[Jeffhs]

The reason your set doesn't show anything on any channel is because analog TV was discontinued in the US on June 12, 2009. You will need a converter box, cable or satellite to receive local TV stations; however, a DVD player or VCR will allow you to watch your own tapes or DVDs on your TV.

I wouldn't use that set if all you are getting is a horizontal line across the width of the screen. As has been mentioned, this is caused by vertical sweep failure and will burn a line across that area of the tube, as the vertical sweep is now concentrated on just this part of the screen. Another thing you might check is the service/normal switch on the rear apron of the chassis. If this is set to the "service" position, by accident or otherwise, the vertical sweep will stop and the horizontal line you are describing will appear. This line is ordinarily used to set the convergence of the three electron beams in a color picture tube; the procedure is to adjust the convergence controls (known as "static convergence" adjustments), almost always found around the neck of the tube, until the line is white across most of the screen. However, this is not a substitute for a full convergence realignment job; for that a color bar/dot/crosshatch generator is required. This generator provides crosshatch, dot and color bar test patterns for use in adjusting the dynamic color convergence controls, which are found on a PC board mounted to the TV cabinet. Do not try to adjust color convergence without this generator. You won't harm anything in the set, but it is almost impossible to achieve good convergence without some kind of stationary pattern on the TV screen. In the days before 24-7 telecasting, TV stations broadcast test patterns for a half-hour or so before beginning their regular broadcast schedule and sometimes showed a test pattern for a short time just before sign off; however, today these test patterns are all but extinct, unless you live in an area in which some TV stations still sign off around one or two o'clock in the morning (I don't think any of the major stations in the Seattle-Tacoma area shut down for the night after the last network show goes off the air, usually around 2 a.m. local time). Your best bet is to use a generator if you can find one (they often turn up on eBay).

Your TV's switching to channel 2 if it is unplugged is normal. Most if not all TVs with microprocessor-controlled tuners (meaning nearly all sets made in the last twenty years or so) will reset to this channel if there is a power outage. Should your set's channel indicator show gibberish or become locked on this channel after power is restored, unplug the power cord, wait 20 seconds, then plug it in again. The tuner should operate normally.