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  #1  
Old 03-14-2010, 05:30 PM
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Username1 Username1 is offline
Not sure how I got here.
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Orange County NY
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2 Tacos and a Mountain Dew to go please...

Hi Kids:

I've been one of those spiders on the wall for over a year, then I said what the heck I'll join and then I can see the pictures and maybe I've got 10 or 20 cents worth-a comments I can make once in a while....

So anyway here it is:

I'm about 48 now, I grew up an a neato kinda town that had too much money. One good thing and one bad thing about that. The good thing was that every week the town would pick up and take away whatever you wanted to throw out on your lawn. The bad thing is that no one in town has anything from the 50's - 70's anymore. But on the good side, I had the really cool opportunity to pick up old tv's, lawn mowers, lamps, mixers, you name it each Friday! My first pickup was a 1959 Orange Emerson VHF only portable tv, it had a short picture, and the yoke was tilted 5 degrees. I think I was 12 when I got it. And I also had my Dad's Army TV repair book. It had a picture of the yoke problem, but I never figured out how to get the picture back to size. Then as I got to get around more, like bus trips to school, I got to scope out more and more of the town. Then when I got home I was usually able to get mom to drive me over to whatever I was unable to sleep without. And lots of times it was just a tube plucking trip, I use to do lots of them on my bike. I got lawn mowers on the bike too, tied them up by the handle under the seat. I bet I was a sight to see riding around town. Portable tvs I also took home balanced on the bike seat while I walked it home. Ahhh those were the days. I use to get about 15 tvs all working, and then load them up into the station wagon and take them into the city and sell them on Canal Street. Canal street had AWESOME surplus electronics "junk stores" as me and Mom called them. Radios for anywhere from $1.00 on up to $5.00 if you wanted one with the back still on. Well I use to get $10.-15. for those tvs, pretty good, and the best job I ever had. I can't tell you all the roundish, both color and B&W that I plucked tubes from.

In high school I took an Exploratory BOCES class in my second year. We got a few weeks of tv repair, carpentry, auto repair, and traditional printing. Real press, paper ink and all the benzene you could soak yourself with.

In my last 2 years of HS I took the actual TV repair class at BOCES. People donated tvs for us to repair. We had a wall of tvs several sets deep (wish I had pictures of that). A pile of tv37's tons of rca B&W 7" and 10" table tops, Every roundie made, those ugly Predictas I can't stand that now sell for thousands on ebay, and we even had a ct-100 that our instructor put in the closet and turned on for open house each year. I remember the first year I was there it ran and we watched the three mile Island saga on it. In my last year as we cranked it up one of the selenium rectifiers sizzled away and that was the last time that set ran to my knowledge. Less than 6 years later our BOCES did away with tv repair. All those sets in the green dumpster.......sorry for the mental image.

After HS I went to work at a local shop. We serviced Sharp, Panasonic, Sanyo, RCA, Magnavox, and assorted other customer walkins. But those above we were factory warante repairs on those models. In 2 to 3 years we lost most of our really good warantee work, and took on our last factory contract to repair thousands of Yorkx and LLoyds clock radios. we got them in by the skid. It sucked. Sharp and Panasonic boards were ohh sooo neatly laid out, clean design, stuff to spoil you. LLoyds and Yorks were all barely working when the left the factory. I think they just sent us every other skid straight from the end of the assembly line. Well when they shut their doors I went to night school, and then Oklahoma State for Electronics Engineering Technology. By the time I graduated Bonzo Reagan and the jerk before him wrecked the ekonime and the only people hiring were defense companies. I didn't want to build bombs or bomb related electronics so I became a landscaper. 20 years later here I am gettin into tvs again.

I got smart a little late, managed to save one old set an rca 12ctc50 it needs a sound tube, and someone took out the screws that hold in the big power transformer. While at college I got a 23" Zenith from a kid on the floor above me for $10. because we were pretty far from the city, and he was on the side that got no reception. To try to get something he turned every turnable thing sticking out from the front and back of the set. Good for me he didn't know there were lots more to turn behind the speaker. It was a Zenith 20cc50 Very nice set with the best picture on all the sets I can remember. I took my time with that set and aligned all the turnie things inside till I had that set perfect. I had to sell it when I moved, hope someone still has it running. I got one off ebay 3 years ago in the next state, and this one has pretty much all the original glass thingies and has also got an awesome picture. My daily use tv is a Sharp 25KT35 strange digital tuner that whatever you turn on the tv it starts out on channel 2. She was made in 1984 I think, and is tied with the Zenith for my favorite tv. My Sharp has that really cool high quality wood grain plastic case. I don't know what made tv makers quit the fake wood and go on to just black, or Grey plastic...

I also was the winning bidder on the CTC-5 last june. I later discovered you guys were dribbling lip juice over it on a thread I think was called something like CTC-5 on unmentionable site. Up till the year I got the Zenith and then George (CTC-5) I had never actually paid for a tv.

I'm very interested in restoring George and getting my Zenith all tuned up like the one at college. I'm also very interested in the 15pg22 rebuilding project. I have done a little looking into tube rebuilding, and I think if we all do a little work together we can figure out how to get it done.

ok, I got other things to get done before Monday.

later.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg my-Sharp-tv-25KT35.jpg (115.7 KB, 17 views)
File Type: jpg My-Zenith-20CC50.jpg (96.5 KB, 21 views)
File Type: jpg George-from-ebay-pic.jpg (110.0 KB, 16 views)
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  #2  
Old 03-15-2010, 08:21 PM
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bandersen bandersen is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Chicago, IL
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Welcome to VK "squirrel boy"
That's quite a background story - I think you'll fit right in.
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Old 03-15-2010, 08:45 PM
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Sandy G Sandy G is offline
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Rogersville, Tennessee
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I dunno, Bob...Seems kinda "Square" for this place...(grin) Seriously, Squirrel Boy, Welcome !! I honestly think you'll fit in DANDILY here...A lot of us here, hell, MOST of us-are half-bubble off plumb...But we're TV Nutz...Whaddya expect ?!? Mbwahahahaha...Jump on in w/both feet, Squirrly-Wirly, the water aint TOO deep...
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Old 03-16-2010, 04:00 PM
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Reece Reece is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Cleona, PA
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Hi, "squirrely," the moniker (or reasonable facsimile) fits since we like to squirrel away stuff, but squirrels are nervous, so lay off the 'Dew, since it's full of caffeine, and you could jitter up against the high voltage. Think of how many squirrels have shorted out pole pig xfrmrs.!
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Old 03-16-2010, 04:17 PM
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Dan Starnes Dan Starnes is offline
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Location: Fowler IL
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Welcome!!
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  #6  
Old 03-16-2010, 08:00 PM
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Findm-Keepm Findm-Keepm is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,832
Welcome!

You know, I spent my teen years growing up in a TV shop - and your exploits/adventures are far more interesting! What a time!

Welcome again, and if you need anything, these folks here are great mentors with great stories to tell and wisdom to share.

Cheers,
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