What about old equipment attracts you?

[darklife]

I have an old Zenith TV made in the early 80s and can't give the thing away.
A bit about myself.. I have always been interested in electronics since I was like 4 y/o, almost electrocuted myself to death when I was around 8.
I have since learned more about TVs, radios, transmission equipment, and most things on the level of engineering level. Hell I don't know what I am not interested in when it comes to electronics.

What I don't get is the nostalgia of old TVs?

I get radios. They are fun to fix up and get running again. Most older equipment is.

However TVs is are one thing I don't get. They aren't even useful anymore since the DTV transition.
Other than fixing one up to film for a movie or just for shits and giggles to show a friend what is the interest?

I really don't mean to bum anyone out I just don't get it.
There have been so many times where I could have plucked an old antique TV and fixed her up and probably even had an antique model you guys have never seen or worked with, yet I never have because I just never seen why anyone was intersted.

Long post, so I will wrap it up... What is it that makes you interested in old TV sets? Are they actually worth money besides collectors like you? Should I collect these things and research them because they are worth something to someone or is it just a niche bunch?

I really don't mean to piss anyone off but I really don't know if this is worthy to save old antiqued TVs for someone who has interest in it or just part it out and build something fun.
I even seen a thread once where some of you were angry at a person who made a chair out of an old TV wooden set cabinet. Even I think that's silly but really do you guys expect more from general people who don't even know?
My grandma once saved the cabinet of a B&W TV thinking it was worth money w/o the guts. It's obvious to me that you guys would be sickened by that, but gosh darn she thought it was worth more than the guts lol.

[darklife]

Oops I believe I may have posted this in the wrong subforum.

[andy]

I would say it's the same as people who restore antique radios, phones, cars, fans, or anything else like that. TVs are more challenging (and therefore more rewarding to me) than most radios. I wouldn't consider an early 80's TV to be at all collectible unless it's something very special.

Apart from battery operated portables, the DTV transition was a non-issue for me. I've always used cable, so nothing changed at my house. I use many of my vintage TVs regularly with my cable DVR, or DVD player. I do have a number of restored antique radios, but they rarely get used because there's nothing on AM, and little on FM that I ever want to listen to.

[radiotvnut]

I've always had an interest in electronics and I officially started collecting tube radios at the age of 12 when someone gave me a wooden '36 Silvertone (I still have it and I'm almost 34 now). Soon after, I started picking up old record players and records; which, got me into record collecting. Within a year, someone gave me my first TV, an early '60's RCA 17" VHF only B&W set. I fixed and used that set in my bedroom until I found a 19" B&W Philco-Ford w/ UHF. Then, I sold the 17" RCA to a young married couple who was all to happy just to finally have a TV. Then, someone gave me a 19" Zenith chromacolor space command TV, which I fixed and sold. At that time, my only interest in TV's was to be able to fix them and sell them to finance my radio collection. I really didn't get into TV collecting until a few years ago. After I started seeing how cheaply built modern TV's were and given the fact that some of those old tube type TV's is what I started out on, I decided to start collecting them. And, I enjoy bringing something back to life that hasn't been used in decades. As far as value, most of what we collect wouldn't be worth a rat's behind to most people and really wouldn't be worth that much $ to collectors; but, I don't consider my hobbies "all about the money", anyway. I collect and repair old radio's, TV's, record player's, electric fan's, etc. because I enjoy doing it and I'm really not concerned what they are "worth".

The DTV transition has not really been an issue for me, as I have basic cable on most of my TV's and the 1969 Zenith B&W console in my bedroom is connected to a DTV converter box and it works just fine. Obviously, I can't use the tuner on the old Zenith; but, the box enables me to still use the TV and that's the main thing I'm after. We have basic analog cable on the other sets and those tuners function as they always have. The only area where the DTV transition has become a problem is with the use of my portable TV's. I've got a '78 Panasonic 3.5" portable that I've had for years and we used it during power outages and during hurricanes Ivan and Katrina. After the DTV transition, that set is pretty much useless as far as putting batteries in it and using it outside. It does have an external antenna input and a "wall wart" jack; so, it can be used only if it's connected to either cable or a DTV converter.

Will I ever purchase a new TV? I can't say what the future holds; but, I will say that I have no intentions of spending one red cent on a new TV. Why? Because I know first hand about these newer TV that cost hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars and after a few years, they are junk. If I spend that kind of money on a TV set, it had better last for 30 years. These old TV's that I currently own are designed to be repaired and can usually be fixed with common parts, unlike these newer TV's that require some special IC or circuit board that may be NLA. And, I mainly watch older shows that were not in HD to begin with; so, I really don't feel the need to waste money on a new TV when I can pick up an old one for free or cheap and get many years out of it. And, I forgot to mention that the older TV's were made with pride in America by American workers. What we have today is usually made in China and they couldn't care less about how well it's made or how long it will last - just sell it and get their money.

