Was lurking over at the radio/phono newsgroup and caught this...

"there is a old zenith shop that the owner died in the early 80s. the shop
has been closed up untill recently when the building was put up for sale
there are approx 30 consoles that were set out at the front of the building
just a couple of days ago, there are three early sixties zenith consoles
with the round 21fjp22 tube in them & one of those sets, the tube was
replaced with a new 21fjp22. the rest of the sets are mostly 1966 through
1968 zenith consoles & they all appear to be in pristene condition. some of
them also have brand new crts in them as well.
if you live in southeast ohio, they are close by. the shop is located in
parkersburg wv on dudley ave. these sets are worth getting, however, due tolack of room here, i cant do anything.

c-i-k-o-v-i-c a-t c-l-u-s-t-i-c-k d-o-t o-r-g"
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No one has responded yet... Anyone in the area?

And am willing to go out there,tomorrow, for the roundies, but i need to know if the sets are still there... after all, i am over 250 miles away, and it would SUCK to get there, and find them gone, forever.my minivan should haul all three roundies, with the back seats out, plus maybe a few other things too.

There's another thread on this very topic:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27322

Anthony

I think we are seeing at this point in time the last of the old equipment with its original owners such as service shops and we need to be seeking it out NOW before it hits the dumpster. We were lucky enough to find a shop around here who had started to send old TV's such as round color sets to the dump but were able to step in and save a lot of them (there are still some stored in the shop that we need to get). We were also able to save the contents of another shop that closed down in the area after years of business.

Just recently we were talking with our local piano and organ dealer and they said they had dumped warehouses full of organs, pianos, and parts a few years ago, and had c-3's and b-3's on sale for real low prices, which we unfortunately did not know about.

All of us should search out the old shops in the small towns around us to seek out and save these irreplaceable sets and parts as it seems like there is something going on now at this point in time where a lot of it is ready to be disposed of and unfortunately a lot is going to the dump. In 5 or 10 years there is likely to be NONE of this stuff around except for collectors such as us who have an interest to save it.

I am already seeing this in the solid waste/recycling stream from which I have been salvaging TV's for the past 10 years...in 1994 in a single collection day I got probably 50% tube type equipment, but in 2004 out of 35 sets or so there were only 2 tube sets.

Also in the past couple of years there have been a lot of radio/tv station cleanouts of tube equipment such as ampex tape recorders, film chain equipment, etc. and I was lucky enough to save some of it.

Well.... I decided to take the chance and go out there, knowing that the chance was 1 in4 at the best, that anything would still be there. SO, I removed both back seats from my chrysler minivan, and headed out, mapquest page in hand...

I get there, and what do I see? a bunch of tv sets sitting next to an old tv shop, BUT, there is ALSO a nasty-looking, hungry garbage truck there, also, with two men, constantly feeding the compactor our precious tv's. I tried to stop them, but the one guy said, "those are just a bunch of old, nasty tv's, and they pollute the enviroment.. You do not need them", as the compactor plate munched down on two roundie sets at once... I told the man"I came all of the way from Cncinnati ,Ohio, to get some of these sets, please let me have some of them.. :well, I'll tell you what, you can have one Knob, for your troubles. HA! HA! HA!"

MORE than enough to make a grown man cry, so I had to leave...




ALL DEPRESSED ENOUGH NOW????

Thought I would have a little fun with you all!!

NOW, for the "REAL STORY::"


I REALLY DID go out there, and figured there was only a small chance of getting anything.. After all, the post said "A couple of days ago, the sets were set out. " That probably means about monday or Tuesday ,or so, the chances were, the garbageman HAD come by then, BUT, since there was a holiday this week, MAYBE, they might not had been picked up yet, OR maybe, the garbageman just didn't want to load so many sets, and had left them...and Maybe, the rain hadn't ruined them yet... LOTS of maybes..


