View Full Version : So who has the oldest Daily Watcher?


kx250rider
01-01-2006, 01:37 PM
I think this was touched on in other threads, but I am wondering who is watching the oldest set as primary. I don't mean having a vintage set hooked up that you watch somewhat regularly, I mean the MAIN TV in the house.

To open the discussion, Len Horowitz in LA has a CTC-4 as his daily (and only cable-connected) TV. I have the 1972 Zenith 25" set, which we watch every day, and is the only TV connected besides the smaller bedroom set that we use to go to sleep by but seldom watch a program on.

Charlie
01-01-2006, 03:50 PM
My main daily watcher is my CTC15 Beauchamp. It plays all the time... and many times I'm not even in there watching it. That's a bad habit i need to break.

This set was pieced together using 3 sets. Cabinet from one, chassis from another, and the last set donated the picture tube (which I took to Dallas for rebuild). The main chassis repair was a new flyback. Since then, I've only had to change a 6GH8A... I think it was a month ago when the color crapped out.

Unfortunately, about five days ago, I turned it on to find a hum bar in the picture and sound. Not good. The lytics are still the originals... so I suspect one of them went south. Perhaps I'll luck out and find a tube developed a H-K short.

The photo below of the screen shot came out that way due to bad timing... I snapped the shutter just as the picture was changing. I decided to keep the photo because I thought it looked somewhat ghostly and it was kinda neat looking.

hotrod54chevy
01-01-2006, 06:41 PM
HOPEFULLY i'll get my magnavox workin soon and i'll have a '54 as my daily watched set
frank

Big Dave
01-01-2006, 07:41 PM
My Archie watcher is the big Zenith combo noted on my website. It was made around 1965. My other sets only see about 2 hours a week of playtime. Once I get my in-house caqble system, I will be able to watch on any set I choose (or all of them). I had found a shitload of RG6 coax in a dumpster on a jobsite I was working at. From my Primestar days, I saved splitters and connectors. My oldest working set might be either my Andrea or Philco 12". Since I want to preserve the tubes in these, I will not use them on a daily basis. The Andrea uses the metal 16GP4. For me, there is something about the Zenith. Since I mostly watch DVD's of old shows, this set would be most "period correct."

Carmine
01-01-2006, 08:12 PM
Well I've already been blown otta this contest, but here's a shot taken about 5 mins ago...

1978 Zenith Space Command

It looks kinda weird because I snapped it with the lights OFF, then photshopped everything BUT the screen.

My living room set is a 1990 27" Zenith, but honestly the computer room set shown here is the one that sees most use.

Chad Hauris
01-01-2006, 08:58 PM
Our living room set at home is a 23" 1979 Zenith Chromacolor II w/ space command.

Charlie I would change those caps in that ctc 15 now. I had some that started to go bad and ended up shorting out.

drh4683
01-01-2006, 09:31 PM
For me its a 1969 16Z7C50 chassis Zenith "Lundberg" with space command 600. Have been using this as the main daily watcher for the past 2 years. in the bedroom is a 1967 (20X1C38) zenith space command 600 table TV on the dresser. and in the computer room, a 1972 zenith (20CC50). The rest of the vintage TVs are on display and get turned on every so often.

vintagecollect
01-01-2006, 10:50 PM
Those rectangles are great! You really do collect classic entertainment. Perfect for that groovy retro look.


I used to have an old RCA VCR like that, their first consumer model in 1977, VHS. Pretty much sold cheap to neighbor when I moved, shouldn't sold it.

kx250rider
01-01-2006, 11:49 PM
Thanks for the info... Those are ALL nice sets to be envious of! It looks like mine is the middle of the road agewise. But one thing I notice: Most of these daily watchers are Zeniths :scratch2: ... I think this echoes what has been the buzz for many years about how the Zeniths of the 60s and 70s stand apart from the crowd for quality.

So at this point, Len's CTC-4 is oldest. Let's hear from the rest who wish to comment in the next week or 2. At one time in the early 80s, I had a 12" Hoffman 1949 B&W as my daily set :thmbsp: . It was NOT RECAPPED EITHER!!!!! But then again that was 25 years ago.

