A whole truckload of what's probably best described as junk:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3638&item=6112077104&rd=1


Maybe a treasure or two in there, I see a reel to reel tape deck.

there is a stack of audio equipment , some of which may be good. But, that WHOLE stack of vcr's, and most of the tv's, would make a NICE , healthy breakfast, for a garbage compactor truck!!(and that is what I would advise whoever buys that stuff, to take one along). it would be fun to watch, also, the crushing of all those vcr's.

I agree, he's obviously hoping someone will haul away all that junk for the few nice things in it. I can't believe the consistently bad photography.

I think that should be spelled "Junque" LOL

Anyone hazard to guess what model # or vintage the below Zenith is? That's one handsome console (for a modern piece)

Anthony

Originally posted by Eric H
A whole truckload of what's probably best described as junk:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3638&item=6112077104&rd=1


Eric, why do you say these sets are junk? There are a few Sony sets in there (if I am to believe the description), which, according to what I've read in this and other threads here in the year or so I've been an AK member, are made even better than some Thomson-built RCAs, namely the ones with the on-board RF tuner. Certain makes of TVs are more troublesome than others, as were the RCA-branded Thomson sets before the company saw the error of its ways and started making them with the tuner separate from the main chassis. My own 1999-model RCA, which I bought new just a month (!) after it was made, has only had one repair (yup, you guessed it, the on-board tuner's ground points) in the five years I've had it, and it works very well now--no CRT or chassis problems whatsoever (except for a small problem with the signal-processor "jungle" IC, but it turns out that doesn't affect the set's operation much, if at all, since I use the set with a cable box and leave the tuner on channel 4 at all times; the picture is wonderful, the jungle IC problem notwithstanding).

The point I am trying to make is simply that I do not think it is a good idea to condemn all modern televisions as "junk" just because they are housed in black plastic cabinets and are built offshore. As I said earlier, all makes of TV sets (or anything else) have their quirks, even those big Thomson-built RCA consoles (which I don't think Thomson makes anymore--I don't see it on their website as of late) or Zenith's 25- and 27-inch console sets. The fact that most everything is manufactured well offshore these days is a contributing factor, but by no means the entire problem. The automated assembly lines used in the manufacture of today's home-entertainment gear are largely to blame as well. Sometimes the automated equipment fails to solder certain underchassis connections properly (as in the 1999 and earlier vintage Thomson/RCAs with their OB tuner problems), or, in cases of defective CRTs (as in Zenith-branded Gold Star TVs), the machinery doesn't assemble the electron guns properly, etc. because of faulty programming of the machine's controllers (these assembly lines, as I said, are mostly if not completely computer-controlled these days) or other problems with the software or hardware.

Just because anything, whether it be a television set or an automobile, is made offshore doesn't necessarily mean it is junk. Some offshore products, such as many Sony, Sharp, etc. TV sets, are trouble-free right out of the box and remain so for years. (Again I refer to my 1999 RCA TV, which has had only one small repair in five years; the set has been trouble-free ever since, and I use it several hours a day, every day of the year.)

The problem with many smaller manufacturers, as I stated above, is largely with the slap-dash manner in which everything is done nowadays in the name of increased productivity; quality control is in many cases a thing of the past with smaller offshore firms. I personally would think twice before purchasing a TV set with a name I never heard of, for one never knows who really makes these off-brand sets. Since Thomson/RCA seems to have licked the OB tuner problem in its current production of television sets, however, if I were to buy a new one tomorrow I just might consider getting another RCA. This brand, manufactured offshore though it is (mine was built in Juarez, Mexico), is still a fairly good make, IMO, and now even better since the tuner problems have been solved in the newer ones.

Don't forget that even the older models with onboard tuners will work for years once the ground points on the main PC board are properly soldered. It has been almost three years since I had the OB tuner in my set resoldered; the repair is still holding and the TV itself, as I said, makes a great picture on cable. I expect the set to last many more years.

Goldstar/Zenith, on the other hand, is a different story. GS still does not seem to have licked the CRT problems and numerous chassis troubles being reported with these sets, which accounts for the large number of GS-built "Zeniths" winding up on curbs on trash pickup day in many residential neighborhoods each week. These TVs are not worth repairing after the warranty expires, especially if the CRT shorts and takes much of the video circuitry with it (as we all know, this is an all-too-common problem with current-production GS/Zenith sets).

