Show us your vintage B&W sets!

[Eric H]

Originally posted by Cory
What a beautiful Zenith!

I was having fun looking at the online chronology of RCA cameras and fired up the 'ol 8T241. I still can't believe how clear and bright the picture is on this set

When Marty went "Back To The Future" that set was already 7 years old!



"Oh Marty, nobody has two Televisions!"

[Steve D.]

Chuck,
There is a porthole combo currently on e-bay. It's in Grand Rapids, Mi. I somehow can't get you there directly but the item # is: 2179945608

[Eric H]

Here's a link, it's a beauty!!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3638

[Steve D.]

Thanks Eric,
Try as I will,
I couldn't get that link to work. It is really a deluxe set.

[Eric H]

I just noticed the seller says it needs refinished, looks great to me but then it's hard to tell in photos.

[Jeffhs]

I just looked at that Zenith porthole set on ebay. Very nice 3-way (early) home entertainment center from about 1949 (I remember seeing an old Zenith advertisement for this model not long ago--that's how I know the year it was made).

The cabinet looks good to me. I couldn't see any gouges or other so-called "flaws" the seller mentions, even when I supersized the pictures. I think whomever gets this will be very happy with it, if only for the beautifully crafted cabinet. They don't make them like that anymore.

I hope as well that the person who finally wins that auction knows something about repairing TVs, as most of today's TV repair shops won't touch a set of that vintage with a 10-foot HV probe. The problem the seller mentions, "faint picture on . . . screen", could be caused by something as simple as a misadjusted AGC control, a weak video-amplifier or output tube, a weak or dead tube in the IF strip or, at worst, a weak or nearly dead CRT.

Repairing old sets is not easy in many cases, as I know all too well after having repaired (or at least tried to) many old radios, TV sets, phonographs, etc. picked up from my neighbors' trash 30-odd years ago; again, I wish the eventual winner of the auction the best of luck. Even if they cannot get the television to work, this set ought to make a good radio-phono combo if the TV's audio section works (almost all 3-way sets used the TV audio output stage for the radio and phono as well, and they sounded wonderful with those push-pull output stages, huge woofers and tweeters--they sounded and were built much better than some modern stereo outfits.)

If worse comes to worst and the entire set must be junked, the cabinet can be gutted and used to house a modern TV and stereo system (as many folks on this forum have done). In any case, I think a set of this vintage would be an excellent investment for the right person.

[Jeffhs]

Marlin,

I can't say for sure, but I think your TV repairman friend referred to these sets as "bug eye" Zeniths because of the positions of the volume control and channel selector (both with huge knobs reminiscent of--yup, you guessed it--bug eyes) on either side of the CRT, so the term fits to a T. A very unique design not seen since the '50s.

[ChuckA]

Steve,

I saw the Zenith listing, but Michigan is a little to far for me right now.

Need to find one around the Philly area.


Chuck

[captainmoody]

RCA 630 TS with channel 1

[classicradios]

Here's my latest buy,
Zenith Model H3469E. Listed as a "Blonde" cabinet in Riders TV vol. 6. Color looks a bit darker than a Blonde but Probably darkened over time ?. I haven't begun restoration yet, Looks like a nice summer project. Hope I don't find any rubber coated wire in there!

Jim

[Jeffhs]

Jim, I am no expert, but I think Zenith may have offered that particular porthole set in several different cabinet styles. I just saw the pictures of yours, and am inclined to think you may have a darker cabinet after all, something like oak, maple or even cherry.

I don't think, however, that a blonde cabinet would darken as much as you seem to think yours has, even after 54 years (assuming your set was made in 1949). Some woods do darken with age, but I've never seen light wood darken as much as that.

P. S. I live in a small town near Lake Erie and just love the idea of this set being referred to as a "porthole" model. Sounds very nautical and makes a lot of sense. (I wonder if Zenith got the idea from the fact that, in the 1950s, their main plant was in Chicago, near Lake Michigan, as well as because the screen is round like a porthole?) If I were a betting man (which I'm not), I'd bet a lot of these sets were sold in lakefront and/or coastal communities because of that nautical appearance.

[Jeffhs]

Eric, when I saw the picture of your Philco Seventeener as I was browsing the forum just now, it brought back memories. I had a set like that, which Philco called the "Briefcase 19" (in an off-white cabinet) in the early 1970s, which I picked up from a neighbor's trash; the set served me well for about two years, until I moved and got a new set. The Philco worked well during the time I had it, though (although I had to use an external antenna with it because the dipole antenna in the handle was missing). The set was built like a battleship and worked as soon as I plugged it in after lugging it home (even though this set did not have a power transformer, it still weighed the proverbial ton--making it more of a "luggable" than a true portable).

BTW, I remember seeing the schematic for the "Seventeener" and my Briefcase 19 (the latter having a 19-inch CRT) in an old collection (Beitman, if memory serves) of Philco TV schematics for their line of sets manufactured in 1961. I don't know when the Seventeener came on the market, but my Briefcase 19 dated to '61. This leads me to believe that the Seventeener and the Briefcase 19 used the same basic chassis and cabinet, the only real differences being, one, the size of the CRT and two, slight differences in cabinet color (yours is red, mine was green with the CRT bezel in an off-white).

[ChuckA]

Jim,

That's a gorgeous set! BTW the "H" series Zeniths are 1951.


Chuck

[Eric H]

Was "Porthole" Zenith's actual designation for these sets or is that a nickname that came later?

[Steve D.]

Hi Eric,
I believe "Porthole" is a nickname. Zenith proclaimed these sets as having a "Giant Circle Screen."