New from Northern Ohio

[adwriter825]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new member and have been reading the postings and see that there are many enthusiasts of older style television sets.

Could you please offer some advice as I am at a loss for how to proceed since I really don't know much about old sets.

My parents assembled a Heathkit colored console TV. I think it was in the late 60's or maybe very early 70's. It is still in their basement, but has not worked for years.

Based on what I've been reading, there may be a market for either the whole TV or parts? If the tv can be repaired, recycled or used for parts we'd like to see that done rather than having it hauled away to the landfill.

I'd sure appreciate any ideas or thoughts on this TV. I found an image online that is the same model as theirs as I forgot to take a photo when I was at their house a few days ago. Thank you!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...tart=0&ndsp=37

[Electronic M]

Most sets that age need some work to function properly.

If it's a tube based model as the caption on the pic indicates then you should have no trouble selling it. I'd say its worth, not knowing CRT condition, between 35-150$ depending on physical condition and who in the area wants it. If you were closer to Chicago I'd probably be tempted to make you and offer.

If it has a significant amount of sentimental value to you then you may want to consider getting it fixed and keeping it. Not many repair shops will touch them or do a good job, but there are a decent number of hobbyists around who would be able to do it. On tube based TVs the rarer parts tend to be less failure prone, however near annual repair work is needed if used as regularly as a modern set would be.

Please don't trash or recycle that set. Heathkit TVs that old are somewhat rare.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by adwriter825

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new member and have been reading the postings and see that there are many enthusiasts of older style television sets.

Could you please offer some advice as I am at a loss for how to proceed since I really don't know much about old sets.

My parents assembled a Heathkit colored console TV. I think it was in the late 60's or maybe very early 70's. It is still in their basement, but has not worked for years.

Based on what I've been reading, there may be a market for either the whole TV or parts? If the tv can be repaired, recycled or used for parts we'd like to see that done rather than having it hauled away to the landfill.

I'd sure appreciate any ideas or thoughts on this TV. I found an image online that is the same model as theirs as I forgot to take a photo when I was at their house a few days ago. Thank you!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...tart=0&ndsp=37

Where in northern Ohio are you located? I'm in Lake County, 30+ miles from Cleveland.

[adwriter825]

Thank you for the information and thoughts on the TV set. This gives me hope that we should try to do something with it and find a new home for it if possible.

[adwriter825]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Where in northern Ohio are you located? I'm in Lake County, 30+ miles from Cleveland.

We're in Medina County which I believe is about 45-50 minutes from your area.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by adwriter825

We're in Medina County which I believe is about 45-50 minutes from your area.

Thanks much for the reply, and welcome to VK. I was just curious as to your location since I don't see many posts here from northern Ohio; that is, VK has members in this area, but not too many, or at least not many who post to the forums often.

Medina County is perhaps an hour from where I live in Lake County. You are closer to Akron than to Cleveland.

[radio nut]

I am in Lima, oh. 1 hour south of Toledo. Welcome!

[electronjohn]

Welcome to VK!

[NowhereMan 1966]

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I had to move out of the house I was living in after Mom passed away. I was near Pittsburgh PA, but now live in Jefferson County in Ohio.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by NowhereMan 1966

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I had to move out of the house I was living in after Mom passed away. I was near Pittsburgh PA, but now live in Jefferson County in Ohio.

Good to hear from you again. I was beginning to wonder where you were. I know you said you had to move due to your mother's passing (I know how that is--I found myself in the same situation 15 years ago after my dad passed), but I didn't know where you finally wound up until I saw your post tonight.

[bars&tone]

Welcome! My sympathies on the passing of your Mother.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Yeah, I live in Jefferson County, closer to Wheeling than Steubenville and in fact, I talk to the Wheeling hams on occasion. I'm near the Ohio River in the Ohio Valley and I only pick up two stations, WTRF in Wheeling on 7 and WTOV fro Steubenville on 9 while each have three subchannels. I'm currently watching Wonder Woman on METV, Ohio Valley. I have to give up my non working 1970 Zenith console but I still have the 1982 Zenith as well as my 1969 Sony B&W VT-110 and a Commodore color monitor. I still have Mom's Vizio flatscreen and gained a 25 inch Zenith console from 2002. The 2002 model, ironically, Mom was looking at back then for just in case we needed to replace the 1982 Model. I still work near Pittsburgh at a department store and the drive is long but I live here to be close to my grade school friend who is like my brother. I have two cats, Spunky, she is 14 and Rascal, he is 7. BTW, being down in a hole, Pittsburgh TV stations are out but at least I still get MeTV.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by bars&tone

Welcome! My sympathies on the passing of your Mother.

