This is the first estate sale TV find for 2007. While a newer set, it needed to be saved. Its a 17" 1979 Zenith Chromacolor II with space command. 1979 is the last year for the chromacolor II. Chroma II's are probably the best most reliable chassis zenith made. The space command was a plus. It was $14.00 at half price at 155 Addison Rd, Riverside, IL. Model SK1745W, 17KC55 chassis. For once I find a zenith set that still has a legible model tag. Most of the time they are either torn off, or badly faded away. I noticed the "space command" and looked around for the remote. Couldnt find it. The people running the sale didn't know either after looking around for a good 10 minutes. So we figured it was lost. As I brought the TV to the cashier, there was a box of miscellanious on the floor next to the cashier. Sure enough, I spotted the remote in there just as I was paying for the set!

Typical zenith, it still works perfect with a strong tube. The remote didnt work. Had some cracked solder joints at the transducer to board connection.
The set was made in Reynosa, Mexico. Many parts were made in Mexico and Taiwan. It appears that the CRT is the only thing made in USA. Its sad to see this. The 1968 zenith sets were the first to start using foreign made parts. Yokes made in Holland, then portugal, then in 1969 you started to see mitsubishi transistors and japanese lytics. Then you started to see Taiwanese made UHF tuners. All the American jobs were starting to dissapear. It just got worse with zenith as the 70's progressed.
They were still the best TV's though.

That's a system 3 tube in there isn't it? I have a set that looks just like this and has a system 3 tube but I haven't opened it up to see if it is a Chromacolor or System 3 chassis.

Cool Doug! And yes.. That is the LAST Chroma 2 chassis. I sold Zeniths then and thet new tri-focus tube came out for the System 3's but Zenith rolled out some "portable" sets with that tube using the Chroma 2 chassis. I always figured they were using up the remaining parts.......

Went to a sale at 3928 Johnson Ave, Western Springs, IL on april 21. Picked up this mint zenith 4 tube hybrid with the factory correct gusdorf cart. The original owner was an engineer for western electric. He had some old WE photographs I bought as well as a few old phones. The TV was in the finished basement since new. The man had a few chairs arrayed around the TV set near the wall. I think this TV has hardly any hours on it. Looks like it was bought for show only. The house had baseboard heat, so there was practically no dust inside. The photos are exactly what the inside of the TV looks like when I first took the back off. Looks like im the first to pull the back off of it. The horizontal output still has the silicone holding it in place, didn't want to pull the tube to test it as its still original and untouched inside. Very rare to see a chassis with no dust accumulation.
When I went into the house, first place I look are the bedrooms. I found a 1985 zenith table set with space command. I was considering buying it. The lady running the sale said it was half off then said there an older one downstairs. She said they though it was a black and white at first but then found out it was color once turned on. "its pretty old though, you might not be interested" she says. "The picture is not that good". When I go down into the basement I was shocked to see it was a 4 tube hybrid. I havn't found a 4 tube hybrid at an estate sale in years. The picture wasnt that good, because someone turned the focus control all the way to one end and had a dull picture. Adjusted to about mid range and had that pefect crisp chromacolor picture. The peak picture control was down too, adjust that and the picture gets even better. The set was marked $15 and got it for half off as it was after 12pm on saterday.

This one is a 1973 model D4026W with a 19DC21 chassis. Its the chassis that uses the solid state stick HV rectifier (no trippler). I took a good number of photos of this set, mainly because 4 tube hybrids are among my favorite sets. You're very luck if you find one these days.

Compare this to other models available in 1973 and it just makes them all look sick. It gets said again and again...what a way to build a TV set!

Went to a sale yesterday at 180 Southcote, Riverside, IL. Found this nice 15" RCA XL-100 portable from '74. Uses the CTC-72 chassis. The set was not this clean when I found it, it was sitting on mantle above the fire place in the basement. It needed a good cleaning, so it got taken apart as you can see. Everything came out of the cabinet, including the CRT for proper cleaning. Cleaned up like new and works great. These XL-100's have a great sharp picture like a chormacolor II. Nice bright low hour set with good original antennas.
This one is model ET355Y, no missing model tag for a change! Especially on a portable, they are gone 98% of the time. Then again, the TV's themself are gone 98% of the time...

I havn't seen one of these around here locally in 10+ years. Its the 14" color portable, the smallest set zenith made at this time. This set is a 1971 model B3510 the "Halley". Uses the 12B8C15 chassis, which is one I've never had before. This is a series string hot chassis set.
Riverside has been a good TV spot this year. I found it on the same street this years first TV find came from! This came from 385 Addison Rd, Riverside, IL. The man who owned it was Joseph Kuizinas and would have been 56 years old when he bought the set. It was actually plugged in downstairs on a bookshelf. It was displayed just like zenith did in the brochures for the small sets, sitting on a nice bookshelf mounted to a wood panel wall with plants and books around it! I wish I had my camera, but it seems like when I bring the camera I dont find anything. The set was using its built in antenna. The antennas were both folded down and intact. The good news is, riverside is just a few miles west of chicago so you can watch TV just fine without extending the antennas, thus they stay preserved.
The TV is a little dirty but all intact and still has the tags on the back so I could identify it. The TV got used probably into the late 80's early 90's. It has several repairs underneath which look like total crap and need to be neatened up a bit. Luckily, the service techs were responsible enough to not lose any of the original back cover screws.
The good news and typical news is, it still works and has a nice picture. A few marginal tubes need to be replaced to keep it reliable. CRT is still good yet! A good cleaning should make it display nicely.
The photo of the set in the book is a 1971 zenith dealer products catalog and shows everything zenith made in nice color photos for this year. 1971 is the only one I have that includes color TV sets. I hope to fine more of these someday..

This is the first estate sale TV find for 2007. While a newer set, it needed to be saved. Its a 17" 1979 Zenith Chromacolor II with space command. ... Model SK1745W, 17KC55 chassis.
Hey Doug, in your attached photos, what is the component soldered to the vertical metal chassis, immediately to the left of the AC line in terminals? The AC line wires go into this component, a small thumb-sized metal can, and black and white wires also come out. The two solder blobs where the component is mounted to the rear panel are visible in your photos.

BTW, I enjoyed looking at your site. Nice collection! I think I recognize at least one mid-60s RCA that my aunt had years back...

...

Doug,, visited your website, very nice!!
Dan

Years ago I had an RCA set that had a chassis that looked a lot like yours
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48628&d=1178503746
I still have some of the plug in modules from it, let me know if you might be interested in them.

I have one of those 14" portables, in rougher shape but, of course, still working. They are underrated...who else would build a portable like that?! Talk about making a Portacolor look sick...

I have one of those 14" portables, in rougher shape but, of course, still working. They are underrated...who else would build a portable like that?! Talk about making a Portacolor look sick...

True, but I betcha it *weighs* twice as much as a Portacolor..!

I suspect one big selling point of the Portacolor was that unlike most other "portable" color TVs made before the mid-70's, the Portacolor was actually *portable* in the sense that it was rather lightweight and easy to carry.

Picked this set up yesterday at 420 N. Quincy Dr, Hinsdale, IL. This was a tri-level home and this set was in the lower level. As soon as I looked at the carpet on my way into the room, I figured there MUST have been some kind of older TV in there. Sure enough, there was a 1970 RCA early American console. The first picture you see is what the set looked like in its original home. Newer TV on top, which lead me to believe the set didn't work and that the top of the RCA was ruined and scratched.
I was wrong on both counts, the newer TV had wide rubber feet and didnt leave a mark ontop of the set. Since its a well built cabinet, the weight of the newer TV didn't "push" the top down or leave indention marks. The TV powered up and had a color picture, not too bad either! CRT is bright as new and is the original colorama dated 69-39. No signs of cateracts anywhere.
Here's where I got concerned. When you look at the first picture, you see the control door is missing. I was really dissapointed to see that. I figured it must be somewhere in the house. I figured if it was me that broke it off, Id put the broken pieces somewhere safe where they couldnt get lost. As you can see in the first picture there is a green desk. Thats the first place I went to look, and the first drawer I pulled, it was in there under all the junk! Ok, so I found the door, but the broken off hinge piece was still missing, and it was a small piece. Looking more into the same drawer, I found that too! I couldn't believe it!
Now if this were one of those estate sales in which everything was cleaned up and prepaired for hundreds of people to walk through, those desk drawers would have been cleaned out and that door would have been gone. The door was a very nice clean break, and will glue back together almost perfectly. You can see where it broke on the close up of the control door, I didn't glue it yet, just wanted to get some pics while it was still light outside.

As for the model, its a 1970 model, made late in 1969. GM 627L the "Providence" with a CTC-38XJ chassis. Once again, I got lucky and the model tag was still on back! I thought I had a CTC39 at first. This has one of those indented 3 channel readout UHF tuners. The set is in excellent shape inside and out. Don't see this type of cabinet too often. It will need just a little work to bring it back 100%, but the good news it everything is complete.

...

Not an exact fit for the thread but I thought it bared mentioning. Was at the flea market Saturday and saw the oldest TV they have had in awhile. A Zenith color console which I thought initially was a $ervice $aver but then I walked around front and it said "Solid State". No mention of Chromacolor on the set-I should have pulled the back cover to see what the chassis was. I'm guessing it was one of the pre-modular ones? Not too bad a shape, and only $10 (as was the late model Zenith console parked next to it). It was old enough that the crt had a green halo. Too white a phosphor to be Chromacolor, I think. This was a 25V set. Anyway, I went back and looked a second time but decided to pass. No room here, and I have no luck getting anyone to come down here and get the sets I've already rescued. It wouldn't surprise me to see this set sitting there for awhile. These booths are under a roof but no walls. There are several vendors in a row with lots of used electronics and the consoles usually sit until the particle board falls apart.

Zenith never had a 25V set that was not Chromacolor that may have been a very early solid state set 1972 or 73 by 75 they used the chromacolor II crts.

I was actually thinking the screen looked too small for 25", but maybe it's just that I didn't have much to compare it with. I know Zenith stuck with those 23V tubes for a long, long time but this had the more rectangular corners.

As far as I know Zenith did not make a 23V soild state set until 1975 or 76. Before then the soild state sets were the top of the line at 25V. The early Chromacolor 25v tubes would go yellow around the edges. But by 1974 they used the one piece bonded tube without the safety glass glued to the tube.
Zenith had some early soild state sets by late 71 early 72 they are rare not a lot of them were sold.

