Rescued from the ewaste pile part 2 - Videokarma.org TV - Video

jpdylon · #1 12-17-2009, 10:26 AM

This was another set I saved from being recycled. The tag is unreadable so I don't know much about it. It has a mean looking cataract and a missing control panel door but is otherwise complete. Not bad for $10 bucks. These things are hard to find in so-cal!

CTC-38 maybe?

ctc17 · #2 12-17-2009, 01:04 PM

wow, nice. Needs the drh heat gun treatment bad but should be awesome once restored. I have one that looks close to that, its a ctc35, it has an amazing picture.
I will agree that its hard to find anything here in so cal.
I got this gem from the curb yesterday. 1982, it even works...talk about delux and select.

Carmine · #3 12-17-2009, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctc17

I got this gem from the curb yesterday. 1982, it even works...talk about delux and select.

I like that cabinet!

jstout66 · #4 12-17-2009, 01:18 PM

Nice Zenith! As for the RCA, Sweet! Looks like the same model I got from an estate sale recently. Is it a CTC-28?

freakaftr8 · #5 12-17-2009, 03:28 PM

Sweet finds!! That ctc 28 looks like it's got potental and ctc17's zenith sure looks like a 1984 model system 3 that I have!! Good set and I bet it has a seperate external audio and video selector controlled by swtiches.

ctc17 · #6 12-17-2009, 06:16 PM

I see so many crt tvs on the curb now its to the point where i rip the boards out of them and harvest the parts using a propane torch. I see 2-5 per day just in my hood.
Never anything with tubes or in real good condition.

Most of the time the kids pick them up and throw them to hear the pop of the crt. Im building up such a collection of parts its great.

I have picked up 3 zenith consoles like this in the last week.

fsjonsey · #7 12-17-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctc17

I see so many crt tvs on the curb now its to the point where i rip the boards out of them and harvest the parts using a propane torch. I see 2-5 per day just in my hood.
Never anything with tubes or in real good condition.

Most of the time the kids pick them up and throw them to hear the pop of the crt. Im building up such a collection of parts its great.

I have picked up 3 zenith consoles like this in the last week.

Speaking of TV dumping, I walked into the SA last week and there were at least thirty 80's-90's CRT sets piled up in the corner. All were selling for $10 or less. Too bad nothing was old enough to be interesting to me.

*zenithfan1* · #8 12-17-2009, 08:52 PM

I like that set Jordan! A cataract removal and a cabinet refinish and that's a pretty set.

bgadow · #9 12-17-2009, 10:09 PM

I'd have grabbed that RCA, too. Cataracts on recatangular tubes don't get much worse than that. You will have a great before/after shot!

Yes, indeed, that Z-nith is a rare antique! A little scratch remover and you'll be ready for the roadshow...

Kinda surprised, I was over to my friend's shop over the weekend and he mentioned that he had just sold one of his used consoles. Just what somebody was looking for, turns out. If it was the one I'm thinking about, it was a mid-90s Sentry 2. Good thing he didn't warranty it!

andy · #10 12-17-2009, 11:00 PM

000

radiotvnut · #11 12-18-2009, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy

The SA here seems to specialize in $150 27" TVs, and $200 36" TVs. I can't imagine who buys them at that price...

Unfortunately, those days are gone; but, I guess someone forgot to clue them in at the SA where you are and at one of the local charity thrift stores where I live. A few months ago, there was an '80's 19" Goldstar with a vertical deflection problem priced at $54.95!

The other day, I walked in my local SA and the only two TV's in the place were a BPC 36" and a '90's RCA big screen. I didn't even look at the prices. I've tried to convince them that I'd buy their older broken TV's that come in; but, they are real quick to let me know that they don't have time to mess with me and any broken TV's go in the dumpster unless I just happen to be there when one comes in. One of the former store managers would sometimes sit stuff back for me. I think he saw it as $5 was better than throwing the TV in the trash.

AUdubon5425 · #12 12-18-2009, 02:24 AM

One of the Goodwill stores in my area seems to have acquired an electronics "expert," complete with a roped off section for his evaluations. All the BPC VCRs and CD players are priced $20 and up. Needless to say, they have amassed quite the collection of VCRs and cheap 80s-90s stereo equipment.

ctc17 · #13 12-18-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

One of the Goodwill stores in my area seems to have acquired an electronics "expert," complete with a roped off section for his evaluations. All the BPC VCRs and CD players are priced $20 and up. Needless to say, they have amassed quite the collection of VCRs and cheap 80s-90s stereo equipment.

What is a VCR?

andy · #14 12-18-2009, 04:04 PM

000

ChrisW6ATV · #15 12-19-2009, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctc17

What is a VCR?

It is kind of like a DVR, except instead of using a program guide, you have to tell it the time of day and amount of time you want it to record. Often, these steps are done with small visible displays and indicators right on the front panel of the machine itself, using numerous small buttons. The recordings are not made on a hard disk drive as normal, but on large removable cartridges that each hold only a small amount of recorded TV-as few as two hours per cartridge.

The cartridges themselves do not contain an ordinary random-access magnetic platter, but two separate reels and a large amount (hundreds of feet!) of plastic tape with a magnetic coating somewhat comparable to that on a hard disk platter. The tape winds from one reel to the other as the recording is made, and it must be rewound all the way back onto the first reel before the recording can be watched (the rewinding process can itself take a minute or more after a two-hour recording). If more than one recording is made on the cartridge, this slow tape-winding process (forward or reverse) must be done before watching any of the recordings, and there is NO on-screen menu of the programs on the cartridge! Because of this end-to-end tape operation, random access to specific points in a movie was a slow, cumbersome process, and there were no individual chapters encoded on the tape cartridges.

Despite these shortcomings and limitations, the machines were very popular for a number of years. Large numbers of the "video cassettes" were sold, at very low prices, and people collected cabinets full of them in their homes. Because the cassettes were removable, it was possible to buy or rent individual cassettes with popular movies, similar to the way Blu-ray movies are bought and rented today (as were DVDs previously).