Hello from beautiful downtown Tucson!

[starfire]

Great site..so glad it exists. New here, and looking forward to learning whatever I can, and giving back however I can. I used to collect old radios, and juke boxes. Vintage TV was always appreciated, but never collected until now.

Just picked up a nice old 1950 Motorola 12VK15R TV (see pics). Have yet to plug it in. Looking to see if anyone has the missing knob?? Also, any thoughts as to quality of this particular make/model?
Thanks in advance, Paul.

[Sandy G]

Nice t'have ya ! Welcome !

[starfire]

Thank you Sandy!

[bandersen]

Welcome to VK
The TS-30 is one of Motorola's better designs from that era. It has a beefy power transformer while their less expensive sets used series string tube filaments and AC line voltage doublers.

I restored a somewhat similar 19K1 a few years ago. Sorry, I don't have any knobs to spare.

[starfire]

Thank you..that is a beautiful set! There is a great little shop in my neighborhood that supplies wood veneer for restorations. They have a Mahogany veneer that very close to the original. I need to stop by one of these days..

Too bad about the knob. I will find one eventually. This will be my first TV restoration. I have restored several radios (Zenith Black Dials are my favorites). My problem is that, stray radios follow me home....often. I can see where this will go eventually!

[bandersen]

Is there damage to your cabinet ? It looks great in all your photos. The one I worked on had horrible gouges in the top from a heavy radio sliding around on it while in an antique shop.

[starfire]

The top needs new veneer. the rest looks nice. The doors look like they were closed most of its life. That being said, I have no idea where the channel knob went. I attached a few pics I just took..

What a shame..people had little to no respect for these units. In the auto repair industry we refer to those people as "the public transportation type". They should have rode the bus rather than destroy nice cars. Anyway, how did you repair the gouges?

[bandersen]

The set isn't mine - I just restored the chassis. I believe the owner sent it out to a cabinet refinisher for repairs, but I never saw an "after" photo.

[starfire]

Sent it out?? Too bad, that's where you bond with the machine. I prefer to restore my own stuff. Not great with the technology, but not bad with the wood.
Have a great weekend..

[azbigsam]

Welcome! I live in Mesa and saw that set on the Phoenix craigslist.
Good luck to you and the set.

[starfire]

Thanks Sam. I did buy it from a guy in North Phoenix. He got it from the original owner's granddaughter. Great little set, but very heavy... Took two people to lift it into my Silverado! Now I just need to find the missing knob.
Paul.

[Electronic M]

Welcome!

Unless someone plugged it in in the last three months I'd recommend bringing it up on a variac instead of smacking it with full line voltage all at once. Sets this old RARELY work as found. If nothing smokes or blows on power up the most your likely to get is sound, maybe a raster if your real lucky.

I'd test the CRT before putting any money into it as replacements are quite scarce and expensive. Also check that the flyback transformer is not roasted as those can be tougher to find than the CRT.

[starfire]

Hello Tom,
Thanks for the heads up. This set has not been used for many years, and will most likely need a few things. Will check everything out (and advise) when I have time.
Good luck with your wish list!
Paul.