Just for the record, I thought about it today and my NEWEST set (not counting a couple of friends' TVs here for repair) is a 15 year old Trinitron 13".

Charles

blue_lateral
01-02-2006, 02:39 AM
My daily watcher was a 1964 CTC-15 based Silvertone until a couple of years ago when I last moved. The crt was getting weak, and I really didnt have room for a console. The tube has been rebuilt at Hawkeye, and the chassis is on the bench right now getting aligned. When I get it put back together I suppose it will be my daily watcher again, If I can find room for it.

John

jstout66
01-02-2006, 09:20 AM
When my CTC-16 comes back from being repaired it will be my oldest daily watcher (1964) My current line up for watchers now is: Bedroom: 19" 1974 RCA XL100 Office: (which see's the most use and where the CTC-16 will reside) 1984 25" System 3 console and finally in my basement work-out room I use my 19" 1979 System 3 SC

oldtvman
01-02-2006, 10:13 AM
ctc 9 winslow

Adam
01-03-2006, 01:21 AM
For about 6 months, a few years ago, when I first started fixing TVs, the only working set I had was a 59 Magnavox b/w console. For a while I mostly used a 72 Zenith 21" color hybrid for about a year, then switched to a 67 Zenith 25" color console (which I am avoiding now until I change the filter caps in the power supply). For some time I favored a 70 Zenith b/w.
Lately I have so many sets that I tend to rotate which sets I use regularly. Some sets even after they are repaired don't make it into the rotation, smaller portables, sets with weak CRTs, etc... Lately I have watched alot of my 61 Zenith 23" b/w, my other 59 Magnavox b/w console, and 68 Zenith 21" color. For the past few days I have been watching alot of VHS, which I almost exclusively watch now on my 83 Zenith, so I don't get that 'wavy' picture at the top of the screen.
I plan to fix up that 63 Philco color to the point where I can use it as a daily watcher. I watched some DVDs on it for a few hours this afternoon, and it dosen't really have any visible problems, just some dirty controls.

Tom_Ryan
01-03-2006, 10:20 PM
...I grew up watching B&W sets, so not to be too old fashioned, I'm a pre-color post WWII guy. My daily watcher is a well maintained RCA 8TS30. When I want to watch a somewhat bigger picture I'll warm up the RCA 8-T-54 which uses a round glass-metal 16GP4 (non-aluminized!) tube. Periodically, I'll tell my wife that the Dumonts' are coming for diner. She knows I'll be eating in the living room watching something at least as old as me and probably (she thinks) just as tempermental - it definitely means I won't be eating the kitchen. If I decide to join in some family viewing then one of two 25" RCA Colortrack 2000's (1985 vintage) are required viewing - they form the rest of the family daily watchers - neither has ever been serviced, they get at least 5 hours of use per day and they CRT's are just as bright as they were 21 years ago. Golly gee, they must have been made on a Tuesday - both were assembled in Prescott, Ontario. :D

Alas, the Ryan household is not entirely confined to the stone age (post Gen X), in my study I keep a 36" Mitsubishi high definition color monitor ...for those special moments, in case I want to watch symphonies, operas or Heifetz or Horowitz reruns. The PC get some use too, and movies like Cliffhanger or Das Boot take on a surreal appearance. Even Robinson Caruso on Mars (Laser Disc version) is awesome. Of course, on those really far out occasions I'll crank up the Sony VPH-G70Q and dazzle the everyone with an 10 foot wide home theater experience in the family room. I do have a bunch of roundie colors but they're not daily watchers for me. Guess they could be...but Turner Classic Movies in B&W are a waste on those babies.

frenchy
01-04-2006, 12:36 AM
Those rectangles are great! You really do collect classic entertainment. Perfect for that groovy retro look.

