Recent roundie finds

[Charlie]

For the past year and a half, I've kinda fallen out of the TV circle here at VK (formerly AK). This was partially due to having to move... something I didn't quite plan on so soon. I no longer live in town (Beaumont/Port Arthur area)... I now live full time at my place in the woods... about 40 miles north of Beaumont. Moving was a real b*tch... especially moving TV sets... most of which are now in storage.

Even once the move was complete, I was hounded by several different deaths of friends/family... some of which caught me completely off guard. Dealing with that was a real treat.

Even before the move, I knew I would eventually end up here in the woods. I also knew I would have to come up with a place to keep all of this TV stuff. I thought I would try building a "tv shop" in my backyard (being I have 8 acres here, I have plenty of back yard). Last year, with the help of a friend, my idea of a shop became reality. Actually, my friend did nearly all the work... and he was well paid for it. He basically did the outer shell, and now i have to do all of the inside stuff (wiring, insulation, central A/C, etc). Below is a couple of photos of what I have so far.

During all this time I was away from AK, looking for or working on sets pretty much came to a halt. It's been a good while since I last plugged in my soldering iron. I've really missed it.

This past June, I had a couple of roundies fall right into my lap. An uncle called me about an old color Zenith set that he found while cleaning out his wife's grandmother's house. He told me it was blonde, so I figured it had to be a roundie. He found the model on the back... told me it said 25LC30.

"Are you interested in this? If not, it's going in the trash!"

Hell yeah I'm interested! It was only an hour away, and I headed out that next weekend. Before getting there, he called again and told me he found another set in the barn... a Curtis Mathes!

I got there to find the two roundies... the Zenith was indoors and in great looking shape. The Curtis Mathes was in a barn and somewhat dirty, but overall looked like it would clean up pretty good.

The insides of both sets need cleaning. Looks like nests were built in both of them... the one in the house actually had corn in the cabinet!!! Corn sorta like what you'd find on a thanksgiving centerpiece... the yellow/brown/orange kind and hard as a rock (just the corn, not the cob). Never found corn in a set before.

It does not appear there was any damage to the chassis. They just need a good cleaning.

The Zenith was a VHF only set, and had a replacement CRT in it... a Sylvania coded 1978... had good filaments, but tested dead as a doorknob. Is this common with Sylvania tubes? This is like the 3rd Sylvania replacement I've found in this condition.

The Curtis Mathes had the original tube from 1966. It tested "okay" and will likely make a good picture. I did not expect it to be any good as this set has instant on... and seems those sets usually wear out tubes faster. This CM has the same exact chassis as my combo... basically a cross between a ctc 15 and 16.

So, photos are below. I kinda dig the CM cabinet... has that "to the side" look.

Also have a story on a Bendix I will put in the b&w section.

[DaveWM]

Nice shop Charlie, I hope to have a shop like that some day. Good score on the sets.

[Charlie]

Thanks, Dave. The shop is 24x32... I think that will do me fine for now.

Last year at this time, I had just finished putting the last piece of metal on the roof... then hurricane Ike hit the next day. A big tall pine took out the very corner in the back. Had the tree falled just 3 feet to the side, it would have missed it completely. The photo below is getting that fixed.

[Sandy G]

Well, Charlie, Shyte Happens-it COULDA been a lot worse....Does it flood a lot there ? Just wondering out loud about yr "foundation"-Looks like that would be an invitation for allsorts of Rattle-Headed Copper Moccasins 'n' other Creepy Crawlies to set up shop under there...Plus, here, that would be rotted out in no time, not to mention pipes busted from freezing...

[Charlie]

No, no flooding here. It's a good 150 ft or so above sea level here. Kinda hilly in spots, and I'm located on a high area. My only concern would be if the dam at Lake Livingston ever broke northeast of me... that could possibly screw up my day... but I think I'm in one of the higher spots of this area and the water would just go around me... but I feel sorry for everyone else below. Let's not even think about that!

