I still use a 1954 arvin 21" as a daily watcher!

Is that the Arvin that has the big chassis.
One looked like it was designed after the TS630 design. A great set!
The only negative is that they used that lousy 21MP4 CRT. :sigh:

Is that the Arvin that has the big chassis.
One looked like it was designed after the TS630 design. A great set!
The only negative is that they used that lousy 21MP4 CRT. :sigh:

yes thats it, all channel set, i dont like the 6v3 damper

I watch my zenith from 1983 anywhere from 6 hours everyday and more in the summer since that's where I do most of my projects. I also use allot of aa5 am radios from the 30's and 40's when the TV is off ( I love talk radio and have an AM transmitter)

I watch my zenith from 1983 anywhere from 6 hours everyday and more in the summer since that's where I do most of my projects. I also use allot of aa5 am radios from the 30's and 40's when the TV is off ( I love talk radio and have an AM transmitter)

This may be cheating by most reading this, but I use a Tektronix 650 air monitor (uses a Sony CRT). The color is spectacular and detail is amazing. It is driven with a HD converter box, dvd player. I no longer maintain a VHS for it. Even befor the change from analog the color was from OTA was equaly spectacular and watching a football game or car race let it strut its stuff. Just goes to show, the information was in the broadcast signal and the quality of the reciever was soooo important.

...

We have 3 flat screens, but I use a Sony KD 34XBR960 in my office. Very deep blacks that no flat screen can match, including the now defunct Pioneer Kuro.

I watch my zenith from 1983 anywhere from 6 hours everyday and more in the summer since that's where I do most of my projects. I also use allot of aa5 am radios from the 30's and 40's when the TV is off ( I love talk radio and have an AM transmitter)

Our 1999 Sony bit the dust so we are back to using the 1982 Zenith 25 inch System 3 as a daily watcher.

I use a '62 G.E. "Escort" portable set regularly in the mancave.

I have two CRT TVs in storage, a Zenith "Sentry 2" 19" and an RCA CTC185 -- both table sets. The RCA was my daily watcher from 1999 until I got a flat screen almost two years ago. The Zenith was my daily watcher for four years at my former home, then when I moved in late '99 I bought the RCA and put the Zenith set in the bedroom, where it has been ever since. It isn't used much these days, so it has four years of actual usage hours on it. That set, incidentally, was made during the period in the '90s when Zenith TVs had bad CRTs; however, my set still has its original tube, which is still going strong after almost 18 years.


For NowhereMan1966: What finally happened to your Sony TV?

BTW, I am impressed by the years and years of good service your Zenith System 3 TV has given you since it was new in the early '80s. (What does your set look like? Is it the console model or the one shaped to fit in a corner of a room? Just curious.) Those sets were made when Zenith was still an American company with headquarters in Chicago, so they were built to last. I had two 13" Zenith color portables that lasted many years, and a small Zenith b&w portable that lasted over twenty years and was still working very well (only thing wrong with it was the detent mechanism on the UHF tuner broke) when I got rid of it 13 years ago, due to space limitations in my apartment.

That set, incidentally, was made during the period in the '90s when Zenith TVs had bad CRTs; however, my set still has its original tube, which is still going strong after almost 18 years.

I think the problems were with the 25 & 27" CRT's. It seems like the smaller CRT's lasted as long as the earlier issue tubes.

4 CRTs and 2 LCDs in our house...13" Sony CRT for the kitchen, 24" Toshiba branded, Orion built TV/DVD/VCR for the bedroom, Daughters room a 20" Toshiba TV/DVD, and 5" B&W on my desk. Symphonic 37" LCD for my office TV and the main set is a 52" Sony/Mitsubishi hybrid built up from 3 sets in the junkpile

The ultimate crt, a 40 inch Sony.

I still use a 12 inch Sylvania I got at Sams Club in 2000 as my bedroom set. It's the tv I first saw the 9-11 reports on. I'm really old fashioned as I still use a crt on my home computer.

I still use a 12 inch Sylvania I got at Sams Club in 2000 as my bedroom set. It's the tv I first saw the 9-11 reports on. I'm really old fashioned as I still use a crt on my home computer.

Your Sylvania is probably a 13", made by Funai. They stood up really well, for a Funai product.
I finally retired my old CRT display for my computer.
I really like my new H/P LED 21.5" flat panel. :yes:

Right you are on all counts. It is model number sst413. It's been a trooper.

I really need a new computer and monitor, but I feel guilty replacing something that still works great. I was brought up by Depression era parents who tought us to never throw anything out if it still works. Actually, it was more like never throw anything out, period!

Right you are on all counts. It is model number sst413. It's been a trooper.

I really need a new computer and monitor, but I feel guilty replacing something that still works great. I was brought up by Depression era parents who tought us to never throw anything out if it still works. Actually, it was more like never throw anything out, period!

You must be around my age. 68, last December.
My old CRT display had an intermittant in it and was changing colors all too often. Plus it took up my whole computer desk.

I'm 45. My parents were older when they had me.

We have a 27" Sony Trinitron Wega set in our living room (one of the later models; actually has a "SDTV" logo on the front), and a Samsung 19" TV/VCR combo in the kitchen. I'm soon going to be replacing a 19" Panasonic TV/VCR combo in my 'media room' with a 27" JVC set. It's not a TV, but the computer my upstairs office is hooked up to a 21" Hitachi SuperScan monitor. :D
-Adam

I just picked up a JVC Video Sphere at a yard sale for 5 bux. I plan to clean it up and use in my shop for local news and tv. So yea I still use a CRT. Does that count?

I have two CRT TVs in storage, a Zenith "Sentry 2" 19" and an RCA CTC185 -- both table sets. The RCA was my daily watcher from 1999 until I got a flat screen almost two years ago. The Zenith was my daily watcher for four years at my former home, then when I moved in late '99 I bought the RCA and put the Zenith set in the bedroom, where it has been ever since. It isn't used much these days, so it has four years of actual usage hours on it. That set, incidentally, was made during the period in the '90s when Zenith TVs had bad CRTs; however, my set still has its original tube, which is still going strong after almost 18 years.


For NowhereMan1966: What finally happened to your Sony TV?

BTW, I am impressed by the years and years of good service your Zenith System 3 TV has given you since it was new in the early '80s. (What does your set look like? Is it the console model or the one shaped to fit in a corner of a room? Just curious.) Those sets were made when Zenith was still an American company with headquarters in Chicago, so they were built to last. I had two 13" Zenith color portables that lasted many years, and a small Zenith b&w portable that lasted over twenty years and was still working very well (only thing wrong with it was the detent mechanism on the UHF tuner broke) when I got rid of it 13 years ago, due to space limitations in my apartment.

Well, Mom had the TV repairman put a tube brightener on the Sony although the blues were very weak. It lasted for a week or so and then it kept flashing on and off again so we decided to put the Zenith back into service until I'm able to buy a new TV. I'll snap a pic of her and post it. BTW, the Zenith says on the back, "Zenith Radio Corporation" and was made in Chicago. She does have some minor issues, shows her age a little, I think there is a tempermental cap on one of the boards where the picture flicks red but it usually goes away and doesn't do it for a while and a few others small issues that minimize when she is warmed up, but after that, she still has a great picture. It takes her a minute to warm up where it took about 15 seconds when new, but hey, she's 31 years old. I once saw a 1984 model that looked like her on Craigslist, if I had the room, I'd snag that one.

