B&w picture tubes, larger than 23"
 

Ive seen a number of 1950s tvs with 24 and even 27" picture tubes, but does anyone know if there were later large b&w tubes that were bigger than the 23" rectangular tubes that were nearly universal in 1960s consoles? All the references ive seen for larger tubes are the 1950s tubes with rounded corners, but there is a 1960s Setchell Carlson thats been on the Minneapolis Craiglist forever that claims to be a 27" but it has square corners like the later 23" tubes. Did they make 25" or 27" squared corner tubes? Or is that set just a 1950s style tube with a square cornered mask to make it look more modern?

I think Magnavox had a 27 inch BW that went into the 60's. I've never seen a BW tube with really square corners. DuMont had the biggest BW CRT at 30 inches but it was round.

We had a Maggy 27. Pre UHF mandate. The set only lasted about 4 yrs.
The OM went back to Zenith real fast !

73 Zeno:smoke:

People on Craigsist often measuer the entire mask, or the edge of the cabinet, or the size of the room it's in and claim that as the CRT size. I can't recall anything larger than 27" with really square corners, if there was one it was probably a Magnavox.

The bigger tubes often seem to be bad, probably a combination of the large screen area and the high number of hours used during the 60's.

I don't recall any B/W crts larger than 23" (approx 21"/but with squared corners) that had the square corner shape. there were 24" and 27" sets offered in the waning days of B/W sets but IIRC, these had the more rounded corners like this spectacular Zenith 27 incher:

http://tvhistory.tv/252KA21A5.jpg

From TV history site.

jr

I know the CL set you're speaking of. I believe I have a very similar cabinet model and it's a 23 inch CRT. I think the one on CL has it's legs removed and appears to be hanging from the ceiling. Funny how that CL seller hasn't budged on his price in the (I think) 3 years I've been seeing it.

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/q...g?t=1420752490

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/q...g?t=1420752487

IIRC, Admiral had a 25" B/W crt, as one of their last offerings. Probably made by National Video, with squared corners. They made a lot of strange model sets, hybrid B/W sets, with only a few odd-ball tubes for the sweep circuits.

I've got one of the 27" Setchell Carlson sets, has a 27RP4. This particular one is an RCA Silverama replacement dated 1/65, and tests as new.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...0&d=1412674441

I replaced a CRT in a 27" Magnavox 1965 model. The set was solid state, except the HV rectifier. They boasted that it was the first solid state large screen set, which it really was. It looked like their earlier models with the separate safety glass.

Hello Kevin,

I saw this " 1964 Zenith Model 5119 Color Roundy ". Is it possible to have it in pdf from you? thanks in advance..

Interesting, Thanks for posting! I have never seen one, and my tube manuals (early-mid 60s) don't list any 25 inch P-4 (B/W) jugs. However, in a Sams pocket sized "Tube Substitution Handbook" 1972 printing, I found listings of 25DP4, 25HP4, 25JP4, 25KJP4, 25LP4, and 25TP4. With color TV rapidly gaining popularity in this time frame, I suspect that sales for these large screen B/W sets were rather poor. :scratch2:

jr

I immagine the survival rate for big screen B&W sets was also low, they were too big to put in a den or bedroom once they were demoted from living room duty when they were replaced by color sets.

I found some listings in my 1969 GE tube manual. There are many 27" tubes listed, but most are the rounded corner,90 degree 1950s types. However, there is also 2 National Video tubes listed , with 1962 dates, that appear to be 110 degree square corner tubes. There is also a RCA data sheet from 1964 for a 24BEP4.

Radiomuseum.org shows the 25LP4 and 25TP4 being used in several sets for the Australian market in the mid-to-late sixties (note that the market for big monochrome sets had not been displaced by color sets as Austrailan TV transmissions were still monochrome).

The 25DP4 and 25DP4 show up on frank.pocnet, with tube manual pages from Sylvania, from 1965. It's a bonded front tube, with the front about the same shape as the 25XP22, but a slightly larger picture than the 25XP22. I would be really curious to know what, if any, TV sets used this tube.

I must admit I have a weakness for big B&W sets, it dates back to my hobby of fixing discarded sets when I was a teenager. When I saw how much more complicated color TV sets were, I wondered why anyone would have wanted a color TV!

Wasn't there a 30" Crosley in the fifties? As to the corners, I don't know.

Yes, that 30" round tube was probably the largest.. i started this thread to ask if there were later square corner tubes bigger than the ubiquitous 23" from the 60"s. The answer seems to be YES, but they dont seem too common. People who were able to spend enough to afford them probably spent thier $ on color sets instead, at least in the USA. Still would be interesting to see sales literature from the period that shows 25" or 27" b&w models.

I seem to recall the Crosley followed the 2 different DuMont Royal Sovereign sets. Not sure if there was some collaboration there, or if Crosley just took advantage of the availability of the big round jugs when everyone else was trying to come out with larger rectangular ones.

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Sometimes context makes all the difference. :arrow: I needed a good non-sequiteur laugh. :D