Why Old CTV?

[ChiefRider]

So, I've been reading the various threads here, and am intrigued by the enthusiasm you all have for the old sets. For some reason, old color tv's have not been on my radar screen. I own and enjoy several old radios, from eraly '20's battery sets, to some of the transistors of my youth, but not tv's. I'm not one to feel the need to run out and buy the latest technology- our family set is a 15 year old Sony XBR, that I bought used 5 or so years ago.

I'm sure many of the reasons are the same as to why I enjoy my old radios, but I'm hoping to solicit your opinions as to why old CTV's. I hope I don't offend anyone with this question, just interested in hearing your thoughts-

Thanks

Chief

[Gerardn3]

Well, I'm a huge fan of early portable Sony Trinitron color sets (From the 1970s), because they are extremely solid, well-built, made in Japan, and produce an absolutely brilliant picture when in proper working order. They're also very unique looking in an awesome retro stylish way. My KV-9200 (9" CRT) is the perfect TV for my desk, and I have yet to find anything newer I'd be happy with in comparison for this application.

As far as larger televisions go, I've really come to love vintage Zeniths. The color roundies, and early rectangular models, with such stylish (in a classic, simplistic way) design, in magnificent wood cabinets; they are simply beautiful. I've unfortunately never seen one in-person, but from what I've seen on here they can produce a beautiful picture when working to spec. Some day I would love to own one and even use one as my daily watcher.

[David Roper]

I can only recall CTV as an abbreviation of cable television. Anyway, I must admit I'm surprised by how much interest there is now in 60s era color TV sets, even rectangular screen sets.

My collecting history goes back 35 years and my perception of a "cool old set" has really not changed from that time til now. The kind of set which was then common to see in most any basement--round (at least roundish) screen, knobs below screen, speaker below knobs, is still the kind of set I look for. After all, sets in a horizontal cabinet configuration with controls and speaker on the right were contemporary and common. Since I can remember later roundies in use as primary sets not even that by itself makes a set desirable for me personally.

That's probably why to date I have never owned a vintage color TV, my interest falls off sharply after about 1960 equally for color and black & white.

[bgadow]

I've always loved old radios, especially big American sets with lots of tubes and "gimmicks". They are fun to restore and to use.

Many of those companies that made those beautiful consoles of the pre-war era managed to survive into the sixties. By that time, the equivalent of a high-end set was a color tv. They would be the most complex, most expensive, most gimmicky tube powered devices ever sold to consumers.

An early color TV was custom made for a constant tinkerer like me. You may never get them perfect-there is always a knob to twist, a screw to turn.

Those sets also conjure up memories, of course. In my case, I never recall being anywhere that a color roundie was in use. So, for me the nostalgia is heavy with early rectangular sets. Those who are younger probably feel the same way about sets of the 70s, 80s, and now even the 90s. While part of me thinks those sets are too new, too boring, I need to appreciate what they mean to younger generations.

[mr_fixer]

For me vintage color tv's mean a couple of things. They were extremely expensive and were the most complicated device in the average person's home, until the VCR and the home computer arrived in the 70's/80's. Growing up i had been given several hand-me-down or trash picked B&W sets but It wasn't until Christmas 1982 that I had my own color set, a RCA color portable XL-100. Color TV has always been special and expensive. Motels and motor courts always boasted of Color Televisions available in their rooms. Television always meant more to me than just a consumer product. It was a whole industry all the way from sales, to parts supply houses, to picture tube rebuilders, to repair shops. at one time i bet there was a thousand people within Metro Nashville that made a living entirely because of the TV set. I knew every television repair shop within bicycle range from my house "There were 4 in that range. plus the Rexall had a tube tester and a few tubes for sale." I used to drop in to one really local one and watch the techs repair customers sets. They let me hang out and ask questions. It was a different time back then.
The next thing is that old American made electronics really stand the test of time, back in 1985 i was helping a friend of mine move out of the dorm at a local college. and in the hallway of his dorm was a dead Goldstar television that the previous roomate had abandoned after it failed with less than 6 months use. I took it home and opened it up and it had the worst build quality i had ever seen, I counted at least a dozen cold solder joints. back then (iirc) it was the first color 13 inch tv that sold for $129.99 . when Zeniths were $199. I would never have believed that Goldstar would eventually become LG and one day buy out Zenith.
Lastly is the simply reason that these sets remind me of my life growing up, favorite shows look best on a set you originally watched them on, ha ha ha.
Logan

[andy]

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[Phil Nelson]

Ditto to everything Andy said. I started out collecting & restoring simple radios, then more complicated boatanchors and high-end sets, then black and white TVs, and now I'm working on my first color TV project. At every stage, there was something new to learn.

Early color TVs are also watchable. Many vintage b/w TVs have such a small screen that watching them is almost painful. The 21" screen on my "roundie" is big and bright. I was tinkering with it one evening when my wife (the TV junkie) walked in and said "Hey, that looks great. Wait, that's Boston Legal -- let me watch it!" She would never have sat for an hour on a hard wooden chair in my workshop watching that show on a little 7" b/w set.

Phil Nelson

[Adam]

I currently have tvs ranging from 1946-1970, and radios from 1930-1968. But the early color televisions are most exciting to work on because, like was said before, they are sort of the height of tube electronics. My remote CTC-10 has something like 32 tubes in it.

And to me a remote control early color set (available from about 1957-1966) is the ultimate daily watcher. It has all the features I want (good clear 21" picture, color, remote) and it was made before televisions sunk in build quality and it's still relatively easy to work on. The early rectangular color sets (about 1967-1973) basically fit the same criteria (and there are a few I'd like to find), but they're just not as cool to look at. And while I would like to pick up a really early color set (54-56), I wouldn't use it as a daily watcher.

