I bought a vintage TV store full of vintage TVs and parts.

[Sandy G]

Oh, baby, baby, Baby.... What I wouldn't give to have that Bad Boi.. But I can only imagine the Hellfar 'n' Brimstone my Wife would unleash if an Advent Video Beam showed up on our doorstep.... She'd "Advent" MY "Video Beam", I wonder what I'd look like w/it hangin' outta my Posterior... She's an old Army Nurse, she knows way more tricks of the trade than I ever thunk of.. I found out a LONG time ago, it was foolish to even try to "One-Up" her, you can't do it.. If things hadda gone south for the Army in WW2, no problem, the army coulda just put a couple squadrons of Nurses in there, & the War in Yoorup woulda been over Toot Sweet..

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by CinemaDude

Wow! You must not be married. Or if you ARE married, she must be one incredibly rare woman!

I once brought home a Simplex 35mm projector with a massive Perless-Magnarc lamphouse and cast iron pedestal; it took up the entire hall entrance of our apartment. It dripped oil. It was a beautiful beast to behold, but my fiance hated it...couldn't understand why we had to live with it. She would complain for half an hour after every time she had to come or leave the apartment as one had to squeeze past it to get in or out the door.

Once when we were going to a party, as we left, both us in our party best, sliding past the Simplex XL, the fiance's dress got smeared with grease and oil. Then and there, I was roundly chastised and given an ultimatum: "Either that thing leaves or I do."

I didn't miss her as much as I thought I would.

This story is awesome. My Seeburg hideaway jukebox generated a similar level of admiration, but since it is in the basement and not the front hall, things never escalated to that extent!

So did you ever run 35mm at home?

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by DeLorean00

Believe it or not, so far I think I have only got one tube tester in this lot. It is a heathkit, I am sorry I am unsure of the model but I took a picture. I am pretty sure it does do the old 4 5 etc pin tubes. I got a heathkit signal generator, the power cord is pretty crusty and obviously hasn't been used for a long time.

Well the cord on the signal generator wouldn't be a problem for me, as I could just wire a new cord onto it.

PM me a price and some pictures, and I'll get back to you
about the tube tester and the signal generator.

Thanks!

[electronjohn]

Still can't get over the quantity and variety you've acquired. Gonna need a bigger garage!

[DeLorean00]

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been away. I was still moving stuff from this TV store along with Christmas took up my time. I got the last two loads yesterday.

Here are a few more pictures. This isn't everything. Lots of it still in boxes and some are still in the van and my work car. I have ordered another 3 racks to help organize all this stuff.

Also, I will try to get time tonight or tomorrow and reply to all the comments.

[AlanInSitges]

Holy sh!t. That is like a trip to Disneyland.

[DeLorean00]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Very patient & understanding wife! Well, mine has put up with more than I expected, a few times in the past. Never quite like that, though

For those pesky paper labels, WD-40 works well for me. Gentle & safe compared to some concoctions.

Thanks for the tip on the WD-40, that does work very well! Yeah, I am very lucky my wife is so cool about this. It is because she is so understanding I am putting myself under more pressure to clean this place up so I don't make her regret never complaining. haha

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Hehehehehehehe..When mine moved down here to Greater Bugtussle, she told me, "Look. I've been an RN for nearly 40 years now. I can KILLL you a good 40 different ways that they'd never figure out. Don't Mess w/ME, Buster.... I had a nervous grin, but SHE sure as hell wasn't grinning, never figgered out if she was pullin' my leg or not, So I've tried to be pretty much a Dood Widdle Boychik ever since.. I THINK she was kidding, but I also never have been one to take a Tobacco Stick to a large Hornet's Nest, either...

Sounds like my wife and yours have something in common. My wife is a licensed embalmer and a funeral director, and that is her side job. Her day job is DOJ. So she can kill me, embalm me, and cover it all up in one day. lol.

Originally Posted by CinemaDude

Wow! You must not be married. Or if you ARE married, she must be one incredibly rare woman!

