Well.... I saw a post on our local Craigslist for 3 free TV's. This one is a Midland with a manufacture date of 8/71. Model number is 15-212.
The people that posted the ad were doing the estate sale, and I don't think any of the sets had been in service for a long time, as they were all hooked up to rabbit ears. This one works as is with a really good picture. ( my camera makes the picture looked washed out).
It's a tube hybrid set, and the tubes and picture tube were branded NEC.

Neat find. I wish I could find one of those Japanese made tube/hybrid table sets.

You'll find one. Finding this one was a total fluke, and pure luck. I haven't seen any older sets in my area in ages. The sets were at in estate sale, and I don't think anyone had lived there ( or at least used the upstairs ) since analog, as all the sets were hooked to rabbit ears.

Great score! The set has a nice picture as is, looks like a low hours set. The small tube / hybrid sets are not easy to find, I think if they stopped working, they were much easier to carry to the curb! Is the model number tag still attached?

Strong picture ! Question is who built it ?
Has elements of Toshiba, Sharp & NEC but I cant wrap my head
around it. 30 yrs ago I would have known but aging sucks:thumbsdn:
I could name a few Jap sets that it isnt but thats it.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Very nice find. The local Kijiji listings are a total crap shoot, I'm lucky to have the three sets I do have in over a year of searching. Had more but they weren't worth keeping.

Strong picture ! Question is who built it ?
Has elements of Toshiba, Sharp & NEC but I cant wrap my head
around it. 30 yrs ago I would have known but aging sucks:thumbsdn:
I could name a few Jap sets that it isnt but thats it.

73 Zeno:smoke:

The earlier Midland models were built by Sharp.
IIRC, even the tubes were branded "Midland" or MECo. That same model was built under the names of Wards Airline, Truetone and even Motorola.
At the time, I don't think Sharp made their own CRT's.
The CRT looks like a low focus volts CRT, with the blue gun on the bottom.

DAMN fine score !

Nice oddball set. I thought it was a Hitach i or Toshiba from your pics, but it's hard to tell. No matter what, it's harder to find these IMO than an RCA or Zenith of the time.

I hear 'ya, Zeno, aging sucks! At least we're still on the right side of the grass :-) Over 30 years ago, when TV Repair was my daily job, I learned an awful lot, and I'm surprised that so much of it is / has come back to me, in the last couple years since I restarted TV Collecting as a hobby! I never stopped working on things, but the last 25 or so years, I spent my time on antique radios, and stereo equipment restoration, and I still do some of that. The TV interest rekindled because for years I wanted to have one working color Roundie (preferably an RCA, like I had years ago). I found a beautiful and cheap candidate for restoration a couple years ago, and now, five Roundie's later, and several other sets as well, I'm having lots of fun!

Very nice buddy!!!

I hope you enjoy many things with her :)

The CRT looks like a low focus volts CRT, with the blue gun on the bottom.
So that's the reason some CRTs have that oddball convergence clover huh? I saw a pic of the inside of a 1971 Hitachi with such a setup recently.

Here's an OLD thread, I see I got this set a year ago. I had to pull her out today for hopefully a minor service. I keep it in a cabinet with doors, and it's kind of a tight fit. After the set is on a few hours I get a slow vertical roll. Of course the vertical hold control is in the back of the set, which I can't reach when it's in the cabinet. I ordered a 17KZ8 and am hoping that will cure it. Everything is so crammed in the case, am hoping it's not a cap. Someone had asked if the model tag is still attached. Here's a pix I just took.

Close up of the control panel, and one of the emblem.
I use the set on occasion, while it's got an okay picture, a Zenith or RCA blows it out of the water, mainly due to the fact that it uses a low focus CRT. The Japanese didn't quite have it goin on yet in 1971

If the cabinet don't have or blocks some of the set's ventilation the roll could just be a sign that heat is slowly killing it...

Nah... I'm pretty retentive, so no vents are blocked, plus the doors are open when I have the set on. I'll post a pix in the cabinet after I get the tube, and get everything put back. I'm hoping it will be a simple fix with the tube change tho. Chassis is not the most service friendly......

Nah... I'm pretty retentive, so no vents are blocked, plus the doors are open when I have the set on. I'll post a pix in the cabinet after I get the tube, and get everything put back. I'm hoping it will be a simple fix with the tube change tho. Chassis is not the most service friendly......

Back in the old days of TV repair, a tube would cure the problem for a short time, but it was an indication of things to come. We all did it! The customer would call back saying that the set was doing the same thing.
The Japanese capacitors still had paper dielectric, even that recently. The resistors were rather heat sensitive as well. :scratch2:

Ya... am hoping on this one, tube only. I didn't want to overlook the obvious, before delving too deep. I see too many times where people decide they MUST re-cap everything, and end up with more problems than they started with.
This one gets minimal use, so will post screen shots and let everyone know if that was the cure. We hated those Japanese sets in the late 70's to mid 80's when they were brought in. especially if they were in a kitchen and ran 24/7.

Got the tube today and that was the cure. Had to touch up the size and linearity a bit.
I've run it for 12 hours today and rock solid.