WHY so few "other brands' left out there?( Admiral, Sylvania , Philco, etc)

[rca2000]

In the tv collecting realm--we all seem to come up with plenty of RCA and Zenith color sets, from the Hybrid days. Every so often a sylvania or magnavox will turn up too..but I have NOT heard ANY mention of any hybrid or even SS 25 inch admirals or ohilco sets. I have had a COUPLE of these sets..back in the day (the 1980's..) NOT ONE since then.

I was at my garage today and picked up the manuals to the admiral M20 and M25 sets. I have had one of each. the M20 has 7 tubes--the M25 is SS. Both Have tripler Hv.

The M25 I found in an alley, on the porch of a house and it was given to me--fall of 1983. It had a pretty bad westinghouse tube--and after milking all of the life possible out of that one..i replaced it with a Zenith chromacolor tube I had It worked VERY well, for several years. Then, it developd a "sync problem" i could not figure out, having no manual for it and misled by a "tech" to believe it had bad caps in the power supply...I was unable to fix it (at the time). later--the same chassis live dn i another cabinet--when I got another sync/agc module. had I been told RIGHT...I could have used that set for years more...

The M20 I received in 1981, and was not able to keep it long...I wish i could have.

Now--I want MORE of them. But they NEVER seem to show up. Why?

Is it because that Pix tube was a westinghouse and GARBAGE? THIS is my guess--the tubes were no good--sending them to an early grave.

Of course--I relaize there were far FEWER of the than the RCA's and Zeniths..but STILL...we should see one "here and there"...but we do NOT.

[Jon A.]

I didn't know that there are fewer RCAs and Zeniths than the other brands mentioned. I would certainly like to have examples of most others mentioned. I was concentrating mostly on Space Command remotes for my collection, but now I just grab whatever takes my fancy, i.e. NOS ultrasonic remotes for Hitachi and Admiral sets, the latter having a full RAT keypad and packaged with a sensor as models with the RA suffix are easily converted according to the box.

Anyway, maybe since RCA and Zenith "started it all" in regards to color sets, they're the ones that turn up most frequently online? Most people are clueless about old TVs, perhaps those big names just ring a bell for them like nothing else. Here in Canada there's no telling what you'll find, different sets just pop up at random, the emphasis in my area is usually late 80s/early 90s RCA consoles with the CTC157.

Brand doesn't matter a whole lot to me, I like several different makes, but I just prefer Zenith as it seems less "trendy" than RCA. To be honest, the remote mechanical tuner is what I like best about my flatty, it would just be another 70s set to me without it, but with a far longer-lasting CRT.

[rca2000]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

I didn't know that there are fewer RCAs and Zeniths than the other brands mentioned. I would certainly like to have examples of most others mentioned. I was concentrating mostly on Space Command remotes for my collection, but now I just grab whatever takes my fancy, i.e. NOS ultrasonic remotes for Hitachi and Admiral sets, the latter having a full RAT keypad and packaged with a sensor as models with the RA suffix are easily converted according to the box.

Anyway, maybe since RCA and Zenith "started it all" in regards to color sets, they're the ones that turn up most frequently online? Most people are clueless about old TVs, perhaps those big names just ring a bell for them like nothing else. Here in Canada there's no telling what you'll find, different sets just pop up at random, the emphasis in my area is usually late 80s/early 90s RCA consoles with the CTC157.

Brand doesn't matter a whole lot to me, I like several different makes, but I just prefer Zenith as it seems less "trendy" than RCA. To be honest, the remote mechanical tuner is what I like best about my flatty, it would just be another 70s set to me without it, but with a far longer-lasting CRT.

No...there are few few OTHER brands..than RCA and Zenith sets....and you are right--there are ALWAYS ctc-149-157 sets out there, plentiful and cheap...but I am NOT interested. I don't have room for them, I want the "good stuff"..

[Jon A.]

Same here, the two identical 157s I had are now furniture. Picked them up before I had any good stuff of my own.

[zenith2134]

I passed up an Admiral Solar-color console from 1970 not too long ago. Had no way to haul it at the time. But yes, I have a large collection of SAMS manuals and there are many obscure brands listed which I have NEVER seen in my life.

[Sandy G]

Funny... In the "Small" TVs right after the War, it seems like the Admirals, Motorolas, Pilots, even my beloved "Porthole" Zeniths seem to be more common than RCAs... Seemed like, as recently as 10 years ago, Eprey was FULL of the 7" Bakelite Admirals, & the 3" Pilots were common as pig tracks..

[radiotvnut]

In over 25 years of finding TV's, I've never had an Admiral console color TV or any type and I can count on one hand the number of Admiral color portables that I've had (one 14" hybrid portable and two '79 model 19" solid state portables and one of those was a rebadged Ward's Airline).

As far as tube stuff, RCA, Magnavox and Zenith were my most common finds, with a few sprinklings from GE, Motorola, Sylvania, Sears, and Western Auto. The Zenith's and RCA's often remained in service until the early '90's and the Magnavox models stayed around because they had nice cabinets; but, they probably had not actually worked in ages.

