Estate Sale Finds in 2009!

[captainmoody]

A Portacolor found in Harper Woods last month (estate sale pic), another Portacolor and a couple Zeniths!

[zenithfan1]

Those are some nice ones!

[Adam]

I like that b/w Zenith, looks to be about a 1959 with the SC400?

[captainmoody]

Yes, it's a 1959.

[drh4683]

Great finds Dwight! That Zenith touch tuner set is great.

[drh4683]

Went to two estates yesterday and turned up two zenith space commands, both at the same house. The sale was at 1349 Douglas Ave. Flossmoor, IL. The home was a large split level, completely original home inside. In the lower level is where I spotted a very special set. Its is the very first generation Zenith "Emperor" from 1965. This was as high end as you could get in a Zenith. Its also the very first year for Zenith's rectangular picture tube. This has the 25MC46 chassis with the large post deflection purity magnets. The set was still plugged in, hooked up to the antenna. I powered up the stereo and it still worked, the EM84 tuning eye lit up brightly as well. Only have a left channel but thats no big deal, it can be fixed. In the pics, you can see the remotes, neither which were for this set. The record changer compartment had all the original paperwork for the unit as well as yet another remote control that was taken apart and left in peices. As for the TV, it works, but no way of really checking its performance for obvious reasons. It was priced well, only $35.00! Needless to say I quickly paid for it. This is one of the TV's that many people at the sale thought was a very nice looking set.
one of the sale people helped me move it, which was easy. Since it was in the lower level, all we had to do was walk it to the garage entry and we were outside. No stairs which was a huge plus. Besides, the guy helping me really couldn't handle this set too well to begin with. Its one heavy peice of equipment thats for sure.
Once we got it loaded up I glanced in the garage and there I see yet another zenith with its back facing out. It was in the "junk" pile. No way would I let that happen. I slid that away from the wall and it turned out to be another high end zenith. This one is the first horizontal flat chassis set, the 25CC55 from '72. This one also has the ultramatic tuner with space command of course. Mind you it was supposed to be thrown away, but those running the sale made sure it had a price tag on it when I loaded it up in the truck. It was only $10. Who knows if it works, unfortunately its not in the best of condition. It looks somewhat weathered like it has been in the garage for many years.

[zenithfan1]

Not bad! I love that Emperor!

[radiotvnut]

Nice finds, Doug! I was wondering, is the stereo in that Zenith 100% solid state or is it one of those with a tube tuner and solid state amp?

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Nice finds, Doug! I was wondering, is the stereo in that Zenith 100% solid state or is it one of those with a tube tuner and solid state amp?

Solid state - look just below the lighted "Zenith" The only tube in the tuner/amp is the tuning eye.

[Carmine]

Those are nice TV sets Doug. I believe I've seen them both before. I just missed Emperors twice on Craigslist, the second time, some fool tossed the set because he broke a leg from it while dragging it outside.

It makes me curious if the Emperor came in any cabinet styles besides the (I'm guessing) Italian Provincial.

How are things coming on that chassis I gave you with the bag of new caps?

Also, please let me know if you still want that steel cabinet Zenith I bought for you at the Estate sale some time back.

[andy]

000

[freakaftr8]

Wow Doug, that Emperor is one beautiful set!! Cannot wait to see it up and running! That looks exactly like my Spoace command 600 set but without the combo add on!

[drh4683]

Thanks for the comps.
Chris, I just received a set today that I'm fixing for oldstuff78, it uses the same chassis as yours. So I will be jumping on your chassis first this weekend, then pull the chassis on his. Its good because I have a cabinet to check out the chassis with to make sure there are no surprises when you get it back. I know you've been waiting a while for this but Im sure you'll be very pleased with the results.

I have not yet looked at the receiver in the emperor. First thing I thought was a tube type tuner when I saw that tuning eye. When i powered it up I see the solid state, so I doubt theres any tubes other than the eye. Im pretty sure zenith went full solid state in '64 or '65 on their console hifi equipment. They were one of the first to make the switch.