I once brought home a Simplex 35mm projector with a massive Perless-Magnarc lamphouse and cast iron pedestal; it took up the entire hall entrance of our apartment. It dripped oil. It was a beautiful beast to behold, but my fiance hated it...couldn't understand why we had to live with it. She would complain for half an hour after every time she had to come or leave the apartment as one had to squeeze past it to get in or out the door.

Once when we were going to a party, as we left, both us in our party best, sliding past the Simplex XL, the fiance's dress got smeared with grease and oil. Then and there, I was roundly chastised and given an ultimatum: "Either that thing leaves or I do."

I didn't miss her as much as I thought I would.

Haha great story!! I am married to a very patient woman, but I can say as soon as this stuff starts leaving grease on her nice clothes I am going to have to move. lol.

Originally Posted by decojoe67

When it comes to hobbies it never about the thing you choose, it's about how it takes you away from life's issues for a while and makes you feel content. When you look at any pastime, they all can be nitpicked so as to seem a ridiculous waste of time.
I look at radios from the '30's and TV's from the '40's as works of art and, as an art teacher in school once said, the definition of art is finding beauty in ordinary, everyday items.

This is a great comment. Thanks, it really is about having something that gives you a moment away from the stress of the rest of your life. I enjoy vintage Radios and TVs restoration because almost all the ones I have were on the way to dump or being reused into something that isn't a TV or radio. I like to restore them back to working and make them look nice and hope they will stick around another 60-80 years. It seems that broken old radios or TVs with peeling veneer are considered garbage, where a working one that is refinished will be a priceless antique that gets a place of honor in a lot of people's homes. I have given away a lot of my radios to friends and family members once I am finished. I don't want to collect them, I only want to enjoy working on them.

Originally Posted by CinemaDude

Hi De Lorean00 -- I have been trying to give away an Advent VideoBeam 1000A CRT projector for years. Maybe you are the fellow who would want to give it a good home. The original post is here: http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=271393. It's not quite as "vintage" as your great find, but it is half century old circa early 1970s, which is pretty vintage in my book (as am I!). If you have any interest in it, let me know and we can work something out in terms of getting it to you. Anyone else want this very impressive working beauty, it sits here waiting for you...longingly like a pup at the pound. http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/images/smilies/yes.gif

Here is a youtube demo (not mine) which does give you a very good indication as to unit and he does have it in operation in a lit room. The image is quite bright, but in a darkened room, the picture is really spectacular giving the technology at the time. The narrator implies that there were very few of these units; actually they found a niche in the bar industry. Many sports bars installed these units. The circuitry is modular and as a service tech once explained to me, every circuit can be replaced on site. He said, short of a bomb exploding under it, it could be repaired without taking in to a shop. And like the model in this demo, mine is still operating flawlessly with a picture that belies its standard TV technology. Hook it up to a DVD player and it gives a very impressive 7ft diagonal image, albeit it letterbox bars for today's 16:9 authored content. It could be yours!

Contact me here: CinemaDude

PS -- my unit is in better condition that this one -- no missing knobs and no chipped cabinet. I'm just sayin... My screen has legs so it doesn't need to be mounted on a wall, it can be free standing. That screen, BTW is a concave silver surface, the curve is matched to the image convergence so while the screen is curved to get all the light back to the seating area, the geometry of the image is not distorted...all lines on the curve remain straight. The curve, however almosts fully eliminates off axis hot spots.

That is really sweet! I would love to have it. My main problem are getting it out to California as we are on the other side of the country and also I need to make room for it. I really appreciate the offer I will consider it if I can work that stuff out.

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Well the cord on the signal generator wouldn't be a problem for me, as I could just wire a new cord onto it.

PM me a price and some pictures, and I'll get back to you
about the tube tester and the signal generator.

Thanks!

Okay! Give me a few days to get stuff sorted out and I will get you some pictures and prices.

Originally Posted by electronjohn

Still can't get over the quantity and variety you've acquired. Gonna need a bigger garage!

Yeah, it is never-ending! I am very lucky to be in a spot to buy this stuff and also be close to where it was. It ended up being 18 truck loads. As for the garage, I do actually have a 3 car garage, I have a separate one-car garage on the other side of the house. But I have a collector car in that garage, so yeah I probably do need a bigger garage. I was thinking about having an outdoor building made that I could store some of the CRTs and stuff in.