I've always preferred roundies because they are so odd looking to people who didn't grow up with them... not as round as say a Porthole Zenith, but round nonetheless. You know, so odd looking that they stop looking old, and start looking COOL!
But now that HDTV will be taking over, with it's widescreen format, over the years it will make even old 4:3 rectangulars start to look weird and strange... and COOL! : )

bgadow
01-04-2006, 02:04 PM
Its been a long time since I had a tube set as daily watcher. There was a long line of them through the 80s & 90s, my favorites being the CTC-31 that CaptainMoody has now, a great Philco-Ford rect. console that I really miss (late 60s) & then for a short while I used a 4 tube Zenith (that drh has now). Since then, though, its just been my Grandfather's 1991 NAP Sylvania. I would love to bring one of the old timer's up front but I really don't think Kim would go for it!

Charlie
01-04-2006, 02:31 PM
The set I always watch in my bedroom is a '72 Zenith 17" b&w portable. I forget how many tubes are in there... maybe 5 or 6 at most. I got it for 5 bucks nearly ten years ago. The set looks like new. I've never done a thing to it other than clean the dust out once or twice. Still has all the original caps and tubes, and still plays perfectly. People have often commented on how well these Zenith portables hold up... and I can understand why. This one has been a great performer and well worth the 5 bucks.

Steve McVoy
01-04-2006, 02:58 PM
I don't know if this qualifies, but we run our 621 and 630, plus our 1947 Telejuke all day Saturday and Sunday when the museum is open.

Richard D
01-04-2006, 07:36 PM
1969 Symphonic B/W portable 3" received as a gift for Christmas 1969 and depending on whats on a 1984 Panasonic CT-101 1.5" color CRT both in my workshop/computer room. I have a 46" rear projection Mitsubishi in the Family room but I almost never watch that one. I have one of them on when I am in the room for background noise, if it is completely silent I have a problem working on electronics. Right now I have am working on a Onkyo 5 Channel monster that my neighbor dropped from about 5 feet, power transformer (about 20 pounds) bent and cracked the powersupply board. Several dozen point to point wires should do it.
Richard.

compucat
01-09-2006, 11:39 AM
Right now my oldest daily watcher is the 12" Zenith portable featured in my avatar. My first TV was one like this and I just love the style and build quality of the '60s Zeniths. This set was a thrift store find, has required very little work over the two or three years I have had it and the performance is great. If my wife would not object, I'd sell off every newer set in the house, buy a big three-way Zenith roundie combo and live in the past forever. For daily service, I definitely prefer a Zenith tube set. I am thinking about getting an early to mid '70s Chromacolor 19" or 13" for the bedroom if I can find one.

Charlie
01-09-2006, 01:45 PM
Compucat:

I love your signature line... Zenith: The tube goes in before the back goes on.

:D

peverett
01-09-2006, 09:51 PM
I heard this one from one of a former member of my antique radio club.

Philco-the quality fell out before the name went on.

Obviously he was not impressed with the quality of Philco products.

dewickt
01-09-2006, 11:19 PM
My daily watcher is not all that old, started life as a 1986 Sylvania 31" with a NC4 chassis, got updated to a Philips GR1CX chassis with PIP in 1991 and a new Philips 32V CRT in 1995 has been turned on 24/7 since 1989 and the current CRT has 96,000+ hours with the chassis fully recapped once.

frenchy
01-10-2006, 12:08 AM
My daily watcher is not all that old, started life as a 1986 Sylvania 31" with a NC4 chassis, got updated to a Philips GR1CX chassis with PIP in 1991 and a new Philips 32V CRT in 1995 has been turned on 24/7 since 1989 and the current CRT has 96,000+ hours with the chassis fully recapped once.

Must been a b**** recapping it while it was turned on : ()

dewickt
01-10-2006, 08:30 AM
Zat why I got the shakes an glow in the dark....

southernguy
01-12-2006, 12:01 PM
Here is my 2 Daily Watchers that I have had going for several months now. Ive been watching the CTC 16 as a Daily set since September. Here lately the Silvertone (1966 CTC 15 like set) on the right has been put through alot of use. The origonal problem with the silvertone was that the horizontal hold would not lock. I discovered a good smack on the side would cause it to lock. Pulled the chassis out and looked for possible causes. Found that the Horizonal OSC coil was not making a good connection to the board. Resoldered it last week and it has fixed the problem for now. Ive got 4 more roundies, 2 that im getting close to being done with. Biggest problem is finding a good spot in the house for them. My sets seem to get moved around before they settle to one spot.

kx250rider
01-12-2006, 12:10 PM
VERY NICE!

