ohohyodafarted
04-26-2009, 02:01 AM
Hi Gang,
I had an epiphany this evening while tweeking the 21CT55. The picture is getting better with each itteration of tweeks, to the point that I am starting to be amazed at how wonderful a picture the set will produce.
So I started thinking about the men and women of 1954, many of whom have likely passed on, whose engineering brilliance created a miracle, with what is by todays standards, stone-age technology.
And then it came to me; something that I had never considered since I became active in this hobby. We start out as collectors, people who collect for the sake of amassing the biggest collection of the most imprortant and most valuable examples, just because we like this stuff. I think that is where I started in this hobby. I liked this stuff, and it is fun to collect and make it function again. But collecting is just a part of the bigger picture.
There is another side to collecting that has another whole aspect to it. I think the word "collector" fails to do justice to the person who has evolved beyond just collecting. The word conservator is probably more appropriate for this person. And I think my epiphany this evening has shown me a whole different side of collecting. Where before, I collected just for the fun and enjoyment of it, I now also collect because it is an important thing that I do. It's a means by which I, and other conservators like myself, pay homage and respect to those brilliant men and women of a bygone era, that contributed so much to the advancement of television.
In 1954, a properly set up 21CT55 must have seemed like a fantastic miracle, beyond the comprehension of the average guy on the street. And frankly it seems like a miracle to me, even to this day, how they accomplished something this wonderful, with stone age technology. Nothing short of fantastic. I am in awe of what they were able to do. It would have been so exciting to have worked for RCA during that era. Those guys really had their shit together.
That was a very proud time technologically for America. I feel proud and priveliged to be a caretaker of such an important artifact of American technology. I think I am now just beginning to understand what kind of mindset, a true collector, or more properly, a conservator of these old sets, has. I think I am now beginning to understand why many of you, who are true conservators of these important artifacts, do this. It is not only fun, but it's of like we are the keepers of a sacred shrine, honoring the brilliant men and women of the past whose genius created these miracuolus things.
The work we do is important. It preserves for all time to come, important tecnological milestones, of one of the most important developments in modern history. Television
So I guess I've graduated. I may not know anywhere near what many of you seasoned television veterans understand about how they work, but I am no longer just a collector of tv's. Now I am on a mission to save and restore important items of technology for generations who will come after me. Generations of people who never saw a vacuum tube or crt in actual opperation. Generations who will look at a 1954 RCA color tv, when it is 100 years old and wonder, "How were they able to do that 100 years ago with that old fashioned stuff"
I would love to hear comments from others of you, who at some point in time, came to their own realization, that they were no longer just collecting, but had graduated to conserving important pieces of history.
Bob G.
I had an epiphany this evening while tweeking the 21CT55. The picture is getting better with each itteration of tweeks, to the point that I am starting to be amazed at how wonderful a picture the set will produce.
So I started thinking about the men and women of 1954, many of whom have likely passed on, whose engineering brilliance created a miracle, with what is by todays standards, stone-age technology.
And then it came to me; something that I had never considered since I became active in this hobby. We start out as collectors, people who collect for the sake of amassing the biggest collection of the most imprortant and most valuable examples, just because we like this stuff. I think that is where I started in this hobby. I liked this stuff, and it is fun to collect and make it function again. But collecting is just a part of the bigger picture.
There is another side to collecting that has another whole aspect to it. I think the word "collector" fails to do justice to the person who has evolved beyond just collecting. The word conservator is probably more appropriate for this person. And I think my epiphany this evening has shown me a whole different side of collecting. Where before, I collected just for the fun and enjoyment of it, I now also collect because it is an important thing that I do. It's a means by which I, and other conservators like myself, pay homage and respect to those brilliant men and women of a bygone era, that contributed so much to the advancement of television.
In 1954, a properly set up 21CT55 must have seemed like a fantastic miracle, beyond the comprehension of the average guy on the street. And frankly it seems like a miracle to me, even to this day, how they accomplished something this wonderful, with stone age technology. Nothing short of fantastic. I am in awe of what they were able to do. It would have been so exciting to have worked for RCA during that era. Those guys really had their shit together.
That was a very proud time technologically for America. I feel proud and priveliged to be a caretaker of such an important artifact of American technology. I think I am now just beginning to understand what kind of mindset, a true collector, or more properly, a conservator of these old sets, has. I think I am now beginning to understand why many of you, who are true conservators of these important artifacts, do this. It is not only fun, but it's of like we are the keepers of a sacred shrine, honoring the brilliant men and women of the past whose genius created these miracuolus things.
The work we do is important. It preserves for all time to come, important tecnological milestones, of one of the most important developments in modern history. Television
So I guess I've graduated. I may not know anywhere near what many of you seasoned television veterans understand about how they work, but I am no longer just a collector of tv's. Now I am on a mission to save and restore important items of technology for generations who will come after me. Generations of people who never saw a vacuum tube or crt in actual opperation. Generations who will look at a 1954 RCA color tv, when it is 100 years old and wonder, "How were they able to do that 100 years ago with that old fashioned stuff"
I would love to hear comments from others of you, who at some point in time, came to their own realization, that they were no longer just collecting, but had graduated to conserving important pieces of history.
Bob G.