[DeLorean00]

Originally Posted by AlanInSitges

Holy sh!t. That is like a trip to Disneyland.

Haha, thanks. It is also like I instantly turned into a hoarder.

[CinemaDude]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

This story is awesome. My Seeburg hideaway jukebox generated a similar level of admiration, but since it is in the basement and not the front hall, things never escalated to that extent!

So did you ever run 35mm at home?

Yes, actually, I did, as impractical as that was what with needing to stop and thread up a new reel 5 or 6 times for normal length titles, 7 to as many as 12 times for longer titles like GONE WITH THE WIND or MY FAIR LADY or 2001. But that was in the early 70s even before the video revolution...before even VHS, so the only source of movies was bringing home a print from the theatre where I worked. But the novelty of being able to see first run movies in my house soon wore off for my friends and family and no one wanted to put up with both the reel changes and the noise of the projector, which was substantial given it was meant to be located in a sound containing projection booth away from the audience. I soon realized that the best use for this beast was to convert it to a telecine movement and copy the films onto the only viable video format at the time, Sony's U-Matic 3/4in tape deck. Once copied, then play it back via the VideoBeam, allowing me to have a Home Theatre before the term Home Theatre was even a thing. This is what an obsession will do to a kid, and as much as everyone else will say it's crazy, aside from my family and friends, it has given me more satisfaction and joy than anything less.

This is a picture of the back of the VideoBeam setup in the living room -- yes that's a masking surround and motorized curtains (hey, if you are going to do it...do it right, I always say!).

On top of the VB are a pair of 3D active glasses for 3D movies available from a small company, 3DTV which used alternating frames very much the same principle as home 3D works today. Back them I was able to show THE HOUSE OF WAX and a few other titles thru this company on the VideoBeam, much to the amazement of my guests -- and me as well as I never thought I would be able to show the very first 3D movie I ever saw as a 10 yr old in my apartment. I was fascinated by 3D as a kid and that fascination never left me.

[Tim Tress]

I am also married to a very patient and understanding woman, for over 30 years! She has actually bought me radios; I just got a Zenith 6D029 this past Christmas. Besides TV, I also have radios, theatre and broadcast, equipment, and ham gear.

I did have a Simplex 35mm projector, on an RCA sound reproducer, with an ORC xenon lamp. I eventually lost interest and peddled it to a museum, but I kept the sound equipment.

[hi_volt]

Holy crap, you must have a ginormous garage.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by CinemaDude

Yes, actually, I did, as impractical as that was what with needing to stop and thread up a new reel 5 or 6 times for normal length titles, 7 to as many as 12 times for longer titles like GONE WITH THE WIND or MY FAIR LADY or 2001. But that was in the early 70s even before the video revolution...before even VHS, so the only source of movies was bringing home a print from the theatre where I worked. But the novelty of being able to see first run movies in my house soon wore off for my friends and family and no one wanted to put up with both the reel changes and the noise of the projector, which was substantial given it was meant to be located in a sound containing projection booth away from the audience. I soon realized that the best use for this beast was to convert it to a telecine movement and copy the films onto the only viable video format at the time, Sony's U-Matic 3/4in tape deck. Once copied, then play it back via the VideoBeam, allowing me to have a Home Theatre before the term Home Theatre was even a thing. This is what an obsession will do to a kid, and as much as everyone else will say it's crazy, aside from my family and friends, it has given me more satisfaction and joy than anything less.

This is a picture of the back of the VideoBeam setup in the living room -- yes that's a masking surround and motorized curtains (hey, if you are going to do it...do it right, I always say!).

On top of the VB are a pair of 3D active glasses for 3D movies available from a small company, 3DTV which used alternating frames very much the same principle as home 3D works today. Back them I was able to show THE HOUSE OF WAX and a few other titles thru this company on the VideoBeam, much to the amazement of my guests -- and me as well as I never thought I would be able to show the very first 3D movie I ever saw as a 10 yr old in my apartment. I was fascinated by 3D as a kid and that fascination never left me.

What an awesome story! I have a collection of 16mm movies, but 35 would be just something else.

