GE 21c2447 - Videokarma.org TV - Video

Charlie · #1 05-17-2013, 08:42 PM

I managed to bring home that GE today. The guy let me have it for 40 bucks.

The set is not as pretty as Bob's GE... this one must be a little lower on the food chain as it has the faux panels instead of a veneer. They are not in the greatest of shape... lots of marks on the panels. One of the side panels is coming off at the bottom... but could be glued back in place very easily. At a later time, I think the cabinet could be easily restored... whether with real veneer or fake panels.

Some of the brightwork on the front suffers from a little corrosion. I might be able to clean it up a little, but not expecting a lot. The plastic looks like it should clean up nicely.

The inside looks complete... plenty of dirt in there. It looks like all the originals caps are in there. Looks like a few of the tubes have been changed (at least, there are some other brands other than GE).

A nice surprise was to find a good CRT. It was a bit sleepy at first. After cooking it for a little while, and then a cool down, I get the needle to the bottom of the good zone in the first 20 seconds, and then over the next minute or so, it slowly climbs to the top of the scale... so seems like I should get a good bright picture at some point.

I later noticed the CRT had been replaced... it has an RCA tube in there. According to the tube chart inside the cabinet, the original 21DEP4 had an ion trap. Bob, did you find an ion trap on yours?

bandersen · #2 05-17-2013, 08:51 PM

Congratulations! I think it looks quite nice and having a good CRT is a major plus. I paid a lot more for the replacement CRT than I did for my set.

Nope, no ion trap on my set and the Sylvania data says no ion trap too: http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/tubes/sy...RTS/21DEP4.JPG

Charlie · #3 05-17-2013, 09:09 PM

THere's no trap on my tube, either... but it was mentioned on the label inside the cabinet. I thought an ion trap was kinda odd for a set from the late-50's.

Seeing that big-ass speaker in person is quite impressive! When they advertise it as a 21 inch set, did they mean the picture or the sound???

Charlie · #4 05-17-2013, 11:10 PM

Interesting little find.... the 6AX4 appears to be an Amperex Bugle Boy... or at least, the little Bugle Boy icon is on the base of the tube. Did Amperex only use this graphic on their Bugle Boy tubes? Or were they used on their standard line of tubes as well? I would have never expected a 6AX4 to be available in a Bugle Boy.

wa2ise · #5 05-18-2013, 04:14 PM

I thought Amperex only used that Bugle Boy logo on tubes likely to be used in audio and hi-fi work...

And I doubt anyone would go to the trouble to counterfeit that logo on that tube.

Maybe they just had an excess supply of octal sockets with that logo, and they were out of the regular ones, and they had to fill orders to ship...

Reece · #6 05-18-2013, 06:57 PM

I thought I had an original tube Bugle Boy in a Heathkit Q Multiplier but I just looked and it's a Mullard 12AX7. I knew it was an odd brand tube to find in that application. Pretty sure I've seen a Bugle Boy in some other odd place where you wouldn't expect it but can't put my hands (or mind) on it now.

Electronic M · #7 05-19-2013, 01:28 AM

Could be the original bakelite base on the glass got damaged and a bugle boy base was used to 'fix' the tube.

DavGoodlin · #8 05-20-2013, 08:26 AM

Nice Set Charlie. Can't wait to see your's work too. I always thought those GE sets from that period were pretty neat.

I have a 1960 model with a nearly-dead 21ESP4 and had two similar ones long ago, with very "Black" daylight CRTs.

It seems like either these sets with the 21DE/ESP4 tubes logged lots of hours or simply had crappy CRTs from day one.