Thanks, it is still tough, I miss her very much.

[Jeffhs]

I just looked at the local over-the-air TV channel listings for the Wheeling-Steubenville area and found that you can get all three networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) from channels 7, 9 and a subchannel of channel 7, plus two PBS channels, so even if you are in a poor signal area for Pittsburgh TV you can still get the same network programs you were watching when you were in Pennsylvania.

I don't know if you've considered basic cable, but that could be an option if your OTA TV reception is poor. Digital TV is especially dependent on strong signals for good pictures, so unless you are in a strong signal area you may have problems with the signal breaking up, or you may not get certain channels at all.

I have basic cable here where I live (30+ miles east of Cleveland), but only because I cannot get two major TV stations OTA with an antenna. (I can see many stations using the OTA antenna, including NBC, ABC, and PBS from Cleveland, as well as two independents from outside the area.) Seems that the two stations in question, on channel 8 (FOX) and 19 (CBS), transmit on DTV channels 8 and ten, respectively, which my digital antenna cannot receive. (The other local Cleveland stations transmit on UHF DTV channels, so I see them just fine.) This is too bad, since the subchannels of these two channels (Antenna TV and MeTV, respectively) are the ones I watch the most; I like TV shows from the '60s and '70s, the time period during which I grew up. I have many DVDs and VHS tapes of TV shows from that era, so I am almost never at a loss for something to watch on TV. I don't especially care for most programming on the major networks these days, so the only thing I watch on any network (unless something special pops up, which isn't often) is the evening news on NBC (channel 3 from Cleveland) and, outside the networks, my DVDs and tapes. I have the entire ABC network run (five seasons) of The Odd Couple and seven seasons of Quincy, M. E. (which ran on NBC from 1976 to 1983) on DVD, both of which starred an actor named Jack Klugman, and the first or first and second seasons of several other '60s-'70s TV series as well.

Glad to hear you were able to get a Zenith console TV from the early part of the 21st century (2002). These sets were made, I believe, just before the company's reputation went sour. Don't know if yours has a bad CRT or not (Zenith TVs from the mid-'90s until the end of the CRT TV era had CRTs that were prone to shorts and other problems that often damaged other parts of the TV, such as the video output stages, and also had HV regulation troubles), but if your set's tube is still good it will probably make a good picture, as Zenith had a reputation for quality long before LG (the Korean electronics firm that bought them out in the late '80s or nineties) got hold of the company.

Good luck in your new area. Since you have an old friend near there, as you mentioned, it will be easier to get used to the area as you will not have come to town not knowing anyone. When I came here 15 years ago, I didn't know anyone, but I eventually found out that two old friends of mine I grew up with and went to school with now live in towns not far from here. We now keep in touch with one another via e-mail; it is as if none of us had left our home town (a suburb of Cleveland) at all.

I am also back on the air, so to speak, with my amateur radio station, although my HF operations from my apartment are digital using Echolink, an amateur radio linking application that links users' computers to traditional amateur stations. I am also on 2 meter FM, being a member of a local radio club which has a repeater (N8BC/R, 147.81-21 and also on 440) in the next town south of here. There is a club net that meets on that repeater every Thursday evening at seven o'clock; I used to check into that one quite regularly but got out of the habit. One of these days (probably next week, if I don't forget), I'll check in to that net again.

73,

[mcontini]

My wife and I built one in 1979 or so, but gave it away years ago. It worked fine and when it failed, I was able to remove each module and test it according to the assembly manual's instructions. They are fairly easy to test. Ours, as I recall, had no tubes - all integrated technology. It was a 25" color set that we installed into a large entertainment center cabinet I built. Served us well. I assume the picture tube will be the most challenging unit to replace.

Originally Posted by adwriter825

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new member and have been reading the postings and see that there are many enthusiasts of older style television sets.

Could you please offer some advice as I am at a loss for how to proceed since I really don't know much about old sets.

My parents assembled a Heathkit colored console TV. I think it was in the late 60's or maybe very early 70's. It is still in their basement, but has not worked for years.

Based on what I've been reading, there may be a market for either the whole TV or parts? If the tv can be repaired, recycled or used for parts we'd like to see that done rather than having it hauled away to the landfill.

I'd sure appreciate any ideas or thoughts on this TV. I found an image online that is the same model as theirs as I forgot to take a photo when I was at their house a few days ago. Thank you!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...tart=0&ndsp=37