Scored a Nice Zenith...

[Big Dave]

for the best price... FREE.

It is a Zenith Combo (color TV, AM/FM, turntable). I was referred to the couple that gave me this by the Early Television Foundation.

I soft started it and got a picture. The CRT checked good. There is some work to be done, but initial findings show that I have a winner.

Pics will come here and on my site.

BTW: The cabinet had three weights.. heavy, heavy and DAMN heavy.

It may not be a roundie, but it meets my criteria... it's a Zenith color set, and it has tubes in it. This makes a great addition to my collection.

Judging by the speakers it has, I think it will make buildings fall down when I play soap opera organ music on it.

As soon as I can, I 'll give AK a quick vidcap, then a real picture.

My thanks to the ETF for referring me to this set.

[drh4683]

Great find! Look forward to seeing the pics. Cant get any better than when you get them for free!

[Big Dave]

I put the set on the variac and did a soft start. After getting to full voltage and enabling HV, I got a picture. The set does need some work. It appears the lytics reformed, but they go away anyway. I haven't done anything with the radio or turntable yet. The picture came up nice. All three guns look good. Once I recap, it'll be my Archie Watcher. The only downside, the radio lacks tubes. I'll get to this once I get my CTC-16 done (it's on the bench now, hope I get my bonus soon so I can get caps).

[Big Dave]

Here's a pic.

[Carmine]

Dave, I have that identical set. It's been passed back/forth between me and capt'n Moody at least twice. We must like these things, because it's all "real" wood, not veneer and must weigh 300 Lbs!

Right now it's living at my brother-in-laws house. It doesn't do much but collect dust, but at least it's indoors and safe.

[jstout66]

great set! I wouldn't think a re-cap would be high priority in that chassis. Isn't it a 1966 or 67 model which wouldn't have used the "old style" caps? Cant wait to see a chassis and picture shot!

[Big Dave]

I am at least gong to replace the lytics and any questionable tubes. This is next after the CTC-16.

Can we see the radio and the turntable? I"m betting the tt is a VM with the Zenith T-shaped needle for switching between LP/45 and 78.

[Big Dave]

The turntable.

[roundscreen]

This zenith combo almost has the same cabinet as yours and it does weigh a ton. yours looks in better shape. I think this set was made in 62.

[Big Dave]

Here is a screen shot. The contrast is anemic, so I set the bias down so the pic doesn't wash out. The chassis will be pulled tomorrow and all controls and the tuners will be thouroughly cleaned. I'll check tubes and clean any questionable tube sockets. From the looks and sound, and the fact that I was able to achieve good vertical linearity, I don't think I'll need to replace any caps. I have more details on my website.

www.geocities.com/evilfurnaceman

[jstout66]

I think weak contrast could be caused by a bad video output tube. And as I said in an earlier post, NICE SET!

[Big Dave]

Thank you for the compliment. I have not cleaned the controls on the chassis, and the contrast control is very dirty. The vid out is one of my suspects.

[bgadow]

Thats it! Thats the picture that gives old color tv's a bad name. Washed out. Had a bunch of old sets with that same picture and didn't know how to make them better. I didn't know at the time what a 60s color set could really do with a little tuning up.

[Big Dave]

This is after cleaning and a quick bit of adjustment.