WELL! I DID NOT make a trip for nothing!! It DOES appear that the main garbage had been picked up(who knows what may had been in that garbage, probably a lot of nice parts, and such...) , BUT ALL of the tv sets were , and ARE still there!!(minus my load, of 4). I saw FIVE roundies altogether, including the forementioned zeniths' (as it appears, a PAIR of 1966 model 24nc31's, or simlar, and a '65 model or so, maybe a 24mc32 roundie), PLUS. there was a Silvertone(Sears) roundie, with cataracts, and an Admiral, roundie, probably the pull-out control model, as I did NOT see any external knobs) ..

SO, since I only had so much room, I decided that I would save the three Zenith roundies. (sadly ,NONE appear to be space command). AND, I also got a metal-cabinet Zenith color table model, 19" or so. That Is all I could carry in my van. I Had to leave the others.. There are TWO rectangular Zeniths, WITH motor tuning, and ONE, or BOTH of them is a SPACE COMMAND. There were SEVERAL of the Console and table model Zenith(And others) BW sets, but NONE of them looked like S.C. And several other rectangular color Zenith and other sets, including a channel-master.

I did not have a lot of time, and so,I grabbed as many of the knobs on the other sets, as I could, and then, I (Sadly) returned to Ohio. with the sets secured in my van, where they reside now...

It does NOT look like the sets will be picked up tomorrow, and maybe, Someone else can go and get some of the others sets(like the Admiral roundie, or the space command Zeniths(one DOES have a broken leg). As it is, I do NOT know WHERE I will stash these, but, I HAD to try, and save something.

SO, the three roundie Zeniths are safe, and will continue to be.. I MAY part with one or more of them, as long as I know they will go to a good home(AND NOT A MODERN CONVERSION PROJECT).

BRAVO! :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

Wow! Good job Jack!!

It is sad that all of them could not have been saved.


I live in Columbus, Ohio but have been working straight through lately and could not get away to help you TV folks out. Sorry!

Ron

:sigh:

The 19" rectangular set is a Zenith chassis # 20x1c50, I think. that would make it a 1967 model.

The three Zenith roundies are:

(2) 24nc31"s . both of these are '66 models. one has a nicer (more expensive) cabinet than the others. It is sitting on another'c31, from an ebay find, from a couple of months ago(with a piece of fiberboard under it, to protect the cabinets.

the other roundie is a '65 model 24mc32 set, in a nice cabinet(missing the legs). this chassis is a LOT like the 24nc31, BUT has the controls under the speaker, NOT under the tube, lke the 24nc31's . all of the cabinets are in pretty good shape, with little, if any water damage.

all four sets are now in my old storage garage, and two are covered with my sisters blanket, which was in the van before, from a previous tv run(and she is NOT happy about it), on an old dilapadated picnic table in the garage.

Altogether, I think I now have 9 or so roundie color sets, (BUT, NONE of the "good ones, like an RCA ctc-5, or so, YET).

Hey! Let's see some pictures and chassis pics :)

Are they the screw in legs? I might have a set somewhere...

Jack, Nice save....I'd be a real shame to see them all go to the crusher :thmbsp:

I just wish i could have saved more of them. Like... the admiral roundie, the '65 model zenith 25", rect. the TWO 68 or so Zeniths, with power tuning(at least one with Space command), and a couple of the BW sets, from the early '60's.

How strange, my congratulatory post is not showing up....?

Anyway........good job Jack! :banana: Although the way you began your post caused a clinching of the buttocks! Hell, April ain't for a couple of months yet!!

Maybe you or someone else local can go back and leave a note on the remaining sets with your contact info should anyone else stop by to get the sets and notice that the knobs are missing. This may be the pivotal point on whether someone decides to take the sets or not "oh darn it, if the knobs weren't missing I'd take this set" kind of thing, ya know what I mean? The note could turn it around "Ahha! Here's where the knobs are! Guess I'll take the set after all!!" Just an idear.

Anthony

Good onya Jack :thmbsp: ! Glad to know at least some of those tellies are saved from the garbos, hope a few other collectors will pick up the rest.

Good onya :thmbsp: !!!