http://cgi.ebay.com/1982-RCA-COLORTRAK-2000-26-DIAGONAL-CONSOLE-TV-/390151354537?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad6d538a9#ht_790wt_1139

Local Pick-Up Only in Iowa, $35. Apparently only needs minor repairs. Picture looks decent.

http://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-zenith-9-spirit-76-tv-w-paper-work-/400157347895?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2b3c9037#ht_500wt_1154

Bicentennial Zenith. Pretty small (only 9"). Probably only needs a DTV converter box and it's ready to go.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1975-ADMIRAL-SOLID-STATE-9-TV-TELEVISION-RED-EXC-/170545728047?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b5514a2f#ht_2734wt_1139

This is the first Solid State Admiral that I found on Ebay. (Has the EXACT manufactured date on the back---July 29, 1975).


http://cgi.ebay.com/PHILCO-COLOR-TV-TUBE-1970S-Hybrid-table-model-VINTAGE-/360304166050?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e3cd44a2#ht_500wt_928

I know many of you are groaning over the price of this next set. It's very expensive. (No surprise it's from the same seller trying to get rid of his 1972 Zenith for $199). This one is in worse shape though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TV-TUNER-CABLE-BOX-making-TV-remote-control-TEKNIKA-/360273478088?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e1f901c8#ht_500wt_928

This isn't a TV set, but I thought you guys would be interested in this Teknika Cable Box. Although it's being sold by that one crazy seller from Villa Park, IL, it's actually only $12.99 and is compatible with any set that uses screw terminals or coax cables (which is pretty much every TV). (I believe the 300-ohm twin-lead connectors from the rabbit ears attach directly to the screws on the back of the cable box, but correct me if I'm wrong).


Matt

That was one of RCA's better consoles and I think it uses the CTC121 chassis. It probably has loose connections in the tuner and tuner control module.

I had a similar Philco-Ford motel set from around '74. There was a local motel who used these sets up until the early '80's and I knew the guy who worked on them. When the motel upgraded to solid state Zenith System 3's, he ended up getting a bunch of the old Philco sets and he eventually gave some of them to me. I think they loved to eat flyback transformers.

That converter box is an oddball one and I don't think it's a cable company issued box. It uses a 12 position varactor tuner that will allow the user to program whatever 12 channels that are desired. Many TV's and VCR's of the early and mid '80's used the same style tuner.

I wouldn't mind having that little Zenith; but, I'm going to have to hold off for now as I have something else coming up in the near future. At least they are common enough that they show up fairly often, although not always with the paperwork.

That was one of RCA's better consoles and I think it uses the CTC121 chassis. It probably has loose connections in the tuner and tuner control module.

I had a similar Philco-Ford motel set from around '74. There was a local motel who used these sets up until the early '80's and I knew the guy who worked on them. When the motel upgraded to solid state Zenith System 3's, he ended up getting a bunch of the old Philco sets and he eventually gave some of them to me. I think they loved to eat flyback transformers.

That converter box is an oddball one and I don't think it's a cable company issued box. It uses a 12 position varactor tuner that will allow the user to program whatever 12 channels that are desired. Many TV's and VCR's of the early and mid '80's used the same style tuner.

I wouldn't mind having that little Zenith; but, I'm going to have to hold off for now as I have something else coming up in the near future. At least they are common enough that they show up fairly often, although not always with the paperwork.

So the "box" is more of a "Favorites" list for 12 channels, rather than for cable?

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-25-color-TV-FURNITURE-CONSOLE-REMOTE-CONTROL-works-/360241611132?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e012c17c#ht_500wt_928

1985 RCA Console, great picture (comes with original remote control).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Working-9-Tatung-Color-TV-/170543867963?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b534e83b#ht_500wt_928

I don't know anything about Tatungs, but it looked interesting.

I have one of those Teknika boxes. What it is: a remote control unit. Turns any set into remote. I used to have a Jerrold version which used a wire, this one is infared. I have an Teknika 13" color tv about the same age, remote controlled with the original hand unit. It will also work the box, I found.

That Teknika box is basically an analog, cable-ready version of the digital tuners ("converter boxes") sold now, but it also has a power outlet to turn the TV on and off remotely. Jerrold, GC, MCM and other companies have sold equivalents of this over the years as well, but they had full-memory tuners, not the pot-tuned kind.

That Teknika box is basically an analog, cable-ready version of the digital tuners ("converter boxes") sold now, but it also has a power outlet to turn the TV on and off remotely. Jerrold, GC, MCM and other companies have sold equivalents of this over the years as well, but they had full-memory tuners, not the pot-tuned kind.

So if I hooked up one of these Teknika boxes to an analog TV, will I get a signal? Better yet, if I hooked up an old Jerrold or Hamlin cable box to an analog TV, will I get a signal?

No and no.

Only a digital-to-analog converter will convert the digital signals to analog.

No and no.

Only a digital-to-analog converter will convert the digital signals to analog.

So when the government said that we could subscribe to cable service for our analog sets, they meant "DIGITAL" cable? I'm still a little confused sorry. I'd like to know before I put cable on my TV.

Maybe I should rephrase the question: if I hook up my TV to a Hamlin, Teknika, or Jerrold Cable Box, it will not work? (Even though the FCC said that if you subscribed to cable service, you would not be affected by the DTV switch).

What the FCC means when they say you can subscribe to cable TV with an analog TV, or that the TV would not be affected by the over-the-air change to digital TV, is that the cable company will "solve" the "problem" of having a non-digital TV. The most likely way the cable company will do that is to give you a cable box. The cable box will have an NTSC channel-3 output. The signal going into the box may be analog, digital, or a mix. In many places, you can still get some number of NTSC channels on cable TV, and tune them directly with a cable-ready analog TV without a cable box, but this option is steadily going away.

To refine the answer to your question about using boxes, if you hooked up that Teknika box (or a Jerrold or other NTSC cable box), you would only get the same NTSC channels you would on a cable-ready NTSC TV, provided that your cable company still has some analog channels available.

What the FCC means when they say you can subscribe to cable TV with an analog TV, or that the TV would not be affected by the over-the-air change to digital TV, is that the cable company will "solve" the "problem" of having a non-digital TV. The most likely way the cable company will do that is to give you a cable box. The cable box will have an NTSC channel-3 output. The signal going into the box may be analog, digital, or a mix. In many places, you can still get some number of NTSC channels on cable TV, and tune them directly with a cable-ready analog TV without a cable box, but this option is steadily going away.

To refine the answer to your question about using boxes, if you hooked up that Teknika box (or a Jerrold or other NTSC cable box), you would only get the same NTSC channels you would on a cable-ready NTSC TV, provided that your cable company still has some analog channels available.

So in other words, getting a Jerrold or Hamlin cable box would be essentially pointless because I could just get analog cable by plugging the cord directly into the wall?

Yes, more or less, depending on what NTSC channels are still available on cable where you live. Channels 2-13 are the same as on over-the-air (and can be tuned with every TV sold in the USA since 1946). Cable-ready NTSC TVs can tune cable channels 14-36 at least, and most of them can tune up to cable channel 125.