What do you really do with your sets?

[zenithfan1]

I rotate mine regularly as far as use goes, some get used more than others. As others have mentioned, It is good to keep the caps formed, parts lubed and ect. As far as '80s and newer stuff goes, I have no room for that stuff. I fix it if it costs little or nothing and then donate them or put them out in front of my house with a "free, works" sign. the rest stays with me until I'm dead or sometimes I sell stuff {not often}. I also have other hobbies that constict my space like a boa. They include antique lawnmowers and other household appliances. I am making videos of that stuff for You tube so I can share it with others instead of it sitting around doing nothing besides me using it for daily life. I love to live in the past as far as technology goes for the most part. Call me crazy, I dont care. I am one HAPPY crazy person!

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

As I mentioned in another thread, I have endured persecution from my family all my life for my hobbies...Even after I moved out into my own house ! When Lauriann & I got engaged, about the 1st thing my mom said to her was, "I sure do hope you can get rid of all those radios & TVs !" Lauriann, however, cemented her relationship w/me right there by telling my mom that she liked the radios & TVs just fine, she didn't see any need to "get rid" of them. My family NEVER really came out & said they didn't like my stuff, it was just the host of back-handed compliments, snarky remarks, & "turd-in-a-punchbowl" looks that let me know LOUD & CLEAR what they thought. Screw 'em. I'd just go get another...(grin)

Hey, this is just like what it's been like for me too, I'm sure we have all endured thas kind of treatmen,t but like you said, "Screw 'em" and I'm right there with ya, go for what makes YOU happy.{ I used to buy stuff just to piss them off when I was a teenager HE HE} But as an adult, I guess 'ya gotta keep the family happy too, BUT, we only live once as far as we can remember.

[zenithfan1]

my computer messed up......uggh....new stuff..

[radiotvnut]

OK, what do I do with my sets? Most of the really "vintage" TV's are either in the shop or the basement waiting on me to get off my lazy butt and bring them back to life. Since most are consoles, there's no way they can come in the house due to space restrictions. I have a working '76 Zenith CCII 19" in the basement, a 13" '86 KTV in my bedroom (just to take up space), and an '85 19" Sony in my "den/computer room". I'm not much of a TV watcher; but, I turn them on fairly often to keep them healthy. I also have tons of tube radios that I pull off the shelf and sometimes use. I'd use them more if there was something decent on AM to listen to.

Originally Posted by Sandy G

As I mentioned in another thread, I have endured persecution from my family all my life for my hobbies...Even after I moved out into my own house ! When Lauriann & I got engaged, about the 1st thing my mom said to her was, "I sure do hope you can get rid of all those radios & TVs !" Lauriann, however, cemented her relationship w/me right there by telling my mom that she liked the radios & TVs just fine, she didn't see any need to "get rid" of them. My family NEVER really came out & said they didn't like my stuff, it was just the host of back-handed compliments, snarky remarks, & "turd-in-a-punchbowl" looks that let me know LOUD & CLEAR what they thought. Screw 'em. I'd just go get another...(grin)

Sandy, I know where you're coming from as far as being persecuted about your hobbies & you are one blessed guy for finding a lady that can accept your radio and TV collection! The main grief my family gave me was because of lack of space. My mother would always say "But, at least I know where he is". I used to hear a lot of crap from my classmates because I am legally blind AND because of my hobby. Of course, they got real nice when they wanted something fixed. I finally had to do what others have done and just say the heck with them all! I'll continue to do what I enjoy for as long as I can.

[Sandy G]

Hehehehehe....Bet you win ALL arguments w/the neighbors on "Noisy Parties"...

[Kiwick]

all of my daily watchers are 70s sets, i have one in each room of my home, one in my lab and another one in the barn i'm sometimes watching while cleaning out the horses stalls... no modern TVs here!

[MRX37]

I set my TV's all around my dining room table and have dinner with them while they bathe me in their warm glow. Sometimes I talk to them, but mostly they say the same old things about how I can save money on this, that, and whatnot.

They greet me every day with the morning news and advise me where traffic has backed up due to an accident. They also tell me how many people died in the war today. Just the thing I want to hear early in the morning... When I get home, they greet me in the evening and soothe my troubled mind with their laugh tracks and bland comedy, as well as the evening news, which is the same as the morning news, but with different people.

Um, just between us, Mr Zenith's CRT is getting weak and I find myself setting the brightness on him higher and higher... he might not be around much longer. Don't tell him I said that though! His feelings get hurt easy, and when he's upset he likes to turn himself off or switch to a channel that's playing a sappy movie.

[Chad Hauris]

I don't care one bit if anyone thinks my collections are strange. I also have a school bus collection (real buses, not toys) and an electronic organ collection.

Actually I have kept the same set in my living room for a while as my usual TV watching set, it's a metal cabinet 23" Zenith.
I have really got back into working on my sets like the ones in the barn and getting them set up again as for some reason I hadn't worked on them in some time.

