View Full Version : My new to me 1968 Motorola color set


zenithfan1
06-14-2016, 07:31 PM
I worked a deal with Dwight Moody about 6 months ago or so, and I finally got it shipped to me when no other transport became available. It was well worth the wait. :banana: It works fine, just needs a few more tweaks to be ready for daily use.

TUD1
06-14-2016, 07:46 PM
Nice set there, mate.

Jeffhs
06-14-2016, 08:01 PM
I worked a deal with Dwight Moody about 6 months ago or so, and I finally got it shipped to me when no other transport became available. It was well worth the wait. :banana: It works fine, just needs a few more tweaks to be ready for daily use.

That set looks great, for being 48 years old. You were fortunate to get a TV of that age which doesn't need much beyond a bit of tweaking; most TVs from the sixties need quite a bit more work, such as recapping, before they can be used on any kind of regular basis.


BTW, one thing puzzles me. How did you find the room in your van for a console TV? :scratch2: With all your stereo gear in the van as well, it must be awfully difficult getting around in there, unless the van is incredibly large.

zenithfan1
06-14-2016, 08:51 PM
It says right in my post that I had it shipped. When I did have my van, I could put several console sets in there. I would just move the stereo amp and sub out of the way. a minivan with the seats removed can haul as much as a pickup. I once hauled a Harley motorcycle in there lol. The set has been repaired and the CRT replaced, I plan on replacing the remaining old caps and whatever else I find to be suspect.

truetone36
06-14-2016, 09:55 PM
I have its B/W cousin. It's in the shed waiting for a new flyback.

zenithfan1
06-14-2016, 11:44 PM
Does it kinda look like my set?

dieseljeep
06-15-2016, 10:12 AM
I worked a deal with Dwight Moody about 6 months ago or so, and I finally got it shipped to me when no other transport became available. It was well worth the wait. :banana: It works fine, just needs a few more tweaks to be ready for daily use.

Motorola built slightly different versions of that chassis for about four years running. TS914,918,921. Your's is the TS921, the last of the run.
Naturally, the first two runs used 23EG's. The last runs used a 25X or 25A type. The chassis was really reliable, the CRT's, not so.
40+ years ago, I installed a Zenith ChromaColor CRT in a set like yours. The original CRT was an Admiral, EIA 101. :thumbsdn:
The set owner said that the picture was good for about two years and went downhill fast.

Electronic M
06-15-2016, 11:27 AM
40+ years ago, I installed a Zenith ChromaColor CRT in a set like yours. The original CRT was an Admiral, EIA 101. :thumbsdn:
The set owner said that the picture was good for about two years and went downhill fast.

Twas the admiral jug that died fast right? If the chassis killed a CC-CRT in two years something had to be very wrong.

Jeffhs
06-15-2016, 01:17 PM
It says right in my post that I had it shipped. When I did have my van, I could put several console sets in there. I would just move the stereo amp and sub out of the way. a minivan with the seats removed can haul as much as a pickup. I once hauled a Harley motorcycle in there lol. The set has been repaired and the CRT replaced, I plan on replacing the remaining old caps and whatever else I find to be suspect.

As I said in my post, your Motorola console TV looks great for being nearly fifty years old. I bet the picture is good as well, especially if the CRT was replaced (I wouldn't expect a 48-year-old CRT to be much good today, especially if it saw a lot of use by its former owners; did the original tube have a brightener?).

Also, if the set has been repaired, it should work almost as well as it did the day it was manufactured. It will be even better once you replace any questionable components, as would be expected.

Motorola made excellent TVs when they were still in this country (their main plant was in Chicago, if I remember correctly). My former stepmother, now deceased, had relatives (her folks) in West Virginia who owned a 19" Motorola portable b&w TV with a front panel that looked like yours; in fact, the front panel of your set reminded me of it.


BTW, I had no idea your van was that big, or that a minivan can haul every bit as much as a pickup truck if the seats are removed. When you said you once transported a motorcycle in that van, I was convinced the vehicle was big enough, and then some, to accomodate at least one console TV.


I didn't know you had moved, as your location was listed for some time as "in my beat-up green ford van..." with no indication of an actual city of residence. I was just curious as to your present location.

DavGoodlin
06-15-2016, 02:37 PM
What a sweet piece. Love working on those, but saw few.

Put it next to your SK77 stereophonic :)

dieseljeep
06-15-2016, 08:10 PM
Twas the admiral jug that died fast right? If the chassis killed a CC-CRT in two years something had to be very wrong.