Sometimes use a 13" Zenith in the kitchen ($6 at a thrift store a few years back) and daughter uses the 27" "Sylvania" (Funai) that was the living room set (our first digital set) from buying it new at the end of 2005 until upgrading in late 2009

I found a lovely little 9" Zenith set from around 1986 for $1 at a yard sale. The seller asked me if I was using it for parts for something else, as he was told that it was full of Zenith modules that would work on any Zenith TV. I told him I planned to use it as is. I got it home, opened it up, and found a spotlessly clean chassis with no signs of heat from use anywhere. Very bright sharp picture.

I installed it at my 80 year old mother's house in her kitchen. She's will possibly run it 15 hours a day, now.

She has a 32" CRT Phillips set, a 46" Mitsubishi projection set, and a 20" Magnavox set. to go with the 9" Zenith. We are still a very CRT family here.

I've got a 1963 Motorola 19" B&W tv in my home office that I watch/listen to almost every day while working at the computer; the kids love watching old shows on it as well. The TV is still a work in progress, but has a good, sharp picture, extremely sharp when fed from the computer - even web browsing on it is surprisingly feasible!

I also have an RCA XL-100 in the bedroom, made in 1990. It's just old enough to have that fake plastic "wood grain" pattern. It gets a little less use but still gets used with movie and exercise DVDs and a Gamecube, as well as occasional TV watching. Starts up green, but turns into a beautiful, sharp picture after a second or two; VERY sharp after I adjusted the focus.

I also have a 32" Samsung LCD in the living room, which is what we use for serious movie and TV watching, but the old B&W Motorola probably gets the most daily use.

It's funny how much better most standard-def looks on a CRT than an LCD. Watching MeTV on the old TV, I was worried about the TVs picture quality, but after seeing it on the LCD I can see how lousy and over-compressed the video is on that channel. Regular TV looks great on all the TVs.

Not a flat screen in this house. Can't see why I would need one! Just an early 80s 19" Zenith in the bedroom with as crisp a picture as I've ever seen, and in the living room is a big 24" Magnavox that I found at the local dump-site tossed because someone knocked out the on-off button. That was about 5 or 6 years ago and the TV plays often around the clock trouble free. The DirecTV universal remote took care of the power button problem. When these finally fail, I MIGHT get a flat, but then again I might just go and get one of the many CRT sets whose prices continue to plummet at pawn shops and thrift stores.

I went flat 2 yrs ago BUT keep a 13" Zenith system 3 L line for when
the flat Sony dies, probably sooner than later. Kept upstairs in my
stamp room. I turn it on for exercise sometimes & hope to get
some sporatic-E from Canada or the Caribbean. Systen 3's ( 9-160's)
were ugly inside & had over engineered PS & HOZ BUT were
nearly bullet proof. Not like todays junk.

73 Zeno

Good for you,im proud of you Zeno for keeping one handy :)

I only have CRT. I have a Mitsubishi big screen CRT (approx 36" screen) but it's broken now. It needs a deflection board and I can't find anyone who still has the part...and I have really looked. I have 2 19" crt's I still use.

Well dont ever give up bud,i think you may find one sometime :)

Goto google and type in deflection board and other stuff!

GOOD LUCK!!

I only have CRT. I have a Mitsubishi big screen CRT (approx 36" screen) but it's broken now. It needs a deflection board and I can't find anyone who still has the part...and I have really looked. I have 2 19" crt's I still use.

Would it be possible to repair the old board to the component level?

My wife would like a flatscreen, but I haven't been impressed by any I've seen. I'm putting a CTC-17 console in the mancave to use there, and I've got the 16" G.E. Escort portable I use out in the shed when I'm working on stuff. It's a '62 model, and sees almost daily use.

Still watching my '90 Zenith installed in an an old porthole cabinet. (I didn't gut the cabinet, I bought it that way.) I could care less about getting a modern TV. Most shows I watch are 60s/70s vintage.

Lots of remodeling going on here, too dusty for a flatcreen anyways.

I could care less about getting a modern TV.Thats quite nice to hear my friend,i hope you keep it up :)

It's been since June since anyone posted to this thread, so I'll add my two cents worth too. I was watching daily until Febuary of last year my Sony KV2648R. Daily viewer since purchase on 10-10-83. Bought for cost $1175. Then it died and I recycled the chassis to the recycle center. Now watching the Sony KV32V25 it still has a great picture, cost me $1137.72 bought on 01-20-97. Have in storage a Sony KV1941, Sony KV4000, and Sony 5-303W. All work, but the micro tv needs recapping and the 4000 needs buttons, but they all work. No flatscreen tv in this house for tv viewing anytime soon. :)

my daily watcher is now my zenith space command system3 combo from 1979.i also watch my e45 sylvania superset i got from another aker.currently working on a zenith chromacolorII with the vertical chassis.crt was dead when i got it.i cooked it for a couple hours and it came up but still a little on the weak side.does actually show a good picture.all 3 guns test even at 6.5 to 6.8 on my tester with good cutoff.tuner has usual issues and it does shutdown after 30 minutes.power cap is a little swollen.cabinet is a mess!this was an ebay purchase by another aker.little did he know that they were using it as a workbench.i guess after he paid for it,they didnt care what happened.did look nice in pictures.

Now that most of the tv shows and sports are shot in 16x9 formats,if you dont put your tv in that aspect ratio alot of picture information is lost.With sports that can be important game information. Does anyone find that going 16x9 with the black bars on the top and bottom of the tv make the picture too small on 27'' or 20'' sets? Also does anyone find the black bars distracting? My 20'' set becomes very small when I go 16x9 ,but I miss the sports info if I leave it 4x3. Thanks for any comments.

Comment:

I like the old RCA more than I care about the black bars... I see it as one of the concessions one needs to make to keep using 50 year old technology on a day to day basis. Would be great to have a screen filled with picture, but those days are gone, may as well be happy with the fact that the old TV can be used at all! Also, my TV has an annoying red purity issue exactly where the top black bar is, so all is not bad!

I do.

Have five TVs hooked up. Four are good old CRT.

The one Sony Bravia flatscreen is used the least believe it or not!

We only have two flat screen tvs in the house. One is in the kitchen in a cabinet. My partner can watch tv while he cooks. The second one is hanging on the wall outside under the back patio. The only reason for it, is a CRT would be too big and heavy to hang on the wall. That one is a 42".
In the living room is a 1959 Magnavox B/W TV. The den is a late 70's Zenith console. The bedroom has a 1956 Philco B/W TV.

Comment:

I like the old RCA more than I care about the black bars... I see it as one of the concessions one needs to make to keep using 50 year old technology on a day to day basis. Would be great to have a screen filled with picture, but those days are gone, may as well be happy with the fact that the old TV can be used at all! Also, my TV has an annoying red purity issue exactly where the top black bar is, so all is not bad!

