A $5 Zenith!
 

I found this on the Goodwill Auction with 12 hours to go and no bids, $5 opening so I bid.
I forgot about it till later the next day when I logged on I had won it for $5.00!

It arrived at my work today and I plugged it in (just plugged it right in!) and it came on with a bright raster and sound, got it home, hooked it to a DVD player and it works very well!

The vertical is a little short and the sound could use some touching up but pretty amazing for a 50 year old set.
I noticed the filter cap is a Sprague replacement with the blue and orange label.

The small knobs on top are broken and missing as always with these sets, also the tube cap on the back is busted but for $5 I'm not complaining, it's in very nice shape overall.

WOW! Great find! The price was almost free! I really like the Bugeyes, I hope to find a nice clean one someday.

Nice set!

Sweet! That's a great picture and the cabinet looks to be in excellent condition.

so I am guessing it survived goodwill since it was working, GREAT find.

Nice... I really like the look of that set! I was sort of hoping to find a portable when I got my Zenith, but I didn't find any. Set's that size seem to be a lot easier to fit in without rearranging a bunch of furniture. They are rather heavy for their size, but a lot easier to move than a cabinet!

What model/year is this one? I thought maybe '57-'60 or so? I'll have to check out those Goodwill auctions more often! I've seen cool stuff on there before but it's the shipping cost that usually steers me away.

Damn sweet Bugeye ! Congrats on an excellent score !

Bugeyes rule. Mine is a T1816R from 1955.

http://antiqueradio.org/art/zen2802.jpg

The picture on the screen tells you when I restored it: back in Ye Olden Dayes when I was still using a film camera to take photos like this, and keeping images small so they'd load quickly over a dial-up connection.

Phil Nelson

That was 1998 - I watched the impeachment on my 9" Philco-Ford in the college dorm.