I do hit the estate sales every so often, and there usually isn't much to write home about, but a recent sale just around the corner from me turned up the following:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/ZenithPortConsole.jpg

The little Zenith portable looked like it hadn't been turned on in years, but it also looked pretty "complete", so powering it up revealed the result above. The CRT seems real strong, in fact the brightness is turned down quite a bit for the picture. It's from a smoker house, so you're viewing that picture through a nice thick layer of cancer. Naturally, the tuner and controls are dirty. I don't really have a need for this set, but it survived 35+ years and still makes a pretty decent picture, so I figured it deserved a pardon from the skip (I learned that word from Coronation Street) More proof of Chicago's finest for the "best" TV thread.

The console, well... uh... Anybody need some System 3 parts? Cosmetically, it's in nice shape, but I'm guessing the CRT has about a million hours on it. Took about 5 mins of warming-up to produce the picture you see.

Although not technically a TV (Perhaps we could include non-audiophile console stereos in this forum?) I also grabbed this sharp Danish-Mod Grundig:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/GrundigConsole.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/GrundigControls.jpg

This one sounds like it has some loose parts inside, so I haven't powered it up. I really have no place for this one, but again wanted to grant a pardon from that dumpster in the sky. The cabinet is a real dark and shiny (walnut?) veneer, and a door normally covers the controls. Even has the German instructions and schematics.

All of these pieces owe their lives to a soft commercial real-estate market... Meaning they are stored at a commerical building I own. I have no room at my house. They'll either hit the 'Bay, or maybe somebody has an interesting trade??? (I'm coming to Chicago next weekend Doug :D ) I'll offer the system 3 Chassis (or the whole thing) to anybody who wants it for the cost of shipping.

Heading to another sale today in a higher-end 1950s brick-ranch neighborhood today... Wish me luck!!

Oh yeah sorry for the small size, but here's the mandatory picture of stuff in the back of an old Dodge truck!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/truckTV.jpg

:banana:

Carmine, I'd LOVE to have the Grundig, but gettin' it down here to Tennessee would require a miracle on the order of the Loaves 'n' Fishes, I'm afraid....<Sigh>-Sandy G.

Nice sets. I remember when those System 3's came out. Very pricey in the day. They ended up being the "real" Zenith's last major innovation. That chassis and picture tube were truly revolutionary for its time. However I have noticed that now, as 25 years have passed on the System 3's, they either have a great picture or a lousy one. There seems to be no in-between, and those in-line tri-focus tubes have not held up like the deltas have. I have yet to see a bad tube in a Chromacolor 2. I had one of those inline 23" tubes replaced in a System 3 around 1990 and it was expensive. Wonder if they are even available now?

The 25" system 3 tubes seem to not be very long lived. I got one of those system 3 25" sets in high school and it had the ferroresonant transformer just like in the Chromacolors. The crt was awful, though, it was so weak.

The weird thing is, that on the 17 and 19" inline System 3's I have only seen good crt's and on the 25" sets have seen mostly weak ones. Maybe the 25" sets got more of a workout as the smaller sets were more likely to be bedroom sets, I don't know. I do have a 23" system 3 and its CRT is good, though.

Wonder why Zenith chose to make the inline 23" crt? Most other makes dumped the 23" crt when tube type sets went out of favor in the early-mid 70's.

Did all of the 25" system 3's have inline CRT's

Yes. ALL System 3 sets had inline tubes. I went to a seminar in 1979 or 1980 that was sponsered by Zenith concerning the System 3 line. They were named System 3 because the whole "chassis" on that set was on 3 main modules. The picture tube is in in-line tri-focus. Hence the name "System 3" . They were a vast improvement over the Chromacolor 2 chassis which I believe had 80% of its chassis on modules, but you still had the whole mess of the 20% that wasn't. I don't know why Zenith contined to put out the 23" tube. We sold quite a few of em tho. And yes.... I did notice how many bad tubes I see on the 23" and 25", but have yet to see one on a 19" .

I remember seeing those 23" System3 sets at K-mart as a kid, (late 80s). They were usually the only console-type sets, or should I say "consolette", as it was usually a metal cabinet with legs. I think they were one-knob tuning style.

Back before we had one-year wonder Chinese garbage at Wally-mart, I think this was the entry level way into big-screen color. I know a lot of those sets ended up in bars/bowling alleys/etc.

Even back then I wanted one, I knew they were the end of an era. :pity:

I owned 1 of the 25" versions just before I got my 27" Advanced System 3 from 85' which still has a strong tube.My boss got the System 3 as a trade and gave it to me.Mine had digital tuning but turn volume non-remote.From what I saw the tube was strong when I first got it and then went downhill quickly.It was about 11 years old when I got it in 93' it was an 82' model.Picture was great at first.After about a year the red started getting weak and streaking and it got worse.Fleshtones were never right anymore.Found my present tv just in time and unloaded it at an auction.The tv I had before that was a GE 25" YA chassis the last one with a large neck inline tube.Put a flyback in that one and also watched a seemingly at first strong tube go south within a year.I guess the 3rd time was the charm after unloading my grandmother's old Sylvania from 1975 that the instant on feature and many hours of use finally made the tube weak.Weak green and red.Blue tint to it no matter how you tweaked it even with a brightener.Wouldn't rejuvenate.Got tired of blue grass and gray suits and whites being blue.Unacceptable to me but fine for someone getting a tv on the cheap.My grandmother saw nothing wrong with it.You know how some people get used to gradually deteriorating pictures.Was mad at me for selling it.Was awful to me.Too bad it was a 21".If it was 25" I could have probably found a good used delta tube to fit it.That Sylvania was a workhorse.

I got an 83 Zenith 25" color set, with space command, at an estate sale last week. The first solid state set I've had in a few years, but it was in such good condition, like new, (even the remote) I couldn't pass it up. It still had the 'owner registration card' attached to the back of the set, and a 20 year old battery in the remote. It works great, one of the best pictures I have ever seen on a tv. I never really got into collecting and repairing soild state sets but I really like this one. Its strange, I get nothing but tube sets from the late 50's through the early 70's for a few years, and I get an 83 Zenith and a 48 Motorola in the same week.

Would you be interested in getting rid of the color port.? Is it tube, as I think it is? If you do, let me know by e-mail. Thanks. I agree. The system 3 was the last of the true sets by Zenith.

Too late! I got it yesterday. Am going to use it to lure Doug to Detroit for ak '06. Had to clean it up before bringing it in the house. Look at these pics! The cabinet was sticky from nicotine and the knob trim was more of a gold instead of the silver they were when new. When the dust was removed from the chassis and components it also revealed a yucky nicotine coating as well. Looks like someone smoked a lot then quit as the top layer of dust covering everything was gray instead of the brown stuff. Either way, this one was NASTY!

To coine a phrase from a past kids' tv show favorite, "Yucky, Phooey!".

Cool finds. I still have a 1982 System 3 we bought in early 1983 and is still our daily watcher to this day. The TV will turn 23 next month. The picture tubes is showing it's age a little for about 5 or 6 years or so but after a minute to warm up, it has a great picture.