I think the last time I saw two round sets turned on together was 20 years ago at the Salvation Army store.

Charles

Keefla
01-12-2006, 03:22 PM
XBOX on a roundie eh? that must look real cool.

RetroHacker
01-12-2006, 03:27 PM
I'd still like to see Pong on a hi-def plasma screen.

-Ian

Charlie
01-12-2006, 03:44 PM
I recently bought one of those newer versions of the Atari 2600 at Walmart. I think it's called Atari Flashback, or something like that. It's at my parents' right now. We've been playing it on their 36" Hitachi. Guess I will have to bring it here to try on a roundie.

vintagecollect
01-12-2006, 03:56 PM
...

Charlie
01-12-2006, 05:49 PM
Someone here (from AK's very early days) had a photo posted with 3 roundies all playing James Bond... I think two were ctc 7's, and the third set may have been a 10. It was a really cool photo to see the three sets all playing together.

Actually, I think it was winter and they were looking for a heating alternative in that part of the house! ;) :D

Steve McVoy
01-12-2006, 05:54 PM
How about this picture:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/five_working.html

Charlie
01-12-2006, 06:02 PM
:thmbsp: THAT photo, my dear friend, ROCKS!

bgadow
01-12-2006, 10:35 PM
I don't think anyone can beat that photo!

Sort of a challenge...I have posted in an old thread a shot of 2 of my roundies running (my avatar is half that picture) but I think I could get 5 of the 6 I have in one shot. Maybe I'll try that this weekend. Hmmm...there is supposed to be a cold snap coming before long!

kx250rider
01-13-2006, 02:14 AM
I can't compete. :tears:

But I could post an MP3 of 6 Toyota Diesel engines running all at the same time :banana:

To see 5 15GP22s in one photo is remarkable. To see them operating is UNSPEAKABLE!!!!

Charles

ceebee23
01-13-2006, 01:38 PM
the pic is stunning!!! and just think of their combined value now ..let alone in 1953!!!

my own oldest daily watcher is a 1976 Sony KV1800AS ..standard 1970s Sony trinitron ...no roundies downunder :(

the old girl chugs on ...but could do with some love and attention ...the blue is a bit sick ..but she keeps working!

frenchy
01-13-2006, 02:18 PM
I recently bought one of those newer versions of the Atari 2600 at Walmart. I think it's called Atari Flashback, or something like that. It's at my parents' right now. We've been playing it on their 36" Hitachi. Guess I will have to bring it here to try on a roundie.

Geez I remember buying an Atari 2600 'mini' version that came with 10 game carts about 10 years ago, this machine will NEVER die! : )

bgadow
01-14-2006, 10:45 PM
Well, I thought this would be akin to herding cats but it worked out okay. Each set has its quarks. From left to right: CTC-12, CTC-11, CTC-5, Zenith 25MC30 & 25MC33. Only the 11 & 5 were getting a strong signal-I didn't have enough splitters & cable to have them all off the same source. Looking at the pics you can sure see where they came up with the saying "Never Twice Same Color". Later I was able to compare the 11 & 12 with the same program & they were real close in reproduction. There is one more, a 15, but I couldn't get it in the picture. This was fun; I didn't think of it until later but this was, like, 125 tubes running at once!

Charlie
01-14-2006, 10:51 PM
Great photos! In the meantime, the rest of the neighborhood is suffering a minor brown-out! :D

Pete Deksnis
01-14-2006, 11:45 PM
But I could post an MP3 of 6 Toyota Diesel engines running all at the same time :banana: Now if you could bring back smell-o-vision and bottle some of that pungent exhaust... :yes:

kx250rider
01-15-2006, 12:13 AM
(PETE) Yes & no.... The odor would be french fries. Mine are fueled by soybean oil!