[zenith2134]

MRX37, that was very funny!

Chad, think schoolbus collecting is awesome if you have the room. Must be really interesting to find an ultra-clean bus with some stories attached, etc

[zenithfan1]

I have got to get one of those damn sirens, that is some cool stuff! I love to get up and watch and listen to the emergency siren that is a block away from my house, they test it every last sat. of the month. I wish they'd set it up in my yard! I love loud noise! {my neighbors hate all of those damn Maggie astro-sonics in my garage that I blast at all hours!}

[bgadow]

I always invisioned those sirens as being smaller than they are. The fire whistles in our town are up on poles which makes them look like maybe the size of a microwave or something. Then, about 15 years ago, we were asked by a local fire company to give their old unit a coat of paint. This is one of those with maybe 12 horns, double stacked. Pretty big. Within sight of my office, about 1/4 mile, so don't call when there is a fire around town.

(If you really want to make enemies fast in a small town, go to a town meeting and complain about the fire whistle. Volunteer firemen do not take kindly to this kind of talk)

[rca2000]

Most of mine are just "waiting"..

I have to admit..that the majority of my sets are just "sitting", in the same condition I found them in. I have 3 storage units, and a shed, garage, and several other "stashes" here and there. (My RCA2000 is in the corner of the family room. My 29jc20, 25LC20 combo, and a GE 810, along with a few other sets stashed there, are in the basement--and climate controlled year around).

WHY??

I guess it is now at the point that I feel "obligated" to save ANY old tv I can (such as ANY metal-cabinet set from the '60's, and ANY Zenith chromacolor set or such, and ALL round sets, BW or color,) from the crush of a compactor truck.I have known of WAAAYYYY too many sets meeting their demise that way. So..it is better for them there..than crushed and buried forever.

Part with them??perhaps. MANY of them I acquired with the intention of "passing them along" sometime,to a "good home' where they would be appreciated, or at least, "protected from destruction", BUT NONE of them will just be "tossed". I WILL just "hold them' forever, if need be. One time about 10 years ago, my sister made some DUMB comment about how I "didn't do anything" with my stuff, and talked about just"having a garbage truck take it all away". I told her and MEANT it--that if that ANYTHNG like that EVER happened-SHE would go out with the truck--and not be allowed back here FOREVER!!

One thing I should mention--I read, or heard, SOMEWHERE, that SOMEONE mentioned that soon, someone was trying to propose some kind of "law" that would make it ILLEGAL for us to "collect our treasures(old tv sets and such), saying that they were "hazardous waste" and to FORCE us to turn them over for crushing and "safe disposal". .

I, for one would NOT let go of ANY of my stuff in that situation, without a FIGHT!! If necessary--with lead.

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by rca2000

One thing I should mention--I read, or heard, SOMEWHERE, that SOMEONE mentioned that soon, someone was trying to propose some kind of "law" that would make it ILLEGAL for us to "collect our treasures(old tv sets and such), saying that they were "hazardous waste" and to FORCE us to turn them over for crushing and "safe disposal". .

I, for one would NOT let go of ANY of my stuff in that situation, without a FIGHT!! If necessary--with lead.

Food for thought at the polls: While I do have friends who are avid Democrats, I have to warn, that NO law like that would ever come from a Republican. It would come from the likes of Gore or Pelosi. If such a do-gooder, "protect-us-from-ourselves" law comes up, just keep quiet about what you have. I am particularly angry about this subject this morning because yesterday I got a ticket (warning of criminal penalties if repeated), because I threw an old Sparkletts dispenser in the trash. While it had no compressor or freon in it anymore, the trash police saw that it "appeared to be an intact refrigeration device". What a mess we have brewed for ourselves.

Charles

[Phil Nelson]

I'm in the same camp as Eric H. and kx250rider. I get the most enjoyment from finding and restoring my old TVs. After that, they only get used from time to time. That may change if I ever finish restoring my RCA CTC-11 color roundie.

As for being forced to turn over your vintage sets for crushing, that sounds like an urban legend. Perhaps you are confusing it with some disposal rules. Around here (Seattle area), you can't throw a junked TV, computer, refrigerator, etc., in the garbage. You have to pay a disposal fee and bring it to a collection point.

I don't have a problem with that. There are lots of things in those devices that shouldn't go into a landfill, and we already have plenty of problems with waste disposal. Much of the garbage from this area is hauled hundreds of miles for disposal in Oregon; think of the fuel cost, for one thing. A few miles from here, the county is building a $1+ billion sewage treatment plant to handle waste from all the exurban development. Instead of processing it as sludge for compost, cleaned water for irrigation (i.e., not drinking), etc., they will build a 13-mile pipeline at immense cost and dump the treated matter into Puget Sound :-(

Phil Nelson

[matt_s78mn]

Hey guys, I know it's tough sometimes, but let's try to keep politics out of the discussion.

Thanks