Picked up a Tele-Tone TV682
 

Steve K alerted me to a couple old TV's being given away in my area, turns out it was someone I know already, only one of them was left and I got it, a Tele-Tone TV-682 apparently.

Sorry, no pictures yet till I get it home.

It's Kin to this set from the ETF but it's a 12" model and it has legs and doors, well it's supposed to have doors but they've been torn off.
http://www.earlytelevision.org/image...orthole_hd.jpg


This set might be restorable but I would consider it more of a parts set given the missing doors, knobs, back and a CRT that I was told is bad.


One odd thing about it is the CRT used, it's a 12TP4, branded Tel-O-Tube on the bell in what looks like the DuMont Font.

It looks original to the set.

In what appears to be a cost cutting move the CRT only has Phosphor on the area that will be scanned, in other words there is a band of phosphor that goes full width but is lacking about 1.5 inches top and bottom, it also appears to be a very thin coating and has a see through quality to it.
It also has no Dag but it does have an Ion trap.
I hope it works at least a little bit, I'm curious to see what it looks like.

I found a Sams with a picture of the model.

Pictures
 

Put the CRT on the tester, mostly dead at first though the cutoff showed signs of life, kicked it up to 9 volts for 30 seconds or so and the emissions came up very good, dropped it back to 6.3 and it dropped off but still in the good range. Cooked it again at 8 volts for another 30 seconds and now it stays in the good range and the cutoff is excellent!

After letting it sit on 6.3 while I took pictures and typed this up and it's checking high in the good range! Not perfect but not bad for a freebie. :thmbsp:

Take a look at the CRT face, that's not a shadow, that's how the phosphor was applied to this tube. I can't find much on a 12TP4, anyone else have one and is it done the same way?

I'm really torn on this one, I'd like to restore it because I'm sure it's much rarer than anything else I have that could use this CRT, but with the missing doors I think it's pretty much a lost cause, at least if I want it original.

Here's a shot of the CRT label, looks like it was made the 37th week of 1949 in Patterson N.J.

Tel-O-Tube, I like that name!

Wow...Looks like it would have been HARDER & more costly to only "Paint" the phosphor on PART of the tube like that...They must have wanted "CHEEP" at any cost...

Wow..... How could you even be questioning getting this running again!

I'd wanna get it going even if it was JUST the chassis and THAT CRT!!

Wish I could run into this stuff. I guess I just work too much....and live here in San Diego where EVERYTHING pre 70s is "collectable" priced :-(

Interesting. The chassis reminds me of an RCA 721TS.

Phil Nelson

That's exactly what is is Phil, slightly cheapened I think, the flyback cover is different for sure and it uses a PM Ion Trap, but the layout is very similar and I used a 721 schematic when restoring my other T-T set, (it's the same one as in my Tele-Tone Porthole set except this one is 12")

There is a date stamped on the rear apron that I can't quite make out, it looks like December (Dec I can read, it's the year I can't make out) of 1950 which would make it a 51 model? but I would think this is more likely a 1949 model and the CRT date bears that out, though very late in the year.

The chassis is in very good condition, it was really dusty but not rusty, it would probably restore easily, the width coil is broken but that's the only damage I can see.

I could refinish the cabinet and just fill in the door mounting holes, the knobs are mostly RCA style same as the 621, 721 etc...

It would make a nice companion the the Porthole set since the styling is similar. I originally thought this was on a stand but the legs are built in.

I forgot to mention there is a sticker on the back apron from a "Wicks" Sales and Service company, this address is in the same city as where I got the set (Riverside CA) so likely it's been there all it's life.
Today that address is an Auto Mall and has been for many years now.

The date is stamped near that sticker, someone mention that TV shops would sometimes stamp the date of repairs on the set for warranty purposes, I wonder if that's the case here? That sure looks like it says 1953 to me.

I have the chassis on the Variac right now, 50 volts on the line and 130 volts on the + of the rectifiers and no smoke or smells yet though one filter can is just barely warmer than the rest.

That's exactly the same thing I thought about the cabinet. Maybe it's the lower portion that makes me think of the 721.

You can't tell everything from one photo, but the 721 chassis has the same knob positions, even the same cardboard cover over the picture/brightness control. On my 721TCS, the speaker is mounted below in the console cabinet, but it has holes in the front apron of the chassis that would match the mounting bolts for the chassis-mounted speaker in this tabletop. Different tuner, however.

Phil Nelson

I couldn't find my 721 pictures but here's a shot of a Tele-Tone chassis (different set, same chassis) and a 621TS chassis.

Notable differences are,
PM speaker vs EM speaker.
PM Trap vs EM trap.
Different tuner.
Missing resistor chimney on the back corner.
Shape and size of HV cage.
Minor placement differences of tubes and components.
Mini vs Octal tubes (does the 721 have minis in these locations?)
The 621 also is missing the Focus magnet because it uses an ES focus CRT.