Well, fellas, I thought about that TV all week. I decided that if I went back to the flea market Saturday morning and it was still there, well, I would go ahead and get it. Indeed, it was still there. The vendor begged me to take it, no charge. Seems they rent the same space each week...once when they weren't there somebody dumped the two consoles in their spot. The market wouldn't haul them away and the vendor only had a car so they were just stuck with these monsters. They talked me into taking the late model set as well but when I got back to the space with my truck the folks were nowhere to be seen. It was enough that my wife and I had to load one by ourselves, so I left the other.

So...it uses the horizontal chassis, 25CC55. It was built the last quarter of '71 (meaning it was "in production" the same time I was!) Overall in decent shape. Some of you will ask, does it work? Come on now. This TV is 36 years old; it spent at least a couple weeks sitting out on the flea market grounds. (at least it was during a drought) The cord was gone. What do you think? It's a Zenith...of course it works! The picture does bloom/shrink quite a bit but that can't be but so hard to fix, right? One neat thing is that the UHF uses presets, lettered A, B, C, etc. If you press in on the UHF fine tuning knob a dial scale lights up and you can adjust them. The screenshot I posted is with rabbit ears out in the shed.

One of you WILL be coming to take this off my hands, RIGHT? It is free, and I'll help you load it. Just be warned that I will try to fill the rest of your truck up with other stuff I'm trying to unload! PM if interested.

Estate sale find at 8227 N. Washington st. Niles, IL. Picked up this little 12" RCA Victor solid state "new vista" portable b/w set. I figured this set to be about a '67 at first. Like all RCA's my first check is for a model tag (it was still there!) model AG 005 J. I didnt work, sound but no pic. Could smell some ozone from the back of the set with a faint HV ring. Got it for half price at $5.00.
When I got home I took the back off to troubleshoot the HV stage. I do not have service data for this set, uses a KCS153 chassis. The set does use a 2BJ3 HV rectifier. I also noticed all the components had 1965 date codes! Apparently its a '65 model which surprized me. Im going to assume this is the very first solid state portable RCA b/w set. I dont recall ever seeing this model. The only early rca solid state portables Ive seen are the ones from about '67-'68 with the pop up control panel.

Trouble appears to be a defective damper diode. Its one of those TO-3 cased dampers. Horizontal output transistor checked pretty leaky too. Typical germanium semiconductors, very unreliable! All I need is to get the NTE numbers and should be good to go.
This is quite a well built rugged little set with a power trans as well! One thing I do not understand is the use of the name "New Vista" on a solid state set. I thought "new vista" was referring to the nuvistor triode RF amp that was used in the VHF tuner. This set is all solid state with exception of the HV rectifier.

Hey Doug,
That set is a first see for me as well. Nice find. Will this set operate on 12VDC? I may be able to help you with the semiconductors. I have a bunch that I got from a friend of mine who stopped fixing TV's. Just let me know what numbers you need. I had a CTC40 RCA when I was a kid that had "New Vista Color" stamped on it which I also thought was strange since it was all SS except for the HV rect. I also had a little GE 12" solid state AC/DC set that was probably a little newer than your RCA. It also used a tube HV rectifier. And, no, I no longer have either set. The CTC40 had a bad yoke and CRT and I don't remember what happened to the GE. If I only knew then what I know now...

One of you WILL be coming to take this off my hands, RIGHT? It is free, and I'll help you load it. Just be warned that I will try to fill the rest of your truck up with other stuff I'm trying to unload! PM if interested.


If that set was closer, I WOULD take it. I like provincial and Danish modern solid state sets... they seem pretty rare.

The set does use a 2BJ3 HV rectifier. I also noticed all the components had 1965 date codes! Apparently its a '65 model which surprized me. Im going to assume this is the very first solid state portable RCA b/w set. I dont recall ever seeing this model. The only early rca solid state portables Ive seen are the ones from about '67-'68 with the pop up control panel.

I believe you are correct; that looks like an RCA "Minikin", which was their first solid-state B&W portable. I dunno why those say "New Vista" on them though, but perhaps they hadn't yet decided on some sort of new moniker ("Trans-Vista") for solid-state TV's.

1970 RCA Trans Vista Color, model GM-711L, "Tarleton", CTC-40P. Purchased at 23W234 Cambridge Ct., Glen Ellyn, IL. Original thread on this TV can be found here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=122071Listed Noted on "estate sale finds in 2007" thread for the record.

Picked up a 1971 Zenith console color set. Was a great find as early 70's zeniths are my favorites and are hardest to find plus being a dual speaker danish modern cabinet design made it even better. model B4744W, 12B14C50 chassis. This is a hybrid chassis for course but still had plenty of tubes in it. The set was at 2234 Grove Ave, Berwyn, IL. Found it in the basement. Luckily a clean dry basement. The set was pretty dusty and didnt work that great when I found it. After looking around the basement, I found the original operation manual for the set.
I never had a 12B14C50 chassis before and have been wanting to find one. After looking at the service manual, the 12B14C50 was noted as the "top of the line TV chassis for 1971".
It has the ultramatic UHF tuner, which I have never had on a manual tuning set before.
While looking around the rest of the house, I found some other manuals that helped me determine what TV's they had. I found the manual and schematic for a rca CTC-11, which was long gone. I think its safe to assume this '71 zenith replaced the CTC-11 which would have been about 10 years old at the time. That CTC-11 was probably put into the basement. Then I found another manual for a 1990 Zenith console with the purchase date and info written on it. I think that TV replaced this '71 zenith, that was put into the basement in 1990 unused. The CTC-11 was probably thrown away in 1990 when this zenith was brought down.

This is just a guess of course. The '71 zenith was a well used TV, but well cared for. The CRT was dim when I found it, so it probably got 19 good years of service. Most tubes were changed over the years, but the CRT is still original. The set does not appear to have had any serious work done to it, the chassis appears to have never been pulled out.

So basically, this TV survived 17 extra years and should have been thrown away in '90. This would have been typical. In the early 90's I found lots of early 70's zeniths at the resale shop by my old home and at the curb. Im glad they decided to keep it.

I went over the entire chassis. I didnt need to rejuv the tube, just raised the heaters up to about 8 volts for 15 minutes and brought the CRT back pretty good, even at a cold start up its about 7.8 out of 10, green gun being the weakest at about 7.3. Tuner got pulled to check out the ultramatic drive components. Everything looked good and moved fine.
VHF tuner was pretty dirty and intermittent.
One thing was impressed me was the light up UHF scale for presets of the ultramatic tuner. The dial scale lights up when you push in the UHF fine tuner. Never seen anything like it before. Also, the VHF and UHF dial indicators are direct view, but angle up tward the operator. You can see in the one photo, the indicators do not face out perpindicular to the front of the TV. Also to note, the Outter knobs are the channel changer, while the inner knobs are for fine tuning. Complete opposite from how most TV's were designed.

This is the first year zenith used the V series CRT's, 25VAMP22 (more rectangular) The color circuits had some issues, hue was not adjustable and when you pulled you activated the auto tint gaurd, the screen went completely green. After looking at the 9-47 duramodule, the tech. incorrectly plugged one of the tint leads one pin off on the duramod. Corrected that and it worked just fine. Zenith also had that non tamper HV protection cover soldered over the HV control. As the set ages, component values change and the HV goes way up. The HV was at about 28 KV and still had plenty of range with the control centered bringing it back to a correct 25KV at zero beam.
Zenith manual tells you to jumper various connections if the HV is too high or low, yet if the HV control goes bad, just "reset the HV to 25 KV and resolder the plate". So you can safely readjust the HV without causing other circuits to go out of tolerance. Zenith only did this for two years then went back to the exposed HV control, probably because the techs didnt like it. Zenith also had that "hollow shaft" HV pots back in the 60's color sets. All in efforts to help keep the customer from touching the control as he would exposed himself to x-ray if brought up too high.
Ive had the same exact issue with the 12A12C52 chassis. Just unsolder the cover plate, bring the control back a touch and you're back to 25KV.

This set is working really nice now. I took it apart and cleaned it up, checked some tubes as nothing else was really wrong. Typical zenith, they just keep going!

One of you WILL be coming to take this off my hands, RIGHT? It is free, and I'll help you load it. Just be warned that I will try to fill the rest of your truck up with other stuff I'm trying to unload! PM if interested.

The same person must come through California on their way to grab your set, and pick one up from me first :yes:

Charles

Very interesting in that the solid state Zenith I found (above) has the same tuner setup/control panel as this one. The same push-to-set, etc. The difference is that mine says "solid state" on it. Also, the back does not read "$ervice $aver". That one was built late in '71. By the way, mine did find a new home thanks to a gentleman on AK.

Crap! Why don't people around here throw stuff liike that out! I've been putting ads out ASKING for old tv's like that and have no response! I guess people in central Indiana don't have or appreciate stuff liike that. Geez!

I was just killing a little time on the web, admiring Doug's latest find. A hybrid or SS Danish-modern Zenith is one of my holy grail sets.

So I'm blowing up the thumbnail pics, and now I wonder:

Am I the only person who noticed this?

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58052&d=1187543328

I may have discovered the reason you don't see this style of tuner very often... Or are you trying to tell us something Doug?

The reason my finger is on the UHF tuner is because the UHF dial scale lights up when push in to adjust for your presets. I wanted you to see the lit up scale thats all. When I went to adjust the UHF stations, I was surprized to see this little UHF scale light up. Never seen anything like it and wanted to take the photo. Another one of those neat zenith features.

I went to the zenith plant yesterday on my way to an estate sale on the northwest side of the city. After getting some updated pics of zenith's plant, I had to leave and get to the sale before it ended. The sale was at 5812 N. Mobile Ave, Chicago. This is a typical home you'd see on the NW side of chicago.
I found this really clean 1968 Zenith color console in the colonial cabinet. Model Y4520, with a 20Y1C38 chassis. More of a common zenith set with the concentric tuners.
This set was still in the living room! unplugged an not attached to the antenna anymore. A newer 14" GE set was ontop of the set. Luckily a placemat was under the GE and proteced the top of the zenith. Got the set for $40.00.

