I was browsing CL last night, I was looking for a CRT or Set for someone else actually and I stumbled on a listing for a vintage Sony, yes it was an 8-301W and the price was $25, and it had the carrying case.

I drove up this morning and got it, he said it makes a raster, it's quite clean except for a few of the vent bars near the Antenna have been cut out, I already have a plan to replace them with Plastic.

The seller is a real nice guy, he knows it's worth more on eBay but doesn't care, he just want's to flip it quickly.
I also bought a stack of 45 records from him for about .50 cents each.

If you are into Audio he has a near mint pair of Blond Wharfedale 60 speakers he'll sell for $50 the pair.
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/ele/3061416555.html
i would have bought them just because they are so nice but I've overextended my budget already this weekend.


Here's the Sony.

NICE!! Didn't even know these had a case. Are all the four knobs in back still intact? Mine were so hard to work with I've now SPLIT two of them :-(

Keep wondering if these ever survive taking the knobs on and off a few times. I had to wrap the two I broke in electric tape and get them back on the pots. Doesn't show...but still a real tacky fix. Tried super-glue to put one back together, but that didn't survive putting the knob back on the pot all the way :-(

Got it home and hooked it up.

CRT is fast to come on and very bright, like new I would say.
Sound is great, all the controls work except the Horiz Hold pot, it hits a certain spot and the set dies and smoke starts to come out the vent holes, turn it back and it comes right back on, most likely the pot itself is shorted.

With a DVD hooked up I can't quite get enough range on the Horizontal (without hitting the bad spot) to get a picture, the sound, vertical, Brightness and Gain (i.e. Contrast) work fine.
It should be easy to get this working but I still want to recap it to make it safe to play.

I think I can make some new vent bars with either Plastic or metal and glue them on from the inside, a shot of Gray Wrinkle paint should make it look nearly good as new I hope.
The Chrome is in beautiful shape, no corrosion and only a few little scratches.
I think this set lived it's life in the Mojave Desert and that's why it's so well preserved.

$25 is a great buy for one of those. They remind me somewhat of Predictas. Not the world's greatest TV, but fun and eye-catching. And if you thought it was difficult to make voltage/scope tests on a Predicta while it's powered up, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

http://antiqueradio.org/Sony8-301WTelevision.htm

I ended up replacing lots of little electrolytics before mine performed (reasonably) well.

http://antiqueradio.org/art/Sony8-301WElectrolyticDiscards.jpg

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I had to just scrape together all the electrolytics listed in the SAMS (except the PSU ones)...and just pull each board. Wasn't until the last two boards (two front ones) that I started seeing dramatic changes. I'd just hafta recap each module and put it back in to see what progress I was making. I was afraid to just keep plugging the modules in and out between EACH recap. The edge connectors and the soldering/trace quality is sorta scary looking.

Still NOT perfect and remains just a LITTLE fiddly...but no longer has the horizontal and linear instability. Also now comes on and is within about five seconds completely awake. It's NOT the sharpest thing I've seen...and do sometimes see it roll the picture once or twice after dramatic scene changes, but it's REALLY fun to watch old Star Trek episodes on it :-)

I had 2 8-301s, One had a bad power supply, but was cosmetically EXCELLENT, I sent it to Kamakiri who had a dog-eared LOOKIN' one that worked. The second I got a year or 2 back that was in pristine shape-Even haf the box, the battery, the electrolytic solution, owners' manual. It did go to Terry's for a re-capping, & works dandy now. They ARE Cute L'il guys...Sorta "Gee, Mr Wizard, its 1960 !" lookin'...They WERE "Bux-Up" toys for 1960, but there must have been a potful of 'em sold, despite the price. I think they're kinda "Iconic" in a way, I can't imagine a half-way serious TV collector without one.

Nice find, Eric!

http://antiqueradio.org/Sony8-301WTelevision.htm

I ended up replacing lots of little electrolytics before mine performed (reasonably) well.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Hi Phil, I looked at your page on this set and it will be very handy when I do mine.

I wonder if those Elna Caps are made by the same Swiss company that makes the fine Sewing Machines?

I don't think so Eric, most I've seen are made in Japan. I think this is a Japanese company that has the same name. Great find BTW, those are really cute sets. I've been wanting one for a long time.

Got it home and hooked it up.

CRT is fast to come on and very bright, like new I would say.
Sound is great, all the controls work except the Horiz Hold pot, it hits a certain spot and the set dies and smoke starts to come out the vent holes, turn it back and it comes right back on, most likely the pot itself is shorted.

With a DVD hooked up I can't quite get enough range on the Horizontal (without hitting the bad spot) to get a picture, the sound, vertical, Brightness and Gain (i.e. Contrast) work fine.
It should be easy to get this working but I still want to recap it to make it safe to play.

I think I can make some new vent bars with either Plastic or metal and glue them on from the inside, a shot of Gray Wrinkle paint should make it look nearly good as new I hope.
The Chrome is in beautiful shape, no corrosion and only a few little scratches.
I think this set lived it's life in the Mojave Desert and that's why it's so well preserved.

In addition to recapping, I'd replace that horizontal hold pot as well. If it has a bad spot that causes the TV to smoke when the wiper hits it, it is definitely defective (shorting a B+ voltage source to ground) and must be replaced to be 100 percent safe. (I don't know why the TV's line fuse or the house fuse, or both, did not blow when the control shorted.) I hooked up an oscilloscope years ago across the contrast control of my Silvertone color TV, which was still working (albeit with a very poor picture) at the time. The high voltage across the control burned a spot on the scope's intensity pot, causing a loud pistol-shot type noise whenever the wiper hit that spot. The scope still worked, but the sound I heard when the wiper crossed the bad spot told me that the power supply was very likely being terribly overloaded. I finally got rid of the scope (and left the TV at the house; long story and OT) when I moved a couple of years later.

There is I think another horizontal adjustment hidden underneath the chrome rail on the right side. I'm at work, so just pulling this out of my ass without having the set here to look at. I thought I remembered a hidden contrast...and then about an inch further back another horizontal. They are on the two front modules at the same height and match up to two hidden holes. Obviously you STILL need to deal with that pot in the back, but you MAY be able to get a picture to sync with the other control. I think it's like a "horizontal range" or something. The rail is held on by a screw in the BACK of the set...so no need to dissasemble the set to just get to that. You undo the back screw and the rail has a little clip WAY up front next to the CRT...and a little pressure fitting keeping it from just FALLING off. Then you'll see two access holes. Shine a light and you'll see two pots. I'm sure you already found the top hole. I think there was a hidden control THERE for linearity as well...or maybe a linearity bias. One is accesible, and the other hidden I think. You have to remove the cover to get there. Those two pots are right next to eachother on the SAME module. No idea why they HID these...especially that contrast one.

Again...I'm at work, and don't have the 301 sitting in front of me. Feel FREE to correct me if I'm wrong.