House abandoned, TV left on...

[fsjonsey]

That TV chassis is pretty bare. I'm guessing a specially built monitor for use with a closed circuit system. It is spooky!

There must have been a main antenna array connected to a VHF tuner and a distribution amplifier that piped the selected program to all of the monitors. That set is in a dayroom of one of the dorms the patients lived in, so im pretty sure it was used for entertainment purposes. I'm guessing that the staff chose the programming, and tuned the channel via a VHF tuner that was placed before the distribution amplifiers?

Someone who lives in michigan should go and try to recover those old sets. They're just going to be destroyed when the place is demolished. It would be great to save a system like that for ETF or another museum, if most of it is still intact. From the looks of the chassis they appear to be custom jobs.

[Sandy G]

There is an abandoned settlement near here, Pressmen's Home. It was the home office of the Pressmen's Union from 1924-69. I've been "urban exploring" thru part of it, & it was spooky & exhilarating-and more than a slight bit dangerous, as I was alone, no-one knew where I was. Any of the rest of you who've ever done this, did you too get the feeling you were being watched the whole time ? Or is that part of the fun ?

[Bill R]

No visible power lines, and the power meter cut, but the power was on. That's interesting.

Bill R

[dr.ido]

The power coming in was probably patched around the disconnected meter by the last person living (squatting?) in the house.

I've been in a few abandoned buildings, but not recently. I don't think there's anything left around here that hasn't been destroyed by developers. I've found some odd stuff in some places.

At the old Melbourne power station the tube PA amps were still intact, but there was no way to get them out of there so I had to leave them behind. The ancient lifts were appeared to be running still, but there was no way I was getting in one.

At a Nubrik brick factory there were many Sanyo 12" B&W portables that had been modified for use as monitors as part of some process control system. Originally they had been mounted in a large control panel, but someone had removed them and scattered them throughout the factory. At the time parts of the site still had power so perhaps someone was watching them. I went back for a later visit when more of the site was accessable. By that time they had all been smashed, vandals love to break CRTs. They'd also destroyed some interesting old computers including a HP-150 touchscreen, a Panasonic JB-300 and a Honeywell Minicomputer.

At a Rocla pipe factory the PABX was tubed, along with some of the process control gear. Once again the vandals has beaten me to it.

At a Vline freight depot one section was full of boxes of clothing marked for some disaster relief effort that were never delivered. In one room someone had spent countless hours weaving packing material into a large mattress and then built a "fort" of printers around it. Whoever did this must have had some way to keep it secure as their area was untouched while the rest of the place was throroughly trashed.

At the VLF park football stadium there was a 3 rack PDP-11 based system that ran the big scoreboard. The terminals had been smashed, but the rest was intact. I removed it over the several days. Carrying down from the fifth floor in pieces wasn't exactly easy. I left a note behind, but no-one ever contacted me so it wasn't missed. I got part of it running again before giving to another collector. There was a single 14" late 70s Rank Arena portable in one room that had been converted into an NTSC monitor for reasons unknown. I was preoccupied with the computer and left it behind. I should have grabbed that one.

[fsjonsey]

Originally Posted by dr.ido

The power coming in was probably patched around the disconnected meter by the last person living (squatting?) in the house.

I've been in a few abandoned buildings, but not recently. I don't think there's anything left around here that hasn't been destroyed by developers. I've found some odd stuff in some places.

At the old Melbourne power station the tube PA amps were still intact, but there was no way to get them out of there so I had to leave them behind. The ancient lifts were appeared to be running still, but there was no way I was getting in one.

At a Nubrik brick factory there were many Sanyo 12" B&W portables that had been modified for use as monitors as part of some process control system. Originally they had been mounted in a large control panel, but someone had removed them and scattered them throughout the factory. At the time parts of the site still had power so perhaps someone was watching them. I went back for a later visit when more of the site was accessable. By that time they had all been smashed, vandals love to break CRTs. They'd also destroyed some interesting old computers including a HP-150 touchscreen, a Panasonic JB-300 and a Honeywell Minicomputer.

At a Rocla pipe factory the PABX was tubed, along with some of the process control gear. Once again the vandals has beaten me to it.

At a Vline freight depot one section was full of boxes of clothing marked for some disaster relief effort that were never delivered. In one room someone had spent countless hours weaving packing material into a large mattress and then built a "fort" of printers around it. Whoever did this must have had some way to keep it secure as their area was untouched while the rest of the place was throroughly trashed.

At the VLF park football stadium there was a 3 rack PDP-11 based system that ran the big scoreboard. The terminals had been smashed, but the rest was intact. I removed it over the several days. Carrying down from the fifth floor in pieces wasn't exactly easy. I left a note behind, but no-one ever contacted me so it wasn't missed. I got part of it running again before giving to another collector. There was a single 14" late 70s Rank Arena portable in one room that had been converted into an NTSC monitor for reasons unknown. I was preoccupied with the computer and left it behind. I should have grabbed that one.

Ive seen Altec VOT's in many abandoned theaters on urbex sites. They probably got plowed over like everything else, or destroyed by vandals.

[kx250rider]

Looks like a Conrac Fleetwood chassis.

Charles

[bgadow]

At the Delaware State Fairgrounds, under the clubhouse seating where they have exhibitors, there is a 21" bw tv high on a shelf. At least, the last time I was in there a few years ago it still was. Maybe used in a closed circuit to show the horse races? I would ask about it, but who needs another mid-50s bw set? The fair ends Sat, and I'll be in there-will have to take a look.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Carmine

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/tv_house.htm

Well, I've never been much for housekeeping....

[Kiwick]

We once had an abandoned fairground here, it closed in the late 80s and in 1996 the fencing was torn down by vandals so i had the opportunity to explore it...

I did the first trip in there on my horse to be able to run away quickly from possible unwelcoming squatters, but there was nobody in there... the place was really a shadow of its former self... i remember being there as a kid when it was still open, there was music, people and life everywhere, and seeing the same place silent, overgrown and dilapidated was sad and spooky at the same time

Vandals had already covered everything with graffitis and everything made of glass was smashed, including the CRTs of the arcade games and a jukebox, the haunted house had been burned down and someone even took the time to mangle the decorative fiberglass plates of some rides...

Anyway, there was still some interesting stuff that had been overlooked by vandals... there were 8-track players and speakers in some kiddie rides, the guts of the Seeburg jukebox, some old PA equipment, and even a rare mid 70s Ansafone reel to reel answering machine in the office building,

The ansafone had a real close call with the vandals, they pulled out the reels and strew the tape all over the place but luckily the machine itself was not damaged.

I decided that it wouldn't have been so unfair to take away stuff that was going to be destroyed anyway... so i came back with my dad and we loaded our car... the ansafone was still working!

What was left of the fairground was torn down in 2002 to make place for a caravan park

Francesco

[fsjonsey]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

Looks like a Conrac Fleetwood chassis.

Charles

Youre right about that, right down the wooden CRT supports on the chassis.