I've taken a long hiatus from collecting as other parts of my life have been extremely busy, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pickup an RCA RR-359 field trial set. These things don't exactly come along every day, this being only the 12th known survivor. I remember the last 359 from Ed Reitan's estate being transported to ETF and having the CRT not make it in one piece. This combined with my distrust for a shipping company caring even the slightest bit about what they are carrying meant only one thing, hop on a plane and fly to Texas to pick it up in person. It's not the cleanest set you'll see, the finish is pretty tired and at some point the original tuner was removed and a replacement was put in :tears::sigh:. It does look like it has the original CRT though. I'm sure there are more stories to uncover. It will certainly get more love in its new home than its last.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yI5S7EIier5TYXD_c_yLOVDYvDLNAzQz32J0BvT_nuWwLu_nog 5ciehP5Gn1MNlaua1ZU82vZAQ4Jm-TYvs_AT1JMNvXch0qDgD2U2ScrOdbic-QR1lDkTeamrxGa4Y8YPEBqvOIdoI=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NDYaQKMQiu35eQt1rIEvIhUBB_54XyYeI4ADA6vSiB-3eMYN-wZwt6EHi3VwxIhjI-SOTV81A_RV-_0-Gj5Ux0M13MNKiscbJ3ZHecQFxbHAVXUcF_H5p3JgMFV202TWF3 5BK3fdSfg=w2400

Oh my :eek: That is quite the find! Congratulations. Can't wait to see more as you explore this rare set.

Wow. It always amazes me when a pre-War set gets discovered. If it isn't some kind of amazing luck, then I wish someone would teach me the skill of finding them.

Congratulations on your find of this rare set.

It would be nice if Fred Taylor out of Dallas, Texas could refinish the cabinet. His work is amazing. Coupled with a restored chassis, it will be quite a piece. Great find.
Tony

Here are a few shots of the tuner that was installed.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oAXWeLlsp4Okamau3Z6l3vCahLIELGKuL-u40reclBowlXgtZ0oD5yUz-Efa8YJEiLgOkm1da0PbR_MiLxwy11oTyJEvlwA2O9HkudKIdtt apFguG0S6lLqpBzV_cl4M4pXwakp04Zw=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YEvqHAJTZO8ogtA-APcoyjYngxWGNOOnu2ueo9PEyov7Gekq7oTyh26AOL41e8oiNn 6tJZkxNKUthm2YQtwfQ9-s2_QCq_nIw5qOYgGkqUhD-z_udMTZ1F2JXvATfvYEfuCHYfain4w=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lC0tcXqN_pqrw1b2GNxolTCNdFVuF-ulyFLYZsCapodyK-bgtY8MhZa-p6hVWEn7Zpl3R69g7USdygrc05Tcp_1kqvf-bRFcrt4aLRjXFiDQ13VtgUIpDCaQVrjZMi-O0OnDapnfA80=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6MglcfZXAUGCHJpXJZFmEM8MnnnZa9WqKQqwbE8cHP76pMz5Ji MrrMgVuNNLGoeDB4zSDqelQkxmCeLOtveRcwF2nY30j_2i27bq LF82SSLoaIp5uz1B6TSjaQKCuuNqBii6Rc0DUkI=w2400

Here is something else that I thought was interesting. There is no anode cable and connector like I am used to with every other non-electrostatic set I've ever seen. Instead the anode lead wire comes up through the bottom of the kinescope support and lands on a sort of tab inside the support. You have to rotate the kinescope so that the button makes contact with the tab.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GIOX_fPoJNjCXp_S8K51hKA9Q5QcDakdFYNpV3TpjlDClcTHux kQqYhVqOYB3bOcfuKtlPzoOJaewpRtYyzYP0EHaNvc0FQSwY56 bm_swJ3FqLKKINzd_wAsLOW-iHKqWvHHQZBpgUQ=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EqEZb9I3EDyQwk0rjHbOzUW1-24Y3HZ0k11bA9FLOXlFkCpUol7IMNQGxj0dVlNW4v9VLSTIn_K RVcc4EkyIVJVMbRPbO-FGDj1Ydu_jtH0dte_u70jyYILwMC-s0pMiW09VVjLTDn0=w2400

Strange. I love seeing this early stuff when they hadn't quite worked it all out yet.

Spent a bit of time cleaning the set today. I sure have a thing for televisions that have the word "Television" printed on them. My favorite is the GE 901 projection set, but this logo is pretty close.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4XV4dGCIoUfL7f2TXbFdd5_by5jk6GTE-CnEEIVH74YMciyNbqwWQEQUu3HuHv8p1v7gKxof3PEm2bZgAnG B0i6VguBS4qCnx6KhWdbFKbjA06qJ8QrvN10EgPzabnhO1760j 5dgkgg=w2400

Going to need to start looking for replacement grill cloth for the speaker cover. Does anyone recognize the cloth in this photo? I'm hoping it's a really commonly used cloth by RCA Victor from the time period. The cloth is black with horizontal rectangle decorative sections. The photo is zoomed in to a section that was behind the wood slats so it's not sun faded over the last 85 years. Anyone recognize this grill cloth from radios of the time period?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ky_AEjYZd--1tz70xoxkx0XeXmffmT8DlhpG3StxYGjXDvbQBZkp03r-0Ya4me8e-Rwz-y5xlEGBigR08MixtFa9SDGnS2DbvVXeFisE_C2o8SPW5_mQMAb Z14O7N_xCcUR0d3yygX0=w2400

Congratulations, you have found ( and saved ) something of high historical relevance!!!

What fabulous find! I look forward to your restoration story.

Peter

My goodness, that's one of the most notable finds in the hobby in years! A museum piece for the history of television in America. It deserves a top-dollar careful restoration. Congratulations on an impossible find!