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  #1  
Old 06-16-2004, 09:33 AM
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Charlie Charlie is offline
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Two new Zeniths

While I was at work, peverett delivered two zenith color roudies to my neighbor's house to await my return. Turns out, one of them is a 29JC20Q chassis with the Space Command 400 remote receiver. I have two SC 600 remotes. What is the difference between the 400 and 600 series? Will my 600 remote work with the 400 receiver?

I don't have any photos to post at the moment. I am awaiting my little brother to come help me move these sets from my neighbor's garage to mine. After that, I'll get some photos posted here.

Thanks again, Jody, for delivering the sets!
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Old 06-17-2004, 06:14 PM
jstout66 jstout66 is offline
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they sound like neat sets! Hope to see some pix soon!!!!!
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Old 06-17-2004, 06:24 PM
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Got the sets moved to my house today. The Space Command set has the monster 29JC20 chassis in it.

The 21FJP tested good. Chassis was mainly dusty with no rust. Will clean up good and shiny once I yank it out.

Noticed first that the Horz Output tube was missing. Every book and schematic I have says it uses the 6DQ5... as does the tube diagram in the set. Went to put one in, but wouldn't fit. Got to look a little closer, and come to find out, the tube socket IS NOT an 8 pin octal. Instead it had a 12 pin socket like in the later sets. I double checked everything to make sure I wasn't getting tube numbers mixed up, but still confused as to why the tube diagram isn't matching what's in the set. So, I found a 6JE6 and decided to put that in there once the time came.

I brought the chassis up slow on the variac with no bad surprises. There is a slight hum in the audio, so sounds like caps will need changing. Found the sound detector tube was dead, so changed that and got audio from the local stations.

After a while, I put in the 6JE6 HO tube to see what would happen. Well... nothing. Then I discovered the focus tube was dead, so changed that and got a picture. Success! Well, it isn't the best picture. Have a few inches of the bottom missing and convergence is off a good bit, but at least it's running. Color is working as well. Ran it for about 30 minutes.

The remote chassis works pretty good. Found that my 600 remotes operate just fine with the 400 chassis. All functions work, but needs a little cleaning here and there. Sometimes the channel selector just keeps on running. It never stops on channel 4... always goes right past it (and 4 is one of our locals). At one point, I lost the audio and couldn't figure out why. Turns out that something cause the "mute" function to engage.

I like all of the lights on the front. There is the tri-color emblem that is iluminated when the SC chassis is on. Then there are the different lights indicating whether it is set to HI, MeD, or LO volume. Kinda neat.

I feel like this set should play very well once the capacitors get swapped out.

The cabinet needs only minor attention... perhaps some touch up stain here and there.
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Old 06-17-2004, 06:26 PM
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The insides. Man that power transformer is a beast!
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Old 06-17-2004, 06:29 PM
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CRT shot so far. It ain't pretty, but it works! Some fresh lytics should whip this baby back into shape!
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Old 06-19-2004, 08:21 AM
jstout66 jstout66 is offline
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I love that set Charlie! The picture tube looks in pretty good shape (no delamination & good pix!)) Is it a 21FJ and is it the original?
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Old 06-19-2004, 08:24 AM
jstout66 jstout66 is offline
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just re-read your description and see it is a 21FJ. Man.... you're lucky not to have any delamination or green halo. My Admiral roundie has slight delamination (original tube) and my Sylvania roundie has a black matrix tube installed in 1978, but has green halo....
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Old 06-19-2004, 08:10 PM
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As far as I can tell, I think it has the original FJP in it. So far I have not found any date codes, but it is tagged as a Zenith. Examining it closely, there is some slight delamination around the extreme edges, but it's almost completely hidden by the mask. I am a bit surprised that it isn't worse.
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Old 06-19-2004, 09:13 PM
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Awesome set!

One of those full-featured roundie Zeniths in a huge cabinet is something I'd really like to get. I'm down to just one roundie (From three at one time). But the one I have is rather plain, without any special features.

I'd say your CRT isn't original, because the color of the screen doesn't match the mask. I know Zenith used at least two different paint colors on their masks to match the CRT. (One is kinda green, the other is a blueish-gray).

Doesn't mean much, I'm still jealous!
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Old 06-19-2004, 09:16 PM
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Re: Awesome set!

Quote:
Originally posted by Carmine
I'd say your CRT isn't original, because the color of the screen doesn't match the mask.
i had wondered about the color of the screen. I thought it looked rather "light" in color.