I have the same problem with black borders on the picture of my Insignia 19" flat screen TV. The set is an LED-LCD one so I don't have to worry about image burn-in, although I will say it is a bit annoying to watch certain channels (PBS World, for one) with the black spaces above and below the picture. My set has an "auto zoom" option on the video menu, so I was able to set the aspect ratio such that most stations' video appears to fill the screen. Ordinarily I wouldn't worry about the zoom, but I watch one cable channel (USA Network) every once in a while and some of its programs appear with black spaces above and below the video. My TV has the "zoom" button on its original remote, but I just don't like the idea of having to drag that remote out of hiding just to zoom in the picture (I use a GE universal remote to control the set, using the original Insignia remote only to get special functions such as zoom, menu options, et al). However, I guess I'll just have to get used to having to grab that original remote every now and then, when an image appears on my screen with those black areas above and below or on either side--or even when the image appears as a small square on the screen (I've seen the latter more than once since I've had my flat screen TV). That square may be the result of the image being cropped both ways, vertically and horizontally, but I'm not sure why this is done. Maybe that's the beginning of so-called "4K" ultra-HD, with the picture showing as normal on a flat screen TV designed for either 4K or ultra-HD video, but squarish on ordinary flat screens? :scratch2:

I regularly watch my 60" Mitsibushi rear projection CRT HD TV. Got a little burn-in from watching news channels too much, but otherwise a great picture.

i had a mitsubishi 70 inch set for years.that was a great unit and the picture was spot on.sold it on ebay and actually got almost the original cost for it after 8 years of flawless service

I've got a 1991 Sharp Linytron model 19rp519 that was our main TV when I was growing up. It was retired to bedroom duty when it developed a kind of flickering white line at the top of the picture, almost like the vertical is a touch too short. Even with the line, it outlasted the BPC set that replaced it. Still has a nice picture even though there's a ton of hours on it. (The white line is visible in the first picture.)

That line looks like it could be closed captioning. I'd take the back off and look for vertical height and linearity controls to increase vertical over-scan slightly to see if I could move it off screen.

I use a '73 RCA XL-100 27" console in my "laboratory", a 1992 RCA Home Theater 27" console in the living room and a 1996 RCA Home Theater 36" console in our family room. We will watch our old CRT sets until we can't get a signal to them. We have been wondering when they will die, but they will probably outlast us! The only thing that has been done to any of them was to the XL-100. I had to replace the power switch. In 1982.

I have a 19' 1976 Zenith Chromacolor 2 as a daily viewer 181349

I have a 19' 1976 Zenith Chromacolor 2 as a daily viewer 181349
Ooh, gotta love it.

My current viewing setup. The rabbit ears are just for show, they're not hooked up.

Dangit, how did my picture get rotated?

I have several old CRT TV's that I have restored and watch them from time to time. I watched a full dateline broadcast just recently on my CTC9 RCA. Also have watched a couple of hours of programs on my 1953 Sylvania Halolight while working on other sets, and stuff in my shop area. An interesting thing at my work, since I work at a fast food restaurant (since I retired from TV repair) is that they still use a Toshiba CRT television for the drive through monitor. It's left on 24 hours a day and has been going working at least 8 years now. Must admit I usually watch my 50 inch plasma as my main TV in the family room, but do love the CRT TVs, as I suppose it's the type of TVs that I grew up with.

Ooh, gotta love it.

My current viewing setup. The rabbit ears are just for show, they're not hooked up.

Dangit, how did my picture get rotated?

Hey that's like my old RCA before I got the even older Zenith, it worked really well for me nice set.

Ooh, gotta love it.

My current viewing setup. The rabbit ears are just for show, they're not hooked up.

Dangit, how did my picture get rotated?

That is just like the RCA I want to get.

That is just like the RCA I want to get.
Not sure if this will help, but it's a model FGR478WR. Not sure of the chassis number, possibly CTC117.

I have a 19' 1976 Zenith Chromacolor 2 as a daily viewer 181349

I keep that same set on my basement work bench for entertainment.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i469/ElectronicMemory/My%20Digs/DSCN2885_zps70cb3f3f.jpg (http://s1095.photobucket.com/user/ElectronicMemory/media/My%20Digs/DSCN2885_zps70cb3f3f.jpg.html)
Mine is full of intermittents, but if I slap it or kick the bench right it will behave for a good while. One day I'll get off my but, remove the back cover and re-seat the modules (which fixed the intermittents on a 23' CCII set I also have).

Why even bother looking on Craig's list for a CRT??? All you have to do is visit yard sales in "good" (wealthier) neighborhoods and if they are not FREE, they will be in the $5-30 bracket for larger ones. I see all kinds of 27" & up Sony, Mitsubishi and other nice ones. I just recently passed up a 35" Mitsubishi table set in perfect condition for free. Just looking at it hurt my back!! Get out and look!!

I think its wonderful there are SO MANY OF US HERE who realise how much better CRTs are!!!

Peace and love to you all http://i59.tinypic.com/72tuzr.gif

FJR478WR is a 1983 19" color colortrak with infrared remote, channel memory, and on screen display. Chassis CTC-117A.

Mine is from 1982.

Is there any other kind of TV to watch??

Hopefully the day will never come that I'll have to join the other sheep in the "latest and greatest flat screen flock."

If it's CRT it's for me. The older the better.

Al

Our main TV is one of the last CRT models produced - a Sony KD-34XBR970. 34" widescreen, 1080i, HDMI. It's incredible, and HD looks far better than the flat panel LCDs. One time when we had a bunch of friends over to watch a football game, one of them remarked about being impressed with the wide viewing angle, which is a problem when we're all at someone else's house.

Still using a 27'' Toshiba as a daily watcher I have a old plasma in another room.I go back and forth. Crt might have better colors,blacks ,depth of picture is superior. Anyone else still have a crt as their main tv?

I just set up this 68 Zenith 25" color console as my main TV. http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=267354

And I currently have 3 TVs other set up as daily watchers in addition to that '68 Zenith: a '69 Zenith 22" B&W metal cabinet set as a basement watcher (I'm watching it now), a '71 Zenith 12" B&W as a desk TV, and a 84 Zenith 13" color as a bed TV.

I've got a 32" Sony Trinitron as my daily watcher set.

I don't watch tv often, but I don't have any modern digital sources, so there's no point of having a "modern" TV for me yet. I just watch lasersdisc, VHS and DVD on a 23" Setchell Carlson B&W, or a Sony 32" Wega if I want color. Got the Sony for $10 at Goodwill just before they stopped taking them. Maybe after the election I might finally get around to hooking up my digital converter box for over the air signals.

I don't watch tv often, but I don't have any modern digital sources, so there's no point of having a "modern" TV for me yet. I just watch lasersdisc, VHS and DVD on a 23" Setchell Carlson B&W, or a Sony 32" Wega if I want color. Got the Sony for $10 at Goodwill just before they stopped taking them. Maybe after the election I might finally get around to hooking up my digital converter box for over the air signals.
Most of my TV viewing is on a 20" Sony Wega in my workshop, a dollar GW set. Excellent picture and sound. I use a VCR and an Insignia DTV converter.
I have to have OTA reception for the news and weather and also some of the programs on the sub-channels. That set, or one of the others is always on. :yes:

Mine's a 20" Sony Wega too. It was the subject of this earlier thread discussing the bizarre "self ressurection" of its CRT. It's still going strong.
http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=265989

My daily watchers are a 1973 Zenith Chromacolor, 1966 RCA Victor CTC-25, and a 1969 RCA Victor CTC-40.