[jhalphen]

DarkLife wrote:

"Long post, so I will wrap it up... What is it that makes you interested in old TV sets?"

For me:
- Technology history
- Build quality
- Easy repairability
- Active resistance to modern crap*
- "making money" is a fool's dream.

when i do buy modern crap, it's always with full 5 year "replacement with a new one" insurance.

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

[radiotvnut]

Speaking of new crap, the junk man just hauled off a 4 or 5 year old Sony 60" LCD projection set that cost in the $2K range when new. The problem? a defective light engine that would cost hundreds of $ to fix and it would likely fail again in a few years as all of these sets had the same problem. I said to myself, "why spend hundreds of $ on this hunk of garbage that won't hold up when I can invest in repairing my old stuff that will likely last for years".

[darklife]

Okay I have to put my foot forward here and say that I am 25 y/o and a total electronics nerd since I first learned how to burn my hands black from the AC outlet as a toddler.

I just don't get the whole TV attribute. Guess I am ignorant to the topic or never really investigated it.

Many people are into getting an old radio to work, but an old TV is trash in most peoples opinion. I mean really what would you use it for? Video monitoring? DTV box? Security monitor? Nostalgia for a VCR? I am not trying to be a jerk but really? Yes I know they outlive LCDs and plasmas but really are you going to watch it until some super format comes out that puts the old box into extinction as if it is not already?

I always figured TVs were just a side project for people who restored radios.
It just seems goofy to me that there is a real place where people are interested in actually tuning up this kind of receiver.
I mean it's nifty and all and honestly I have an old zenith that for some wacky reason I want to tune up and see what I can do with. I guess color and picture is the next step from audio right? Ugh. What have I got myself into?

[Dan Starnes]

I could not have said it better than jhalpehn has.

[Dan Starnes]

Well for instance, since I think modern tv programming is total garbage, there is a huge dvd selection of great old tv shows that I love to watch on my vintage sets. And that is what I watch.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Dan Starnes

I could not have said it better than jhalpehn has.

I second that

[mbates14]

You would have to be born in the "TV" era to understand. I am only a year younger than you, and I myself still dont understand... but hey, its fun regardless.

[DaveWM]

Nostagia

as a kid of the 60's if fun to watch old shows on a tv you remember as a kid.

That and I just dont like the way modern TV's looks, something artificial about it to my old 50+ year old eyes.

Also reminds me of back when things were made to last and it was a big deal to have something nice like a color tv, and of course something about remembering when stuff was made in USA, unlike today when there is practially now consumer products made here. An economy that is based on finacial services.

It seem to me the industrial giant built by the sacrifices of the greatest generation has been sold off by the generation that followed for a quick buck.

sort of like when a great company is built by someone of vision and then inherited by children that have no clue what to do to keep it going so they just start selling assets until its all gone. that is the way I see what has happnened. This old sets just help me to recall an age before that happened.

as far as a set from the 80's, yea I could care less about that as well. My interested ended around the mid 70's with a peak interest in the mid 60's

[radiotvnut]

Vintage TV's are just as historical as antique automobiles, radios, fans, phonographs, and the list goes on and on. These old TV's need to be preserved, just like anything else from our history that people collect.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by darklife

I mean it's nifty and all and honestly I have an old zenith that for some wacky reason I want to tune up and see what I can do with. I guess color and picture is the next step from audio right? Ugh. What have I got myself into?

"resistance is futile"

jr

[bgadow]

I started with radios, and my favorites came to be American-made sets from the late 30s, especially nicer consoles with lots of tubes, lots of gimmicks (eye tubes, motorized tuning, etc) lots of stuff to tinker with!

If you follow forward from those great radios of the pre-WW2 era, soon the top-of-the-line for the big electronics firms wasn't a radio but a TV. More tubes, more gimmicks...more stuff to tinker with! Truly, a color tv was the most advanced consumer product ever sold with tubes...and they have tons of adjustments and things to tinker with! Can you tell I like to tinker?

Truth is, I hardly ever watch TV. The fun for me is to take that old set, which doesn't work, and massage it until it runs like new again. Yes, like others, I have a great respect for the way these things were built. I don't expect everyone out there to "get it". I like it...I liked playing with our old TV set when I was 5 years old and I have never stopped enjoying it. Call it, perhaps, the ability to play TV repairman!