I was at a junk/antique shop in our "Old Market" area a few weeks ago and found a 23" Chromacolor 2 buried under some stuff. It looked lonely so I brought it home :banana: Works perfect, fantastic picture, and was only $20.00. (and yes... I did check and it has the orange 4 lead cap) I have a question tho, as I can't find the year on the set and was hoping one of you would know. It's a 23FC45 chassis, uses a 23VCEP22 picture tube, and the model number is F4547M Does anyone know what year this one is? Thanks!

The set is SAMS 1453-3. It should be around 1974 or 1975. IS it a space command set?


polaraman

I figured it was around that era, altho I wasn't sure. Zenith kept using that Chromacolor 2 chassis for years. (I think from 1973 thru 1979) Anyway... No it's not a space command. Wish it was! My 1979 19" System 3 in the bedroom has Space Command tho!

This is my 13" Chromacolor II. (13KC10) It has a 13VAMP22 CRT. It was a thrift store find. I got it because of the Space Command. I use it as my bedroom TV. Don't have to get out of bed to swith channels. :deadhorse This set has a date code of 1978.


polaraman

sweet set! I remember selling those in the shop. I can tell it's a last generation Chroma as it has Color Sentry from the looks of it. Is the CRT delta or inline? If it's inline, it's one of Zeniths first "tri-focus" tubes.

Zenith had a habit of using letters for model years. A=1970 B=1971 C=1972 so F will be 1975. I think I remember they skipped I in the 70's and they are model years not production dates. I have a "J" "1978" model space command 19" that is still being used as a bedroom set.

The neck on the CRT is rather small. I do not know what it is. The CRT socket is one of those funky 70's sockets. The CRT is really strong on this set.

This set tips the scale at 50 pounds. For a small set it weighs a ton!

polaraman

Zenith also made an inline 23" tube but it was mostly used on the System 3 sets, although some of the last Chromacolors may have used it. My 1979 Zenith uses a Chromacolor II chassis and delta gun 23" tube, however it does not say "chromacolor" on it, just "Zenith Space Command".

...

Those picture tubes are Zenith's triple focus "E.F.L" in-line tubes that were used in all of the System 3 sets. The tubes were designed for the System 3, but Zenith wanted to get some out in field and rolled some out for the last of the Chromacolor 2 chassis sets. I had a 19" Chromacolor 2 I got brand new that had that set-up. I traded it in a year later for a 19" table-top System 3 with an all wood case with OSD and space command. I wish I had that set today!