DuMont Westminster Series II 1951

[damen]

It Is in the door on the left side under the record player.

[John Marinello]

Can you post a picture of the tape unit?

[Dave A]

All right boys, here we go. I did visit the set yesterday and some photos follow. I took many more and may have to do a second post to add them for full viewing. I will start here with a longish presentation in the interest of research.

It is in a house being closed out as mom and dad are gone and the sons wish it a good home. The best part is how mom and dad got it. The house is from 1946. The previous owners bought the set in 1951 and sold the house in 1954 to the current owners. They left this $2k set behind because they did not want to move it. A lot of money to leave behind. All the paperwork is there including the control hang-tag to mount behind the knobs for users to follow for proper operation.

This DuMont RA116-A-1 set was the family set until the late 50's they got something smaller in another room and was not watched much after that. I found a CRT warranty tag inside from a change in 1958. It looks to be a no-name rebuild 19AP4A metal-cone from Almo Distributors, a local Phila company. Most other tubes have been changed with many mfrs in attendance. 34 tubes total.

Now the big CRT test...is it any good? The Beltron tells all. I hooked it up and it came up to .4 right away. I let it cook for 30 minutes and got it to .8 just short of the Beltron recommended .85. The Beltron life test ideal is 8-10 seconds before needle drop-off. I got 6-8 and the drop was slow. A winner. One son said that he graduated high school in 1962 and he remembers the set was not watched after that. It just sat.

As for the set. It looks to be the same cabinet as the Westminster I, the lift-out CRT version from 1948 that Chuck A has on his website. Just solid in the middle for a souped-up RA109 to be stuffed in...along with the glorified tuner, timer, tape deck and record player. The cabinet is quite good for the age. Just the usual scuff marks and age. The set is behind a bi-fold door that pulls to the left. Players are in two drawers on the left. Record storage below. A massive tuner/controls/timer panel on the right with the obligatory blank for DuMont UHF to come later. More DuMont inventions to come later.

Inside is 40+ years of dust and a few loose items laying around. One pulled focus tube and some nuts and bolts not put back in the CRT swap. The power cord is rotted. The main chassis is a wide thing that may be unique. And an added audio amp chassis for the players. The tuner/control panel is wide-open on the back with the huge focus dropping resistors mounted right there behind the front-panel focus control. No sign of any damage. The normal DuMont brass panels are quite dulled from age and are going to be a challenge to buff up. There is also a mysterious block of wood to the right of the chassis mounted to the chassis panel base. It is about 5"x5"x3/4" with a 3" hole in the middle and three smaller holes surrounding the main hole. I have no clue what it is for but it is a part of the construction.

I will let others identify the record player and tape recorder. The instructions indicate the tape deck is wired directly to the main chassis to record tv programs. The original Shure mic is with the recorder as is the eye tube.

The tuner panel is unique with the Telechron timer in place. Pull-tabs are surrounding the clock for on-off. The sons said they had a lot of fun playing with that. The tuner is the usual DuMont Inductuner arrangement with the added AM band.

On the back of the chassis is the best find. A RCA connector clearly marked for "color converter"! My Col-R-Tel wheel is 32" wide for a 10" set. How big would this thing be if it was ever made for a 19AP4A?

And just for fun, the sons pulled out a Pilot 3" set they never mentioned to show me as the first family set. They are keeping it for now as it is a good size to keep. They also showed me the original Hotpoint electric stove in the kitchen from 1946. It had the factory deep-fryer option complete with deep-fryer pot. You lifted the back left burner up and then lowered it in it's tub and it became the burner at the bottom for the pot that would drop in to the space. I had to show them how it worked. Of course the original manual is there. It does sell with the house but the new owner may want it gone. Stay tuned.

I am sure I will remember more and am glad to answer all questions as best I can. And yes, I am going to grab it and figure out the problems later. We did negotiate to a point which included them storing it for another day. We met in the middle.

This is not just a purchase, but a great adventure finding a rare item and doing the seluthing that goes with it. This may need more help from nearby AK members to finish this. My house is small and I will need the help.

Dave A

[Phil Nelson]

Outstanding! Maybe on the next go-round I'll come back as a higher life form and run into deals like that

I wonder if the family still has any tapes made with that recorder . . . .

Phil Nelson

[Dave A]

Phil,

You asked the question that I quietly had. This deck has a tape on it that could be some family history with the Shure mic or a recording of the Queen's Coronation from 1953. I should have grabbed the tape to find out. This set is in Philadelphia's "Main Line" territory. The home of very old money and who knows what else is hiding out there.

One of them gave me a tall piece of artwork from a Philco broadcast credits from 1939 that he was in as an actor. It is framed in my living room.

This old money saved everything. I dated a few of their daughters and know them well.

Dave A

[Dave A]

A few more photos until my limit explodes. Cabinet and tuner panel shots including the mystery wood panel with the hole.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Dave A

They also showed me the original Hotpoint electric stove in the kitchen from 1946. It had the factory deep-fryer option complete with deep-fryer pot. You lifted the back left burner up and then lowered it in it's tub and it became the burner at the bottom for the pot that would drop in to the space. I had to show them how it worked. Of course the original manual is there.

My parents had a Bendix brand electric stove (from around 1952 or so), and it had the deep fryer pot feature as well. That stove is long gone, but we kept the deep fryer pot, and it gets used to boil spaghetti. But the sauce is done in another pot. We sit it atop a regular burner. It's made of aluminum and I think my mom once cooked something with tomatoes, and tomato sauce will etch aluminum. So lots of little pits in the bottom. Oops. Heard it said that you really don't want aluminum compounds in the food.

[jeyurkon]

Neat set! Great find! Glad you saved it.

John

[bkharris]

Dave,
I believe your mysterious block of wood is for mounting the yoke assembly/focus coil for shipping , rather than letting it hang on the crt.

Congrats on the great find!

Enjoy

Bryan

[truetone36]

I'd grab that stove too if possible. Those are built like tanks. I just got a matching G.E. electric stove and fridge which had been in a house here since 1957.

[Dave A]

I do know that the stove is part of the sale to the new owners. I do not know if I can rescue it. I will try. Bad photo attached. Stove hijack not intended and another item to store this coming weekend.

Dave A

[bgadow]

I was thinking, if someone could only own one vintage TV set, this would be a good one to own. Something special.

[Ampico-kid]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I think 16 did not show up on changers until after the development of the "Highway Hi-Fi" in the mid 50s. See Dr Goldmarks account here:

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/A...Way/invent.htm

jr

I read the very interesting article on the development of the HiWay HiFi system but the timeline regarding the 16rpm speed doesn't make sense. There were record changers at least as early as 1950 with the 16rpm speed included. The Zenith Cobra-Matic for example. This picture is a 1950 model........ Bob

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Ampico-kid

I read the very interesting article on the development of the HiWay HiFi system but the timeline regarding the 16rpm speed doesn't make sense. There were record changers at least as early as 1950 with the 16rpm speed included. The Zenith Cobra-Matic for example. This picture is a 1950 model........ Bob

Wow! That is a very cool changer... I stand corrected. Wonder what 16 rpm records were available at the time ?

jr

[Reece]

The 16-2/3 RPM speed was originally used for "talking books" which were LP's designed to be used by the visually impaired.