Roundies

[Sandy G]

Advertisements-I remember seeing-HERE IIRC, an ad from 1968-69-70 of some big guy holding up a metal-case Roundie, grimacing, & the line was "Full-size Color TV for $349.95" or somesuch. It obviously was a bare-bones set, but it WAS a Color TV, & in the late '60s, to a LOT of people, that was still kinda special...

[zenithfan1]

Hey eberts
Hmmm. It's funny that a "junk" Tv still works fine over 40 years after it was made.{mine does} in fact, the only problems I've had with it is the SOLID STATE stereo. Resistors change value no matter what they are in, not just tube sets. A modern heater pulls about 1100 watts, tvs hardly consume that much power. The biggest set I have pulls less than 400 watts.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by eberts

The old Magnavox home theaters may have been top of the line at the time, but today they are junk.
The old tube sets ran very hot, tube sockets would desintigrate, resistors would change value, circuit boards, and copper foil traces would oxidize into pure carbon. Some drew more current than today's electric portable heaters.
Some customers were told, "just leave the back off of the TV, so it doesn't get too hot." Maybe fans were too noisey then ?
I had one customer who "had to have" their Magnavox fixed.
I pulled out a 6GH8, the tube socket and half of the printed circuit board came out too.
I found another chassis to use, and 2 years later the customer broke down and bought a solid state TV.

I did not realize those Magnavox stereo theater sets ran that hot, nor did I realize the sets used that much electricity (as much as an electric heater). Did they really draw as much as 500 watts or more? I know the old large-screen b&w sets (the television alone) drew close to 400 watts, but what was it about the Maggie consoles that caused them to draw so much current when only (for example) the television or the stereo components were in use? I don't think one could operate the radio, phono and TV in one of these units simultaneously; that's the only way I can figure the set could draw anywhere near 500 watts if not more. The power transformers in those sets must have been monsters, weighing perhaps 50 pounds or more as well.

In 1970, I had a Sears Silvertone 21" roundie color TV (RCA CTC15 clone) that worked well the first three years I had it, then it developed hum bars in the picture and color sync problems, not to mention the convergence was awful (I did not have a dot/bar/crosshatch generator at the time--I tried to get by with setting the convergence using the vertical line that showed with the service switch in the service position, which may have done some good for center convergence but other areas were as bad as they were before I started). While trying to replace the 6AW8 video amplifier tube, I pushed just a tad too hard on the tube and....crunch! The tube socket and the part of the PC board on which it was mounted broke out of the circuit board and promptly clunked to the bottom of the cabinet. I tried to resolder the socket to the main board; no luck. I wound up using a 1961 Philco b&w portable the next two years until I moved, then I left the color set right where it was as it was unusable at this point (there was a raster and sound, but with no video the set was useless to me). I later found another Silvertone color set and used it another couple of years, until I bought my first solid-state color TV in 1979, a Zenith L1310C 13" portable. I've had solid-state color TVs ever since, although I do have a collection of antique/vintage Zenith radios, all but two of which are tube-powered. I don't worry about tube-socket problems with those sets as all Zenith radios and TVs, until the '70s, were built on solid metal chassis and were hand-wired.

[Oldstuff78]

Zenithfan1....Thanks for the offer to help. I haven't seen the set in person, so It's like buying a pig in a poke. Doug told me a little about it. Since, I don't have TV experience (only audio) and the equipment to test, I asked Doug if he would let Tom bring it down to him to see what is wrong with it and see if it can be fixed. I of course will pay him for his time and effort.

Tom hasn't taken the set down yet....I think he and Doug are supposed to work out a deal. I gave $ 75 for it, which is probably a lot for a non working set, but I wanted a Roundie. $75 is a lot of money to me, where to some people it's chicken feed...The 1965 fold out I have claims it's a space command 600, but I don't think it is.

I saw the set you have in your Avatar on the fold out. It's a Itallian Provincial.

[orthophonic]

Jeffhs,
Magnavox started
making the fake wood plastic inlaid stereo cabinets in the early 70's, just
like Zenith, RCA etc. did.
They also started using a much cheaper
version of the Micromatic changer
in most of their models.

[eberts]

I have a CTC10 RCA round set with remote in my bedroom.
When I was a kid, besides watching TV, I used it to heat my room in the winter time, and I could not use it in the summer because the room would heat up too hot for me. Bedroom is 16'x15'.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by Oldstuff78

Zenithfan1....Thanks for the offer to help. I haven't seen the set in person, so It's like buying a pig in a poke. Doug told me a little about it. Since, I don't have TV experience (only audio) and the equipment to test, I asked Doug if he would let Tom bring it down to him to see what is wrong with it and see if it can be fixed. I of course will pay him for his time and effort.

Tom hasn't taken the set down yet....I think he and Doug are supposed to work out a deal. I gave $ 75 for it, which is probably a lot for a non working set, but I wanted a Roundie. $75 is a lot of money to me, where to some people it's chicken feed...The 1965 fold out I have claims it's a space command 600, but I don't think it is.

I saw the set you have in your Avatar on the fold out. It's a Itallian Provincial.

Your welcome, 75 bucks is not bad. I think she'll work fine after a little tlc.

[Oldstuff78]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

Your welcome, 75 bucks is not bad. I think she'll work fine after a little tlc.

Thanks....That's good to know. I'm now waiting on Tom & Doug to do their parts.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by Oldstuff78

Thanks....That's good to know. I'm now waiting on Tom & Doug to do their parts.

I'm sure they will, they're good guys!