Well, here is proof that sometimes a break is needed when you just can't find the problem in a set.

Several years ago, my ex-wifes's grandmother gave me this 1960 Motorola 21C10CW set. Hadn't been used since 1970. It needed new tubes in the tuner, and also had a problem with a severely faded picture that wouldn't lock into sync. I had spent countless hours on it back then... thinking the problem was in the AGC. All of the old caps were in surprisingly good shape, but I went ahead and changed the lytics anyway. All of the tubular ceramic caps checked like new. But, i never found the problem and finally gave up thinking that maybe I just needed a rest from it.

Today, several years later, I decided to try injecting signals thru the different stages, and found that I got a good picture after the detector. Turns out, there was a 8.5 uh choke just after the detector diode that was open. Slapped another in there and ended up with a great picture.

So, when you have one of those sets that just wont cooperate with you, stick it in the corner for about 5 years before trying again.

This set has a really nice ?copper?, all hand-wired chassis. It was built pretty sturdy. Other than some dust, this chassis is really clean. I am assuming that the CRT has been changed because I would think Motorola would have used their own CRTs. Heck... all of the tubular caps in it have the Motorola name and emblem on them. This set has a Dumont CRT in it.

Another CRT shot

The guts

Charlie,

That set looks great now. One down and how many more to go? ;)

Nice set Charlie! There can't be too many Motorola's kicking around, I heard their failure rates were pretty high. Guess persistence does pay off in the end :p:

Cory

Thanks guys. I was glad to finally get this one running again. This past year, an uncle of mine gave me a B&K 1077 TV Analyst along with a lot of other gear, and I finally took it out of the box to learn how to use it. After reading the manual, I decided to try using it to troubleshoot this set. It was a big help in localizing the problem.

Rob, there are plenty of sets out in the garage to keep my agenda full for a long time. Some of them are sets that most people would probably just keep for parts, but since I've got multiple chassis of the same type, I hope to take on the challenge of making one good set from the two.

Cory, I wasn't aware that Motorolas weren't expected to last very long. Although, makes sense being that this one was only used for 10 years before it died. It also just occurred to me that I only recall seeing a few 1960's Motorolas here on AK. Seems that most of the Motors here on AK are the little 7" electrostatic sets.

BTW Cory, i'm putting that schematic in the mail for you today.

Hey, that Motorola looks really great. BUT, I'd love that stereo unit behind it!

Is that a Maganvox? Is it a combo? It would be perfect for the living room I'm remodeling at the moment.

BTW, I have a Magnavox Astrosonic console stereo from about '65-ish. It's the top of the line, and the sound is incredible (I've got a CD player hooked-up on the aux.) It will shke the house with no distortion. However, the cabinet style isn't "exactly" what I'd like. I don't know what to call it... It's good looking, but more of a pecan color... I'd like something a little fancier (like yours) in a reddish tone.

Anybody interested in a trade?

I still have problems with my 50's and early 60's era motos, The peaking coils corrode from sitting and then there goes the video!
I have plenty of spares on hand though.
Some of my sets haven't been turned on for years and I am not suprised at all when they come up with that symptom.
I had an RCA or two from the mid fifties do the same also.

Originally posted by Carmine
Hey, that Motorola looks really great. BUT, I'd love that stereo unit behind it!

Is that a Maganvox? Is it a combo? It would be perfect for the living room I'm remodeling at the moment.


Carmine,

That is my 1963 Curtis Mathes combo. It was my first "vintage" set. Got it about 10 years ago. I think this set was one of the reasons my wife left! She hated that thing being in the house! It needed new caps and a few tubes. I've been watching this set almost 10 years now, and it hasn't given me the slightest bit of trouble. Since then, the only thing I've done to it is take the back off to clean out the dust.

Funny to think... back in the day when these sets were new, it was pretty common to have them serviced at least every year or so. Hell, a freind of mine tells me they had the TV man out at least once a year due to needing tubes or other repairs. But, now-a-days, you can recap one of these babies, and run them for years with no trouble.

Being next to the coast, i would think that humidity caused most problems back in the 50s and 60s. Most folks didn't have air-condition, so summertime was probably a big strain on sets. I suppose that people back then probably dealt with power surges as well. Today's power is probably cleaner. (Remember that guy on ebay a while back that thought today's power might be too much for an old set? :uzi: What a moron!) I guess the caps we put in them today are probably the main reason we can get lots of trouble-free use out of these old sets.

C Mathes screen shot...