaced. The 1st-stage AF amp has a 6SC7 with total grid leakage (it's toast), and I'm not sure but I think a 6SQ7 belongs there. The chassis number is printed in black ink but it's just one big unreadable smudge. It sure looks like the 20B1 I struggled with a year ago, but might be one-off from it. The smudge looks more like "20C1-3". I'll have to research. Will test the tubes on the main chassis this weekend & maybe consider a slow-powerup.

About 1/3 of the tubes (including the CRT) have stickers on them reading:

Quote:

A.D. Radio Shop
2530 W. Colorado Avenue
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Anybody know if it's still around? Looks like they did a major overhaul at some point in the past (there are also lots of "notes" in pencil on the chassis undersides). Maybe that's why it still "works". No orange drops though, still looks like original caps all around...

Will post more as things progress...

7"estatdef · #10 06-15-2008, 06:34 AM

"The 1st-stage AF amp has a 6SC7 with total grid leakage (it's toast), and I'm not sure but I think a 6SQ7 belongs there."

Maybe some previous tech wired up a second stage of audio. I took out the 6SQ7 and put in a 6SL7. Does wonders for low audio.
Terry

kbmuri · #11 06-15-2008, 10:36 AM

The Roundie from Hell (RFH) used a single-stage 6SQ7 triode for the AF amp. I breadboarded your mod for the RFH and liked the results -- except it still didn't have a good signal to amplify better, so I returned it to stock. The RFH I think went to a technician more skilled than I and who knows where it ended up...

According to its Sams, the combo version of the RFH uses a 6SJ7 pentode for the AF amp, and uses the 6SQ7 as a phase inverter for the push-pull 6K6's. This one doesn't have the 6SJ7/6SQ7 combination -- instead it looks like the 6SC7 dual-triode is pulling double-duty -- 1/2 of it is the AF amp and the other half is the phase inverter. So I guess the 6SC7 belongs. This one is definitely a one-off from the RFH, 20B1. Still looks like "**C1" but the first 2 digits are unreadable.