(BRYAN) That's a GREAT shot! All those sets on, and I don't see you running back & forth tweaking controls to keep them locked in :thmbsp:

BTW: I see that Emerson 21" round-front B&W set ontop of your CTC-5... Is that from Southern CA? I had one like that with near the exact scratches on the Left side. I think Richard Rawlings got it from me about 10 years ago. Just curious...

Charles

bgadow
01-16-2006, 09:57 AM
No, the Emerson was local. A friend of a friend inherited her grandfather's house & it was in the attic. The cabinet is pretty beat up but the set actually worked when I got it, but real weakly. I do know that somebody, way back, bypassed the fuse. Someday I'll go through it & get it working right again.

The CTC-5 likes to jump out of whack every so often but it behaves long enough for a picture. The biggest trouble was the 25MC33 which has tuner problems (loose wire, I think) & so would just barely stay in tune. Its in bw because it wouldn't lock in on the color picture-I later determined that this was caused by intereference from it's neighbor because when I turned the other Zenith off I could tune it okay. It also has a defect which gives the pic a yellow hue. I've read what causes it but have not yet done much of anything to this tv since I brought it home. That should be an outstanding set when I get done with it.

vintagecollect
01-26-2006, 10:32 PM
My daily watcher is a 1965 Zenith model 5215, chassis 25MC33, just keeps humming along. My various avatars are from this set. Here's a pic..

vintagecollect
09-08-2006, 05:45 PM
...

David Roper
09-08-2006, 06:31 PM
Geez I'd forgotten this thread until now. Tom still (?) has the oldest of the oldest daily watchers, but I can now report that it's by a much thinner margin:

http://tvontheporch.com/images/img_3136.jpg
I watch my 1949 Sentinel 12" console every day.

EDIT: Why yes, in fact I think I did forget which forum I was in. :arrow: Sorry!

ha1156w
09-08-2006, 11:34 PM
DRH4683: Wow! You have my TV! I just bought a set identical to your 1967 Zenith 20X1C38 at an estate sale. It looks just-out-of-the box and hasn't a scratch on it, even the remote! Boy that sucker is HEAVY! The brightness leaves a bit to be desired, but doesn't look as though the set's ever been cracked open for service. Eventually I'll get the time to give it a going-over and bring it back up to par. My 17 y.o. nephew got the biggest kick out of changing the channels by jiggling a set of keys, which he discovered completely by accident.

For me its a 1969 16Z7C50 chassis Zenith "Lundberg" with space command 600. Have been using this as the main daily watcher for the past 2 years. in the bedroom is a 1967 (20X1C38) zenith space command 600 table TV on the dresser. and in the computer room, a 1972 zenith (20CC50). The rest of the vintage TVs are on display and get turned on every so often.

Sandy G
09-09-2006, 07:46 AM
Aww, man ! I remember the "Jiggling-keys" trick from when I was a kid...My grandad had a '68 Space Command in his office, & that was great jolly fun to make the TV turn on/off, change channels...I remember I could have had that set in '89 when he died, & they cleaned his office out, but in those days, I had nowhere to put it, & it needed a little "help" by then..But it was an extremely low-hours set, he only watched it when Something Big was going on...<grin>

Bobby Brady
09-09-2006, 12:26 PM
Sandy,
What happened to your dad's set and what kind of work did he do to have an office with an expensive console TV in it?
Back in '89 I was also to uneducated to see much of the future.

compucat
09-10-2006, 09:09 AM
It's not the oldest daily watcher depicted here but I think it rates honorable mention. I am currently watching my 1957 RCA Victor 8" portable. It is the version without the built in aerials or the tilt stand. I fully recapped it about five years ago and it is in pristine condition inside and out. It had obviously been well cared for. The CRT is strong and bright and it is like watching a new TV. I have it hooked to a VCR for all-channel reception. I plan to use it until I restore my Zenith color roundie.