[CinemaDude]

Yah, I have been very lucky to have found my passion very early on and been able to work in the those fields, from running the projection booths in a Drive-in in Texas, to a number of movie theatres down there...then to being a sound engineer in a recording studio at a performing arts center and finally to being the director of cinema in a 2500 theatre in Brooklyn. Never a day did it feel like any of it was work. I must have done something good in another life to have it so good.

BTW, I know it is probably out of left field, but since I mentioned it, if anyone out there wants to play with that 3DTV system and the 3D tapes, you are welcome to them. I think I have 5 headsets and maybe 5 or 6 3D movie titles on SVHS tape -- THE HOUSE OF WAX, ANDY WORHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN, JAWS 3D and a few others I can't recall at the moment. The system has a small multiplexer box that syncs the LCD active glasses to the 3D images. It is driven by the sync signal from the tape deck's composite output signal, so you need an SVHS tape deck and it has to have composite output (which I believe all do). I believe if it has component output, one of those 3 color jacks has the sync signal and you can get it off that to drive the multiplexer for the LCD glasses, although I never tried that. If you have S-Video, I think you can do a break-out and get sync off the chrominance signal, but again, that would all be experimental, as I never tried that either.

Anyway, anyone out there who would like to play around with this, you are welcome to it. All I would ask is that you pay the shipping and we are good.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by CinemaDude

Yah, I have been very lucky to have found my passion very early on and been able to work in the those fields, from running the projection booths in a Drive-in in Texas, to a number of movie theatres down there...then to being a sound engineer in a recording studio at a performing arts center and finally to being the director of cinema in a 2500 theatre in Brooklyn. Never a day did it feel like any of it was work. I must have done something good in another life to have it so good.

BTW, I know it is probably out of left field, but since I mentioned it, if anyone out there wants to play with that 3DTV system and the 3D tapes, you are welcome to them. I think I have 5 headsets and maybe 5 or 6 3D movie titles on SVHS tape -- THE HOUSE OF WAX, ANDY WORHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN, JAWS 3D and a few others I can't recall at the moment. The system has a small multiplexer box that syncs the LCD active glasses to the 3D images. It is driven by the sync signal from the tape deck's composite output signal, so you need an SVHS tape deck and it has to have composite output (which I believe all do). I believe if it has component output, one of those 3 color jacks has the sync signal and you can get it off that to drive the multiplexer for the LCD glasses, although I never tried that. If you have S-Video, I think you can do a break-out and get sync off the chrominance signal, but again, that would all be experimental, as I never tried that either.

Anyway, anyone out there who would like to play around with this, you are welcome to it. All I would ask is that you pay the shipping and we are good.

It probably would work with a normal VHS deck with composite.
You seem to be confusing composite (single yellow video jack) and component video (G,R and B jacks carrying monochrome video with sync, red difference and blue difference respectively) above.
Nearly all VCRs have composite. S-VHS decks typically have S-video and composite, but almost never have component. W-VHS (analog HD) usually has component, S-video, composite and MUSE decoder output (because those decks primarily were a Japanese market product). D-VHS typically had component, S-video, Composite, ieee1394/FireWire, and sometimes HDMI.
Sync is mixed with video in every analog connection standard so as long as the deflection standard of the source matches what the decoder expects it should work on composite video, the green jack of component (which is monochrome video + sync), or the monochrome line of S-video (which is the same as the green jack of composite only lacking support for HD scan rates in implementations I've seen).

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Oh, baby, baby, Baby.... What I wouldn't give to have that Bad Boi.. But I can only imagine the Hellfar 'n' Brimstone my Wife would unleash if an Advent Video Beam showed up on our doorstep.... She'd "Advent" MY "Video Beam", I wonder what I'd look like w/it hangin' outta my Posterior... She's an old Army Nurse, she knows way more tricks of the trade than I ever thunk of.. I found out a LONG time ago, it was foolish to even try to "One-Up" her, you can't do it.. If things hadda gone south for the Army in WW2, no problem, the army coulda just put a couple squadrons of Nurses in there, & the War in Yoorup woulda been over Toot Sweet..

Advent my video beam! LOLOL