My First Roundie

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by compucat

The last time I worked for a TV repair shop was in 1988. I had to leave it as a profession because I could'nt make a living at it. I now use my repair knowledge to collect and restore sets in my collection.

Yea, the late 80's were a tough time - I painfully remember the old GE AA/AB/AC/EC chassis sets, the Zenith System 3 sets with the bad 9-160 sweep modules (and all the variants, -02,-03,-04, etc), the Korean sets (and Sharp!) with the bad flybacks. Thank God for the VCRs - belt kit and idler tire jobs kept us from starving.

Cheers

[vintagecollect]

[compucat]

Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm

Yea, the late 80's were a tough time - I painfully remember the old GE AA/AB/AC/EC chassis sets, the Zenith System 3 sets with the bad 9-160 sweep modules (and all the variants, -02,-03,-04, etc), the Korean sets (and Sharp!) with the bad flybacks. Thank God for the VCRs - belt kit and idler tire jobs kept us from starving.

Cheers

The Eighties were terrible in many ways but what killed the TV repair business was the widespread adoption of the "disposable mentality" If a set cost anything at all to repair, it went to the dump and was replaced. Long gone are the days were you would have a set repaired for ten to fifteen years before replacement. We collector types are the only ones who still hold to this idea. I actually get a little distressed wondering if I will be able to keep my Zenith roundie working thirty years from now.

I do remember the Korean sets. It seemed like every Samsung that came through the door had a bad flyback. The GEs at that time had their problems but I liked them. They were good performers and had attractive cabinet styles. One thing I did like, however, was that you would still get to work on a tube set once in a while. I hear current TV repair shops won't even look at them.