The original Admiral sourced jug is the one that failed. AFAIK, the Zenith CRT was perfect.
That Motorola chassis was very reliable, more so than many. :thmbsp:

truetone36
06-15-2016, 10:11 PM
Does it kinda look like my set?

Yes it does. Same cabinet style , bezel, and knobs (though not quite as many knobs).

zenithfan1
06-17-2016, 08:53 PM
What a sweet piece. Love working on those, but saw few.

Put it next to your SK77 stereophonic :)

Not a bad idea! :thmbsp:

truetone36
07-10-2016, 02:37 PM
Does it kinda look like my set?

It looks nearly identical to your set.

TUD1
10-11-2017, 11:59 PM
How has this set been doing? I might be getting one almost identical soon, and I'm trying to glean as much information about Motorolas as I can.

snelson903
10-12-2017, 12:02 AM
vary nice set you got there zenithfan1.....

zeno
10-12-2017, 08:42 AM
BTW, I had no idea your van was that big, or that a minivan can haul every bit as much as a pickup truck if the seats are removed. When you said you once transported a motorcycle in that van, I was convinced the vehicle was big enough, and then some, to accomodate at least one console TV.


Got a new Dodge Caravan last year. With the seats folded down you
can carry 4X8' plywood flat. Easy 3 or 4 consoles. All for
about $20 K. Damn handy thing to have but I still rather drive my
old Crown Vic.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

DavGoodlin
10-12-2017, 08:50 AM
This Motorola was one of the last flat chassis wasn't it? The TS915 was the first works in a drawer. All the 1969 and later models were WID. Some were hybrids and others all SS.

DavGoodlin
10-12-2017, 08:54 AM
Yes it does. Same cabinet style , bezel, and knobs (though not quite as many knobs).

I had one of those 23" BW consoles, it was a 1965 or 66 and had the same control layout.

Electronic M
10-12-2017, 11:24 AM
I've got a table model with a similar control panel and near identical chassis....Wish I could find the UHF and On-Off/vol knobs for it.

DavGoodlin
10-12-2017, 09:05 PM
I've got a table model with a similar control panel and near identical chassis....Wish I could find the UHF and On-Off/vol knobs for it.

I forget the UHF style but did it match the VHF but with a different shaft, and was it just a larger version of the on/off?

I checked my spares and did not see one but I did find the fine tuning - a double-flat larger shaft yet looks the same as the on/off, a half-shaft

old_tv_nut
10-13-2017, 12:09 AM
...The original CRT was an Admiral, EIA 101. :thumbsdn:
The set owner said that the picture was good for about two years and went downhill fast.

That sounds like an Admiral CRT. Motorola at one point made a deal to buy Admiral CRTs for some Moto sets. The engineers at Moto were all grumbling predictions that we would be eating a lot of warranty costs on those. Don't know what Admiral's problems were (poor evacuation? dirt?) but they were the first to offer extended color CRT warranties with their sets (2 years) and that really wasn't enough.

dieseljeep
10-13-2017, 10:06 AM
That sounds like an Admiral CRT. Motorola at one point made a deal to buy Admiral CRTs for some Moto sets. The engineers at Moto were all grumbling predictions that we would be eating a lot of warranty costs on those. Don't know what Admiral's problems were (poor evacuation? dirt?) but they were the first to offer extended color CRT warranties with their sets (2 years) and that really wasn't enough.
The Motorola set that had the Admiral CRT was a lower-end model with a inexpensive cabinet. The set itself never needed repair up to the time, the CRT needed replacing. Another problem with that chassis was the video output tube, 6LY8 was overtaxed and needed replacement often. No sub would work well.
Another quirk was replacement of the 6LE8. The replacement had to be a Motorola branded one, either a Japanese or GE sourced one. Using an RCA or other brand, the tint range would be affected. :scratch2:

dieseljeep
10-15-2017, 10:57 AM
That sounds like an Admiral CRT. Motorola at one point made a deal to buy Admiral CRTs for some Moto sets. The engineers at Moto were all grumbling predictions that we would be eating a lot of warranty costs on those. Don't know what Admiral's problems were (poor evacuation? dirt?) but they were the first to offer extended color CRT warranties with their sets (2 years) and that really wasn't enough.
Could be a strong possibility, that helped management decide to discontinue the manufacturing of TV sets. The Galvin family was still running the firm.
They probably made as much profit on a pocket pager as on a TV set, without the warrantee problems.

zenithfan1
10-16-2017, 06:02 PM
It's been doing well, since a lot of it is still original, it gets kinda crabby sometimes but always looks good after it's warmed up. I watched a lot of movies and anime on it with a great picture.