When I got it home it had to be taken apart for cleaning. Lots of light dust inside the set. After dusting the chassis off, it looked like new. The set must have been untouched for years. The CRT meter wouldnt move. I left the heaters up to 8 volts for about 10 minutes. All three cathodes came back 8 out of 10 on my RCA CRIII. Even after a cold start up the CRT was strong.
Turned on the set and got blank raster. The set had a couple tubes changed in the past. Appeared to have never had a big service job needing the chassis to be pulled. Lots of original tubes. However, many of those orignal tubes had shorts and grid emission. They got replaced and had to take the tuner assembly out to free up the stuck UHF tuner gear transfer and relubricate it.

ESR of the original filter caps were great. This set didnt require any serious troubleshooting to bring it back, just some simple tube changing and cathode reactivation of the CRT. Reassembled the set and fired it up and had decent almost acceptable focus but needed improvement. Focus wouldnt bring it in all the way and was at the end of its rotation. It was a little low at about 3.5kV. The 212-85 selenium focus rectifier was leaky under load and got replaced with an NTE118. Turned it back on again and this time was able to center the focus pot for the usual razor sharp zenith picture! Didnt even need to adjust the HV, right on 25KV. The original sticker was still over the HV control access hole! Those components stayed pretty stable for the past 40 years! I took lots of photos of the chassis. the 20Y1C38 is very similar to the 20Y1C48 and 20Y1C50. These were the last of the chassis that had mostly all tubes and a tube type IF. the 16Z7C50 chassis replaced the 20Y1C series in '69 with the introduction of solid state chorma demodulation and the solid state IF sub chassis. This chassis shown only has one transistor (video driver) as can be seen next to the 12HL7.

I did grab that zenith radio on the floor too! I also got a royal 500E transistor in maroon.

What we always disliked about that chassis was changing the HVreg and HO tube always was a pain in a dark dusty house.

zenith had a clever idea of the hinged HV cage to gain access to the HO tube and HV reg. The first set I had that used this setup was a 20XC38 and was impressed with the tilt out HV cage. Just make sure the HO tube cap wasnt underneath the cage when you went to snap it back down or else.......crunch.

It did help having the hinged cage but I'm glad they moved the tubes to the rear of the cage and the HO to side. It was much better then fooling around with the cage trying to change hot tubes.

About those Zenith chassises with the cone shaped terminals: I knew someone who used to work for Zenith near Chicage who said that the terminal strips and tube sockets were the first things attached to an empty chassis. Then caps and resistors were stuffed into the terminals, and then the chassises were then wave soldered, topside down. Similar to a circuit board, where the solder side of the board was like the topside of the chassis. Then excess lead length was trimmed off, and then topside components (like IF transformers) were installed. "Hand crafted"...

Doug, your finger wasn't what I was referring too! Even my non-TV friends laughed at this picture!

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58052&d=1187543328

Come on, that had to be on purpose!! I would have done it too! :lmao:

Ah ha! I get it now, the "F U" on the tuner read outs! Had to think about this one for a while! Im guess Im pretty naive. I got a good laugh once I figured it out! honestly that was not on purpose!

I did grab that zenith radio on the floor too! I also got a royal 500E transistor in maroon.
Beautiful TV set, and nice find with the royal 500. I thought I saw a Royal 790 or 780 navigator in the pile of radios on the floor.
I wish i lived In Chicago, Logan

Doug, your set looks great. Those TVs that used the 20Y1C series chassis were excellent, like all Zeniths. I had a great-uncle who owned one of those sets in the late 1960s; great picture on an antenna (this was some years before anyone in the Cleveland area had cable). The only difference that I could tell between his 23" 20Y1C-series set and yours is that his had light-through channel selector knobs (not projection through the center of the knob or onto the front panel, but with pilot lights behind the knobs that had channels 2, 3, 4, etc. and 14, 25, 35, etc. for VHF and UHF, respectively).

BTW, you won't be disappointed, either, with that Zenith radio you grabbed after getting the TV. That radio is either a C- or H-845 from the early sixties, and they are great from a sound standpoint as well as sensitivity--again, as are all Zeniths. I have a C845 that sounds fantastic and pulls in all kinds of stations, especially in the summer when the FM band opens up. I will also be getting a Zenith MJ-1035 AM/FM/FM-stereo table model radio (1961 vintage) from another AKer any day now, probably next week some time.

I had a Zenith Royal 500 radio (maroon color cabinet) back in the early seventies and should have kept it, but didn't; I don't remember why I gave it up, though.

That little joke about the (coincidental) settings of the channel selector knobs on your Zenith Ultramatic TV was great. I laughed out loud when I read the thing, and yes, it even took me a while to find out what Carmine was referring to, but when I took a good look at the TV's control panel and saw, as big as life, the UHF selector on position F and the VHF selector on position U, it dawned on me what the joke was. :lmao:

We're all used to hearing complaints about estate sale people who think a 1979 Quasar console is worth $500 because the cabinet is genuine simulated wood, or the other extreme that throws away a CT-100 because it blocks access to valuable beenie-babies®.

How about half-ass garage sales that are now calling themselves "estate-sales"? I wasted a gallon of precious gas today driving out to what should have been a prime old-tv neighborhood, only to find used shoes and baby toys heaped on a card table in the driveway! These fools advertised as an estate sale, and even mentioned "electronics". I think it's below the dignity of the word electronics to use it in describing some piece-of-sheite purchased 2-years ago at Wal-Fart! :gigglemad

These people need to be prosecuted for false advertisement. Either kill the oldest person at the garage sale to make it right, or force them to tow my car back home with a rope tied around the bumper. :D

On my second attempt, it was an actual estate sale, and should have been a prime old-tv site. House looked untouched since 1970. They seemed to save every piece of crap you could imagine, but the closest I came to a TV was one of those $39 12" B&W sets they give security guards, just so they don't shoot themselves with their imaginary guns. On the plus side, I did pick up a NIB antenna rotator for $5. I suppose this will either become vitally useful, or a giant paperweight after 2009.

Thank you for allowing me to vent.

I went to the zenith plant yesterday on my way to an estate sale on the northwest side of the city. After getting some updated pics of zenith's plant, I had to leave and get to the sale before it ended. The sale was at 5812 N. Mobile Ave, Chicago. This is a typical home you'd see on the NW side of chicago.
I found this really clean 1968 Zenith color console in the colonial cabinet. Model Y4520, with a 20Y1C38 chassis. More of a common zenith set with the concentric tuners.
This set was still in the living room! unplugged an not attached to the antenna anymore. A newer 14" GE set was ontop of the set. Luckily a placemat was under the GE and proteced the top of the zenith. Got the set for $40.00.

When I got it home it had to be taken apart for cleaning. Lots of light dust inside the set. After dusting the chassis off, it looked like new. The set must have been untouched for years. The CRT meter wouldnt move. I left the heaters up to 8 volts for about 10 minutes. All three cathodes came back 8 out of 10 on my RCA CRIII. Even after a cold start up the CRT was strong.
Turned on the set and got blank raster. The set had a couple tubes changed in the past. Appeared to have never had a big service job needing the chassis to be pulled. Lots of original tubes. However, many of those orignal tubes had shorts and grid emission. They got replaced and had to take the tuner assembly out to free up the stuck UHF tuner gear transfer and relubricate it.

ESR of the original filter caps were great. This set didnt require any serious troubleshooting to bring it back, just some simple tube changing and cathode reactivation of the CRT. Reassembled the set and fired it up and had decent almost acceptable focus but needed improvement. Focus wouldnt bring it in all the way and was at the end of its rotation. It was a little low at about 3.5kV. The 212-85 selenium focus rectifier was leaky under load and got replaced with an NTE118. Turned it back on again and this time was able to center the focus pot for the usual razor sharp zenith picture! Didnt even need to adjust the HV, right on 25KV. The original sticker was still over the HV control access hole! Those components stayed pretty stable for the past 40 years! I took lots of photos of the chassis. the 20Y1C38 is very similar to the 20Y1C48 and 20Y1C50. These were the last of the chassis that had mostly all tubes and a tube type IF. the 16Z7C50 chassis replaced the 20Y1C series in '69 with the introduction of solid state chorma demodulation and the solid state IF sub chassis. This chassis shown only has one transistor (video driver) as can be seen next to the 12HL7.

I did grab that zenith radio on the floor too! I also got a royal 500E transistor in maroon.

That looks exactly like the 16Z7C50 chassis set I pulled home from a neighborhood garage sale, except my cabinet is missing its legs and damaged beyond repair, covered in basement mold. Set works fine though, its a Zenith. If i get the gumption, i might borrow the woodshop at the Hershey Montessori Farm School (I used to be a student there) to build an approximation of a danish modern cabinet. The set was free, so how could i refuse.

That's a great idea to build a new cabinet...I have done this with sets where the cabinet was left outside for years and destroyed. You should only need the CRT bezel from the old set to re-construct a cabinet.

An antenna rotor will certainly not be obsolete w/digital television...it may be even more needed if digital signals are weaker or more directional.

Carmine,

I run into the garage sale that was listed as an estate sale all the time! I hate garage sales. Garage sales are normally done by younger homeowners selling off the baby toys, clothes and cheap excersize equipment.

I always like the term: "60 years of accumulation" only to find it to be a garage sale with the oldest item being a headboard to some antique bed.

Im off to some estates right now which are normally about 5-8 sales each saterday. Alteast 2 of those end up being garage sales every week. They end up being the farthest away too.

I always like the term: "60 years of accumulation" only to find it to be a garage sale with the oldest item being a headboard to some antique bed.


Rather like repair shops that say "20-years experience". (10 part-time hacks that have been fooling with electronics for two years :D )

Carmine,

I run into the garage sale that was listed as an estate sale all the time! I hate garage sales. Garage sales are normally done by younger homeowners selling off the baby toys, clothes and cheap excersize equipment.

I always like the term: "60 years of accumulation" only to find it to be a garage sale with the oldest item being a headboard to some antique bed.

Im off to some estates right now which are normally about 5-8 sales each saterday. Alteast 2 of those end up being garage sales every week. They end up being the farthest away too.

I used to find a lot of good things at garage sales. However, I've gotten so disgusted with garage sales that I rarely go anymore. About all I find is clothes, toys, and an occasional cheap shelf stereo with a broken CD player. When I ask about old tube TV's, radios, etc; I always get strange reactions like they don't have a clue what I'm talking about.

