Old Zenith Tube Set

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by Old1625

I'd say snag it--but reject the extended warranty pkg. I never take up on those meself!

J/K...

I had a late '50s Zenith table model as a kid--16E21 chassis, Rauland CRT in the set that originally called for a 21CXP4. I used to use it as a loaner as a teenager when folks would let me take in their color sets for repair. They liked the set so much that they were almost reluctant to take their color sets back over that lovely B&W! It was as sensitive as a bum tooth, and seemed to pull channels in favorably over competing sets of its time or later... Figure that one out....

I never did much with that set except to watch it....There were minor hum bars in the picture that could be nulled with the contrast control. While I was curious as to why this was happening I never pursued it; the set worked well enough with the contrast control arranged at the null-point, and I was too busy buying parts to build amplifiers and radios to be concerned about such a minor issue.

Go figure....

My grandmother still wants that one.....since it as her mother's.....but it's NOT going ANYWHERE anytime soon......

When I have room, I'll ask for it....my father'll prolly blow a gasket, though.

He thinks that I have too much equipment now. And he thinks that old TV's are worthless junk....just like MOST of the rest of the human population.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by vinyldavid

Sad that I will no longer be able to use the tuner in it after 2009.

Always worked perfectly.

All is not lost. If you want to use the Zenith TV for TV DX, you can always put a DTV converter box ahead of the set's own tuner and use the TV with an antenna. The only thing you'll have to get used to is the "all or nothing" nature of digital TV, i.e. you will either get a picture or you won't; there is no in-between as there is with analog. Since digital TV signals are presently somewhat weaker than analog ones (however, this may change once DTV has been around a few years), the signal from a distant DTV station will have to be fairly strong to make a picture. Also, you will need a good high-power outdoor TV antenna, on a rotator if possible, for the best results with snagging distant DTV stations, especially those on UHF channels.

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

All is not lost. If you want to use the Zenith TV for TV DX, you can always put a DTV converter box ahead of the set's own tuner and use the TV with an antenna. The only thing you'll have to get used to is the "all or nothing" nature of digital TV, i.e. you will either get a picture or you won't; there is no in-between as there is with analog. Since digital TV signals are presently somewhat weaker than analog ones (however, this may change once DTV has been around a few years), the signal from a distant DTV station will have to be fairly strong to make a picture. Also, you will need a good high-power outdoor TV antenna, on a rotator if possible, for the best results with snagging distant DTV stations, especially those on UHF channels.

How does one put a converter box ahead of the tuner?

[nasadowsk]

Just take th converter's RF output, plug it into the antenna, and set the TV to channel 3

Just like a VCR or videogame

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by nasadowsk

Just take th converter's RF output, plug it into the antenna, and set the TV to channel 3

Just like a VCR or videogame

Oh. I thought he was refrencing something else. I thought he was talking about putting a all channel RF output into the tuner ofthe Zenith.....

[Phil Nelson]

I have a digital TV converter box (Zenith brand) and it works fine using an indoor amplified "rabbit ear" antenna from Radio Shack.

This website has info about the $40 discount coupon program for converter boxes.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

The popular boxes are priced around $50 or $60, so with the coupon, a box costs $10 or $20.

I wouldn't assume that you need to invest in a huge outdoor antenna. This site can generate a map showing the locations and distances of TV transmitters within a certain radius of your house.

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

If you can receive all of the stations within a reasonable distance using rabbit ears, you're home free.

One advantage of using a converter box now is that more stations are available, since one station can broadcast more than one digital signal. In my area, there is one public TV station (channel 9) on analog broadcasts. If you use the digital converter, you can choose from four public TV broadcasts -- channel 9-1, 9-2, and so on.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

I have a digital TV converter box (Zenith brand) and it works fine using an indoor amplified "rabbit ear" antenna from Radio Shack.

This website has info about the $40 discount coupon program for converter boxes.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

The popular boxes are priced around $50 or $60, so with the coupon, a box costs $10 or $20.

I wouldn't assume that you need to invest in a huge outdoor antenna. This site can generate a map showing the locations and distances of TV transmitters within a certain radius of your house.

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

If you can receive all of the stations within a reasonable distance using rabbit ears, you're home free.

One advantage of using a converter box now is that more stations are available, since one station can broadcast more than one digital signal. In my area, there is one public TV station (channel 9) on analog broadcasts. If you use the digital converter, you can choose from four public TV broadcasts -- channel 9-1, 9-2, and so on.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I have the worst reception around here...in a valley with buildings on all sides above me.....amplified antenna only works SOMETIMES, and even then I get a fuzzy picture......BTW, channel 9 is also my public station....

Now that I hear that the digital signals are WEAKER, i seriously doubt that I could get any sort of decent reception.....but I do have a 25' RF cable around here...

[Old1625]

You will need to ensure a good strong signal from the transmitter for reliable digital reception. Based on my experience in my rural setting, if the analog picture is moderately to very snowy then the digital receiver will likely not be able to even initialize the digital "channels" on setup. If it does manage to initialize, and produce veiwable program, tiling and dropout will occur if the signal is not reliably strong and steady. Sometimes with fluctuating signal the receiver will "crash"--meaning that it needs to be unplugged and "rebooted" much like a computer, and the whole initialization process repeated.

I now know that I need to ascend the roof here and have a closer look at the antenna system I installed about 25 years ago.

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by Old1625

You will need to ensure a good strong signal from the transmitter for reliable digital reception. Based on my experience in my rural setting, if the analog picture is moderately to very snowy then the digital receiver will likely not be able to even initialize the digital "channels" on setup. If it does manage to initialize, and produce veiwable program, tiling and dropout will occur if the signal is not reliably strong and steady. Sometimes with fluctuating signal the receiver will "crash"--meaning that it needs to be unplugged and "rebooted" much like a computer, and the whole initialization process repeated.

I now know that I need to ascend the roof here and have a closer look at the antenna system I installed about 25 years ago.

I know that I aneed to get a better viewing solution.......I barely get ANYTHING with my current setup.......and I live in an apartment, so I cnanot put an antenna on the roof, nice as that may be.......

My mother has albo broken every single antenna (3 on purpose, not accident.....), and she would prefer me to be without TV permanently....I don't especially LIKE TV, but it is useful and occasionally entertaining.....

Anyone know a good amplified antenna that's REALLY sensitive?