Estate Sale Finds In 2007!

[drh4683]

This is the first estate sale TV find for 2007. While a newer set, it needed to be saved. Its a 17" 1979 Zenith Chromacolor II with space command. 1979 is the last year for the chromacolor II. Chroma II's are probably the best most reliable chassis zenith made. The space command was a plus. It was $14.00 at half price at 155 Addison Rd, Riverside, IL. Model SK1745W, 17KC55 chassis. For once I find a zenith set that still has a legible model tag. Most of the time they are either torn off, or badly faded away. I noticed the "space command" and looked around for the remote. Couldnt find it. The people running the sale didn't know either after looking around for a good 10 minutes. So we figured it was lost. As I brought the TV to the cashier, there was a box of miscellanious on the floor next to the cashier. Sure enough, I spotted the remote in there just as I was paying for the set!

Typical zenith, it still works perfect with a strong tube. The remote didnt work. Had some cracked solder joints at the transducer to board connection.
The set was made in Reynosa, Mexico. Many parts were made in Mexico and Taiwan. It appears that the CRT is the only thing made in USA. Its sad to see this. The 1968 zenith sets were the first to start using foreign made parts. Yokes made in Holland, then portugal, then in 1969 you started to see mitsubishi transistors and japanese lytics. Then you started to see Taiwanese made UHF tuners. All the American jobs were starting to dissapear. It just got worse with zenith as the 70's progressed.
They were still the best TV's though.