What's the oldest daily watcher anyone had? My oldest living room watcher was a '59 Magnavox 24" B&W combo.

My Toshiba is only a 2005 model. How far back does everyone sit from their sets? Thanks for any info.

My oldest daily watcher is a 1961 Zenith 29JC20 roundy color....When I get my 1955 CTC-4 going right it'll probably get bumped to daily status too.

My oldest daily watcher was a '59 Admiral 21" console.

My bedside TV is a 27" Sony Trinitron with integral digital tuner. It is connected to two attic antennas, one aimed at Toledo and Bowling Green directly into the tuner and the other aimed at Detroit with a pre-amp into a converter box. It is used every morning and often at night.

A 13" "Sansui" in the kitchen is also connected to the Detroit antenna. It is used a little less than the bedroom set.

Still watching the 'ol Samsung!

And I still gotta give huge thanks to radiotvphononut, for the advice about the flybacks being a problem on this set. Saved me grief cause sure enough it failed. Bought the recommended one, and yep, still working today.

I do have an L.C.D. monitor for my computer. But this because I need to protect my eyes. Otherwise, woul have had been C.R.T. f.t.w.
Regarding tv sets, I still have only C.R.T. in the house. In current use: oldest: sept. 1988 made "Hitachi" (Made in Singapore...); newest: circa 2002-2003 "Hyundai" small (15"-17"?) Made in... Turkey (by "Vestel" I think).
Between them: the 12-12-2000 bought "Sony" Trinitron KV-21FT2K.
My nickname is turned on just a few times a year. Preservation reasons + since it have nothing digital into it, the image flickers and my eyes suffer.
A lot of people say to me why I don't get a L.C.D. set. Why?
1) I don't watch television so much, so no need to invest in one. In audio I would invest, because I do spent more time listen to music then watching tv;
2) My recorded media (V.H.S., L.D., D.V.D.) is in standard definition so I do need a standar definition set. Well, I would like a 16:9 C.R.T. tv set for 16:9 stuff (21" screen is to small for that), but is no room for it.

In the future probably will be an L.C.D. set for H.D. stuff, but this isn't a priority.


Look what is happening to vintage Hi-Fi equipment. 15 years ago, I used to see '60's tube Hi-Fi stuff at the hamfest & antique radio swap meet that no one was interested in. Now, those old tube Hi-Fi units are often going for big bucks. I should have bought that Fisher 500C back when the price was low. Even some of the solid state stereo equipment from the '70's is soaring in price.

Catalin radios are the same way. 20 years ago, most collectors turned their noses up at Catalin sets. Now, they are a high demand item. I'm even seeing radios from the '50's and '60's go for high prices. This is especially true of the colored ones in good condition.

I suspect the same thing will happen with the TV's that most people think are worthless now. It may take 30 years; but, I'm sure it will happen.

Same in Romania. Old stuff that was dumped up untill few years ago nowdays have big price.
One day more modern tv sets will become collectible.

Still using a 27'' Toshiba as a daily watcher I have a old plasma in another room.I go back and forth. Crt might have better colors,blacks ,depth of picture is superior. Anyone else still have a crt as their main tv?

I love my CRT Rose,Im glad you do also :)

Mine's a 20" Sony Wega too. It was the subject of this earlier thread discussing the bizarre "self ressurection" of its CRT. It's still going strong.Excellent,thats good hearing!! (Nothing BIZARRE about it however)

My daily driver here at my college dorm is a 1984 19" Sylvania Superset with E32 chassis. Bright, beautiful picture with all original components. I rescued it from the local e-waste recycling shed shortly after moving in. My building has analog coaxial cable from the wall so just screw it in and I get every channel, no digital set-top box required. I have a Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis sitting on top, both hooked up, with SD flash cartridges so I can load up whatever game I want. It's everything I need.

My daily driver here at my college dorm is a 1984 19" Sylvania Superset with E32 chassis. Bright, beautiful picture with all original components. I rescued it from the local e-waste recycling shed shortly after moving in. My building has analog coaxial cable from the wall so just screw it in and I get every channel, no digital set-top box required. I have a Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis sitting on top, both hooked up, with SD flash cartridges so I can load up whatever game I want. It's everything I need.

Noice!

If and when I actually watch tv, you can bet it's on a CRT. I'm rockin' a late model Sony Trinitron, it's no classic, but it has a great picture, and sound. But all my computing, and gaming, is done on a crt monitor. LCD monitors just don't do it for me.

Very nice to hear both of you :)


Welcome ashore Freon!!!

I currently have 5 tv with CRT running everyday since longtime. ( 2 old Toshiba, a Panasonic, and 3 B&W tvs . on 5 inch , a 10 inch and a 19 inch . All my tvs work ) I have no flat panel (screen ) except for my computer . I don't like the new TVs anyway . I have no modern phones and all my phones have a spining dial except some contempra wit push-button .. .. all my 5 radios are old and vintage and work great. In short, I do not have anything modern in my apartment except to have the cable for television by a provider because here in Quebec, we can no longer pick up the local channels on an outdoor antenna for a few years. All this for the benefit of the damned cell phones I imagine !

I don't own a flatscreen so i regularly watch my 1966 zenith space command 300 and a 1983 GE color.

I love both your replys :)

I watch my Motorola 19k14wa B&W console nearly daily, a Maggotbox 13" digital tuning CRT (from '07?) in the bathroom, a Trinitron broadcast monitor for video dubbing/Commodore 64, A LaCie/Mitsubishi 21" computer monitor, and a JVC D-ILA projector and big roll up screen for High Def.

Hopefully LCD will be obsolete soon, it's had too many flaws from the get go, and is just barely getting "good"

If I had the room I'd set a dual Electrohome Marquee 9xxx stack for pure 1080p 60hz CRT goodness!

I had an Electrohome ECP but it was a piece of crap that went up in flames, too bad because it had a great picture, very crispy with Laser Disc and Blu-ray.

Hopefully LCD will be obsolete soon, it's had too many flaws from the get go, and is just barely getting "good"

LCDs did git gud, but yeah, only just recently. They're already obsolete, OLEDs are taking over.

Its great to see some people still using crt tvs for their main set.

CRTs are beautiful :)

Its great to see some people still using crt tvs for their main set.
While I'm on line, I watch a 14" Toshiba stereo remote, built in Feb, 2004.
The set was like new when I picked it up at the GW about six years ago. That's when they were getting $6.99 for a TV. Picture Quality is still great! It's used about three hours in the morning and three to four hours in the evening.

Well god bless you and your TV :)

I have no flat screens in my house, except for a monitor connected to a desktop I never use. The newest set is a 27" Zenith from 1990. It runs all day playing kiddie krap for my daughter. The only other set used on a daily basis is a 19" Zenith, circa 1979.

No inputs beyond an antenna and a DT-9001 box.

I barely watch TV anymore, and if I do, it's all SD stuff on the retro channels.

I have no flat screens in my house, except for a monitor connected to a desktop I never use. The newest set is a 27" Zenith from 1990. It runs all day playing kiddie krap for my daughter. The only other set used on a daily basis is a 19" Zenith, circa 1979.