Copper heads and coral snakes are common here... I've seen both... along with armadillos, skunks, and wolves. The armadillos make really nice holes in my yard! Bastards!

I'm trying not to get too involved in these sets until my shop is further along. The temptation is great. I have a feeling one of them will have some work done it before i go back to the ship in November.

[Charlie]

I spent 3 days under the house fixing water pipes after having it leveled out... on the 3rd day, I came out and found a coral snake making his way under the front porch. That gave me the eebie-jeebies!

[Sandy G]

Here, you'd also hafta worry about Yellow Jackets, Wasps, & Hornets-Hornets maybe not so much, but Yellow Jackets & Waspers would LOVE it under there...

[Charlie]

Yeah, we have those too. Those three globs on the front of the Curtis Mathes are from "dirt dobbers"... I dont think their agressive, but I'm sure if you pissed them off they'd return the favor. Look just like yellow jackets, but their black.

THere was also a bunch of dirt dobber maud-packs in the Bendix set over in the b&w thread. They get in everything here.

[Eric H]

Hi Charlie, welcome back to VK, we have missed you!

Those sets both look very nice, the Zenith is worth finding a CRT for I would think.

I want a shop like that sooo bad, not going to happen here in Suburbialand but maybe an enclosed patio shop could happen someday.

[Sandy G]

Dirt Daubers ! BIG fun ! No, they don't sting, & they're kinda "silly" lookin', the way they "Flit" their wings...Their nests, if you're careful, you can pull 'em off the wall, & get into a War w/the assholish kid down the street, tossin' 'em at each other..Or playing "Dirt Dauber Baseball" w/a nest..They kinda disintegrated when you made a hit, though. The larvae made tolerable fishing bait, but it was work trying to get 'em outta the nest...

[Charlie]

Thanks, Eric. It's nice to be hanging out here again! Until a few months ago, I had really been missing out on a lot here on AK... uh... VK.

Oh yes, I have a tube for the Zenith if I choose to go that route. I might even send a dud to Hawkeye. Other than cleaning out the corn (man that is sooo weird), the chassis is pretty clean.

It's obvious that the CRT in the Zenith is a replacement... I don't think I've seen one with cataracs like this one has. Usually, Zeniths only have the green/yellow halo going around the edges.

[bgadow]

I found some corn like that in a radio once! Maybe more than once. I have one GE table model from the 30s that a former pastor of mine gave me. He found it in a barn. A board had been nailed to the back, completely shutting it off, and still there was rodent evidence inside.

Should be a lot of fun outfitting that building. I almost built one like that but made the radio/TV rooms part of the house instead.

I've also had bad luck with Sylvania picture tubes. I like their products aside from that. Most Sylvania crts have the same green halo as Zenith but I have seen exceptions. There was some swapping around, too. One crt I had was a "Zenith" rebuild but the EIA told me Sylvania did it.

I haven't been able to do any real bench work since the winter I guess. Too many other projects. My goal is to get things cleaned up around here by the time cold weather sets in, then make up for lost time.

[Robert Grant]

Its really sad the Zenith has a DOA CRT. Its one of the most beautiful roundies I've seen, and would love to replace my blonde B&W Emerson in the "retro room" with it.

Congrats on getting some elbow room

Rob

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by bgadow

I found some corn like that in a radio once! Maybe more than once.

You've found corn, too, Bryan? Cool! Yeah that was the weirdest thing I've ever found. You always wonder what to expect when you pull the rear cover from a set. I'd say corn is not on the top of the list!

The Zenith was kept in a bedroom. It looked like no one had been in there for 40+ years... still had the 1960's dark green carpet that looked as if it had never been walked on! The wallpaper in there... all I can say is WOW! It had that silver, gold, green and white striped print. Man, I wish I would have brought my camera that day!!! It would have been great to get a shot of this blonde Zenith in that room before moving it out!

[John Folsom]

Welcome back Charlie. What a great shop! Now you got to get to work on that TS-905!

I have found assorted seeds tucked away in TVs by mice.