...An' if they DO have a tube radio, more than likely it's gonna be an el-cheapo AA5 from 1965 in an ugly square off-white plastic case. Big woo...

...That they think is worth a fortune because it's OLD!...

...

Found three sets at the same home yesterday at 3814 Kenilworth, Berwyn, IL. Very nice original bungalow.
First set I found was a 1980 zenith system 3 space phone with manuals etc. I passed on it as it was too new for me, but it was mint. I went into the dining room and found a cabinet marked "TV $25" with its doors closed. I opened up the doors and to my amazement it was an Admiral! This one dates to 1968. It even worked, and worked great with bright picture! I didnt have any money with me at the moment so I asked the people running to sale to hold it and they did. Once I came back with some money, I finished walking around the rest of the house. Went into the basement and found yet a third vintage set. It was a 1972 sharp 19" set in its orignal cart. Had the bag with all the papers below it. I couldnt believe it. Then I saw the microphone on the front and that told me it was a remote set. Even more rare! However, the remote was not with the set. I looked all over the basement for it and couldnt find it. The TV was plugged in and the switch was in "remote" position so I knew the remote was lost since the set was last used.
The guy watching the basement helped me look around for it, even went upstairs looked through dressers etc and turned up nothing. I was pretty dissapointed as it would be next to impossible finding that remote. Since the set had the manuals, it showed a picture of the remote control. I showed the people running the sale to call me incase they happen to find it as they had a pic of what it looked like.

They gave me both sets for $30.00. I was po'd that I couldnt find the remote and figured it got stolen or someone at the sale just wanted it cause it looked cool.

I get home and at about 5pm last night the phone rang. Sure enough, they found the remote! Unbelieveable! I asked where it was found and they told me it was on the seat of the excercycle in the basement. Here we look all over the place and the darn thing was ontop of a seat in the open all along. We were all blind to it.

I drove back out to berwyn today to pick it up. The people were basically throwing all of the contents of the home into the dumpster. Made me sick. There was so much nice vintage stuff being junked. Someones entire life was simply thrown away. The system 3 was still in the livingroom. they told me to take it or else it was going to the dumpster. I couldnt let that happen so I took it. I asked about the remote and paperwork that was ontop of the set. The guy just threw it into a bag headed to the dumpster minutes before I stopped by. He opened up the bag and there was the remote and papers for the set!

I got home and checked everything out, the system 3 works perfect. The sharp set needs a few tubes. For being an instant on set, the CRT is 8 out of 10 and very strong. The remote didnt work. I heard a rattle inside the case. When i took it apart I noticed one of the fork contacts broke so it didnt transmit the VHF tuner signal. Sharp (matsushita) made the remotes for magnavox, which I have about 3 parts remotes for mag. The mag remote had the identical contact forks and was able to install them into the sharp remote. Adjusted the trimmers and it works great. This set has individual drive motors for VHF and UHF.

I must say, this Sharp set is a direct copy of a zenith ultramatic tuner. Its the same concept using a cam drum to select the preset channels. Its a well built set and appears to have never been serviced. A japanese remote set of this age is impossible to find.

As for the admiral, it works near perfect. The flyback was replaced sometime with a thordarson fly-311. The tek at jaros TV in chicago did a great job, neatly done. With the thord fly, this set should last forever. It has instant on and luckily the switch was off, preserving the original tubes and crt. Its a low hour set.

I have the system 3, its nice but too new. Im looking to give it away to anyone who wants it. Its special because the paperwork shows that it was bought directly from zenith at Zenith's northlake showroom center!

As for the orignal pictures of the home, I didnt have my camera at the time I found the sets saterday. I took the pictures today. The zenith was at the left corner of the livingroom and the sharp was in the basement on the left side next to the door. Admiral was in the diningroom next to the window.

what awesome finds! Shame that they were just canning everything. The admiral is absolutely beautiful. Is this a set you are going to add to the museum , or flip? Either way, I'm glad its in the hands of a collector instead of inside a dumpster!

Hi Doug, did you get my message about zenith r1290? Nice Finds! I really like the look of the Admiral TV! Logan
P.S. i found a cool video about the Old Zenith CRT plant in Melrose Park on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RSEIa3TZ6k

Doug, I read every one of your Estate Sale Finds posts as soon as they show up in my inbox, and it never ceases to amaze me how you can find room for all the Zenith TVs you find, especially the big consoles. Do you have a storage shed or a separate building where you keep the sets?

So far, 2007 has been a great year for finding vintage sets. I really thought my vintage Tv finds would taper off this year but thats not happening! All the TV's are in my home. Most are in the basement, the rest are upstairs. Believe me, I am running out of room, if not already. As much fun as it is finding these TVs, each new find means a challange as to finding a good place for it. IF I dont go to these estate sales, all of these TV's would have been thrown away. I wish there was another collector who lived locally, I would donate them to their collections or atleast they could beat me to finding these sets. That way, Id know the set was in a good home and safe from being thrown away. I periodically sell sets on ebay simply to make space. However, most of these sets Im finding recently are very nice and want to keep them. Having a house full of "must keep" TVs is a bad thing as they just accumulate and get in the way.

oh, he's got lotsa room
http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL657/4901904/12123264/208390072.jpg

though, I don't know if that's his basement or a warehouse somewhere in illinois!

oh thats my basement alright. That picture is almost 1 year old. Ive got lots more sets down there since then.........You can still walk down there OK but its not as open as it once was. I remember back around 1998 when I had about 5 or 6 vintage TV's. Wow.

oh thats my basement alright. That picture is almost 1 year old. Ive got lots more sets down there since then.........You can still walk down there OK but its not as open as it once was. I remember back around 1998 when I had about 5 or 6 vintage TV's. Wow.

Im afraid thats going to be me when i get my own house. Plus a driveway full of corvairs in various states of repair.

I wish there was another collector who lived locally, I would donate them to their collections or atleast they could beat me to finding these sets. That way, Id know the set was in a good home and safe from being thrown away.
If you get bored with that Zenith Royal 1290 portable B&W tv or know of where another one can be procured, please let me know. Logan

Rather like repair shops that say "20-years experience". (10 part-time hacks that have been fooling with electronics for two years :D )

A few years back a competitor opened up down the street, advertising 200 years combined experience. 5 people working there, and 3 of them had never worked in a shop in their life. I complained to the attorney general who blew me off ("oh, that's just like when Safeway says they are the best grocery store in town...you can't prove it...")

I've always been a sucker for Admirals, and it's great to see this one saved. Maybe that family would have bought one of the last Admirals in 79/80 but went with the Zenith instead for whatever reason.

Im afraid thats going to be me when i get my own house. Plus a driveway full of corvairs in various states of repair.

In the late '60s until 1972, I had a huge collection of old TVs, mostly trash-day finds in my old neighborhood (east suburban Cleveland), in fully half of the basement of my former home--every major American make except Magnavox, so I know what it's like to have lots of TVs, some that work and some that don't. Doug's collection puts mine to shame.

Wish I had taken a few pictures of my collection, and I also wish my hometown were more Magnavox territory than it was. (The area was more Zenith land, as the local TV shop, which left town some years ago, was an authorized Zenith dealer.) The only Maggie I ever saw on my street, a 12-inch consolette, belonged to a distant cousin of mine. Those old Magnavox TVs were great, like old Zeniths. When Magnavox left Indiana for Korea, it was a tremendous loss, as it was when Zenith left Chicago and set up shop in Korea as Gold Star.


BTW, how on earth are you getting Glenn Beck on your Zenith TV? I don't see a cable box anywhere.

That Admiral set is beautiful.

I always liked those Admirals with hidden control doors. They remind me of cars with hidden headlights.

It's good that you saved the Zenith too. I wasn't a big solid-state fan either years ago, but as my knowledge of both electronics and history improved, I started to collect solid-state items too. Your feelings may change one day young Zenith-Jedi. :yes:

...

Found a couple more sets yesterday at the estates. First came from 1300 N. Prater, Melrose Park, IL. A 1980 Zenith System 3, 13" portable with space command 800. I dont recall ever seeing this model before. I was never big into system 3's, but this one appealed to me as it had the motor drive varactor tuner. It did work including the remote. Was in a bedroom ontop of a dresser. I tryed changing channels with the remote and you could hear the motor drive turning, but not the selector. However, you could manually turn the selector and change channels. So something inbetween the motor drive and the selector was broken.

Next sale was at 701 N. Stone in La Grange Park, IL. I found this 1962 RCA Victor 23" b/w console. Ironically, this is the exact same model that was advertized in craigslist in chicago that I listed on the craigslist thread.
I couldnt turn this one down, it was only $5.00. Was in a finished walk up attic. It still worked! The set is near mint. I had to carry it down the stairs myself. The people running the sale would not help me move it and there were people capable of helping me do so. I dont care for the outfit that ran the sale, they are jerks most of the time. Ive seen how they treat other customers in the past.

Once I got home, the RCA went into the garage ontop of the system 3 from last week. These sets Id like to find new homes for.

I got into the zenith, looks to have never been serviced. The million wire wiring harnesses still had all their clips and retainers in place. The red key was still in the 9-160 board.
Unfortunately I had to pull the entire chassis out of the set to gain access to the tuner as it was not working properly. I try to keep everything correct and maintain the original wire routing when I reassemble as set. Its a challange on these system 3's though. There is quite a bit jammed into this set. I dont think Ive worked on a TV quite as congested inside. Being a 13" with remote didnt make things better...

I pulled out the tuner and took the motor drive off. Sure enough, the drive gear that links the drive assembly to the varactor switch had a cracked shaft. one of the tabs that fits over the varactor switch shaft snapped off, so the drive could not swich channels via remote. I crazy clued the plastic tab back on, then used epoxy and filled in the outter edge spacing with so it will never be an issue again. I filled the space opposite the broken tab as well incase the second tab breaks. It worked great. Reassembled it this morning and all is well. It was either broken by rapidly swiching channels manually or someone holding the channel selector dial while the drive was engaged.

IN the last two photos are the motor drive which had to be all taken apart. You can see the two shaft tabs with the grip ring around it. They were both broken off. I glued them and filled around the OD of the tabs with epoxy making sure no epoxy entered inbetween the tabs interfering with shaft engagement. I used epoxy around the tabs as the crazy clued tabs would simply break off again. I took the photos before I put the epoxy in. Perhaps those of you more familar with systems 3's have run into this before?