No inputs beyond an antenna and a DT-9001 box.

I barely watch TV anymore, and if I do, it's all SD stuff on the retro channels.


Lucky Carmine ! you have yet an antenna and this is a thing we don't have since years in Québec.. all people have what i call a ' saucer ' or a provider ( cable ) and, because my wife loves HD, i can't watch my old 1979 B&W tv :( anyway when we are married , we do some concessions.. ( don't know the real name ) .. :P

Lucky Carmine ! you have yet an antenna and this is a thing we don't have since years in Québec.. all people have what i call a ' saucer ' or a provider ( cable ) and, because my wife loves HD, i can't watch my old 1979 B&W tv :( anyway when we are married , we do some concessions.. ( don't know the real name ) .. :P
I think the saucers you speak of are small satellite dishes, I see those every now and then.

While not normally used in that context, "concession" is technically accurate; usually "compromise" is used instead.

I use a 26" color CRT set, 25" to those South of the border. It's a Canadian set though so it was never advertised as 25". If I had to choose between watching a *B&W* CRT and hi-def I'd have to choose the latter. There is no nostalgia for me in B&W, that was just something I used when nothing else was available, and as I recall I took it apart before I got my own color set in 1992. I used that until 2005 when it suffered a vertical failure. Even that recently perfectly good color CRT sets weren't being given away so I eventually bought a new one.

Oh, and just for kicks I recently powered up a partially stripped flat screen monitor and threw a 4" tall can capacitor at it until it broke internally and displayed a bunch of funny patterns and colors. It took three tries but I didn't put much force into it the first two times. I busted it up a little more and then threw it out the next day.

Yes Jon.A . It's a satellite dish. Thank to remind me it..

Compromise.. exactly.. You know, my english is not the best and not my native language :).. I speak french and it's rare i use a translator..Some mysteries in my phrases but i see you are able to understand me , funtastic ;)

I don't know if it's really compromise in my case. My wife (like me) is very disinterested in pop-culture or "status" stuff. She downloads some tv shows (Gilmore Girls, the show about the nerdy science guys, and that thing with the British chef who's always cursing). She just watches them on her phone. Sometimes she downloads something we both watch, but lately we're both so busy with other stuff that we rarely have the time.

Right now she's taking her online tax class for a seasonal job at H&R Block, I'm giving her a break from our daughter, who's running a Hot Wheels car on me while I attempt to watch The Rifleman. What an exciting Saturday night!

Yes Jon.A . It's a satellite dish. Thank to remind me it..

Compromise.. exactly.. You know, my english is not the best and not my native language :).. I speak french and it's rare i use a translator..Some mysteries in my phrases but i see you are able to understand me , funtastic ;)
Oh yeah, easy. In your case the use of a translator may be counter-productive, that is if they haven't changed much since I last used one.
I don't know if it's really compromise in my case. My wife (like me) is very disinterested in pop-culture or "status" stuff. She downloads some tv shows (Gilmore Girls, the show about the nerdy science guys, and that thing with the British chef who's always cursing). She just watches them on her phone. Sometimes she downloads something we both watch, but lately we're both so busy with other stuff that we rarely have the time.

Right now she's taking her online tax class for a seasonal job at H&R Block, I'm giving her a break from our daughter, who's running a Hot Wheels car on me while I attempt to watch The Rifleman. What an exciting Saturday night!
Sounds like a real prize, and cute kid too, got to love that smile.

Oh yeah, that chef is Gordon Ramsay of Kitchen Nightmares. I've seen a handful of episodes, it can be rather amusing. Somehow cuss words are less offensive coming from a Brit, especially with their idioms thrown in, one example from the show being "blow smoke up your phony a**e".

Amazing this thread is over 10 years old, and at the time I had 4 CRTs in use and that was pretty common at the time. The only non CRT I had was a 61" JVC D-ILA (DLP style) projection.

My CRTs were -

32" Sharp
27" LG made Zenith with a flat CRT
19" Orion made Zenith TV/VCR combo - impressed it wasn't stereo and still had 2 speakers.
19" Panasonic from 1987 with a varactor tuner and a CRT that was shot. Brightness and contrast were turned all the way up and you could barely see the picture in a dark room.

Oh yeah, easy. In your case the use of a translator may be counter-productive, that is if they haven't changed much since I last used one.


Probably but,.. the last time I used a translator, he had made a lot of mistakes and it was at least 3 months ago. So, since you understand me quite well, I do not use it anymore except for a few words and no to translate complete sentences.

Still using my Sharp 25 inch CRT at home. A Zenith Sentry II here at the shop (picked it up on the street working). Love em!

There's someone at the end of my street and whenever I walk past in the evening I can clearly see in his livingroom a 27" in the corner with something on.

I barely watch TV anymore, and if I do, it's all SD stuff on the retro channels.Excellent :)

I prefer SD also.........

I use a 36" Sony CRT 1080 hd 4.3 tv for almost everything , I know a few people who are using CRT tv sets simply because they are older / seniors or the couple who arent seniors they just have a tv and are happy they see a picture , when the set goes that's when they will get one.
Probably good because LCD sets that are simply 1080 are pretty low cost and better now than the wallet busters of a decade or so ago.

Newest TV my wife and I have is our good old Mitsubishi we bought new in 1989. Mind you we've never been heavy TV watchers, but that thing has survived our two boys growing up, and we still watch Red Box and library DVD's on it to this day. Picture looks as good as I ever remember it, and I've never so much as taken the back off it. It's a 27" table model CS-2656R. Of course the pencil box door broke off many many years ago. :D

God bless your set Kevin :)

Please give her a pet for me next time ya wipe her or go near her,etc :)

God bless your set Kevin :)

Please get her a pet for me next time ya wipe her or go near her,etc :)

You do mean the TV, or my wife? ;)

My son uses a 27" Sony Trinitron for all his viewing. His CRT is starting to fade just a tad. I already have a replacement in the basement: a 36" Sony Trinitron with low miles on the odometer. Just got to figure how to get that 180 lb. beast up two flights of stairs.

My son uses a 27" Sony Trinitron for all his viewing. His CRT is starting to fade just a tad. I already have a replacement in the basement: a 36" Sony Trinitron with low miles on the odometer. Just got to figure how to get that 180 lb. beast up two flights of stairs.
Offering a 6 pack of beer to a strong friend or neighbor could do the trick. I was able to lift my 208Lb Super-Fine-Pitch HD Trinitron on top of the 1971 Zenith that now serves as it's stand and I can carry that set fine on a level surface, but any stairs narrower than it's front (read most stairs) I simply have to have a helper for.

Offering a 6 pack of beer to a strong friend or neighbor could do the trick. I was able to lift my 208Lb Super-Fine-Pitch HD Trinitron on top of the 1971 Zenith that now serves as it's stand and I can carry that set fine on a level surface, but any stairs narrower than it's front (read most stairs) I simply have to have a helper for.

Be careful, I wound up spending a couple weeks horizontal after attempting that kind of heroic lifting.