drh4683
09-10-2006, 09:23 AM
ha1156, Nice find! Glad you were able to save it. Just curious if yours has the plastic door like mine, or if it has the silver metal door. This set actually is the first table color set with remote control. Its the only year the logo on the bottom door says "COLOR TV (color emblem) ZENITH"

NowhereMan 1966
09-10-2006, 07:20 PM
Let's see, I still watch a 1982 25" Zenith System 3 console but in my room, I have a circa 1966? B&W Sony VT-110 TV/Monitor that I run my Playstation on when I home home from work to unwind.

ha1156w
09-10-2006, 11:12 PM
Mine doesn't have the badge, but it does have an AFC switch protruding through the door, near the UHF knob. I did finally do some more clue-searching and find out that the actual model number of mine was B6208-4 (huh?). The original model tag had faded so I assumed it was the same model as yours. I suppose it is in fact the later model. But my door is brown metal and woodgrained on the outside instead of silver, strange no? What year was this set really made? I'll get a picture up as soon as I'm able.

ha1156, Nice find! Glad you were able to save it. Just curious if yours has the plastic door like mine, or if it has the silver metal door. This set actually is the first table color set with remote control. Its the only year the logo on the bottom door says "COLOR TV (color emblem) ZENITH"

Steve D.
09-11-2006, 12:34 AM
ha1156, Nice find! Glad you were able to save it. Just curious if yours has the plastic door like mine, or if it has the silver metal door. THIS SET ACTUALLY IS THE FIRST TABLE COLOR SET WITH REMOTE CONTROL. Its the only year the logo on the bottom door says "COLOR TV (color emblem) ZENITH"

Admittedly off topic.
Maybe the first 25" Zenith color table w/remote. Although, I think, they produced a roundie table w/remote. RCA made the first color table model with remote. The 1958 CTC-7 "Whitmore" model.
Picture courtesy Ed Reitan's site.

http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/Gallery/images/CTC7_Late/CTC-7_Whitmore300.gif

-Steve D.

kx250rider
09-11-2006, 01:21 AM
Yes, and there were early 60s Zenith roundie remote color sets in metal table model cabinets. But those were huge. Most of the ones of that type I used to work on had been bought as Built-Ins. There was one that they kept dragging out of the prop storage to use in The Rockford Files. The same black oriental 21" color roundie remote set showed up in several episodes, but in several different settings :nono:

Charles

drh4683
09-11-2006, 10:51 AM
you guys are both correct regarding the first in remote sets. I should have been more specific, the set I have is zeniths first rectangular table set with remote.

ha1156, your set B6208 is from 1971 (the letter "B" designates the model year, in this case B is for 1971 models) Your set then would have the 14A9C50 chassis. I scanned the page out of my 1971 zenith product sales binder. The 1971 zenith products binder is the only one I have (about 2" thick) of nothing but color photos/specifications for every single product from zenith that year. You actually have the very last of this cabinet style. This styled of set was no longer available in '72.

KentTeffeteller
09-21-2006, 09:54 AM
Hi,

My wife and I still use our 1962 Zenith Space Command Color Combo set. It's a roundie! Nice color even to this day! The remote still works!

Carmine
09-21-2006, 10:00 AM
I don't think I've ever seen a combo/roundie Zenith set. Have any pictures?

Did you buy the set new?

KentTeffeteller
09-24-2006, 06:43 PM
Hi Carmine,

I don't have any photos of it! We got it secondhand and restored it ourselves. The set belonged to a neighbor who bought it at G @ C TV in Knoxville, TN on 12-5-62. It cost $1,097 then new! The phono, AM, FM, and open reel recorder worked well. The TV had bad retrace lines and needed much work. The CRT tested 90% emissions! After recapping the set, replacing all substandard tubes and a convergence job, it gives us pleasure! The cabinet was super nice and needed no work. We overhauled the record changer, the open reel deck, and the stereo receiver while we restored the TV. We have another Zenith roundie combo we are restoring. It was made in 1964! Bought at the same dealer on February 13, 1964, my birth date! On this one, the TV and phono need work.