Goldstar/Zenith is about the only brand of TV set I can think of right now that could be considered junk, unless of course you consider the offbrand sets sold in discount stores like Circuit City, Best Buy, et al., many of which are and have been junk since they burst on the market. This includes those cute little 5" AC/battery portables with continuous tuners and AM/FM radio; I recently saw one (with the name Sylvania on the box) in a discount house in my hometown for $11.97. These are hardly worth repairing when they go bad for any reason and from any cause.

BTW, I wouldn't have one even if they were made well, as I live in a fringe area where rabbit ears and certainly monopoles do not work well at all; moreover, those small sets aren't designed to be used with external antennas or on cable, which is really the only way to get decent TV reception here.

The lightning-bolt Z logo may still be on the cabinets of GS-built Zeniths, just below the CRT, but don't be fooled. These sets are definitely NOT the Zenith TVs we knew back when Zenith meant The Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago, Illinois. Heck, even my 1995 Zenith Sentry 2 19" remote color set was made in Mexico, even though it has a computer-generated label on the back which bears the following: Zenith Radio Corporation, Glenview, IL 60025. (This label also states that the television was manufactured in Mexico.) My best guess is that this address was that of the company's business offices; the manufacturing plant went offshore several years earlier. (That address is out of date, by the way; Zenith's corporate offices, or at least what is left of them in this country, are in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire, Illinois.)

I understand GS has ceased using even the lightning-bolt Z logo on its color sets, and CBS' high-definition disclaimer on its HD shows no longer states "Brought to you in High Definition (where available) by Zenith." The name "Zenith" on that disclaimer has since been replaced by LG.

I wonder. If GS no longer uses the Zenith lightning bolt on its TVs, what brand identification does apprear on Gold Star sets? My best guess is their round "LG" logo, such as is used on their appliances, now appears on these TVs where the Zenith logo once was.

I wonder as well whether appliances other than televisions (microwaves, air conditioners, refrigerators, washers, dryers, etc.) made by LG are just as poorly made and have such a lousy reliability record as the firm's electronic gear. If so, I would begin to wonder. More to the point, I'd steer clear of LG-built anything, as it clearly isn't worth the proverbial hill of beans.

Originally posted by heathkit tv
Anyone hazard to guess what model # or vintage the below Zenith is? That's one handsome console (for a modern piece)

Anthony


I can't say for certain, but it looks to me like it might be a 1980s System 3.

Definitely a System3

I had a second hand furniture store and saw that one a couple of times over the years.

Probably with a 9-519 chassis, and a NON goldstar tube, that could still be good. Or the set could be a DIGITAL zenith, with the 9-700 main digital module, if so, I would steer clear of it.

Originally posted by Jeffhs
Eric, why do you say these sets are junk?


Jeff, I also said there might be some treasure, i.e. a nice Sony or some working stuff.
That said I think overall it mostly stuff that probably would cost more to buy, haul away, fix and sell than it's worth. (What can you get for a used generic 20" color TV these days, $50?)

If you lived right next door, had a truck, storage space, the knowledge and parts to fix these things then it might be worthwhile, for most of us it would be a huge pain to pick out a half dozen good things and then have to pay to dispose of the rest of them, which is probably why they are up for bids in the first place.
Possibly a good deal for just the right person but I think
someone doesn't want to pay to send them to the recycler. ;)

eric

Originally posted by rca2000
Or the set could be a DIGITAL zenith, with the 9-700 main digital module, if so, I would steer clear of it.

Hmmm. Interesting. What on earth was so bad about the digital Zenith sets with the 9-700 module? Were these sets trouble right out of the box, did the module have a habit or shorting or failing in such a way that it would damage or destroy the video circuits, CRT or some other large, expensive part of the set such as the flyback, or is there some other reason you would avoid like the plague sets using this module?

Zenith System 3 was a good line of sets. I have a friend whose parents had a System 3 25" remote color console for 15 years; when it finally died, I think the power supply quit (theirs was non-digital). The point is, the set lasted 15 years with few if any service problems, which I believe was one of several selling points for the System 3 line.

I cannot for the life of me imagine what was so terrible about the digital System 3 models unless, as I mentioned above, the digital module had a nasty habit of shorting and taking out half the set (or at least the power supply :eek: ) with it. :dunno:

I like the Zenith Digital system 3 sets. They are hard to work on because of their odd design and millions of plug in connectors, but they seem to be reliable. They're the only US sets I've seen that supports the European style teletext.

Wha'ts European Teletext? Is it like our Closed Caption text? Zenith was also first with that Star programming stuff. Never quite understood what it was all about, some sort of subscription service for program listings?

