Zenith SC300 barn set

[captainmoody]

Anyone interested? Free of course. There are some other interesting sets like an early philco console and such also.
This guy repaired tv's until 1982 when he got in some sort of trouble and fled the state as I have been told!

You sure that set isn't upside down or that you flipped the photo from right to left? The style of that set sure looks that way! LOL

Anthony

[Jeffhs]

Looks to me as if the picture might be upside down as well, as the Zenith crest on the cabinet looks as if the points of the crown are pointing down, rather than up. That or else, as Anthony noted, the set itself may be resting on its top (which, now that I think of it after having looked more closely at the image, makes sense).

BTW, that set's cabinet looks as if it could use refinishing. The set itself looks as if it's been sitting in a damp basement or garage for years or decades. The chassis will probably need the usual going-over as well (new caps, etc).

I wouldn't even think of plugging this in unless it was through a Variac or, at the very least, a 100-watt bulb in series with the AC line cord. The Variac is the preferred method as, of course, the voltage can be brought up slowly from zero and brought down quickly if smoke, sparks or other evidence of trouble are noted.

Yah know, the more I look at that set the more it grows on me.....maybe that's because of all the blood rushing to my head as I'm hanging from the rafters while staring at the picture!

Might that be a remote controlled set? Is it color?

Anthony

[captainmoody]

It's a B/W remote set.

I kinda figgured that for both, was just hoping that it was color.....seems that it may be too early for a rectangular color tube (from Zenith anyway).

Foo....am gonna pass, thanks anyway!

Anthony

[Jeffhs]

I just looked at the pic of the Zenith SC300 in one of my image viewers. Yup, the set is resting on the top of its cabinet, with the legs straight up, as Anthony noted.

The cabinet definitely needs work, but then again I am not surprised; after all, having been sitting unused in a barn I don't know how long (perhaps years or even decades) it's probably been exposed to all manner of dirt, dust, moisture, animal droppings, etc.

The condition of the chassis may be and probably is questionable. As I said in my last post, this set will need a thorough going-over including recapping, replacement of all weak, shorted or dead tubes and cleaning of the tuner, not to mention all controls. DON'T just plug it in and turn it on right off the bat; this may be and likely will cause more damage to the circuitry (if there is a short or other problem in the set) than there was originally.

Please don't take the foregoing personally. I do not mean to imply that anyone in these forums would do such a thing as I just mentioned; I say this to anyone trying to restore old TVs, radios, phonographs or other electronic gear, out of force of habit.

I didn't see the SC300 hand unit with this TV. If it is missing (as I suspect it is), I don't know if it can be replaced (of course, today's universal infrared remotes will not work with the original Space Command systems, as the latter were ultrasonic systems using mechanical hand units to generate the control signals). I'd try to find a junked SC300 with a good hand unit. The only sets for which ultrasonic remotes might be difficult to find are the very early Zenith b&w remote TVs, which had the original Space Commander ultrasonic remote (the hand unit is black, with the four function buttons mounted in a row across the top of the device).

BTW, the Zenith Flashmatic remote sets can be operated (I think, anyhow) with just an ordinary flashlight set on "flash" mode (the beam can be pulsed on and off with a pushbutton above the on/off switch; many older flashlights were equipped with this switch). I offer this bit of advice in case any of us AKers may have one of these sets in which the original Flashmatic control hand unit is damaged or missing.

BTW (2): Flashmatic was a novel experiment, but it fizzled because the remote receiver had no protection circuits to guard against false triggering by stray light beams hitting the photocells. As it was, any kind of external ambient light (sunlight, for example) hitting one or more of the photocells at the corners of the CRT screen could and often did cause all hell to break loose--the volume would go up and down at random, the tuner would change channels unexpectedly, the set would turn itself on and off at random, etc. Viewers wouldn't stand for that, which is likely why the Flashmatic wasn't all that popular at its inception in 1955, and was pulled off the market after only one or two model years.

[Eric H]

Is this any better?

[captainmoody]

Sorry guys but I was by myself when taking the pics and unable to right the 20 or so tv sets that were sitting upside down on top of others!
BTW, After a second look, That 300 was a cool set in it's day but pretty much toast now, It sat by an open window and had no back on it so all the chassis did was get rusty and the cabinet get ruined.
See the set beneath it? It's a oldie that is also moldy yecch!

Speaking of remote (Ultrasonic) controlled sets going nuts......I know more than a few people who could change the channels by jangling a set of keys.

One person in particular had a haunted set as it'd do all sorts of weird things all by itself....sometimes even in the middle of the night. We could never figure out that one.....either it was spirits or a funky circuit.

Anthony