Swoop! Got a 19" roundie Kaye-Halbert on CL in West LA today!

[kx250rider]

I happened upon an ad for "old TV made in Culver City, CA", and it took a picosecond for me to realize it's a Kaye-Halbert Windsor with the 19AP4 round metal tube...Original owner/sitting on original carpeting in original house... A couple of miles from the Kaye-Halbert factory! Very unusual to see an (at the time) cheap out-of-date 19" metal tube on those sets, since they were quite expensive, and most were fitted with a 20CP4 rectangular glass tube. This is the first 19" roundie KH set I've found, and I have 18 or so Kaye-Halberts. VERY PLEASED to have found this one, although it has this awful white antiqued finish on it. The awful finish was done when it was new, and the TV was evidently ordered from the factory unfinished.

With my left wrist in a cast & brace, I hauled the set out of the house, and got it safely into the truck... It's now squirreled away safely down in Los Angeles, as I couldn't bring it home due to threatening weather in the open truck.

What a great Christmas surprise!

Charles

[Sandy G]

I dunno, Charles-I kinda like the ghastly white finish...It kinda grows on ya... Different, anyway.

[nasadowsk]

Good luck on the 19AP4!

[Charlie]

Wow... clean inside and out! That finish isn't so bad... I'm sure it will grow on you. Being that the set has been that way for the past half- century, I'd say it's held up quite well. At least someone back in the 70's or 80's didn't paint it with that "antique" paint... that would be aweful!

Any test results with a CRT checker yet???

[zenith2134]

Very cool set. Congrats, Charles!

[David Roper]

Paint one wall black, put Roman pillar plant stands on either side, you'll be good.

[jpdylon]

Great find!

I hope the CRT hasn't gone to air. Seemed to be a problem with the 19" metal cone tubes.

Very simple looking chassis - were these simple like the muntz sets, were they modeled after another manufacturer, or where they a design all their own?

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by nasadowsk

Good luck on the 19AP4!

Very true... I've had pretty good luck over the years, but I hear that lately it's getting harder to find a good one.

The neck is clean & clear, and the TV worked last time it was used, according to the lady. Since it's been in a livingroom in the steady climate of West Los Angeles (no humidity or extremes of cold nor hot), maybe I'll luck out. I'll take my B&K 467 over there tomorrow if I get a chance, and check it. I'm probably not going to try to variac it up, as it's been at least 30 years since it was plugged in. I have other working/recapped 242 chassis left over from a few unfortunate Kaye-Halberts from the 1988 fire, so I could swap in a recapped chassis if I wanted to make it a working set quickly.

Originally Posted by jpdylon

Great find!



Very simple looking chassis - were these simple like the muntz sets, were they modeled after another manufacturer, or where they a design all their own?

They're fairly unique, but as with most all sets, it's basically an RCA licensing lab circuit. It does have 25 tubes, but the chassis underneath is fairly clean and empty. They had a unique feature where the flyback and high voltage tubes are under the chassis, as many of them were in custom cabinets without backs, or with the chassis naked in a closet in built-ins. They also had one with a DX front end, which had a hotter tuner and an extra IF. Never seen one, but I have the schematic. They also used two LV rectifier tubes, which seemed to give more stable B+. In fact, they are quite stable overall (when recapped now, or back when new). So much so, that the only controls are on-off-vol, contrast, and channel/fine tune. All other controls are behind, which is idealistic, I'd say. I have the feeling that after using one of these sets for a few days, most owners wished they had the controls on the front. For the 1953 model year, the controls were all switched to the front of the chassis with an access door.

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Very cool set. Congrats, Charles!

Thanks! Glad to have found it... I got my first Kaye-Halbert set in 1977 when I was 10 years old, and been hoarding them ever since. Never had a Windsor before, except for a real junker full of termites.

Charles

[Dave A]

Natalie would be so jealous.

[Carmine]

Looks like they sprayed that sucker white will all the guts inside... Is that white overspray I see on the chassis/tube support?

[Old1625]

Looks very nice--and very clean. At that age waddaya want?

It obviously would not go well in a "men's den" with dark paneling and head trophies hanging all about...

It obviously is meant for a living room with slightly off-white walls and beige carpeting--and a white poodle by the name of Fifi prancing about.

While not my first preference in presentation I have to admit that it is in good shape--and may end up being worth something to somebody.

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by Carmine

Looks like they sprayed that sucker white will all the guts inside... Is that white overspray I see on the chassis/tube support?

Fortunately, no overspray on the chassis... The metal those were made from, turns powdery white with oxidation.

Charles

[Tom_Ryan]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

Fortunately, no overspray on the chassis... The metal those were made from, turns powdery white with oxidation.

Charles

Charles that whitish dust would be the cadmium plating oxidizing forming CdO or ...it may even have a slight yellowish appearance if cadmium sulphide forms. Be sure to wash your hands after handling the chassis or wear gloves ... the oxides are quite toxic. Exposure can cause a flu-like illness called metal fume fever. ....well not that you were going to eat the TV but you've got quite an affection for Kaye