Estate Sale Finds In 2005!

[drh4683]

For the 2005 estate sales thread, I will include everything electronic I find at estate sale (console HIFI, radios, TV, phonographs etc.).

Its been pretty dissapointing start to the year with estate sales. Have been going to many since the start of the new year and have had no luck finding anything. First TV find of 2005 is this 1958 Zenith space command 400 console with a 29A20Q chassis. Found this set 2-19 in Berwyn at 7040 W. 29th st. for $25. Had the cord clipped off. All the set needed was a detector diode. This set was sitting in the living room and was actually the only thing left in the entire house. The people were about to lock the house up and go as the house was sold out. I was told there was nothing left but a broken TV in the living room.........

[drh4683]

Picked up this mint zenith H825 in La Grange Park yesterday 3-5 at 730 Barnsdale Ave for $20. This is a 61 model, which has illuminated dial. This cabinet style dates from 59-67 with slight dial design modifications through the years. This is probably zeniths best sounding table radio.

[Charlie]

Great finds! That Zenith is BEAUTIFUL!!! Still has a nice shine! Well worth 25 bucks and more!

[bgadow]

I've never seen that cabinet, a real cut-above & a nice find. I also did not realize that the remote was made to clip on like that with these models. I've got one from that basic series but I think my remote is for an older model. I wish we had more estate sales around here. Everything goes to auction in these parts, though I am starting to see more of this type advertised. Went to my first one this winter but the oldest tv was an 80s RCA which I left sit.

[colortrakker]

That is a nice set. Somewhere I have an ad for a set a lot like it - it's called the Maybrooke. Wonder if this is the same set.

[drh4683]

Picked up a nice 23" Zenith space command 400!!!! All original with remote! It was mounted in the wall of the living room so the cabinet is pretty decent. This is a 1963 16K22QS chassis. Nice picture on this one. Works like new after simple tube changes.

[drh4683]

back view

[drh4683]

inside

[peverett]

I have one similar to this that I watch in my workshop. I agree, they do have a good picture, especially for such a large screen.

Yours is very nice.

[Whirled One]

Neat 23" table set! I really like those big lighted channel numbers that some Zeniths had in that era...

[rca2000]

Your mailbox is FULL!!!!!!

[drh4683]

I cleared out old messages. It should be ok now

[Jeffhs]

Doug, I am amazed that the former owners of what is now your Zenith SC400 console cut the line cord off just because one little detector diode was bad. These diodes can't cause a fire hazard as they are in the audio or video signal circuits, but I guess people who don't know anything about the inner workings of TVs don't know any better. They probably figure if a part (or even a tube) is defective, no matter where it is in the set or how big or small it is, the TV is useless from that point on; they don't want to take a chance that someone might plug it in under these conditions.

BTW, you are correct as to the razor-sharp picture of Zenith TVs with 6EH7s in the video IF strip. I had a 23" Zenith K2739 1963 console about 35 years ago with three IF stages, two 6EH7s and one 6EJ7, which I completely retubed as someone had swiped every tube but two (CRT and HV rectifier) by the time I got it. The set had a beautiful picture on all three network stations in Cleveland, even on rabbit ears; it worked even better on the attic antenna in our house then (I lived in a semi-fringe area 30 miles from the stations at the time).

BTW (2): I saw the ebay listing for another Zenith SC400 console, similar to the one you have. It was located in Batavia, IL, probably not that far from you. However, I noticed that the seller stated the distance from Batavia to Chicago as 40 miles. I was wondering about that after you moved there. The distance is probably that from Batavia to downtown Chicago, not to the city's major TV stations; however, seeing that most TV transmitters serving the Chicago area are scattered around the area, the actual distance to any given transmitter may be more or less than 40 miles (the stations located in Indiana may be a bit further away even than that). I think the major network stations (2, 5, 7, 9 and 11), however, are located in the downtown area of the city, as I have seen pictures of the downtown skyline of Chicago and have seen at least two TV transmitters atop the Hancock Tower and others in town (the old Bob Newhart Show on CBS in the '70s showed part of the city's skyline when the medical arts building in which Bob Hartley's office was located was shown).

[bgadow]

Since hanging around here I have been paying lots more attention to what shows up in my travels. I did have some near misses in the last week. Stopped out to the local auction barn the other night after a friend called to tell me about some test gear they had. I knew the test gear wouldn't really interest me (and I was right) but I owed it to him to take a look. It was mostly military surplus meters. They did have, in the trash pile, a big color console but it turned out to be a Matsushita Quasar, all solid state, of course. There was some newer stuff on the pile but I didn't even bother to look. Years ago I got a working c.1960 Zenith bw console from there & then a higher-end GE color console from the late 60s. Both gone, sadly. Went to the flea market yesterday, lots of tv sets but all solid state. Most intersting was one guy with about half a dozen early 80s GE 19 inchers, obviously out of a motel.

[drh4683]

A find at last! Found some nice sets this weekend for good prices. Picked up a nice 68 RCA GJ-709WR! the "Bradfield" An RCA console remote set! A CTC-35 chassis.
Heres how it was found:
Found at a home in Addison, IL on 6-4-05. The house was loaded with stuff, tons of stuff. I saw the remote control for this TV sitting on top of a new sony triniton set. My first though: Someone just wanted the old remote control. Then, I realized the sony TV was sitting on top of another console, completly covered with a blanket. All kinds of stuff was in the way of this set, once I moved it out of the way, I lifted up the blanket and there it was!
Cateract free all original set. Got the set for $25. Luckily someone at the sale was able to help me get it into the truck.

Once I got home, powered it up, blank raster no sound. I hate that symptom but at least the fly was good. Tubes were all good, even the 6GH8's. I think the previous owner tried to fix the set with this problem thinking tubes would do it. It didnt, so I got new RCA tubes in the set!
Had to pull the chassis. Found a burnt up 405v B+ drop resistor on the deflection board (3300ohm 3w wire). That resistor was B+ for the AGC and IF circuit. Did some tests down the line and found the cause of the burnt resistor to be a shorted 1000pf cap on the IF board, to the grid of the 6GM6 2nd IF! As a result of that cap shorting out, too much current was drawn through a 470 ohm carbon resistor, drastically lowering its resistance to 50 ohms! That resistor over heated and once that resistor went down in value enough the wire resistor went up in smoke. I first Disconnected the shorted cap and jumpered a new 3300 WW resistor then powered the set up, sure enough snow sound came back. Changed the defective components and an out of tolerance 180k resistor on the IF board.
Another typical RCA problem is a locked up UHF tuner. the lubricating grease dries on the dial shaft where is slides through a bushing, making tuning impossible. Took the mechanical components apart cleaned and lubricated.

Slid the chassis back in, and the picture came on nice and clear. Just needed a touch up of the convergence and grey scale.
Remote control just needed a touch up on the oscillator coil in the hand unit and changes all the functions as it should. Its not a low hour set, but not a high hour set either, shows its wear and tear for being used over the years. The set now works well and has a really nice color picture, better than the photo I took!