Aussie Bloke
09-24-2006, 08:26 PM
My main telly I watch is a late 1970s Toshiba colour set which gives awsome pictures, it has the occasional brightness flicker and high pitch frequency squeal which can be fixed each time with a thump but it goes good. I've attached some snaps of my telly switched on viewing Paul Hogan Show, Countdown, An Evening With Fred Astaire (in PAL) and Howdy Doody Show (in PAL).

Cheers
Troy

Sandy G
09-24-2006, 08:32 PM
Troy- Too bad you don't have/can't realistically get a roundie...Think you'd love it...

Aussie Bloke
09-25-2006, 12:05 AM
Maybe if I one day become a rich bugger I suppose I can import a roundie from the states and run it off a 240/115v converter transformer, and smooth motion convert some of my PAL DVDs to NTSC using AVISynth and view them on it. Would be cool to view some Aussie programs on a roundie such as The Footy Show, Paul Hogan Show, Neighbours, Countdown, Pizza, Norman Gunston Show, Rove Live etc...

Cheers
Troy

Jeffhs
09-25-2006, 02:24 PM
The oldest TV in my apartment is my Zenith 19" Sentry 2 from 1995. Still works like new, great picture and all, although the paint is starting to wear off the cabinet in spots on top. The set may have 11 years on it, but in terms of actual usage, it's only four. The reason I say this is that I only used it as a daily watcher the first four years I had it; the last seven it's been sitting in my bedroom, being used only to back up the RCA CTC185 in my living room and to cross-check when the cable goes out or acts up. The fact that the Zenith was actively used only four years would likely explain why the set still works so well, although I would think the Sentry 2 model, being the little brother of the System 3 series, would have pretty much the same great picture and so forth the System 3's always had--and would last as long. I think that, the way my Sentry 2 is going now, it should last at least a few more years; in fact, I hope it does, as I intend to put it back into daily-watcher use when my CTC185 RCA eventually goes bad. The way the RCA has been running, however (seven years with only one very small repair and a fantastic picture on cable, VCR and DVD), I may not be putting that Sentry 2 into daily use again for some time.

I also had a Zenith Y121 12" b&w solid-state portable TV, bought new in 1978. The set went 22 years without one bit of trouble and was still going strong, original CRT and all, when I got rid of it in 2000 (no room in my apartment for three TVs). That set was my daily watcher for twenty-one of those years (replacing a 1969 Zenith 19" SC300 portable), until I moved here in 1999.

BTW, slightly OT, I wish that 1969 Zenith SC300 set would have worked longer than it did (I got it in 1977 as a trash-day find; it went bad the following year--horizontal output tube, hard-to-find 22-volt tube, went gassy and overbiased the AGC system, which in turn almost completely cut off the entire 3-stage IF strip, leaving me with a picture so weak it was unwatchable--and I bought the then-new Zenith solid-state 12" portable the next day). That SC300 set had an excellent picture for its age at the time, and the CRT, as far as I knew, was the original. Couldn't test the remote control functions, as the hand unit was missing (and I think the power tuning drive system may have been stripped or removed as well, as I could operate the tuner by hand with no resistance; there didn't seem to be a manual push button or bar on the front of the set to activate the power tuning either).

If I would have held on to that set, it would be a collectors' item today; not quite an antique, but a classic at 37 years. I suppose I could have found a replacement for the horizontal-output tube, but I wasn't in a position at the time to look all over town for new tubes; the only radio/TV parts store anywhere near my home at that time may not have even had tubes for a TV as old as that Zenith. Where I live now, I have to go to a TV shop in the next town south of here to get service on my solid-state sets; their technicians probably wouldn't know what they were looking at, however, if they saw the inside of a tube-powered set like my SC300, even though that shop has been in its same location since 1947. Reminds me of a cartoon I saw in an old electronics magazine years ago. Two technicians at a TV repair shop had just gotten a tube-powered TV in for repair, and they were stumped when they took the back off and saw all the tubes. One tech promptly turned to the other and said, point-blank, "What the hell is a vacuum tube?!"