Finally, a picture on the Pilot-37

[Chris K]

Crosshatch through the antenna leads. No sound yet but the audio output transformer is not original and was installed in a haphazard way. I'll deal with that later. The key to getting a signal was a change out of the 1N34 diode in the video detector just like the one in my Motorola VT-71 (although the swap didn't fix the VT).

But man, is this thing touchy. I cleaned all of the rear control pots very well but vertical roll lock is tough, horizontal is sketchy and there's top rollover and bottom vertical stretch. Fiddling with the rear controls from a baseline, I can get the picture somewhat stable but it's not watchable with a video signal. Anything underneath I should be looking at and checking to see if this could be improved? As I've said previously, I do have a Sencore 62 video analyzer if that might help diagnose and help with this.

I realize even working perfectly, these are not very good TVs. I know a restorer from the Bronx in NYC who is as good as anyone I've ever seen in getting vintage TVs perfect electronically and cosmetically and his 37 selling on eBay (for almost $1K BTW!) has a very marginal picture. This guy is amazing BTW and the prices for his pieces on EB reflect it...novavisionny. I've bought several of his pieces and they blow me away.

[Phil]

You don't mention what you have done so far, other than replace the video detector. There are a bunch of paper and electrolytics that will need to be replaced and probably several resistors that are out of tolerance. I have a Pilot Tv-37 and the sync is very stable and the picture quality better than most electrostatically deflected sets I've seen.
BTW,, $1000 is absolute highway robbery for a Pilot, I don't care what he did to it.

[jr_tech]

Early thread on this Pilot:

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=275384

jr

[Chris K]

Thanks for the post of the thread. Phil, I replaced almost everything except for the dogbone caps and a resistor or two. I’ll post a picture of what I’ve done and of the screen in a bit

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by phil

you don't mention what you have done so far, other than replace the video detector. There are a bunch of paper and electrolytics that will need to be replaced and probably several resistors that are out of tolerance. I have a pilot tv-37 and the sync is very stable and the picture quality better than most electrostatically deflected sets i've seen.
Btw,, $1000 is absolute highway robbery for a pilot, i don't care what he did to it.

+1.

[Chris K]

Actually he lowered it from $995 to $750. He does include an RF converter and an Amazon Firestick.

[bandersen]

OK, but those are like $50 new and it has a green CRT?

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by Phil

You don't mention what you have done so far, other than replace the video detector. There are a bunch of paper and electrolytics that will need to be replaced and probably several resistors that are out of tolerance. I have a Pilot Tv-37 and the sync is very stable and the picture quality better than most electrostatically deflected sets I've seen.
BTW,, $1000 is absolute highway robbery for a Pilot, I don't care what he did to it.

Here is the screen and the underside of the chassis. Sorry for the sloppy soldering!

[Gregb]

I have a 37 and it needed pretty much every resistor as they were way out of tolerance.
All paper and electrolytic caps were replaced and it works very good, I have no issues with it at all. Makes a very clear sharp picture.

Greg b

[dtvmcdonald]

I have one of those and for years it had marginal sync and a picture bothered by hum bars.

The problem turned out to be very minor heater-cathode leakage in
two tubes, one in the RF and one in the IF. Replaceing just one had no noticeable
effect. Currently it has quite good sync and an excellent picture. I consider it quite watchable.

Its also seriously bothered by overmodulation in the modulator you use.

Alignment is touchy ... following instruction on mine always resulted
in oscillation. I tried adding better bypasses but that did not help.

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by Gregb

I have a 37 and it needed pretty much every resistor as they were way out of tolerance.
All paper and electrolytic caps were replaced and it works very good, I have no issues with it at all. Makes a very clear sharp picture.

Greg b

Here's a better pic (I hope) of the bottom of the chassis