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Old 05-03-2009, 10:26 PM
Spinning Head Spinning Head is offline
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Admiral Color Roudie Score

Picked up an Admiral Imperial 330 at an Estate sale in Schiller Park IL today. This is a Chicago suburb very near O'Hare Airport. It was a two bedroom house that was packed basement to attic. I spotted the set yesterday, and went back first thing this morning and got it for half price: $12.50. The sales people were of course asking "What do you do with these ?"; they had even suggested yesterday that it could make a nice fish tank. The most amazing thing was that the set was still in the small living room. The sales people said they had moved it back just to clean all of the dust from under it. They had even tried turning it on. I heard from two different people that it produced a vertical line. A very good sign of overall condition.
A couple of strange things with this set. First there are signs of a modification. A two position rotary switch has been installed along with an RCA jack. You can see the pencil lines where they punched/drilled the chassis in the photos. Fairly certain this wasn't original. Someone had some electronics training / interests in the early to mid 60's judging by some of the books. Also found a home brew power supply. Second there is a note tied to HV line to the CRT indicating that it is the wrong length (too long) and gives the part number for the correct length. Finally, the set is devoid of any labeling on the back or inside. The chassis is stamped 14E180-3Z, with a date of June 24 1957. It looks to use two 5U4s in parallel for rectifiers. It has an elaborate sound system with separate amp and four speakers. The flyback appears in great shape, no cracks or melting. I've always considered Admiral to be a bit on the 'cheaply made' side. But I'm impressed with this set. It appears to be a full point to point chassis; no printed circuit boards. All the tube numbers are stamped on the chassis. They must of liked Admiral, as there was an old floor model Admiral console radio in the basement along with a couple of 50s table radios.
This is my first color roundie, and fills a real hole in my collection.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg rear.JPG (131.7 KB, 169 views)
File Type: jpg mod.JPG (77.7 KB, 116 views)
File Type: jpg speakers.JPG (91.2 KB, 103 views)
File Type: jpg flyback.JPG (155.9 KB, 129 views)
File Type: jpg front.JPG (28.0 KB, 199 views)
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Old 05-03-2009, 10:47 PM
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They ALWAYS pop up when I'm out of town! But congrats on your first roundie! And a damn rare one to boot! I was talking to a fellow at the convention today about how these don't seem to show up often. Excellent find.
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Old 05-03-2009, 11:42 PM
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That's not just a score. That is a MAJOR SCORE! I'd like to see it in operation when you get it going.
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Old 05-03-2009, 11:52 PM
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Is that the estate sale put on through "remember that"? I almost went to that sale!! although, I dont know enough about old tv's to know if that was a good find or not. clearly it is! good on you dude!
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Old 05-04-2009, 12:01 AM
andy andy is offline
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Last edited by andy; 12-07-2021 at 01:46 PM.
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Old 05-04-2009, 02:36 AM
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It's intresting to have an '50's non-"R.C.A." color tv set. I gussed after the 1st look that is a '50's set!
And it's a safe set, since it does have a transformer (so no live chassie!)
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Old 05-04-2009, 10:13 AM
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WOWowowowow!

That is quite a find, you did well!
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Old 05-04-2009, 10:30 AM
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Homina Homina Homina....Give ya $25 fer it....Dubble yer money...(grin) Seriously, that is a MAJOR LEAGUE score !
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Old 05-04-2009, 11:59 AM
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REAL TVs have TUBES!
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by radiotvnut View Post
That's not just a score. That is a MAJOR SCORE! I'd like to see it in operation when you get it going.
I couldn't have said it better... I've never even SEEN an early Admiral, and not to brag but to qualify, but I've probably owned just as many early rare color sets as anyone here, including 3 significant one-off prototypes.

Charles
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Old 05-04-2009, 12:00 PM
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Excellent find! I'm looking forward to hearing more about it.
-Tony
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  #11  
Old 05-04-2009, 05:09 PM
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stromberg6 stromberg6 is offline
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Talking

EXCELLENT!!!! Looks like a sort of CTC-5N style chassis of Admiral design. Lots of vent holes where the power xfmr would be.
I am curious as to where the convergence adjustments are located.
Best of luck with that great TV!
Kevin
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Old 05-04-2009, 10:35 PM
Spinning Head Spinning Head is offline
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Thanks everyone for the great compliments.
When I spotted the set Saturday at the sale, I knew it had to be special. But I was staying with my in-laws and had a bunch of commitments and no way to move it. It was late in the day, so I was fairly hopeful I could get back. Needless to say, I had a restless night of sleep and was back first thing Sunday.
Good observation that chassis was setup to take a power transformer. You can see that there are knockouts for a line cord and cans.
I've been wondering about convergence controls too. I'll be frank, I don't know a lot about round tube color sets. My next oldest color set is a Zenith portable hybrid from about '70. I was beginning to think that roundies didn't require convergence adjustments based on the geometry of the tube. I'm sure somebody here can set me straight. Regardless, I haven't been able to find many service controls. I'm a little concerned that something might be missing, but I can't see anything obvious. This brings up the biggest issue so far; lack of a full model number. I can't even find where a tube layout chart may have been pasted. I've searched Sam's with what I believe to be the chassis number with no results. I've googled imperial 330 and found just a couple of hits. Somebody here had one in their collection and somebody restored one in an antique radio forum. Any help in this quest for service literature / schematic would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 05-04-2009, 11:02 PM
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Eric H Eric H is offline
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I would guess the convergence controls are up front behind a panel somewhere.
Just follow the wires from the convergence coils and you'll find them.
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Old 05-04-2009, 11:06 PM
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I notice it looks like the convergence wiring plugs directly into the chassis with that squarish plug.
Possibly the controls are somewhere on the chassis then.
About the only place the could be is on the front of the chassis.
Does that fabric strip to the right of the screen come off?
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Old 05-05-2009, 12:56 AM
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REAL TVs have TUBES!
 
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I don't think that's an RCA chassis at all... That's what's so exciting about it.

Charles
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