My son uses a 27" Sony Trinitron for all his viewing. His CRT is starting to fade just a tad. I already have a replacement in the basement: a 36" Sony Trinitron with low miles on the odometer. Just got to figure how to get that 180 lb. beast up two flights of stairs.
My 1984 Kenmore micro/convection oven is about half that weight and I can barely budge it. When I got around to moving it off the counter for for cleaning and installing new feet (it was on blocks) I rolled one of my consoles into the kitchen, put an old shirt on top of it and then slid the Kenmore onto it and tilted it on its side. Much better than risking my back.

As for moving stuff like that up a couple of flights of stairs I'd put something underneath that would allow it to slide easily then use a couple of hand-cranked winches, one to pull it up and the other to take up slack just in case one were to fail.

You do mean the TV, or my wife? ;)Yup the TV but you can get your wife something also :)

I still use a 25" Magnavox in my bedroom. Parents got it for me new in 1994 or 1995, I cant remember, but its a basic Black Plastic Crap set from then.

However it still has a picture on it like its new so the CRT in it is fairly strong, considering its on every night when I go to bed. The CRT had to have been well built, and I know it has a ton of hours on it.

I only had to fix it twice. once it had a 100uf 100V cap go bad in the horizontal circuitry, apparently it was a common problem. So I replaced it with a much higher quality cap and it hasnt failed again. 2nd repair was in the STR circuit. a non polar cap dried out and took out the STR IC along with the fuse one day. Changed all that stuff out in 2008 or so, and its still working fine today.

But I know my luck will eventually run out with a flyback failure or something along those lines, so I am consistently looking for a good vintage CRT set as a backup. Problem is where I live now, they are impossible to come by. Only ones I see now are LCD, or a few late model silver flat screen CRTs which I don't want. I want something from the 70s/80s era as a daily watcher once this BPC set dies.

Yea I dont like FLAT SCREEN anything,they look horrible.........

I hope your set stays with you for along time yet...... The world has become a piece of garbage since we got our beautiful sets and its hard thinking about them leaving us.......


God bless you........

Same here... i have 8 tvs with CRT in each piece of my apartment.. no modern tvs..

.........Only ones I see now are LCD, or a few late model silver flat screen CRTs which I don't want. I want something from the 70s/80s era as a daily watcher once this BPC set dies.

Ahhhhh ! why you don't want a flat screen CRT ? i have four flat CRT Toshiba between four regular CRTs since 7 years now i use everyday a flat CRT 20 and a 14 inch . In my living room and in my bedroom a 14 inches .. Both are Toshiba . they are ON about 4 hours a day and no problems yet. The CRTs are strong, the colors bright . However, my 14 inches served a long time for Nintendo games and the picture is very bright .

I do not really understand people ... maybe it depends on the tastes? I do not know. :)

Well I dont like flat CRTs for 2 reasons. 1 reason is the majority of them are service nightmares (continually break down), and Two, taste reasons. Oh, and there is a third. WEIGHT... flat CRTs have more glass in the front than standard curved sets.

The only flat CRT I would ever have if I could get my hands on one, is a nice 16 by 9 1080 HD. basically one of the last CRTs made.

I worked on a few of those when I was a service tech, mainly the Sony ones that used that stupid failure proned Shindengen IC.

I do not really understand people ... maybe it depends on the tastes? I do not know. :)Im sorry Marco.....I guess its just I have always had curved screens and I love them,I dunno......

Im sorry if I made ya mad........

Im sorry Marco.....I guess its just I have always had curved screens and I love them,I dunno......

Im sorry if I made ya mad........



well, okay but I was talking to Mbates. If you've never had flat screens (CRT), of course you can not really know what it is either. :no::D

Mine are from the early 2000s but that's only 7 years that I have them, for now I have never changed anything in these TVs. But as they have a good image quality, and my screens are not blurries, I think I will repair them when the time comes. for now, it works number one . :yes::thmbsp:

P.S : Don't worry you don't made me mad at all :D you have your opinion like the other members

Muchos Gracious :)

Muchos Gracious :)

You're welcome / Bienvenu. :thmbsp:

I have a Zenith that was made in 1999 that the local teevee shop gave me. Reason for that was the guy that brought the set in said his dad had to upgrade..HEEHEE! Jeff [the tv guy] asked if I wanted it..it followed me home! Best color set I ever had!

Are CRT tellies still in daily use in 2020 or are they already replaced with 4k OLEDs :scratch2:
Please let us know

I'm still using my Sony Super Fine Pitch HD CRT daily and plan to continue till something I can't replace fails...Then I'll try and find another set of the same model.

My 1954 RCA CT-100 and 21CT55 see weekly-monthly use.

If you care to click the link below and look at the rooms, you'll see all the sets in daily use at my house. There is some other old tech as well.

https://tours.realvisionstudio.com/s/28701-Grant-St-St-Clair-Shores-MI-48081.

I had vintage appliance as well, but I swapped them for some modern junk to sell with the house.

If you care to click the link below and look at the rooms, you'll see all the sets in daily use at my house. There is some other old tech as well.

https://tours.realvisionstudio.com/s/28701-Grant-St-St-Clair-Shores-MI-48081.

I had vintage appliance as well, but I swapped them for some modern junk to sell with the house.
My sister was selling their high-end home and the RE sales person recommended that they should upgrade the kitchen, granite counter tops, new stainless steel appliances, ETC. The home sold right away, as a result.
I still use a CRT set at both my home and my workshop.
BTW, the set in the LR looks like either a Magnavox or a Curtis Mathis.

Sorry for the diversion, but have to say I wouldn't give you 2 cents for crappy new SS appliances made in Asia. We have a 1976 Frigidaire self-cleaning range and 1976 Frigidaire 1-18 Jet action washer here, and in our summer home a 1961 fire-engine red J-304V GE range. The ranges have full porcelain cabinets, weigh about twice what a new junk new one does, have a panel with full width panel lights, and can get a 18 jar pressure canner boiling in a few minutes flat. The FD washer is widely conceded to one of the best cleaning washers ever, and actually fills with water instead of a few cups like new ones... funny how sufficient water helps get things clean! Not water efficient but it actually cleans. Same goes for the 1971 Hobart made Kitchen Aid dishwasher, it's a hurricane in a box that can strip the chrome off a trailer hitch and do a full load in 45 minutes flat! Try that with a new one that uses teaspoons of water and takes almost 2 hours! Love me my vintage appliances!

And vintage all tube TVs of course! We do have a 1998-ish Sylvania 19" color that we paid $89.95 for on sale at Sears and has an awesome picture. Not sure who actually made it.

If you care to click the link below and look at the rooms, you'll see all the sets in daily use at my house. There is some other old tech as well. Wow very nice..... I hope you keep all that and use it for years to come :)

Just goregous!!

Still using my 1969 RCA CTC38 every day. Works great, only needs a new 6GH8A sync amp once every few years.

Im glad its going good for ya buddy!!!!!

The CTC-21 console gets 3-4 uses a week, the '56 RCA KCS-94 a couple times a month, hard to watch cuz its jug is on its last leg, The Motorola 19" console has a sync issue or something like that, which is too bad because it has a nice strong picture tube in it.

Wow very nice..... I hope you keep all that and use it for years to come :)

Just goregous!!

Thank you. The new home will have even more vintage stuff.