Nice finds! How about that beautiful top-of-the-line Buick Electra shown behind the RCA?????? I used to have a '70 hard top sedan (not Limited)...

Charles

Interesting finds. I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a System 3 with motorized tuning. I thought they had gone "motorless" by '80. I do remember seeing a similar tuning system in a later 19" CCII fitted with a System 3 style inline tube.

The Zenith System 3 13" portable looks like a set I had in the early 1980s, only mine did not have a remote and was not System 3; otherwise, it looked almost exactly like yours. My set had the 18-position single-knob varactor tuning system as well. Wish I would have held on to that set, as it was working perfectly (I never had any service work done on it) and had a beautiful picture the 17 years I had it (I left it at my former home when I moved in 1999). I had a Zenith L1310C 13" portable which also worked well for many years, but the detented UHF channel selector broke after about five years. I took the set to a local Zenith dealer to have the detent mechanism either repaired or replaced; they did a sort of haywire "repair" on it by soldering the mechanism together so it couldn't move, leaving the UHF selector to operate like the old continuous UHF tuners used to. Not the best way to have fixed the problem (they could have replaced the entire detent mechanism), but at least it freed the UHF dial so I could change the channels. That set stayed at my former home as well when I moved. Just as well, as the apartment I moved to (and live in today) is too small to accomodate three color TVs (I have a Zenith Sentry 2 19" in my bedroom, plus several old Zenith radios).

Another small 13" Zenith portable you might want to look for is the model with the Space Command "100" remote; I don't recall the model number off the top of my head. This set had a remote control with only one function, channel change in one direction. One channel could be set to turn off the TV as well. This was not the most sophisticated SC remote control system Zenith ever had, but it offered the basics (except volume up/down and mute).

BTW: Do you have the 1955 Zenith FlashMatic in your collection? This set is unique in that it was Zenith's first attempt at wireless remote control; while it worked after a fashion, it had flaws. There were no lockout mechanisms in place to prevent false triggering of the system, so sunlight or any other type of stray light (say from a reading lamp or other illumination in the room where the set was installed) reaching the photocells at each corner of the CRT mask would trigger functions at random. Worst case, the set would go absolutely nuts if sunlight hit all four photocells at once; the TV would then change channels, turn itself on and off at random and so on. I often wondered if these sets ever had problems with stripped motor drive gears or burned-out tuning motors if both channel-change photocells were activated at once, and the motor tried to run in both directions at the same time.

Another problem the FlashMatic system had was that set owners could never seem to remember which photocell activated which function. Dead batteries or a burned-out bulb in the ray-gun style remote hand unit, however, did not render the system inoperable, since the remote functions could still be activated using an ordinary flashlight until the original remote could be repaired.

Because the FlashMatic had so many problems and flaws, it was only made for a year or so until Zenith engineers designed the next version of remote control system with which used ultrasonic sound waves, followed by the all-solid-state Space Command that generated the ultrasonic control signals electronically. This was followed by today's remote control system, which uses infrared (IR) control signals. This system cannot be accidentally triggered by jingling keys, a dog's tags bouncing against its collar as the animal walks in front of the set near the transducer, etc. (this was somewhat of a problem with the early ultrasonic remotes); in fact, I have yet to hear of any IR remote system being triggered by anything other than its own control signals. A good thing about today's IR remote systems is that most of them can be controlled by a universal remote control unit; this is great if the original remote gets lost or broken. I say universals will operate "most" IR-controlled televisions, VCRs, DVDs, etc. because at least one brand of DVD player (CyberHome) cannot be used with any other remote than the hand unit supplied with the player; the only remote that might work with the CyberHome players would be the Philips learning remote, but they are quite expensive and there is no guarantee they definitely will work with CH DVDs (I know for a fact that my One For All universal remote will not operate my CyberHome DVD player). The problem arises because CyberHome DVDs use a proprietary set of remote control signals not programmed into most universals. This may not be much of a problem anymore (except for existing units in consumers' hands), however, as I understand that CyberHome is either out of business or close to it.

Another small 13" Zenith portable you might want to look for is the model with the Space Command "100" remote; I don't recall the model number off the top of my head. This set had a remote control with only one function, channel change in one direction. One channel could be set to turn off the TV as well. This was not the most sophisticated SC remote control system Zenith ever had, but it offered the basics (except volume up/down and mute).


I've got that TV, it is a 13jc10, there is a picture of mine in the members gallery. the remote is on top of the cabinet. Works really well, but the picture i took is a little blurry.
Nice finds Doug, if you ever go on vacation to the sunny south, you can always drop off any of your unwanted 70's Zenith Color TV's at my place.:yes:

Found three sets at the same home yesterday at 3814 Kenilworth, Berwyn, IL. Very nice original bungalow.
First set I found was a 1980 zenith system 3 space phone with manuals etc. I passed on it as it was too new for me, but it was mint. I went into the dining room and found a cabinet marked "TV $25" with its doors closed. I opened up the doors and to my amazement it was an Admiral! This one dates to 1968. It even worked, and worked great with bright picture! I didnt have any money with me at the moment so I asked the people running to sale to hold it and they did. Once I came back with some money, I finished walking around the rest of the house. Went into the basement and found yet a third vintage set. It was a 1972 sharp 19" set in its orignal cart. Had the bag with all the papers below it. I couldnt believe it. Then I saw the microphone on the front and that told me it was a remote set. Even more rare! However, the remote was not with the set. I looked all over the basement for it and couldnt find it. The TV was plugged in and the switch was in "remote" position so I knew the remote was lost since the set was last used.
The guy watching the basement helped me look around for it, even went upstairs looked through dressers etc and turned up nothing. I was pretty dissapointed as it would be next to impossible finding that remote. Since the set had the manuals, it showed a picture of the remote control. I showed the people running the sale to call me incase they happen to find it as they had a pic of what it looked like.

They gave me both sets for $30.00. I was po'd that I couldnt find the remote and figured it got stolen or someone at the sale just wanted it cause it looked cool.

I get home and at about 5pm last night the phone rang. Sure enough, they found the remote! Unbelieveable! I asked where it was found and they told me it was on the seat of the excercycle in the basement. Here we look all over the place and the darn thing was ontop of a seat in the open all along. We were all blind to it.

I drove back out to berwyn today to pick it up. The people were basically throwing all of the contents of the home into the dumpster. Made me sick. There was so much nice vintage stuff being junked. Someones entire life was simply thrown away. The system 3 was still in the livingroom. they told me to take it or else it was going to the dumpster. I couldnt let that happen so I took it. I asked about the remote and paperwork that was ontop of the set. The guy just threw it into a bag headed to the dumpster minutes before I stopped by. He opened up the bag and there was the remote and papers for the set!

I got home and checked everything out, the system 3 works perfect. The sharp set needs a few tubes. For being an instant on set, the CRT is 8 out of 10 and very strong. The remote didnt work. I heard a rattle inside the case. When i took it apart I noticed one of the fork contacts broke so it didnt transmit the VHF tuner signal. Sharp (matsushita) made the remotes for magnavox, which I have about 3 parts remotes for mag. The mag remote had the identical contact forks and was able to install them into the sharp remote. Adjusted the trimmers and it works great. This set has individual drive motors for VHF and UHF.

I must say, this Sharp set is a direct copy of a zenith ultramatic tuner. Its the same concept using a cam drum to select the preset channels. Its a well built set and appears to have never been serviced. A japanese remote set of this age is impossible to find.

As for the admiral, it works near perfect. The flyback was replaced sometime with a thordarson fly-311. The tek at jaros TV in chicago did a great job, neatly done. With the thord fly, this set should last forever. It has instant on and luckily the switch was off, preserving the original tubes and crt. Its a low hour set.

I have the system 3, its nice but too new. Im looking to give it away to anyone who wants it. Its special because the paperwork shows that it was bought directly from zenith at Zenith's northlake showroom center!

As for the orignal pictures of the home, I didnt have my camera at the time I found the sets saterday. I took the pictures today. The zenith was at the left corner of the livingroom and the sharp was in the basement on the left side next to the door. Admiral was in the diningroom next to the window.

Nice System 3 there, I have a 1982 model myself, still works but every once in a while, it acts up and I get a red hue to the screen, hence, I'm "jonesin'" for some parts. Wish I was closer and had the space for it, I'd cop that 1980 from you and give it a good home and give the 1982 a rest and use that instead. A side note, my father had a 1979 System 3 that looked the same as mine, wish he told me before he dumped it, I could haveh ad parts from that. :p

Not an estate sale find, but found it on my estate sale route saterday. I stopped by the old Gingham Tree resale shop in Downers Grove. I havnt found an old TV there in about 6 years. I found a nice chormacolor II, its a 1976 17" model G3850W3 (the "plaza") with a 19GC38 chassis. As plain as they get. Zenith and RCA always gave the TV's odd sales names. Its a very nice clean set and as usual, works perfect. The CRT tests 100% and has a perfect zenith crisp picture. I was always impressed with the chromacolor II and the tilt out chassis. Very well designed and very heavy. (see that nice big power trans in there!)

However, ive been having some bad luck with fine tuning gears lately. This set had a damaged fine tune gear as well. I couldnt fine tune. It was a piece of cake to pull the tuner assembly out. The fine tuning slide bracket, which is a pot metal casting was broken. The gear and shaft was sitting under the tuner. The gear was frozen on the shaft due to dried grease. When the fine tuner was turned, the excessive force simply snapped the bracket apart. Why do people insist on forcing fine tuners? Ive seen so many RCAs with stripped gears because the UHF tuner was jammed from dry grease. Someone just trys to keep turning the knob until something gives out.

Found another zenith this past weekend. This one was at 724 Hill Ave, Glen Ellyn, IL.

This one was a freebie. Very common concentric tuner set from '68, (20Y1C48). I found it in the basement. As I was walking down the stairs I saw a bunch of junk next to the stairs by the outside door. It was a garbage pile that didnt make its way outside yet. I figured if there was an old TV, it would have been in the garbage pile. I saw part of the back cabinet, the grey paint with the large ventilation holes. I knew right away it was some kind of zenith! I moved a bunch of bags and misc and sure enough, there was this zenith under it all. Not in the best of condition. Moisture got to it unfortunately. probably in the basement since 1984. Too bad, the cabinet was mint, no dings or scraches. I pulled the set out of the junk pile and asked about it upstairs. The people said to just take it if I wanted it. Luckily there was an outside door to the basement and was able to bring the set up and out to the truck myself.