I think the main reason you don't see these other brands is because they didn't stand the test of time and were dumped at an early age.

[ChrisW6ATV]

I think part of it may just be that many brands did not have the wide distribution and/or service networks of RCA and maybe Zenith. Admiral, for example, was a big brand in the early days of black-and-white TV, but did they ever have much of a presence in the console color-TV market? We all talk of sets lasting for years and the visits by TV repairmen, but was that really true of portable TV sets through the tube years?

[Jon A.]

This one's pretty cool and unusual, it's one of those Quasar "Electronic Satellite" remote sets probably from the late 70s. Price is pretty good in my opinion. Penney's sold them as well, I have a remote so branded.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291206388333

If those 7" B&W sets are so common, later-model color sets other than Zenith and RCA ought to be coming out of the woodwork not too long from now.

[andy]

...

[zeno]

Its mostly a matter of numbers.
Between RCA & Zenith they made abt half the TV's sold from the
60's through 80's. I dont remember the numbers but they
were followed by GE, Sears, Maggy, Sylvania then the rest.

Quality. RCA & Zenith were the expensive sets. You did get what
you paid for. They just held up longer & were kept longer.
Maggy also was but it was the cabinet not the guts that cost $$.

Easy to deal with. Both were the easiest to get parts & service help
for. Most worked on more of them than anything else so it
became 2nd nature. So repairs were done on them that most
sets would be junked for, it just made life easier so more survived.

How you count them. Sears was Sears. Not counted as a Toshiba,
Warwick or Sanyo. GE made a ton of private label also. RCA & Zenith didnt
private label til late. First RCA prob. early 80's for Radio Shack.
Zenith was abt late 80's in a Capehart.

73 Zeno

[radiotvnut]

I think RCA made some TV's for JC Penny during the '70's. I remember seeing a CTC68 upright modular chassis XL100 that was badged as JC Penny. I've seen some Wards TV's that were rebadged Sylvania, Admiral, and Sharp. Wells-Gardner built a good many TV's for W.T. Grant, Western Auto, and JC Penny. Western Auto also used GE, Sharp, Admiral, and Midland for TV suppliers.

[rca2000]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

In over 25 years of finding TV's, I've never had an Admiral console color TV or any type and I can count on one hand the number of Admiral color portables that I've had (one 14" hybrid portable and two '79 model 19" solid state portables and one of those was a rebadged Ward's Airline).

As far as tube stuff, RCA, Magnavox and Zenith were my most common finds, with a few sprinklings from GE, Motorola, Sylvania, Sears, and Western Auto. The Zenith's and RCA's often remained in service until the early '90's and the Magnavox models stayed around because they had nice cabinets; but, they probably had not actually worked in ages.

I think the main reason you don't see these other brands is because they didn't stand the test of time and were dumped at an early age.

My M25 in 1983 was also an airline labelled set--but the chassis had the "M25" stamp right on it. Obviously an admiral. Original, bad tube was a westinghouse SHITTY tube--otherwise...I would have NEVER gotten it, and it would have ran quite a while longer for the original owner.

I WILL say THIS about the "M" series Admiral sets:: They sure were FUSED well!! I think my set had 3 fuses...and that M20 hybrid had SIX fuses from what I see in the manual !!

[rca2000]

Back "in the day".(1980's), I saw a number of the "other brands". I had ONE of those 73 or so model Philco SS sets--with SCR deflection..the ONLY one I have EVER seen. I had a few of the GE "M" series sets, MA, MB MC. IIRC..they liked to kill triplers. I ran across probably a dozen admiral sets, mostly SS, both console and portable. M10, M16, M25, M50 (iirc). I fixed--then sold, most of them. Still have a YM GE set with digital tuning, 1979. Also one EM digital set--1981. No real prize--a "griplet" set.

I had ONE of the "Teknika" console sets, IIRC_-and it ALSO had SCR defleection, 1987 or 1988.

And in that day--I ALSO ran across a few of the 13" Zenith chromacolor II sets. Fixed ALL of them, IIRC.

[jstout66]

I agree with most of what's already been posted. People were brand loyal back in the day, and a brand of television was more of a "status" symbol. In the Midwest area where I grew up, it was almost all Zenith or RCA. In the mid-late 70's my hometown of 2000, had us ( A Zenith dealer) * we also sold GTE Philcos as a secondary line. We had the RCA Magnavox dealer and a Sylvania dealer. In that era, on house calls, or walk in's, it was mainly RCA & Magnavox sets we were seeing. We had a handful of Quasars, a few Truetones and a few Coronados ( we also had a Western Auto and Gambles) I think I only remember 1 Admiral that we serviced.
Even living in Omaha now, when I go to estate sales, I only see RCA and Zenith consoles. In the mid 90's my now ex-wife had a late 70's / early 80's Admiral console, which was the "newest" Admiral I have seen in years, and I've never seen another one. That set had a weak picture tube, and we replaced that set with my console, which was a Quasar ( rebadged Panasonic) which ended up having a short lived picture tube.