Beautiful house.Carmine

Beautiful house.Carmine

Definitely!
Your taste is great and everything looks neat and tidy :thmbsp:

Back on topic:
Surprising how many of you guys still use CRT TVs
I planned replacing my almost 30 years old but fully functional B&O MX7000 with the new Sony 48 inch OLED.
So far so good.
On the other hand: The business I'm working in is quite going down thanks to Covid19 and the terror attack here in Vienna also was not an improvemet for the difficult situation we are in :no:

My living room consists of 3 TV's, a 2011 Samsung LCD that is left on almost 24/7 (so I don't ruin my CRT sets with 24/7 use).

When I'm ACTUALLY in there and watching TV I turn it off and either watch on my lil 1982 b&w 5" TMK or my 1964 Zenith b&w 19" portable.

In my garage/shop I use a 1992 Magnavox 25", great tv for gaming :)
https://i.ibb.co/G9pDCsC/IMG-20201214-153537.jpg (https://ibb.co/G9pDCsC)

Love the B&W one .

I have not, as of yet, purchased a modern TV. My current main TV to watch is the Zenith in the top right of this photo. I occasionally watch the RCA roundie. And yes, i use that nearly 20 yr old Panasonic VCR on a daily basis since I do not have the hopper!

The LG VCR/DVD on top is a piece of junk.

I've got the same Zenith porthole. Mine worked as found with only 4 of the paper caps replaced with orange drops some time in the 60s (based on replacement tubes in it).

Those CTC9s are nice sets...I wish I had enough floor space to turn my wide console upright and use it regularly.

I have not, as of yet, purchased a modern TV. My current main TV to watch is the Zenith in the top right of this photo. I occasionally watch the RCA roundie. And yes, i use that nearly 20 yr old Panasonic VCR on a daily basis since I do not have the hopper!

The LG VCR/DVD on top is a piece of junk.

Most of the VCR/DVD combinations are trouble prone!
I have several I picked up at the thrift stores and most of them are junk. :thumbsdn:

I've got the same Zenith porthole. Mine worked as found with only 4 of the paper caps replaced with orange drops some time in the 60s (based on replacement tubes in it).


That was the same exact situation with this porthole... damn near all the original caps in there and made a pretty decent picture as it was. Just got better as I replaced the rest. I don't turn it on very often.

My Panasonic combo has been a really good performer thru the years. Seems I found the Panasonic brand to be the most reliable for VCRs. That LG has some neat features... it's a VCR/DVD recorder... but wasn't really that reliable even when it was new.

That was the same exact situation with this porthole... damn near all the original caps in there and made a pretty decent picture as it was. Just got better as I replaced the rest. I don't turn it on very often.

My Panasonic combo has been a really good performer thru the years. Seems I found the Panasonic brand to be the most reliable for VCRs. That LG has some neat features... it's a VCR/DVD recorder... but wasn't really that reliable even when it was new.

I've got an older Panasonic DVR/DVD recorder unit that has been through ~8 years of 10 hours recording/playback a week and the only maintenance it needed was a new PATA hard drive (that dates it) after the old one completely died. Panasonic has my respect for making the unit capable of formating a new drive to work in it.
It's more of an emergency back up now than a watching unit since I have to use an HDMI capture device to timeshift cable in HD.

If you are at sea for long stretches I'd imagine you'd want more recording time to keep up with shows.

If you are at sea for long stretches I'd imagine you'd want more recording time to keep up with shows.

Are you kidding? We have 43" HD sets in each room with Direct TV. I don't miss a lot! Actually, I only watch a limited amount of TV at sea. I do, however, have a couple of shows I keep up with while i am out there.

Are you kidding? We have 43" HD sets in each room with Direct TV. I don't miss a lot! Actually, I only watch a limited amount of TV at sea. I do, however, have a couple of shows I keep up with while i am out there.

As someone who has always had OTA or cable I forget satalite exists sometimes...

Most of the VCR/DVD combinations are trouble prone!
I have several I picked up at the thrift stores and most of them are junk. :thumbsdn:


I have had two Toshiba VCRs / DVDs for almost 15 years and have never had a problem with this kind of device and my two devices work almost every day since I have a good collection of VHS and DVDs that I guard for a very long time. To say it would be bullshit or 'junk' is a bit of an exaggeration on your part. Even with minimal maintenance (lens cleaning for my DVD players) and cleaning and lubrication (cart grease and other trinkets from VHS players) it drives great. I also have a very cheap DVD player whose name has been deleted for a long time due to overuse and which I use less now, still well maintained anyway (I still maintain my devices), will last a good longer a long time .

And all my old TVs are Toshiba excepted a RCA that i have since yesterday . they run great . Every 6 months , i open them and use a can of compressed air everywhere, being careful. So these are simple maintenance, but my devices are going to last quite a bit longer than average.

Still running a Panasonic CT-34WX54 TAU series widescreen CRT for my daily watching and as my computer monitor using the HDMI input, far better than an LCD big screen

Most of the VCR/DVD combinations are trouble prone!
I have several I picked up at the thrift stores and most of them are junk. :thumbsdn:

I picked them at the thrift stores for less than $5.00 US dollars. For that money, you can't expect much! I know nothing about how they were taken care of. Maybe the former owner had problems with it and got rid of it. I just buy the ones that are clean and looked like they were cared for. :scratch2:

As someone who has always had OTA or cable I forget satalite exists sometimes...
I was suckered in the late 90's, Direct TV.
Lesson learned!

Currently in regular use I have: 3 Zenith system-3 era color sets, 2 Zenith chromacolor II era color sets, and 1 Zenith flat chassis ss color set (all remote control models). The newest of those is from '87, the oldest '74.

I also have two Zenith hybrid chassis color sets out in the garage (also remote sets), that if I ever have time to get them working, I would like to put into regular use.

As late as 2017 I still had B&W all tube sets out where I would watch them nearly every day, but I haven't for a while (not since I moved from Lansing, MI).

I have not, as of yet, purchased a modern TV. My current main TV to watch is the Zenith in the top right of this photo. I occasionally watch the RCA roundie. And yes, i use that nearly 20 yr old Panasonic VCR on a daily basis since I do not have the hopper!

The LG VCR/DVD on top is a piece of junk.

The TV on the left ... is that an RCA? My grandmother had one that I thought used the same tuner... but I thought her's was black and white and I THOUGHT it was in a cabinet with doors. YEARS ago (she passed away in 1987). That TV was used as a stand for the new color XL100 and later Colortrack portables ...

I still use my 1965 Zenith Roundie, 25MC33 chassis for a few hours a week. I have it hooked to a Kodi box made from a Raspberry Pi 3 computer. I watch the free internet content or stored files from a USB flash drive I keep in the unit. I download good vintage programming, mostly British, from YouTube. If I download at 480 resolution, it looks like broadcast TV on the Zenith. I did have a OTA converter box hooked to it for a while but there is nothing on broadcast TV anymore that beats what I can get online. Plus we lost reception of our ABC affiliate in the repack. I mostly watch TV on my laptop or tablet anymore rather than a dedicated flat panel set.

Very nice on your 1965 set :)

rwagoner: Yes, that is an RCA CTC9... i forget what the cabinet name is. It needs an alignment, but plays pretty decently as is.

First my apologies if this is a repeat question, I scanned but did not read 27 pages of replies.

