Into the Future with Our Vintage Sets

[tvcollector]

Hum, I was thinking today, and was talking to a friend and we started talking about how far into the future will these old color roundies will still be working and producing pictures before they become static ojects.. He mentioned about 50 years from now you will probably see them still going.. Collectors will die off and they will be left behind in the hands of people who may just do anything to them, throw them out, propped somewhere for decoration etc.. It's not just a color roundie thing either, even those old B&W round tube sets or sets in general from the 40s 50s and 60s.. I think more than 50 years from now there will be a handful sets still operating with the original picture tubes.. If someone starts rebuilding them again, I think even much longer, but Flybacks may be an issue...

[miniman82]

As long as my jugs still hold vacuum, there will be a picture to see...

[Username1]

Re-winding a flyback can be done by any home hobbyist, Less so rebuilding picture tubes.

[Sandy G]

I've thought a lot about this...IMAGINE being lucky enuff to own a working Roundie in say, 2163 ! 150, 200 yrs old ! Assuming weren't back to living in caves by then, that is..

[jr_tech]

Perhaps having a Replicator machine that could spit out good 15GP22s would be helpful.

jr

[tvcollector]

Funny how I mentioned a machine cloning picture tubes.. Sorta like a 3d printer..

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by Username1

Re-winding a flyback can be done by any home hobbyist,...

Whaa..
Could you elaborate a bit more on that?

[Jon A.]

I think that even sets like mine will be considered collectible by more people in years to come. It's like restoring a Volaré, such a practice may be mocked now, but what will the future hold? For the time being, I'm content to be one of the few, the proud, the... crazy?

[AiboPet]

I have a Lime green '73 Vega GT Kammback that everyone USED to make a lot of fun of....and NOW it gets a whole lot of quirky smiles. First question from those who know what it is? Of course.....How I have kept that motor, and kept on top of congenital rust problems. I have an "under dash" Pioneer "SuperTuner" cassette deck with the big round dial to one side....and still run the "Sparkomatic" speakers in the doors and back. I've even managed to keep some old STYX and CW. Mc Calls ("Convoy" and other "trucker and CB radio" songs) cassettes in good running order and play them sometimes just for fun. I was GOING to find the VERY rare seat bracket for my Sony 303 micro TV for this car...but someone would almost certainly break into it when seeing that. Also...that TV was a "luxury" item for Mercedes Benz...so would be strange in a Chevy Vega :P

I got that car for like $800 back in 1986...because I wanted something weird and familiar to keep running. I am a child of 1980's mechanic classes.

What used to be snickers and ribbing...is now praise and curiosity. That old Vega gets MUCH more attention than the '68 Buick GS400 Stage1 convertible....or the '66 Toronado.

Even my boring little quirky sets will be interesting in 20 years or so....as long as there is still a way to transmit over channel 13 with an inhouse transmitter to the little aerials.

[Sandy G]

Yeah, its the same sort of thing for the VW microbuses...You know, the fancy "Samba" models that had all the little windows on top, along w/the big sunroof ? They were TERRIBLE cars...No power, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, yr feet were the front bumper...But "Price" one today, IF, that is, you can find one for sale at all...You'll be lookin' to drop $30-40 LARGE on one..

[Jon A.]

I'm quite a bit younger than you (AiboPet that is, Sandy beat me to posting), considering the date of the Vega purchase. I'm rather surprised. However, I'm farther back with tape technology, preferring to install an 8-track in a ride of my own. Speaking of trucker tapes, I should try to find myself another copy of Super Slab Hits. Until recently, I didn't know that the 1978-79 Pontiac Sunbird Safari was Vega-based. I like it. Speaking of strange features on cheap cars, I would trim a Lynx interior in leather given the opportunity, and do some subtle mods to push the 1.6 to its power limit.

The transmitter shouldn't be a problem. I see "Blonder Tongue" units mentioned here every now and then; General Instrument made them too.

[AiboPet]

I use a very modest HLLY TVX-50M "Villa" transmitter connected to a set of rabbit ears. I would have liked to run something more vintage...but I run this and a little Archos AV700 media player 24/7 so the vintage stuff always have a signal. A switcher before the little HLLY transmitter allows me to switch between a DVD player, the Archos player....or the COX cable box.

As long as the little transmitter still runs (and I do have a spare one)...and some media player will give it a composite signal....I'm good to go for anything that has a tuner for around 250 feet around the flat. It's digital, so it is spot-on with .5Mhz increments.

"Just above 13" (213.0 Mhz with a 5.0Mhz audio offset)...proves to be a VERY reliable frequency without stepping on anything, and older "VHF only" sets (Sony 301 and 303) can join in the fun. I do have a couple digital tuning sets that HATE this...but I don't care about digital sets that won't cope with the odd "hyper 13" frequency.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by Username1

Re-winding a flyback can be done by any home hobbyist, Less so rebuilding picture tubes.

And you base this on the number of flybacks you've rewound?
It's not so easy, if it were everyone would be doing it.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Our CRT TV sets will be a lot easier to keep running and to demonstrate than, say, an analog cell phone or a first-generation DirecTV receiver.

[AiboPet]

Surface mount technology would keep me from restoring or repairing anything modern. My attempts at working with anything like that have always ended in tears....so no LCD sets, and I've had a REAL bad record with the little tiny Panasonic TR sets.

I just noticed yesterday that my Panasonic TR-1030 now suddenly has a focus problem. I'll likely make the problem MUCH worse trying to figure that out. I have KILLED two TR-1010 sets already that started with vertical problems...and are now "in a basket"