I have a color TV

[Jeffhs]

I'm glad to see that your Zenith System 3 console still works, over thirty years since it was new. Just goes to show how good Zenith TVs were back in the day, before the company left Chicago. Hopefully, that Zenith you have (and the Sony 36-incher) serve you well for many more years; I wouldn't be surprised if your console goes another five years, anyway, considering all the work you've put into it. It has been said you cannot kill a Zenith, and your console is tangible proof of that.

Your sets, both of them, should work well with Blu-ray players if you use RF modulators with them, unless your Sony TV already has A/V input jacks. I used one with my RCA TV and two DVD players, and they worked quite well. Then I got a flat screen in August 2011, and a Blu-ray player shortly after. Very good picture even with an RF mod, although now with my flat screen I can connect my DVD directly to the set via an HDMI cable. However, I don't notice much difference in the picture between composite cables and HDMI. One difference I did notice was that I no longer need to set my TV on channel 4 to watch DVDs; all I do now is put in a DVD, select a direct video input on my flat screen's input menu, push the play button on my universal remote, and I'm good to go.

Last but not least, I was sorry to read at the bottom of your post of the passing of another of your cats. You had him or her for eleven years, though, so he or she left you with lots of nice memories. I've lost a dog and two cats myself since 1987, and miss them -- especially my dog and my second white cat.

My third cat, Kiki, has been with me four years now. She was three when I got her, and now, she is one of the most affectionate animals it has ever been my pleasure to own. She is now seven years old, or will turn seven some time this year (I'm not sure, as I don't know exactly when she was born, having gotten her at a shelter), and is doing quite well. I'll attach a picture of her at the end of this post.

Kiki - seven years old and soooooooooo affectionate! (Click on the photo to see a larger view, as the small thumbnail doesn't do her justice; she's just that cute, IMO).

[radiotvnut]

I used the little 9" B&W from '82 to around '90. At that time, someone gave me a broken early '60's 17" (could have been 19", don't remember) RCA B&W with no UHF tuner. I fixed that one up and used it for a year or so. Then, I found an early '70's 19" Philco-Ford tube B&W with UHF and I replaced the RCA with the Philco. I sold the RCA for $25 to a young married couple who simply wanted a TV that worked. Most of today's young married couples would not be caught dead with such a set and think they must have the latest HDTV. I used the Philco until around '94, when someone gave me an '80 model 19" Magnavox color ex-motel TV. It was the model that used the upright modular chassis that used the failure-prone 4-lead safety cap. I repaired the power supply module in this set and it had a good picture; but, several times over the next few years, I had to repair the power supply. Around '99, I got tired of fixing it and junked it. It was replaced by an '89 19" remote Quasar and I soon sold that set when I replaced it with an early '90's RCA 27" Colortrak 2000. After a year or two, I decided that I didn't need a TV that big and I sold it. It was replaced by a mid '80's 19" Sony Trinitron, that I watched for a few years until someone wanted to buy it. Then, I used a patched up early '80's 19" Philco for a few months and then I replaced it with a 19" Zenith CCII motel set. The Zenith eventually developed loose connections inside the tuner module that I have yet to fix. When the Zenith started acting up, I replaced it with an '87 GE (CTC136) knob tuned 19" set. Then, I found my current TV, an '02 20" Sony Wega. I still have the GE, the Zenith that I still need to fix, as well as many other spare TV's. As you can tell, I've used quite a few TV's over the past 30 years; but, I've never had to buy a new one and I probably won't ever have to.

[David Roper]

Originally Posted by NowhereMan 1966

I remember watching everything form the Six Million Dollar Man to Evil Kenievel.

Wow, such eclectic tastes! That's like listening to everything from Andy Williams to Tony Bennett!

j/k

[rose14]

When you watch sports on FOX network and the grapihics are cut off,can you switch to a 16x9 picture and see them? Does that make a 19''tv too small? Thanks for any info

[zenithfan1]

Yes, it makes it so you can see them. It does make the picture a bit smaller but if you sit 3 feet closer to the set, it negates the effect

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

Yes, it makes it so you can see them. It does make the picture a bit smaller but if you sit 3 feet closer to the set, it negates the effect

I do the same thing, when watching the Packers. I watch my 14" Toshiba, about two feet away. I don't miss anything.

[lnx64]

Yea mine cuts off the scores on some channels. 16:9 works.

I prefer it in 4:3 though, my vision isn't as good as I'd like it to be.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by rose14

Those of you with 19''or20'' sets.any trouble with losing sports info on the screen with a 4x3 picture. Also if you can change the aspect to 16x9 do you find the picture too small?

