Blessed by the God of collecting

[Electronic M]

I understand Bob, some situations make it hard to save everything that could be.
One small nit to pick though, as to your 'newer tube sets never being valuable or collectible' comment. Radio collectors were saying the same thing about post-WWII TVs within my lifetime, and round color sets that (except for the earliest examples) almost no one loved as recently as the late 90's are now all regularly fetching over 100$ a pop (assuming decent condition cabinet and CRT). I can rattle off a decent list of folks here that are collecting 70's and newer solid state sets and would offer decent money for some models. Sure many makers sold millions of some chassis, but that was before 50-60 years of attrition whittled that number down to a small fraction of that. Sure if one wants any random (for example) 1959 Zenith one can be had in 1 week to 3 months of searching (in most regions), but they offered at least 28 different cabinet styles (according to the poster hanging over my head) and most had at least 2 finish variations and remote control and UHF options....If one wants an exact cabinet/finish/electronic optioned model for some reason (for instance it was their first TV set) and it happens to NOT be one of the most popular combinations made, the time needed to find one for sale could be years instead of months.....Heck I've been looking for a specific mid 70's Quasar WID hybrid, that was the first set I can remember watching, for the better part of a decade now, and have never seen one with the same chassis in person....The only one similar (same cabinet and everything) I've seen since is in someones youtube video linked in the what I want link in my signature. A good portion of the collecting community have interest and see sometimes good value in sets that you would not think twice about leaving at the curb. I've went to the effort to save some sets that I would not buy for myself or even keep if they were free (though I'd be hard pressed to handle temporarily storing more than 5 additional consoles ATM) just to keep them from the land fill....There are a number of folks out there that would not be enjoying a given set if it were not for me....I see it as trying to look out for the interests of current and future generations of hobbyists that likely will not benefit from the same luck and bounty that I do here and now.
Sorry for rambling my point across with so much text....

I really like that Admiral color set. It is one of the models that, once I have more money at my disposal, I'll be on the lookout for.

Originally Posted by Olorin67

Great finds! I'm pretty full up myself at the moment though. Still keeping my eyes out for one of the ellusive 25" or 27" sets. I did manage to find another S-C 23" school TV

Cool! There can't be too many of those still around.

[Olorin67]

Seems Like with TV sets in particular, a lot of people want to track down the exact set their family had when they were a kid. in many cases, the set people are looking for isn't particularly "collectible" otherwise..
Fortunately, in my case, I grabbed it when It was replaced in the 80's, and still have it. (19" metal cabinet color tube Zenith from 1970-I think I've finally learned enough about TVs to tackle fixing it, but want to get some b&W sets of mine fixed first)

[ohohyodafarted]

Well Tom, According to the ETF web site, it looks like there are a total of 8 known examples of the Admiral C322 color set. I would say that makes it fairly rare to find one. 2 of the 8 sets are in my collection, Blonde and Mahogany.

Hopefully after I pass away you will have enough money to buy one of mine from my widow when she liquidates my collection. To the best of my knowledge, it has been about 9 years since the 7th one was unearthed, and I purchased that one for $1K from the fellow who discovered it.

According to a couple of very serious collectors, I have been told that the Automatic Radio 7" set is the real gem. So I guess it comes down to how rare a set is. I didn't think much of it when I saved it, so I guess I don't know much about collect-ability.

I am busting at the seams with sets that I have no room for. I need to move some B&W sets to other collectors to make room for the sets I want to keep. All sets are roundies of course. So if you or someone else in the area are interested in adding a roundie or two to your collection, let me know. I usually place the value at 150% of what the crt would sell for but of course that's negotiable.

[tvcollector]

You know how bad I wish I could find stuff and have endless amount of space to store stuff.. It's to the point to where I have to let stuff go, and no room to even learn more about how to restore these things... It's become a nightmare, and my family now thinks I'm such a bad person due to the fact I like to collect history and preserve it.. I pay around $400 a month on storage units to just store things.. Does anyone on here thinks it's worth it? when it gets in the way financially, and between family? I keep being reminded that that money I use which they think I throw away can be used in better things, such as a nicer car, a vacation, and instead you have junk that weights you down...

[jstout66]

You lucky bastard!
LOVE that Admiral.

[tubesrule]

Bob,
Tom G has a scan of my Automatic sales brochure on his site where you can see the various sets they had including your console.