Pulled the back off and was in bad shape. Very dusty set with the mold ontop of the dust. I couldnt let it get crushed. When I got home, I blew the crap out with the compressor and really helped. Dont know its working condition though. The owner pulled the HV reg and HOT out of the set and were gone. The set had a good life up until the damp basement. typical of a 1920's home.

I picked up a Motorola "Quasar" works in a drawer saterday in Chicago, at 5127 S. Springfield Ave. The set was in the basement and had a "TV FREE" tag on it!
Those are the best deals. The TV didnt work though, sound but no pic. This set uses the TS-915 chassis and all chassis are dated October, 1969. I figured the set was put in the basement sometime in the 80's like most of these sets end up if they are saved.
I always like to find out the name of the original owners. In one of the bedrooms I found a box with some envelopes which gave me their name. However, the rest of this box were family photos. All of the photos were for sale (which is rare) 10 for $1.00.

I thought it would be neat if I could find some photos with this motorola set in the background. Well, I found just that, some perfect photos with this TV in it. I would have never guessed it, but this TV was in the basement since new! As you can see the first photo I took was the TV in the original basement, and it still looks like it did back in 1970! Same floor and wood paneling.

I have attached 4 photos all christmas photos. The photos are dated, and most likely the previous christmas. So there are pics of christmas 1970, 71 and 72. In the first photo, you can barely see that the TV is on.

This adds a special touch to having this set, some actual history of its past! Never had anything like it.

The original owners have passed away at the age of 90. Those kids in the pics are most likely their grandchildren.

As for the TV itself, I brought it in and checked it out. No HV. After checking things over, I noticed a 10 ohm vertical output fuse resistor was open. Its a resistor soldered onto a leaf spring to pull it apart when its overloaded.

I subbed in a 1/4 watt 10 ohm and fired up the set. A partial raster flashed on and the resistor went up in smoke immediately. I figured a shorted cap on the vertical output board. I pulled the board out and checked the lytics. All were good, however, I found a transistor on the vertical board was open. It subbed to a NTE-123AP. Then I switched over the the vertical output transistor and sure enough, it was leaky. I had an NTE162 on hand and put it in. Now the set set fired up and had a picture. The resistor fuse was fine now.
I used a 1/2 watt 10ohm and soldered it into the leaf spring like the original.

The pic was bright as new. For the heck of it, I put it on the crt tester and all three guns tested 100% emission. Unbelieveable. This set was basically never used. Original motorola CRT too.

I had to go over the convergence which is easy. I like how motorola number the dynamic convergence sequence and they supply a diddle stick that clips onto the chassis.

I must say, it has a great picture. Very pleasing to watch. I read all of the comments and bashing of how terrible motorola sets were and that the picture was junk. I cant agree to that. I have only three motorola sets and they have very nice picture. Im not saying they compared in picture to a proper working zenith or RCA. There is not enough respect for motorola sets though. I enjoyed working on this one. It was fun and pretty easy. I guess it was a change of pace as I rarely ever find motorola sets. The removeable modules are a nice feature for servicing. This is the first works in a drawer that I found that was in nice shape. Celt posted a quasar ad not too long ago and this very TV was in the ad as a 1970 model and went for $599 new! I hope to find more motorola sets for the collection. I really appriciate them. Just remember, the Zenith and Motorola TV plants were only a few miles apart from each other!

Doug, that is a nice set!
The pictures are a fantastic, great documentation of the sets history!

I don't suppose that cool looking stereo was still there?
Looks like it might've been a Moto too.

Very interesting to get original pictures. I noticed that the photo paper used in early 1972 was a lot better than in '71 or '73.

Awesome tv Doug! Neat about the pics also. I had that exact model Motorola console stereo when i was younger. It was the three channel system that Motorola made popular in the early 60's. I was amazed on how nice the picture was on this set as most of the ones i've seen in the past had weak crts. Fantastic find!
-Tony

Doug, I've been following your "Estate sale finds in . . ." threads for some time (I read those posts as soon as they arrive in my inbox), and am always impressed by the sets you find. Those old Zenith TVs were great; I've had several, mostly from the 1950s and '60s, although I did find a Zenith SC300 19" b&w portable in 1977 (trash day find that year) that worked great the first year I had it. Then the horizontal output tube went gassy, throwing the keyed AGC out of whack such that the picture was extremely washed out. Couldn't find a replacement for that tube :no: so I lugged it down to my basement and bought a new Zenith 12" b&w portable the next day. That little set lasted me 22 years and was still going strong, bright picture, good contrast and all (typical Zenith) when I finally got rid of it in 2000, a year after I moved to my current apartment (no room for even a small portable with two other sets in here already, one of which is a Zenith Sentry 2--new in 1995 and still works great, no service ever done on it, and it still has its original CRT).

However, I was wondering about something you mentioned about one of your sets having a 9-160 module with a red key still on it. What was that key for, anyway? :scratch2: My best guess is that it was there to unlock a cover over a control that the user wasn't supposed to adjust, such as the HV adjust or some other critical setting that could damage the CRT or other parts of the TV if set incorrectly. I doubt very much that this key had anything to do with locking the door over the user controls on the front panel, as this was a patented feature of another brand (Sylvania's GTMatic TVs of the '60s-'70s had a locking door over the color controls; the user was to set the color adjustments once, then lock the door with a key provided with the set).

Since the key on your set's 9-160 module is red in color, however, I would think it was used to lock a critical adjustment that was not meant to be accessible to anyone but qualified service personnel, as I mentioned in the last paragraph.

Very nice! Interesting how your finds are so heavy on Zenith, despite Admiral, Motorola, Sears, Wards, Wells-Gardner-all being in that area. I guess the Zeniths were the ones that lasted. I do think the Motorola's have a lot of character.

Doug will have to back me up on this one but if I remember correctly the red key was to lock the board inplace. When we changed the module we always put the key back in but a lot of techs didn't take the time to do so. The set would work without the key. It didn't cover up any adjustments.

Doug will have to back me up on this one but if I remember correctly the red key was to lock the board inplace. When we changed the module we always put the key back in but a lot of techs didn't take the time to do so. The set would work without the key. It didn't cover up any adjustments.

That's correct. The "key" was strictly to help hold the module in place. 9 out of 10 of the 9-160 sets I used to drag home as a kid had the key missing.

How about the little tiny black "push-ems" that were stabbed at random into the board to secure the connectors inplace? I never put those back in. Red key, yes. I thought it was good to secure the center of the 160, since it was heavy and would flex.

Charles

...

Speaking of missing parts, has anyone else ever seen an RCA XL-100 upright chassis with the styrofoam block supporting the IF module? I only saw it once in a 19" set that had almost no use. It had instructions printed on it to discard the block when (not if) the set was serviced.

Yes, I remember those - they held up the MAK module, IIRC. Now if you had an XL-100 with all three original-green encapsulated MAD modules, then you'd really have something. Only saw a couple of sets that had even two, but never all three in working condition.

Doug - Great find in the TS-915 Quasar. We had the same set, in an Early American pecan cabinet. I got my a** whooped when I was 8 years old for adjusting the drive/screen controls that are on the back, above the CRT neck. Showing off one sugar-spiked Saturday morning....

Cheers,

[QUOTE=Findm-Keepm;1432547]Yes, I remember those - they held up the MAK module, IIRC. Now if you had an XL-100 with all three original-green encapsulated MAD modules, then you'd really have something. Only saw a couple of sets that had even two, but never all three in working condition./QUOTE]

I don't think I ever saw one with the material inside that held the MAK module. I too have only seen one or two original sets with the green encapsulated MAD modules all intact. IIRC, wasn't there a green encapsulated audio output module in those sets?

Yep, the MAN module - early versions had thick film resistors deposited on the ceramic substrate, with a DIP surface mounted, then encapsulated. The power supply modules also were encapsulated - we used to see one diode in the bridge open up. We took a dremel tool and gouged out the old diode, soldered in a new one, and kept the encapsulated module in the set. After the first year, RCA quit taking in the encapsulated modules as duds, and PTS/United Tuner never took them either.

Cheers,

Due to the holiday, there were only 3 estate sales this weekend in the chicagoland area. I found two zeniths at the same home at 4528 W. 100th Pl. Oak Lawn, IL. In the living room was a 1974 zenith with the 25EC58 chassis! The very last horizontal solid state chassis! This also answers a few questions about chromacolor II's. This set is actually a "chormacolor II" originally equipped with the 25EC58. I was under the impression that the horizontal solid state did not classify as a "chromacolor II".
'74 models had a unique control panel arrangement. You slide the control utill it detents on the function you want to adjust. Simply push in the control to engage the control. The slider control is illuminated.
This is a cheap cabinet though. At a glance, youd think its a nice quality cabinet. As you can see from the inside shot, the entire cabinet with exception to the top of the cabinet (and base where the chassis mounts) is all plastic, every bit of it. Thus, the set is very light weight. I think this also answers a few questions about when zenith cabinets got reall cheap. I think 1974 is the answer. I had a '73 with a gaudy mediterranean cabinet like this and it was all wood and very heavy. I have a few '73 zenith consoles and all of them are in wood cabinets. I like how zenith glued the chassis diagram on this set. I thought it fell off the side at first, then I noticed that it was glued it in place just like you see it which looks like crap. I realize it couldt be glued on the side like they always were due to the protruding plastic reinforcement ribs, but atleast glue the darn tag flat on the base! Oh well. Probably the end of someones shift at the dickens ave. plant.
this TV will need some work though. Blue convergence is way off most likely due to an open 212-72 rectifier and color is only in the middle of the picture. I think that is caused by an open 100uF@50 volt JCP axial lytic, in the 24V supply to the choma module under the chassis. Its a odd symptom. the left and right sides of the screen, about 4" is monochome while the mid section is color. Ive had it happen to a few other sets, the 4 tube hybrids in particular. This set has been plugged in probably since new and it still has the original CRT, and rememeber, these sets had "instant on" for the CRT, yet the CRT stays perfect after all of these years. unbelieveable. My other horizontal solid state console was plugged it when I found it and that orignal CRT is 100% too. What a quality product zenith put out then.