Anthony

Originally posted by andy
I like the Zenith Digital system 3 sets. They are hard to work on because of their odd design and millions of plug in connectors, but they seem to be reliable. They're the only US sets I've seen that supports the European style teletext.

My Zenith Sentry 2 has 2-mode teletext. I never saw it work, but I do know it's there. It is accessed (at least on my set) via the "captions" menu, which gives you four options: caption 1 and 2 and text 1 and 2. (My RCA XL-100 set in my living room also has dual-mode CC, but not teletext.) Caption 1 is, of course, standard closed caption; CC2 is now being used for Spanish-language closed captioning on certain network shows (Jay Leno's Tonight Show for one; David Letterman's Late Show could be another, and ABC World News Tonight may be captioned in Spanish on CC2--I do know the audio for WNT can be heard in Spanish via the SAP function on stereo TVs).

Personally, however, I don't think teletext ever caught on in this country. It may be a lot more popular in Europe than it is on our shores. Our answer to teletext seems to be closed captioning, but of course that doesn't even come close...or does it?

I don't think so. Teletext, what little I know about it, is (or was) a text-based video information service, encoded in the vertical blanking interval. I seem to remember, a few years ago, Atlanta's WTBS was experimenting with teletext (I tried to access some of their test programming using the teletext decoder in my Zenith TV, but saw nothing); however, whether the service was on the station's satellite feed for Superstation TBS, I don't know. Since I live in Ohio and, of course, only receive Superstation TBS (with TNT and 500+ other stations) on digital cable, I have not seen what, if anything, is being presented on the station's metro Atlanta terrestrial signal. My best guess at this point is that, if they were experimenting at all with teletext, it may have been strictly on a local basis, in the metro Atlanta area.

Teletext must have been an unqualified flop in this country, since Zenith/GoldStar no longer includes the teletext decoder in its new sets; there was no content on the service, at least not here in northeastern Ohio (all I ever got with the teletext decoder in my set switched on was a large black box covering much of the screen).

What gets me is this. If teletext was such a bomb here, why on earth did Zenith even bother putting the teletext decoder in sets made for the North American market? Seems to me they could have sold the sets a lot cheaper had they omitted the decoder, which of course was of no use to anyone in the United States. Did Zenith have a vision some years back that teletext might eventually catch on, as an information service (video newspaper or newsmagazine, etc.) or even an emergency alert service? :dunno:

A few years ago I bought back one of the first Zenith digital system 3 sets I sold new in 1989. It is still in new condition with all the original paperwork and printer! Yes, It had one to print out teletext messages!
I personally didn't mind working on the "Digital" system 3 sets back then and the 9-700 modules were not that bad, It was just that the techs didn't understand them or want to work on something that advanced at that time.

The problem with them is that, according to several soources, as of about 5 years ago, you CANNOT get any of the specialized parts, (Ic's for the 9-700, the 9-700, the little "Zcu" board that plugged into the 9-700. etc), for those sets. I agree, that they are nice, WHEN WORKING, the usually have a good crt,and I have worked on my fair share of them, in the late'80's to mid '90's. usually, they lost the power supply(9-604, IIRC),or deflection board(9-605, IIRC), or the ZCU,or the 9-700 board. I used to work fro m module rebuilder, and they would NOT work on ANY of the DIgital sets or modules(even though I was willing to try to work on them), due to lack of available parts.

Teletext is completely different from the text function built into closed caption decoders. I found this web site with a pretty good description of it. I think it was just tried too late in the US to catch on. It looks like the BBC first started experimental broadcasts in 1973.

http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/

I have kept enough n.o.s. modules and chips for those sets to last me a while!
The Digital System 3 was a favorite of mine back then...

It has a problem, with the ZCU module, if you wiggle it, the set works , with pincushion problems, and such it has a good crt, and such, and has bose sound and PIP. it is an "88 or 89 model.

It resides in Lebanon, Ohio. if you want it, let me know, i'll see if the guy who has it , wants to get rid of it(I think he does) Maybe I could work out something, in getting it to you, as I plan to come up that way, probably next weekend, to get that Zenith out of that barn, and maybe a few others, too.(I talked to the owner, he said the sets would be there a while, so it should still be ok till then, I hope. I will call him again this week, and see if next Saturday would be ok.) I have a new Chrysler minivan(an 01, actually), and, like my od one, i can haul a lot, with the seats removed.l

I would love to have that one! That was the top of the line direct view model.
Sounds good if we could work something out on transportation, Besides I could give you some nice vintage sets as a bonus!