Darryl

http://www.tvhistory.tv/1946-49-AUTOMATIC.htm

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

I am busting at the seams with sets that I have no room for. I need to move some B&W sets to other collectors to make room for the sets I want to keep. All sets are roundies of course. So if you or someone else in the area are interested in adding a roundie or two to your collection, let me know. I usually place the value at 150% of what the crt would sell for but of course that's negotiable.

Depending on how things go I may be moving in the next few months to year. Until I know exactly where I'm going to be living for the next few years I don't intend to permanently acquire any more consoles (if one comes in it can't stay long or another must go). If any of the sets you want to sell are table sets I might be interested.

[ohohyodafarted]

Thanks for the link Daryl.

I decided to work on the Porta-Color this afternoon. These little GE sets were very reliable, and I was surprised that it did not work when I first plugged it in. I powered it up on the variac, but I did not get any filaments to light. Testing the input voltage confirmed that I did have power to the set. Darn series filaments. Pulled each tube starting at the left rear (left being opposite the tuner) and worked my way toward the tuner. Of course the last tube tested, (4LJ8) in the tuner had an open filament. Murphy's Law! I searched through the tube inventory and found a good used replacement and popped it in. The tubes lit up and I got a raster. I let it sit for about 30 minutes to stablize and then did a few adjustment and was rewarded with a very nice picture. I dont know why the photo has so much grainyness. Screen looks much better in person.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by tvcollector

You know how bad I wish I could find stuff and have endless amount of space to store stuff.. It's to the point to where I have to let stuff go, and no room to even learn more about how to restore these things... It's become a nightmare, and my family now thinks I'm such a bad person due to the fact I like to collect history and preserve it.. I pay around $400 a month on storage units to just store things.. Does anyone on here thinks it's worth it? when it gets in the way financially, and between family? I keep being reminded that that money I use which they think I throw away can be used in better things, such as a nicer car, a vacation, and instead you have junk that weights you down...

Paring things down to what you really like would be helpful. I've gotten rid of 4x as many TVs as I have now since I started collecting, and other assorted items I knew I would never use. As for family members thinking you're a bad person just because you collect and preserve history, that's absolute rubbish. You're not hurting anyone, they have no right to tell you how to live your life. It's not gambling, drinking or drugs, it's a harmless hobby. Unusual, but harmless. I have been told by at least one person that he had never heard of anyone collecting TVs. I would probably get that more if I knew more people.

[hi_volt]

My friends and work associates are fascinated by my hobby. My folks, when they come and visit me, are always interested in what I've recently acquired, and they call the room where I display most of my sets my "treasure room".

[Username1]

mmmmmmm T r e a s u r e R o o m ---------

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[Gregb]

I have most of the basement for my hobby and half is the "TV Room" and the other half is the "Radio Room". Even my wife doesn't complain because she always knows where I am.
Everyone that sees them is really impressed with all of the vintage sets I have and the fact that most of them are in working condition. I try to keep things organized so it looks like a collection and not a hoard.
I collect radios, TV's, vintage test equipment, and tubes. I must admit that this is an addiction because I have a really tough time passing up anything tube related that comes up for sale in my area. I have driven up to 1500 miles to pickup an item that I feel I can't live without that is to big to ship. I am considering flying down to the convention sometime and renting a truck to haul home what ever I happen to buy there.
You only live once and if this is what makes you happy NO ONE has the right to stand in your way.
Happy Collecting and may the TV and Radio gods smile down on you!

Gregb

[Sandy G]

"Porta-Potties" were cheap & Nasty, but NOBODY bothered to tell THEM that, so they just worked, & worked, & WORKED... My Dad got one EARLY on, in late '65, IIRC, little sucker was on a good 18 hrs a day, 7 days a week, til he got a big Trinitron about '72 or '73. I THINK we had to put a couple/3 tubes in it over the years, but otherwise it was a TROUPER.. That was before our house was A/C-ed, it was in the kitchen/den/dining room, & it got HOT in there..

[TUD1]

That RCA Victor is on the very top of my list for getting a vintage TV. I love the look of it!

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by TUD1

That RCA Victor is on the very top of my list for getting a vintage TV. I love the look of it!

IIRC your a radio guy. If that is so, you will want to work on a monochrome set before you even touch a tube color set to avoid opening a can of worms you are not ready for. Also CTC-5s are fairly rare....In the South unless you happen to live in a good area for vintage TVs you may be lucky to find any round screen color set.