But because color sets are more difficult to work on (and generally come in large consoles) I don't collect them in the same quantity I do b/w. I currently only have 3 color sets, vs. 20-something b/w.

[oldtvman]

You have to understand that for those of us who grew up in the era, found color television an almost unbelievable experience. For me seeing a picture on a television in color back then would be about the same as being able to time travel or drive a flying car today. And the funny thing is that although some of the early color models required high maintainence, the picture quality on a properly adjusted set was just incredible.

[ChiefRider]

Some interesting responses; Thanks.

We got our first color set around '64 or so. It really was an amazing thing to see the Wizard of Oz in color! We (my brothers and I) weren't allowed to touch the color wheels on the Zenith roundie we had. I'd consider finding one now, but I think the care and feeding of one would exceed my desire. I guess I'll keep checking in to see what is being salvaged and enjoyed.

Thanks
Chief

[Sandy G]

To me, it was the whole package-The technology, the times, even the shape of the screen was just Tres Kewl. And yes, there's nothing quite like a well set up roundie to watch...And that's part of it, too-I doubt that many of 'em were REALLY "properly set up" back in the day...

[compucat]

To me the Zenith color roundie is my personal Holy Grail of vintage electronics. My grandparents had one and I fell in love with the style. I still wish round screens were available on at least some sets. I find the circular shape more pleasing to look at. Especially when compared to the sharp square cornered sets of today. I have never become used to 90 degree angles on a TV screen. The build quality is very high on the name brand roundies. Nothing compares to it. Also, early color TV now means I can "stick it to the man". By that I mean the government tried to make all old sets obsolete by the switch to digital. By maintaining and using my tube type sets, I am opposing the change which I do not believe was for the better. Make me obsolete? I don't think so.

[ihmeyers]

I too collect everything from Color TV to post war B&W sets to 1920's radios. For me, a tail-end Baby Boomer, those 60's color sets are a relic of simpler, perhaps happier times of youth. I like nothing more than feeding it 1960's TV programming and trying to recreate what it was like back then.

[Jeffhs]

The oldest TV I have at this time is a 14-year-old Zenith Sentry 2 19" table model; the newest, a nine-going-on-ten year old RCA XL-100 CTC185A7 19" table set. No room for vintage sets or consoles, as I live in a very small apartment, although I do have a collection of small table model and portable Zenith radios.

I agree with Andy as far as the severe lack of anything really worth listening to on AM and FM radio goes. There is nothing much to listen to on radio here in my area near Cleveland, either--most of what's on AM is syndicated talk, sports and other non-music programming. Even AM740 (formerly CHWO, now CFZM) in Toronto, which used to have big bands and standards, has changed its format to something it calls "Zoomer Radio", whatever that means. This leaves me with precious little to listen to on my AM/SW Zenith TransOceanic Royal 1000, and leaves the AM broadcast band on every one of my AM/FM sets (and my stereo system; I don't even have an AM antenna connected to it) largely unused.

Commercial FM is even worse. Cleveland is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and somehow that's given almost every radio station in the city the idea that they must play nothing but this noise 24/7. The only classical music radio station in Cleveland, WCLV, moved its transmitter to a location some 50 miles west of the city several years ago, and its dial position from 95.5 to 104.9 MHz at the same time. The station reaches all northeastern Ohio well enough, but it is unlistenable in all of Lake County because of a very strong country-western station just 0.2 MHz down the dial at 104.7.

The only really good quality listening on FM in this area anymore is that area of the FM broadcast band from 88 to 92 MHz. There is an NPR station about 60 miles southwest of me that plays classical at night; the signal is relayed to my area (Lake County, Ohio) by a translator, about ten miles from me, on 89.1 MHz. There is also an NPR station in the city of Cleveland, but it plays jazz after dark, which I don't care for. A station at 91.5 MHz, WKHR-FM, is owned by a school district about 20 miles south of here and plays big bands/standards, much as AM 740 used to. WKHR has an incredible coverage area (probably 60-70 miles or more) due to its very high elevation in Geauga County, Ohio and is also available over the Internet at www.wkhr.org.


I don't watch much broadcast TV either. I downgraded my cable to basic service (local channels only) a couple months ago, and am using the money I am saving over the cost of standard cable (about $40 a month or so) to buy DVDs of the shows I watched 20-30 years ago or more; I also have a subscription to Netflix. I also have a sizable collection of VHS videos, mostly of old TV series and movies, though I do have a couple of professionally-recorded travelogues (both taken in the Phoenix, Arizona area and the Grand Canyon) and several old movies as well.

I don't care to and will not get a flat-panel TV any time soon (although I have been strongly tempted to do so after seeing the low prices [in one case well under $200--the price range I mentioned in a previous post] in ad flyers, etc. for some 19" FPs), especially after having read in this forum that CRT sets still produce better pictures than FPs--even at this stage of the latter's development. For this reason, I will keep and use my RCA and Zenith sets until they go belly-up (which may not be for quite a while, as both sets work amazingly well for their ages); then and only then, as I have mentioned in at least one previous post, will I even consider buying a flat-panel.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

...A station at 91.5 MHz, WKHR-FM, is owned by a school district about 20 miles south of here and plays big bands/standards, much as AM 740 used to. WKHR has an incredible coverage area (probably 60-70 miles or more) due to its very high elevation in Geauga County, Ohio ...

I listened to them the last time I drove through Ohio, they played some good stuff that you rarely hear on the radio. But I can't pull it in up here, even with the vhf antenna on the roof. There is absolutely nothing on FM to listen to up here. On AM I'll listen to some of the talk, but I haven't found any good music.