I don't use 4:3 as a rule. My flat screen (19" Insignia) is natively 16:9, 720p, and makes an excellent picture from any signal the set receives (cable, DVD or VCR). The few shows I watch that do not fill my screen by virtue of incorrect aspect ratio (say 4:3 on my 16:9 screen) I can get to do so by using the zoom button on the remote. USA network on cable is notorious for this; I almost always have to zoom in to get a full picture when watching their shows (I like the Law and Order series, most of which are on USA in the afternoons, and yes, I have to zoom in on every one of them to get a full screen image). I do not have trouble with image size, score panel being cut off, etc. when watching football, as most games telecast over the major networks are broadcast in 16:9 HD.

BTW, I don't think I would want to go back to a CRT TV, unless I were using a cable box ahead of it with a zoom button on the remote. I've had my flat screen for over 18 months now, haven't had a bit of trouble with it, and I am sold on HDTV. I wasn't too crazy about it at first, but a few months with my new flat screen changed all that.

[rose14]

jeff,how far back do you sit from your 19''? Thanks

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by rose14

jeff,how far back do you sit from your 19''? Thanks

About ten feet.

[Celt]

Two of my friends have ridiculously large LCD units that are around 52"-65" in size.
Both sets are way too big for their rooms. You don't "look" at the pic as much as "look around" at the pic (if you know what I mean).
I have an old JVC 27" CRT stereo TV and am happy as a clam with it...plus, it has excellent audio!
"Why are you still using that old thing?" they say.
My response is "Why do you have to have a screen so large that you can count the boogers in peoples noses?"

[AiboPet]

That "look around" at the picture gets REAL old REAL fast.

I remember shelling out big bucks to get an electric Draper 110" screen on one side of the front room....and a real nice BenQ DLP projector with the intention of watching movies and TV on this setup. Problem is....the front room is only like 20x20. Was REAL cool to watch movies on because it was like two hours and then that was it.

TV.....TOTALLY different story. I found my eyes would be "effed!" in a few hours of watching TV on something like that. Was even worse trying to do something like play Microsoft FlightSim on something like that. Couldn't figure out what was so bad about it...because OF COURSE it looked COOL!!

Turns out that I was doing exactly this "moving all around to watch the picture"...and was likely refocusing on every corner. Worse if not sitting right in front of all this.

I now find that the only thing this setup is good for is watching a single movie.....and sitting back WAY against the other wall. This obviously stopped me from using this to watch regular TV.

I do have a 55" Sammy in that same room......and yes...GREAT picture, and doesn't bother me to watch something on this all day if I'm so inclined. I feel anything bigger than this 55" would just become too much work. My little couch futon thing is like 12" from that.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Celt

Two of my friends have ridiculously large LCD units that are around 52"-65" in size.
Both sets are way too big for their rooms. You don't "look" at the pic as much as "look around" at the pic (if you know what I mean).
I have an old JVC 27" CRT stereo TV and am happy as a clam with it...plus, it has excellent audio!
"Why are you still using that old thing?" they say.
My response is "Why do you have to have a screen so large that you can count the boogers in peoples noses?"

I remember when giant RPTV's were the "in" thing and we knew some people who had TV's that were literally almost as big as the room. And, we all know how horrible the pictures were on those older RPTV's, especially when one was sitting too close to them; which, would have been the case in a room that was too small for the TV. I don't think these people were too concerned with the picture quality. They just wanted to say that they had a big TV.

[maxhifi]

The Sony Videoscope tvs from the late 90s have a good picture when all the optics are clean. Look terrible when convergence is off, or when in an smoker's residence, but can't blame the tv for that

[dieseljeep]

Last but not least, I was sorry to read at the bottom of your post of the passing of another of your cats. You had him or her for eleven years, though, so he or she left you with lots of nice memories. I've lost a dog and two cats myself since 1987, and miss them -- especially my dog and my second white cat.

My third cat, Kiki, has been with me four years now. She was three when I got her, and now, she is one of the most affectionate animals it has ever been my pleasure to own. She is now seven years old, or will turn seven some time this year (I'm not sure, as I don't know exactly when she was born, having gotten her at a shelter), and is doing quite well. I'll attach a picture of her at the end of this post.

Kiki - seven years old and soooooooooo affectionate! (Click on the photo to see a larger view, as the small thumbnail doesn't do her justice; she's just that cute, IMO).[/QUOTE]
As I said before, collecting vintage electronics and pet ownership goes hand and hand, especially cats.
My oldest is going on fifteen years old. I have three black cats.