RCA 721TS... Now What?

I am a Newbie in the world of Vintage TV sets but have collected old Philco Radios for years. Last year I picked up an RCA 721 at a garage sale... couldn't pass up the deal. I know I cant plug it in until it is checked out, but since I have never delved into TVs before, I am out of my league with this. My first thought is to have someone local to me (Southern California) take a look at it and see what repairs it might need. Can someone here recommend someone to me?

However, since I have had it for a year and still have never done anything with it, If I decided to just sell it, what would be the most appropriate forum to sell something like this (ebay, garage sale?).

The set looks like it is in great condition with nothing missing (except the back cover), even the cabinet looks really good. I would prefer to keep it if I can get someone to check it out and give it the thumbs up. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

[bgadow]

Look at this as a really high-end, kinda complicated radio. It will need a complete recapping-all electrolytics & paper caps. If you have recapped radios you can handle this. It would be nice to know if the crt is any good; a basic crt tester could tell you that. There are probably some members in your general area, and they may be able to help you out.

[jpdylon]

Welcome Shaver!

I would honestly hold on to that set. THe first thing to do is to test the CRT. If the picture tube is still ok, you have won half the battle. Then I would test the power supply transformer (if it has one) and make sure there are no shorted windings. If that checks ok, then its time to replace all the paper wax capacitors.

WHere abouts in so-cal are you. If you are anywhere near san diego, I may be able to help out.

Hey thanks for the responses!

I dont have the equipment to really test the inner workings beyond that of a basic tube tester. On radios, I would do what I could from clean up and tube testing and then would turn it over to someone far more experienced than me. So the types of testing you are suggesting are probably way out of my experience level, unless it is far less complicated than it sounds.

Jordan, I live in the Temecula area, but work in San Diego so I am not too far away in that respect. I definitely would like to keep the set, but my wife doesnt like the idea of my keeping a hundred pound paperweight and I guess I cant really blame her. To have someone do the type of work you are describing, what would be the cost range?

Chris

[jpdylon]

Costs usually depend on a few things. 1. cost of parts 2. time it takes in replace parts. work area (determines time needed to replace parts).

Personally I have never worked on a 721ts nor do i have a sams folder for it. I would be happy to look it free of charge. Send me a PM with further contact details of you are interested. From there we can determine the costs needed to repair the set based on its condition.