The TV definitly needs work. Some evidence of some serious hack repairs in there including numerous shattered tubes off to the side inside the cabinet, a tuner shield and tuning strips from another TV!!! That was a new one for me, like some TV tech cleaned out his toolbox of junk and threw it inside this set. I found rods and hammers for the remote inside the set as well as numerous chassis screws and hardware. Had a filter replaced, neatly hacked in above the chassis. Its got some weird stuff going on in there, definitly needs attention. RCA CRT was installed in '68. Stereo system: Of course, right channel is dead as a doornail. I don't get it with these zenith solid state stereos with one dead channel. Seems common. I never attempted to fix one though as they were always at estate sales. I normally don't pick up console stereos unless it is something extremely unique.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by drh4683

Im pretty sure zenith went full solid state in '64 or '65 on their console hifi equipment. They were one of the first to make the switch.

I'm surprised they didn't switch to all-SS in their table sets by then as well. I have a Zenith MJ-1035 from '65 that has eleven tubes; no SS components that I can see, except three or four component combination packages under the chassis with three leads each. One is probably connected in some way with the multiplex decoder; couldn't tell you about the others without looking at the schematic.

[drh4683]

Had a good day at the estates today. It was like the "old days" of estate sales, I took a chance and didn't know what I was going to find until I got there.
First sale was in Blue Island, It was probably the most unusual set of circumstances. How often do you find two of the exact same model TV's sitting next to each other? That might be more of a common find now as people might buy the same TV for different rooms, but I don't think too many people were buying identical console TV's in 1971.
I went into the basement of this home and here I see two of the exact same consoles next to each other, and higher end units to boot. WTF was the first thing that came to mind. Really cool though. They are 1970 model RCA's, CTC-38's. The control panel reads "Custom Collection", so that must have been their higher end cabinet line. They even had the original papers, atleast the one did. The serial numbers differ by 8, so they are as about as close to a perfect match as you will find. I would guess one was for upstairs, one for downstairs? The newest thing in that house was the basement carpeting. Everything else was untouched since the 60's. They're in nice shape, very heavy cabinets as well. They were bought new on 1-23-1971 at "Gately's People Store" in Chicago. I never heard of them, they've probably been gone for years. As for their working condition, who knows at this point. The probably need work as the power cords were tucked around the bottom cover to the inside of the cabinet. No signs of cataracts though, so thats a plus. There was also a little CTC-72 portable from '75, that had the papers with it too. The consoles were priced perfectly! $5.00 each! Alot of these estate sale people are trying to run an "antique store" with their crazy prices when they run an estate sale and nothing is unloaded from the home. They did it right at this one: Low prices=house clean out and nothing has to go to waste.

The next TV finds were at two different homes in South Holland, IL. One turned up to be a very neat set that I never expected to find. A Space Command 100 b/w portable! Still on the stand, hooked up to a VCR in the corner of the downstairs living room! I would have taken a picture but too many people were in the house. I was really po'd because some idiot bought the remote control before I got there. I asked the lady and she said "sorry, its gone, someone bought it" Then she goes on to tell me it wasnt for that TV anyway. She then described what it looked like "it was a sliver remote, and it was an actual clicker". I told her that was for THIS TV, and she said no it wasn't, then her husband got involved to start telling me "No, we know that remote didn't go to that tv, that tv didnt have a remote in the first place". I continued to argue that the remote belonged to this set, and they continued to argue back "no, that remote was too streamlined to go with that TV, it said space command, and the TV doesnt say space command so we knew it didnt go with it". I the explained what SC meant on the TV set and then I just gave up. No reason to keep arguing when the people just don't want to listen. Regardless, Im glad I was able to get the TV. Im glad it was this way as normally its the other way around (remote and no TV).

Last sale, also in South Holland turned up a nice clean 1974 RCA XL-100 portable. Its a little tank. Not sure what chassis it is yet. As I walked out the house with it, the original owner showed up and came up to me and asked about me buying the tv. He was only about 55-60 and said that was his first TV he bought new and bought it on the fly so he could watch the superbowl when he was at his parents house. It stayed there ever since as it was the estate of his parents. So today was basically an "RCA day" and the best part is, all the model tags are still on them. As for this XL-100, I got there to save it right before it fell off!