I helped fishtank a set today!

[andy]

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[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by andy

When I fixed and sold TVs (while in high school) in the mid 90's, seeing a tube TV gave me exactly the same feeling I get when I see an 80's-90's-2000's BPC set today. They were common as dirt, worthless, and no one wanted them (even for free). Thrift stores, and yard sales were littered with them. Back then I got good money for tuned up Chromacolor IIs and XL-100s, and anything cable ready was gold.

That's the same way it was with me. Before I was really interested in saving TV's, tube sets were common as dirt around here. I think the early-to-mid '90's was when the final round of tube sets were being taken out of service and people were anxious to get rid of them. As recent as the late '80's, I knew of several people who were still watching tube TV's. 15+ years ago, a 19" knob tuned CCII or XL100 in good condition was easily worth $75 and a cable ready set with remote was worth between $100-$125. Solid State color consoles would bring between $100-$200. 19" B&W's went from $30-$50 and 12" B&W's went from $20-$30. I could still sell a tube color set; but, they didn't bring much and it usually took some waiting on my part to find a buyer. I think the last tube color set I sold was around '95 and it was a late '60's Motorola console with minor cataracts. An older couple that I know gave it to me and it had been sitting in their living room (which they rarely used) since new and it still worked. I remember asking $75 for it and the buyer saw the cataracts and didn't want to spend that much. I asked him if he'd give me $50 and he said he'd take it. That was back when solid state consoles were going for $100+. Back then, the tube sets were mainly here for the people who couldn't afford a solid state set. Of course, I still had those people who wanted a new set for a tube set price. Now, I still wish I had that Motorola. Around here, it seems that tube sets suddenly went from being as common as dirt to almost impossible to find basically overnight.

Just a few weeks ago, I tossed a 27" Magnavox console from '89 with A/V jacks and stereo sound in a decent cabinet. I think it only needed some caps in the video circuit; but, who would want it after I got it fixed? It would have sat here for a year while I waited on someone to offer my any amount of money for it and I need the space for my own junk that I want to keep.

[Findm-Keepm]

Guess I'm guilty of the same. My wanting to save a few old sets stems directly from my teenage years of junking (we called it "stripping") 1960's sets at my Dad's TV repair shop. Some of the best sets to strip were Zenith tube color sets. A good soldering gun and patience yielded a bin full of prime parts - resistors, caps (don't save the blue disc caps was a mantra!) and lots of cloth covered wire. Dad's shop was in an economically challenged area, and if he could fix a set with used parts (that he didn't charge for), the customers saved a bit and were happy.

I've come clean on this before, and every set Zenith that Doug restores eases my guilt some....

Cheers,