In the same house was a 1970 Zenith steel cabinet 21" b/w portable. These are hard to find. Ive only seen a couple in the last 10 years. A zero hour set (so to speak) as its got a bright CRT and never had the back off. One thing you will always notice on steel cabinet zeniths, is that there is a hand written assembly date on the inside of the cabinet. That ads a special touch to these sets. this particular set was assembled 2-23-70. This is zenith's best b/w portable as its a power transformer set, so all the tubes are common 6 volt types and it has a turret tuner with spotlite dials. The picture on this set is excellent. these later zenith tube b/w sets had the most crisp picture.

The next day I received an email from a wanted ad on craigslist. A guy in Lombard, IL had 1973 Motorola 12" b/w portable. I picked that up and when I looked at it, I noticed the "remote" switch. The guy bought this house with all of its contents still in the home. He said it was the workshop TV and figured if the remote were still around, it would be somewhere down there. Sure enough, there was the little 1 button motorola clicker on the bench full of junk!
I actually had this same model when I was a kid but no remote. The one I had as a kid was mint and worked perfect. this one needs some work to bring it back into good working order. The remote receiver does not work and the TV has video and linearity problems. It was also out of a heavy smoker home, so its going to need alot of clean up.

I like that Zenith. Never seen a control arrangement like that.

I could picture some mid-80s teenager wearing that Motorola remote on his hip, acting like it was a pager! (Back when it was cool to have a pager!):D

flat chassis zenith! something we here in columbus would die for. i have one and a vertical chassis. my vertical chassis has a 25vdmp22 and it has become my daily watcher. i love this set. although that e chassis is the best set ever made. good find and another zenith will be saved.

25vdmp22
That's the GREAT tube! It's a Phillips (or Sylvania if pre-1985) replacement with the deep black glass, AND black matrix. Probably the nicest looking delta gun tube ever made. I have one in my 25EC58 daily watcher, and I would like to have a spare. Sylvania put those in the Superset in the late 70s, but these days they don't show up.


And about that Motorola... I bet that's the smallest remote B&W set made. I have one too, which I got from the original owner in the late 70s. It's a neat little set, and certainly rare. Definitely a set to be preserved!

Charles

I could picture some mid-80s teenager wearing that Motorola remote on his hip, acting like it was a pager! (Back when it was cool to have a pager!):D
I remember that era. It was short-lived. I wore a pager (I still do, in fact), and I was asked "Are you a doctor?" by more than one woman. :) Not long after that, it was more like "Are you a drug dealer?" :sigh:

there is a 25vdmp22 stilll available from a rebuilder. i talked with them about a month ago. one left on the shelf.92.00 includes shipping.i have another one in a set i picked up on saturday. good zenith g series chassis. nice picture ,slight squeeze in on the sides and not enough vertical height. power cap is bulged-may be the culprit? tube looks outstanding! cabinet is perfect,jusr extremely ugly.may scrap out for my other sets.wish i had a sylvania superset that needs a crt. never see any sylvanias on this board. love them! e-45,e48 especially. if anyone has one-let me know

I too have a 25EC58 Zenith that is classified as a Chromacolor II and is remote with varactor tuning. Mine also has a very cheap cabinet. The only "wood" is the top and bottom. The rest is plastic. For those to be such well built chassis, the cabinets sure are cheap. I'd still rather have a well built chassis in a cheap cabinet than the other way around, though.

there is a 25vdmp22 stilll available from a rebuilder. i talked with them about a month ago. one left on the shelf.92.00 includes shipping.

I'd be interested in getting that tube!

Charles

Got the '74 zenith going again. Sure enough, that 100uF cap was bad. Had a high ESR of 44 ohms. Installed the replacement cap and the color was back perfectly. As for the poor convergence, it was customer fiddling. Since the set had color problems, the owner fiddled with the convergence controls. After looking around the house, he was a tinkerer and got his hands in the set to try to "fix" the color problem. The convergence controls were all fiddled with and then "returned" to their original position which was not good enough. Either that, or some unexperienced tech tried to fix it in the home and was not familar with the "old" TVs. could have easily gave the customer one of those "parts are no longer available or very high price" lines as an excuse to back out and not look stupid. Its working great now. Its a large set and really dont have room for it. I'm willing to let it go for the price I paid which was $50 which was high. I had to save it though or else it was headed to the dumpster in the driveway. Im surprized it wasnt already in there before the sale. Most of the time they are........

Picked up three sets saterday at the estates. All of them were table sets which was nice. Went to the first sale at 317 W. 155th st., Calumet City, IL. which is a far south suburb. It was a very run down two flat and the entire building was occupied by the one owner. The entire contents of the home have been sitting since january 2000 when the home owner passed at age 93! I believe the people conducting the estate sale purchased the home with its contents. the house was jammed and you could hardly walk in the place without tripping over something.
Anyway, the first two sets are from this home and they were in the first floor sitting in the corner of the dining room. First set I saw was a zenith 4 tube hybrid! Second set was a Penncrest color set. The Zenith has some historical significance. Its a 1975 model F4002W with the 19EC22 chassis. this is the VERY LAST zenith set that used tubes. Note that it has the detented UHF tuner. Its sad this set is in such rough shape, very dirty and improper methods were used to clean it as the paint around the bezel is worn away. Ironically, the inside looks great and very clean all things considred. As you would expect, aside from its poor condition, it works perfect without touching a thing. A typical zenith TV I guess.......
The other set is a 1971 Penncrest. Penncrest was the JC Penny brand of TVs at this time. the back cover has a reference to JC Penny printed on it. This is a japanese set as you can tell right away by glancing at the photos. It appears very much to be a panasonic by construction. the set also uses matsushita tubes which is another clue its a panasonic. This set works pretty good but dirty.
Its a rare occurance that I find japanese sets in good shape. Most of them were used and abused. Sets like these two are perfect examples of what TVs would look like at the curb when I found them as a kid. The 4 tuber is the worst looking one Ive seen though. Hopefully I can find a better example of this same model some day. The 4 tuber was the cheapest zenith TV you could by in '75. If you know zenith 4 tubers, you can see that this chassis uses a plug in module for the sound IF. this model also uses chormacolor II channel knobs. You can tell by studying the chassis and componets that they were just using up what was left at the factory and then be done with the tube type sets. They didnt even use the 212-72 convergence rectifer. They used silicon diodes on the convergence panel which Ive never seen. Id say this is a "true" hybrid as it consists of anything zenith had left over in stock to make a TV.

After leaving cal city, I drove up to the north shore suburbs. I was at a sale in Northbrook at 3157 crabtree Ln. There I found a '63 zenith b/w table set built into the wall of the basement. I asked if it were for sale and they said its mine for $1.00. As I started to pull it out of the wall some guy in the back room there asks me "you must see something in that TV that I dont what are going to do with it". these are typical comments I hear and they mostly get ingored or a simply answer "its for parts" normally shuts them up.
Unfortunately, this set is beat up too. the top of the cabinet is rusty. As you can see, the back of the set was in a workshop and the back of the set was used as a shelf for laundy detergents etc. and ruined the cabinet.

Picked this set up yesterday at 420 N. Quincy Dr, Hinsdale, IL. This was a tri-level home and this set was in the lower level. As soon as I looked at the carpet on my way into the room, I figured there MUST have been some kind of older TV in there. Sure enough, there was a 1970 RCA early American console. The first picture you see is what the set looked like in its original home. Newer TV on top, which lead me to believe the set didn't work and that the top of the RCA was ruined and scratched.
I was wrong on both counts, the newer TV had wide rubber feet and didnt leave a mark ontop of the set. Since its a well built cabinet, the weight of the newer TV didn't "push" the top down or leave indention marks. The TV powered up and had a color picture, not too bad either! CRT is bright as new and is the original colorama dated 69-39. No signs of cateracts anywhere.
Here's where I got concerned. When you look at the first picture, you see the control door is missing. I was really dissapointed to see that. I figured it must be somewhere in the house. I figured if it was me that broke it off, Id put the broken pieces somewhere safe where they couldnt get lost. As you can see in the first picture there is a green desk. Thats the first place I went to look, and the first drawer I pulled, it was in there under all the junk! Ok, so I found the door, but the broken off hinge piece was still missing, and it was a small piece. Looking more into the same drawer, I found that too! I couldn't believe it!
Now if this were one of those estate sales in which everything was cleaned up and prepaired for hundreds of people to walk through, those desk drawers would have been cleaned out and that door would have been gone. The door was a very nice clean break, and will glue back together almost perfectly. You can see where it broke on the close up of the control door, I didn't glue it yet, just wanted to get some pics while it was still light outside.

As for the model, its a 1970 model, made late in 1969. GM 627L the "Providence" with a CTC-38XJ chassis. Once again, I got lucky and the model tag was still on back! I thought I had a CTC39 at first. This has one of those indented 3 channel readout UHF tuners. The set is in excellent shape inside and out. Don't see this type of cabinet too often. It will need just a little work to bring it back 100%, but the good news it everything is complete.

I am trying to talk my Mom into getting rid of a cutus Mathus T.V. that looks alot like yours I am 41 and I was not even in school when we got the thing but it still works great.Before that we had an early color TV same company but the picture tube died and it had a very large hifi cabnet no stereo just T.V. but it had 2 huge speakers and the cabnet was solid walnut .my dad kept it till I was in high school so I remember it well.the back was off and I looked at the hand wired braded wire harneses and 10 or 12 inch speakers with Alincos I'm sure a 20 to 22 inch color screen was very rare and my Dad said he paid so much for it he just couldnt let it go.
Now my question why would someone colect these big heavy TV's unless they lived in a where house and what benifit are they? just wondering and if my mom will let me Ill offer it free on audio karma.

That's very interesting to see the Zenith 4-tube set from 1975. I knew RCA quit making tube type sets in 1974 but was not sure when Zenith did.
Also seems unusual that there was an estate sale during the holiday season...it seems like for some reason around here, the estate sales quit just before thanksgiving and don't start back up till spring, even though the weather is relatively mild here all winter.

Doug, I wish you were in or near Texas. I think I have a spare cabinet for your big Zenith table top.

