Zenith Space Command "500" TV - lucky find

[Snade]

Found this at an estate sale in Elmhurst, Illinois, paid $10.

19" Zenith SC 500 portable, Chromacolor.

Model SC1950-6
Chassis: 19DC12

Cabinet is in very nice shape and the two antennas work fine.

Included two Space Command remotes. Wow!

The TV works and the remotes work, but some channels come in black and white only and there are horizontal white lines across the very top of the picture. Can't seem to get anything on channel 11 (PBS).

I don't work on TVs, so maybe I will ask Doug if he can bring this up to speed. I don't live far from him in Batavia, IL.

Very lucky find for me. Photos below. Snade

[mr_fixer]

Wow! that's nice! You Chicago people are just way too lucky!
You find more vintage zenith tv's in a weekend than i will find in a year.

[JHS2RT]

ULTRA COOL and what a great find!!!

[zenith2134]

That's some nice tv! I love the design. Whenever I find a classic set I clean out all the controls with deoxit and also clean the tuner if it needs it. Then set the greyscale and it blows people away when i tell them its age!

[zenithfan1]

Shweet!!!

[drh4683]

You lucked out! Great find.
Id be happy go get it going for you. Im headed out to the estates tomorrow to hopefully turn up some more zeniths! Old sets show up in Elmhurst often it seems like. Nothing can beat Berwyn though! Seems like every sale in berwyn has an old zenith TV.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Snade

Found this at an estate sale in Elmhurst, Illinois, paid $10.

19" Zenith SC 500 portable, Chromacolor.

Model SC1950-6
Chassis: 19DC12

Cabinet is in very nice shape and the two antennas work fine.

Included two Space Command remotes. Wow!

The TV works and the remotes work, but some channels come in black and white only and there are horizontal white lines across the very top of the picture. Can't seem to get anything on channel 11 (PBS).

I don't work on TVs, so maybe I will ask Doug if he can bring this up to speed. I don't live far from him in Batavia, IL.

Very lucky find for me. Photos below. Snade

You didn't say if you had your set on cable but if you're using an over-the-air antenna, the reason you see some channels in b&w may be simply that the fine tuning may be off. Color TV is very demanding as far as 100-percent correct fine tuning is concerned. You could have the same problem with channel 11; if the fine tuning is really far off the mark, you can lose your entire signal--video, sound and all. Again, color TV is nowhere nearly as forgiving as b&w as far as tuning errors go. Back in color TV's early days, technicians would often go out on service calls for "no color" on a new color set, only to find that the fine tuning control is just the least little bit off center. A simple twist of the wrist was often all it took to restore the picture to full (as NBC used to say in their early years of colorcasting) "living" color. Also, some people never quite got the hang of adjusting color controls (not just the fine tuning) properly, which is probably why all TVs made in the last 15 years or so, and all sets in current production, are set up for practically set-and-forget operation--take it out of the box, put it on a stand, connect the cable or antenna, turn it on and forget the rest. I used to know people who would watch their color TV with an absolutely hideous looking picture--oversaturated colors, flesh tones so far off it wasn't funny, etc. It never seemed to bother them, as long as the picture was there at all.

The horizontal white lines across the top of the picture are probably horizontal retrace lines. These are often visible, especially on older sets, if the brightness is set too high; I'd try lowering the brightness to see if the lines disappear. The chances are they will. If not, however, the problem is likely in the retrace blanking circuitry which, these days, requires a skilled technician to correct. I've read enough of Doug's posts here on AK to know that he knows his way around TV circuitry (especially Zenith) very well (did he work for Zenith at one time?), so if fine-tuning or brightness adjustments don't get your set working as it should, have Doug take a look at it. If he's near you in Batavia, it won't be that much of a drive to get the set to him.