Ok, it seems that there are at least a few 60s era tube sets in daily/weekly use. My question how often are you having to work a daily driver set? It was common for sets to need repairs back in the day. I would suspect air conditioning, better modern parts (maybe), and likely less hours all could help stave off repairs, also maybe only the strongest, better designed set are left.

Ok, it seems that there are at least a few 60s era tube sets in daily/weekly use. My question how often are you having to work a daily driver set? It was common for sets to need repairs back in the day. I would suspect air conditioning, better modern parts (maybe), and likely less hours all could help stave off repairs, also maybe only the strongest, better designed set are left.

I have a CTC9 in my living room that gets about 10 hours use per week. It's been 10 years since being re-capped. So far, I've only had to change one tube... it was something in the color or video circuits.

I agree completely... central air and modern capacitors make a difference. I also suspect today's line current is likely cleaner today than 5 or 6 decades ago.

...

I agree completely... central air and modern capacitors make a difference. I also suspect today's line current is likely cleaner today than 5 or 6 decades ago.

Today's line current is also likely higher voltage than the 117 usually stated on the label of old TVs, so running with a Variac or constant voltage transformer helps.

My Sony HDCRT is on atleast an hour a day and sometimes all day. My tube sets sometimes see 5+ hours a week.

My 21CT55 is probably my second or third most used set these days and ignoring the horizontal osc and my goofy rectifier situation it's been %100 reliable since I completed it in 2018.

I wanted to replace the seleniums with silicon diodes but didn't want to increase B+ or have another gigantic power resistor so each selenium got replaced by about 12 1N4007s in series (I've heard seleniums drop about 1V per plate and calculating how many .7V Silicone diodes we're needed). It works as intended but the center diodes in the string tend to overheat and burn open once every 2-3 years. Only happened twice so far.

First my apologies if this is a repeat question, I scanned but did not read 27 pages of replies.

Ok, it seems that there are at least a few 60s era tube sets in daily/weekly use. My question how often are you having to work a daily driver set? It was common for sets to need repairs back in the day. I would suspect air conditioning, better modern parts (maybe), and likely less hours all could help stave off repairs, also maybe only the strongest, better designed set are left.

That's a fair question, and some good pondering points. Unfortunately I still haven't acquired a color tubed set, so I can't weigh in. A working color vacuum tube TV is one of the things that has been on my bucket list for seemingly forever, I just cannot seem to find one I can afford locally.

I still watch our 2000-era 27" Sony Wega. Honestly, I'm starting to feel like having a big TV is kind of a sensory overload situation. Just watching regular ol' TV (not movies) on the big LCD is starting to wear me out. I find that watching the smaller CRT TV is more relaxing.

Just kinda sucks that modern programming expects you to have a huge TV. Like they frame everything more zoomed-out than in the old days.

Honestly my CTC-21 gets too much use. I had to re-silicone the flyback again. I've been meaning to get a smaller LCD for normal half-paying-attention TV watching, use the projector only for movies, and use the vintage TVs a bit less. I did get a good jug for the Radiation King (RCA KCS-94) and have been watching/tweaking that one over the weekend.

I use a Sony Trinitron kv1925r in my bedroom and works very well after I fixed the TV.the TV is use almost every day. The Sony is hooked up to a an older Sony blue ray player that still has composite out, RCA VCR, Sega Genesis, finally a modern Roku through an HDMI adapter. I also have console tv from 1989 made by Magnavox and I have a PS3 connected to it. Also got an 1980s 9 inch color zenith. My dad uses an 24" funia from 2005 not great crt but it does the job and my grandad use an 19" Toshiba TV/DVD combo from 2004 the crt is little tired but other then that it works perfectly. I'd rather use old CRT TVs rather then give my money to greedy companys that only make junk that normally won't last to be 10. I do mean that in 25 years you probably won't be able to find a TV that is working or can be fixed. Aslo throng a tv away because it's not flat is very wast full and I don't need hd or whatever it is now it just makes my old shows look worse do to upscaling. I now CRT tvs don't last forever but I use them until the have no life to give.

I have two sets that see regular use in the house, but they're pretty modern for this forum. First is an early 90s Sony KV-20EXR20 in my bedroom that I'll use to watch an odd episode of something or the evening news before bed. The second is a Sony KV-13FS100 I use when digitizing old video tapes.

Both see use a few times a week, but not daily.

I have two sets that see regular use in the house, but they're pretty modern for this forum. First is an early 90s Sony KV-20EXR20 in my bedroom that I'll use to watch an odd episode of something or the evening news before bed. The second is a Sony KV-13FS100 I use when digitizing old video tapes.

Both see use a few times a week, but not daily.

I've got a 13FS100 and its less common pearlescent white counterpart, the 13FS110. Both are awesome TVs with loads of features and great picture quality for their size and age.

I've got a 13FS100 and its less common pearlescent white counterpart, the 13FS110. Both are awesome TVs with loads of features and great picture quality for their size and age.

Yeah, it's a great little set. I really lucked into mine for free. It had the power cord cut, and smoked 3 packs a day in its previous life but I was able to clean it up pretty well. Still lets of a slight hint of cigarette juice, but not bad at all.

I also found the exact remote for a buck at a thrift store a few weeks later.

Pictured of the brown fuzz is attached, if you're into that sorta thing :D

Yeah, it's a great little set. I really lucked into mine for free. It had the power cord cut, and smoked 3 packs a day in its previous life but I was able to clean it up pretty well. Still lets of a slight hint of cigarette juice, but not bad at all.

I also found the exact remote for a buck at a thrift store a few weeks later.

Pictured of the brown fuzz is attached, if you're into that sorta thing :D

Good on ya for saving that one! I know all too well what the inside of a neglected CRT looks like, especially in the vicinity of the flyback...a particularly bad case I encountered warranted a YouTube video.

Dust! EVERYWHERE! (https://youtu.be/eMjMGbZt0ZU)

My Sony KD-30XS955 is my daily watcher. One of these days I will tare into it to find the bad cap that causes vertical roll for the first ~30 seconds at cold power on. (Only on the HDMI input and only if the room temperature is below 70 deg. F) I have a Panasonic CT20R6E in the bedroom and a Sony KV-9300 on the bench. All sets have very strong CRTs and aside from the initial repairs at the time of acquisition they have been performing well for years. I do keep the picture settings at an absolute minimum for quality viewing as to maximize the life of the CRTs.

Pictured of the brown fuzz is attached, if you're into that sorta thing :D

Mmmm welcome to flavor country! :smoke:

Mmmm welcome to flavor country! :smoke:

Smoker's Choice™

smoker's choice™

lsmft!

Yeah. I still don't own a flatscreen TV.
I've been using the same TV pretty much daily since 1987. A 1974 Viking (Admiral) 12" B&W. TV is in my avatar.

Yeah. I still don't own a flatscreen TV.
I've been using the same TV pretty much daily since 1987. A 1974 Viking (Admiral) 12" B&W. TV is in my avatar.

That is impressive. I used to have a 12" Black and white TV in my bedroom as a kid, and getting a colour TV was a pretty high priority for me, even back then.

Just looked your set up in the 1973 Eaton's catalog, very nice looking. My sister used to have an Admiral TV with the same style volume / brightness knobs.

2007-2022. Still use the living room tv set. "Sony" Trinitron 21FT2K.