I do have a complete set like that one that works fine. It is in my workshop and I use it quite often.

Now my question why would someone colect these big heavy TV's unless they lived in a where house and what benifit are they? just wondering and if my mom will let me Ill offer it free on audio karma.

Well, we're all crazy and need help! Seriously, I think most of us here enjoy repairing & collecting vintage TV's because it gives us pleasure to repair and use something from a time when American goods were manufactured with pride and were built to last. The more I see of this modern junk, the more respect I have for those old, big Zenith's, RCA's, etc. from decades gone by. I have been collecting tube radios, TV's, stereo's, etc., etc. since I was 12 and plan to do so for as long as I can. I don't live in a warehouse; but, I still have a lot of stuff. It goes without saying that it's starting to get crowded over here. It gets pretty bad when I have to stack console TV's and stereo's on top of each other to make room! Even though I don't have room, I try to save as much as I can because I can't stand to see this stuff go to the dump.

Well if you live close to Sacremento Ca. I will probabley be able to hook you up.

I wish I did; but, I live many states away. Maybe someone close to you will save your sets!

Picked up three sets saterday at the estates. All of them were table sets which was nice. Went to the first sale at 317 W. 155th st., Calumet City, IL. which is a far south suburb. It was a very run down two flat and the entire building was occupied by the one owner. The entire contents of the home have been sitting since january 2000 when the home owner passed at age 93! I believe the people conducting the estate sale purchased the home with its contents. the house was jammed and you could hardly walk in the place without tripping over something.
Anyway, the first two sets are from this home and they were in the first floor sitting in the corner of the dining room. First set I saw was a zenith 4 tube hybrid! Second set was a Penncrest color set. The Zenith has some historical significance. Its a 1975 model F4002W with the 19EC22 chassis. this is the VERY LAST zenith set that used tubes. Note that it has the detented UHF tuner. Its sad this set is in such rough shape, very dirty and improper methods were used to clean it as the paint around the bezel is worn away. Ironically, the inside looks great and very clean all things considred. As you would expect, aside from its poor condition, it works perfect without touching a thing. A typical zenith TV I guess.......
The other set is a 1971 Penncrest. Penncrest was the JC Penny brand of TVs at this time. the back cover has a reference to JC Penny printed on it. This is a japanese set as you can tell right away by glancing at the photos. It appears very much to be a panasonic by construction. the set also uses matsushita tubes which is another clue its a panasonic. This set works pretty good but dirty.
Its a rare occurance that I find japanese sets in good shape. Most of them were used and abused. Sets like these two are perfect examples of what TVs would look like at the curb when I found them as a kid. The 4 tuber is the worst looking one Ive seen though. Hopefully I can find a better example of this same model some day. The 4 tuber was the cheapest zenith TV you could by in '75. If you know zenith 4 tubers, you can see that this chassis uses a plug in module for the sound IF. this model also uses chormacolor II channel knobs. You can tell by studying the chassis and componets that they were just using up what was left at the factory and then be done with the tube type sets. They didnt even use the 212-72 convergence rectifer. They used silicon diodes on the convergence panel which Ive never seen. Id say this is a "true" hybrid as it consists of anything zenith had left over in stock to make a TV.

After leaving cal city, I drove up to the north shore suburbs. I was at a sale in Northbrook at 3157 crabtree Ln. There I found a '63 zenith b/w table set built into the wall of the basement. I asked if it were for sale and they said its mine for $1.00. As I started to pull it out of the wall some guy in the back room there asks me "you must see something in that TV that I dont what are going to do with it". these are typical comments I hear and they mostly get ingored or a simply answer "its for parts" normally shuts them up.
Unfortunately, this set is beat up too. the top of the cabinet is rusty. As you can see, the back of the set was in a workshop and the back of the set was used as a shelf for laundy detergents etc. and ruined the cabinet.

I was totally unaware that Zenith still made a 19" tube color set as late as '75. One that new may never come along again. Good score! I also remember seeing a big Zenith B&W table model like what you just found; but, that's been years ago.

As far as later tube color sets, I guess GE was the last American company to produce a tube set. I know they still made the Portacolor's in the late '70's and the 12" SF chassis B&W through at least '76. I wonder if they made any larger tube TV's after '74. For the exception of Portacolor's and small B&W's, I don't recall seeing many GE tube TV's around here. I did see a couple of early '70's 19" sets and a console that had cheap PC board chassis built around a plastic frame. I also had an older KD chassis set that I never got working right.

I have a GE 19V" tube type color set which is from 1975. It has a detent type tuner for UHF. The chassis is very similar to a Portacolor but it has a beefier flyback, horiz. output tube and damper. It actually works very well!
Here is a picture of it:
http://www.audiokarma.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1097&size=big&cat=

Found two console sets yesterday at the estates. Both came from the same place. Ironically, they are from an apartment estate sale. Ive been to very few of those. This sale was at 4939 N. Kimball Ave, in Chicago. As I finished looking around the apartment, the lady running the sale asked what I look for. I simply say "older TV sets". She says there is one in the storage unit in the basement. So we go down there and opens the door and I walk into a jam packed unit with stuff piled everywhere. The first set I see is the back of a roundie. I move stuff out of the way and she tells me "oh, I didnt know about that one". We move more stuff and then uncover a old '69 sylvania rectangular.
I look back at the roundie and its a Ward's Airline from '66 in the steel cabinet! Its called "Color 21 by Airline". Its unusual with the speaker on the side of the cabinet as you can see in the pics. Both sets in nice shape too and the basement was clean and dry, so they survived in great shape. The airline has written on the back "Purchased new: 5-17-66". Didnt power any of them up.
Im in chicago, so I had to park far away as parking close by to your destination is almost impossible. I drive my truck into the alley of the apartment so we can load up the sets. I find the box for a zenith color TV next to the dumpster along with a bunch of other stuff from in the apartment. The box said "Zenith Chromacolor TV" model D4026W, which is a 4 tube hybrid. I looked around outside and couldnt find the TV. I figured it was perhaps hidden in the storage unit, but no such luck. Then agian, it could still be in there. I really couldnt dig around too much as the storage unit was not considered part of the sale, but I could have the TV's that was it.
the lady running the sale helped me move the TV's out of the basement into the truck which was a first. I didnt want to use an appliance cart as it was tight getting out of the basement. Had to fight the snow too as you can see. Took many blankets and pads with to protect the sets, they all made it safe clean and dry. We got another 4" last night ontop of what we already have.

the photos you see are the tennants storage space. The way you see the TV's are exactly how I found them. Typical early 50's apartment in chicago. very dark basement with unusual colored cinder block which I've never seen before.

As for the status of the airline, I took the back off and to my surprize, all original airline tubes are in the set. Tested the CRT and its 100% strong! I powered it up and the breaker immediately tripped, started smoking from around the power supply area, under one of the caps. Smelled like a burning B+ power resistor. Probably a shorted filter lytic all along. Why else would a TV with low hours be put out of use? That '69 sylvania probably took its place.

Your 2007 finds are incredible. Sets the bar pretty high for '08.

Here are a couple recent finds for me, The Admiral 25" remote set was purchased this last thursday at an estate sale. From the mid to late '66 date codes on components, I'd say it was probably manufactured early '67. Had to pay $50 for it (was the first day of the sale) still works and has the original remote though..
The next one is a Drexel cabinet Motorola 23" from 10/66. All original tubes, works, and the original 23EGP22 reads 100%!! (Probably was used VERY little as those tubes seemed to have a short life) However, as you can see, the tube will need cataract surgery.

wow... 2007 has been very good to us all.

(Capt'n... Sorry I didn't make it over today to pick up that set and give your radar detector. Sometime this week..?)

Yes, '07 was an excellent year for the TV finds. Ive accumulated many sets this year, and has really put me in a bind for space. I will be selling off a number of sets on ebay and really need space, however there are a few sets id like to make extra room for. I try to save all what I can, but its impractical to save everything and keep it forever. I guess part of the problem is knowing that there is a limited window of time left to find these sets and I need to take advantage of the time while I can. Its hard to sell off these sets as it took alot of effort and attending estate sales to find them and knowing that once its gone, you might not, or probably will not find one like it again. That being said, you end up just stock piling sets just to satisfy yourself knowing that you have it and that its safe "for now". The estate sale finds thread is not intended to impress everyone with what Im finding. Its intended to show whats still out there and also to show some photos of the homes and environments these sets were in since new, or where they were put when they were put out of every day use. I always liked seeing TV's in their original homes and try to get those photos whenever possible. I think its safe to say we all can agree to that.

These sets I offer will go first come first serve, meaning whoever can pick them up or have them taken away the soonest. Ive got sets in storage now, and thats not what I want. They need to be appriciated in other collectors homes who hopefully have space.

Doug, great site some sets bring back good memories, very happy to see someone your age interested in electronics!!

A great variety! These are the kinds of finds I was coming across c.1990. Amazing they're still out there! I really like the Airline...but the Admiral & Moto & Sylvania are just as nice!

Doug, did you ever think of renting space in or buying a building just for your collection? I'm not sure how the prices are on commercial space where you are but I am able to rent office space in an old downtown building with utilities, heat and a/c provided at a very affordable price and it offers a place to work on and actually use more equipment than I can set up at home. If there is an industrial part of town which hasn't become "chic" with urban dwellers you might find a good deal on a place which has a lot more functionality than a storage unit or area.

West Texas must not be like here, near Austin, Texas. Everything is high(at least by Texas standards). Of course, that could change in the future, it is my opinion that they are building way to many houses, condominums, and apartments here. I look for a crash as happened here in in 1985.

This is one of my favorite threads to read every week. Can't wait to see what interesting sets the 2008 edition will bring us.

2007 what quite a successful year for TV finds at the estates. Congrats to all of those who were able to bring home your finds this year. I hope to be able to continue for 2008 with as much success as I did this year. As previously mentioned, 2007 sets the bar pretty high for '08. I found more sets in '07 that any other year in the history of my collecting TV's. I would say my favorite find of the year was the find on 4-21-07, the 4 tube hybrid with its original cart, and the 10-27-07 Motorola Quasar find.
Thank you for all of the nice comments on this thread. Keep attending the estate sales and save whats left. Watch for "Estate sale finds in 2008". Have a great new year fellow AK'ers!