http://cgi.ebay.com/antique-Pilot-tube-Radio-Television-vintage_W0QQitemZ280259956529QQihZ018QQcategoryZ36 38QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Got a pretty decent raster.

I've been watching that one for a few days , Quite a nice original set .
Really impressive that it is still able to get some decent raster .
US $169.27 is the current bid with 1 day 4 hours left .
Should fetch a pretty good price .

An' it's got the rarely-seen "blue" CRT-Mine's green. That's another postwar TV like the 7" Admirals, that they must have made 3 jillion of. Always tickles me that sellers typically advertise them as "R@RE", & there could be at least 2 or 3 more on Da Bay at any given time. Mine's a little bit better shape cosmetically than that one is, though.

I've been watching that one for a few days , Quite a nice original set .
Really impressive that it is still able to get some decent raster .
US $169.27 is the current bid with 1 day 4 hours left .
Should fetch a pretty good price .

I've always liked these little sets. It would be a lot of fun to have, but I'm getting married in two weeks and can't really shell out the cash right now to add it to my modest collection.

I would imagine that most all the original owners of these 3" sets soon retired them when larger CRT models came out. And ran out and bought a new bigger screen TV, and the 3" ones ended up in the closet. So most of these sets likely have low viewing hours. Which would mean that the tubes should all be good, though the usual suspect caps will need to be replaced anyway.

There are a surprising number of these still floating around. Like the Motorola VT-71 and other 7-inchers, they were cheap!

I have restored a few 7-inch sets and find them pretty unwatchable for an extended period. I can well imagine that many people retired these as soon as they could afford something like a new "big screen" 7-inch or 10-inch TV :-)

Phil Nelson

There was a thriving used TV market in the late 40s and early 50s. New sets were relatively expensive ($400 for a 10 or 12 inch in the late 40s), so as soon as the larger screen sets came out, many people traded in their sets, and less affluent customers bought the smaller screen sets. So many 7, 10 and 12 inch sets stayed in use for years, into the late 50s in some cases.

I've always liked these little sets. It would be a lot of fun to have, but I'm getting married in two weeks and can't really shell out the cash right now to add it to my modest collection.It's hopped out of my price range now at 317.00 with 3 hours left .
I think a 3" pilot will be next year TV purchase , or a VT 71 :scratch2:

Sandy's right , they are far from rare , there is a ratty one with some missing knobs that was put on ebay about the same time as that one was .

here's the link for the other one .
69.50 with 18 hours

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pilot-Old-TV-PT-37-very-collectible_W0QQitemZ330265399135QQihZ014QQcategor yZ3638QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I lucked into a pair of them a few years back-I think I paid $20 total. There are condition issues, and neither had a good crt. A great conversation piece, though. Something every TV collection needs!