[Snade]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

You didn't say if you had your set on cable but if you're using an over-the-air antenna, the reason you see some channels in b&w may be simply that the fine tuning may be off. Color TV is very demanding as far as 100-percent correct fine tuning is concerned. You could have the same problem with channel 11; if the fine tuning is really far off the mark, you can lose your entire signal--video, sound and all. Again, color TV is nowhere nearly as forgiving as b&w as far as tuning errors go. Back in color TV's early days, technicians would often go out on service calls for "no color" on a new color set, only to find that the fine tuning control is just the least little bit off center. A simple twist of the wrist was often all it took to restore the picture to full (as NBC used to say in their early years of colorcasting) "living" color. Also, some people never quite got the hang of adjusting color controls (not just the fine tuning) properly, which is probably why all TVs made in the last 15 years or so, and all sets in current production, are set up for practically set-and-forget operation--take it out of the box, put it on a stand, connect the cable or antenna, turn it on and forget the rest. I used to know people who would watch their color TV with an absolutely hideous looking picture--oversaturated colors, flesh tones so far off it wasn't funny, etc. It never seemed to bother them, as long as the picture was there at all.

The horizontal white lines across the top of the picture are probably horizontal retrace lines. These are often visible, especially on older sets, if the brightness is set too high; I'd try lowering the brightness to see if the lines disappear. The chances are they will. If not, however, the problem is likely in the retrace blanking circuitry which, these days, requires a skilled technician to correct. I've read enough of Doug's posts here on AK to know that he knows his way around TV circuitry (especially Zenith) very well (did he work for Zenith at one time?), so if fine-tuning or brightness adjustments don't get your set working as it should, have Doug take a look at it. If he's near you in Batavia, it won't be that much of a drive to get the set to him.

Jeff, thanks a lot for your comments and suggestions.

I'm getting in touch with Doug about bringing this set up to spec.

This is a lot of fun. Mark (aka Snade)

[jpdylon]

WOW, chromacolor, and space command? Nice score.

THis is a pre CCII and will probably be a 4 tube hybrid. Excellent pictures with those delta gun CC CRTs.

WOn't find another one of those in that condition again. Get doug to restore it for you and enjoy it. It will look even better on a DTV box.

[zeno]

Nice catch. It is a 4 tube hybrid. Very easy set to deal
with, I can still rattle off part numbers in this set
even though its been years since I worked on one.

73 Zeno

[snelson903]

Originally Posted by drh4683

You lucked out! Great find.
Id be happy go get it going for you. Im headed out to the estates tomorrow to hopefully turn up some more zeniths! Old sets show up in Elmhurst often it seems like. Nothing can beat Berwyn though! Seems like every sale in berwyn has an old zenith TV.

you have zenith console on your youtube video { Quality goes in before the name goes on } the first one shown, i have been looking for since i lost mine in a flood in 96, basement wall crushed it, mine had space comand and vhf tuner only, it was given to me when i was 12yrs old by my dads boss who owned the olds dealer since the late 50's ,my dad worked there since 1957 . that tv ment alot to me ,i had it in my bedroom growing up, and when i was marride me and my wife was using it from 1985 to 96 when it was time for crt to be replace .i took it down the basement where i had my workshop , that spring it seemed to rain every day ,the ground in my area became like a swamp land ,the water table rose to 7feet . i live near a small dam instead of them{ our mayor } opening the gates ,they were concerned about the gulf course getting flooded so the kept them closed on the night of june 10th 96 we had vary heavy and long rain ,the water table rose to ground level my west 32 foot block wall fell in and crushed my zenith tv ,and test equitment i had since i was a kid. sooooo if you ever want to sell yours let me know.

[Robb]

Awesome find !

[ggregg]

I had one of those when I was a kid. Hitting a wooden spoon on the right size pot will change the channels...........

[julianburke]

This is a very rare set to find as it is a remote. The 4B25 chassis is hard enough to find as a "regular" set. I finally found one after looking for one for almost 20 years. I used to sell them when they were new 40 years ago. Your remote is an extremely rare set to find nowadays!!

PS, If some pictures comes in perfect and others come in B&W or lines in it, that is tuning. You have to fine tune each channel. Just open the door on the front to expose the way to tune each channel.