Perhaps I'll find some date codes the next time I get diggin around in it closer.
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Old 06-19-2004, 09:23 PM
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Man, that bad boy makes me wanna get my ol' roundie runnin'- think we decided it's a'65 Zenith.It was my grandad'[s set-1st color set I ever saw up close & personable-like. -Sandy G.
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Old 06-19-2004, 09:24 PM
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I wonder why somebody modified the set to use a different output tube

I have a 29jc20(non sc) and it DOES use one(6dq5). So does my spare chassis I have. That sounds strange. Zenith NEVER used a 6je6 in their sets to my knowledge, they used a 6hf5 after the 6dq5, then a 6js6, 6lb6 and finally, a 6lf6. My service manual does NOT show an alternate output tube for the set.

By the way, it is a '62 model(zenith's first color, after their RE entry into the color field(the did have a prototype in '56or 57, somebody on this board showed one, but then, they pulled out of color, untli 1961, for the '62 year, and brought out this set.

Last edited by rca2000; 06-19-2004 at 09:27 PM.
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Old 06-19-2004, 09:55 PM
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On that H.O....

I seem to remeber some type of Zenith chassis I was working on that had a notation on the tube chart that said "DO NOT SUBSTITUTE XXXX H.O. TUBE FOR XXXX H.O. TUBE" There was also a similar sticker placed near the tube socket.

Looked to be some kind of running change, but they obviously didn't want you to use any type of tube except whichever the set came with.

Can't remember the model number.
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  #14  
Old 06-19-2004, 10:48 PM
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The Horz Output

Yes, every piece of paper I have here says to use the 6DQ5. But since the socket in the set is a 12 pin socket, I was obviously not going to be able to use what they said. Unfortunately, since the tube was missing, I have no idea of what they DID have in there running it. i just took a stab with the 6JE6 to see if it would work. I guess I am fortunate it did. Perhaps another 12 pin tube would be better, but at this point I don't know what to think.

Perhaps once I get the chassis out of the set, I'll find out if it looks like this socket was in there originally or if someone put it in later. Even if someone did put this socket in there later... why did they do it?
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Old 06-20-2004, 12:05 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Charlie
[B] Sometimes the channel selector just keeps on running. It never stops on channel 4... always goes right past it (and 4 is one of our locals). /B]
Very, very nice set. I remember we had a 29JC20 (non-remote) in a woodgrain metal cabinet in our electronics lab in high school over 30 years ago. We never fired it up, so I don't know to this day if if worked or not. Nice looking set, though. Had the old style Zenith channel selector knob that projected the channel number onto a screen in the center of the knob (I like that design, as it was on my old Zenith K2739 1963 b&w console--in fact, I like all Zenith's lighted channel selector schemes).

Interesting that your set has the emblem which lights up when the Space Command system is on. (The volume indicator lights are unusual as well; yours is the first Zenith SC set I've ever heard of with this feature and also with the illuminated Space Command on/off indicator.)

As to your set failing to stop on channel 4, I would look at the back of the tuner. There should be a wheel there, attached to the part of the tuner shaft that protrudes from the back of the tuner, with 12 adjustable tabs on it. Check to see if the one for channel 4 is set to the "skip channel" position. If so, set this tab to the "stop on channel" position. The tuner should now stop on channel 4 just as nice as you please.

BTW, I remember seeing your local channel 4 in my old neighborhood (a Cleveland suburb) years ago, before I had cable or Internet access. I live in a fringe area now where anything is possible as far as TV or FM DX is concerned (my FM radio dial lights up with stations from Detroit, Toledo, Ohio and southwest Ontario, Canada, in the summer when the skips are in), but my old neighborhood was a near-fringe reception area for Cleveland stations as well. When the weather conditions were exactly right, channel 4 from Port Arthur, Texas would push Detroit's NBC affiliate, WDIV (which is the station we usually get here on channel 4 in the spring and summer when the band opens up) right out of the picture (pun intended).

I once received channel 5 from Saginaw, Michigan when Cleveland's ABC affiliate, WEWS, also on channel 5, was off the air. The station in Saginaw is WNEM-TV and is, IIRC, a Fox or UPN affiliate now, but it used to be the area's NBC station.

When WNEM changed from NBC to UPN/Fox, the NBC network was picked up by WEYI, channel 25, in Flint or Bay City, Michigan (I'm not sure which). I have seen the latter station on occasion as well in the summer (when I still had an antenna, of course), when the PBS affiliate in Cleveland, WVIZ on channel 25, would sign off at one or two o'clock in the morning.
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