Ugly Magnavox

[Eric H]

Magnavox must've spent a whole $1.98 on designing this

Still, if it were close to me I'd probably want it just because it's so odd.

[Cleve]

I'm not a "TV" man, but I do appreciate vintage electronics. That's so ugly, it's beautiful.

[Celt]

Zooty!

[maxm]

I have one of those, the cabinet is wood with a fake leather suitcase-like exterior. I love the big chrome handle on the top, straight out of the 50s! I got it for $2.00 off eBay, but haven't taken a look at the electronics yet, though it looks like a good chasis, point to point wiring with a power transformer.

[old_tv_nut]

And this from the company that was foremost in elaborate furniture consoles! Looks like a designer's rebellion piece.

[jroberts500]

Looks like something from a young girls room. Although I saw a similar pink TV in an elderly woman's bedroom.

[kerozene]

It reminds me of Gremlins and Pacers...

[old_tv_nut]

words fail me....
http://www.maxiblue.homestead.com/fi...cerPoliceB.jpg

[Charlie]

That's creepy! Looks like something they need to have in a horror movie!

[Celt]

How "Tim Burton" of them!!!

[Randy Bassham]

It's going home with me, it's fairly close and I'll pick it up in a
week or so. It may look homely but the electronics are first rate
with a full transformer powered chassis. I'll probably set it on top
of my Magnavox Windsor....Beauty and the Beast, eh...

[Randy Bassham]

I've got it home now and got into it, it's quite a little set. There are 19 tubes including the CRT (17DKP4). I powered it up and the screen lit up and I could see a snowy picture without an antenna. One of the filter cans started to heat up so I shut it down. The CRT took awhile to brighten up and it may be a little weak but it doesn't have a britener on it. Should be great for watching old B&W movies on when I get it dependable. Now I'm going to have to rebuild a UHF converter for it.

[Randy Bassham]

Well this little ugly duckling sat in my shop for quite awhile before I could get onto it, but the results aren't bad. The CRT was a little dark so I hooked it up to my Beltron and did a cathode cleaning, I guess that's something short of rejuvination, now it tests really good and shows a good life test.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Randy Bassham

Well this little ugly duckling sat in my shop for quite awhile before I could get onto it, but the results aren't bad. The CRT was a little dark so I hooked it up to my Beltron and did a cathode cleaning, I guess that's something short of rejuvination, now it tests really good and shows a good life test.

Some very inexpensive Magnavox portables of the '50s weren't much to look at; this one is apparently one of them. The really good looking Maggies were the company's consoles, especially the big 3-way entertainment units, but the smaller 12" consoles weren't half bad looking either. The latter weren't really that much to look at (no ornate scrollwork or metal hardware, etc. on the cabinet except for the Magnavox shield), but OTOH they weren't eyesores. Only other thing I can think of with that portable is that the pinkish covering may have been slapped on by a previous owner. I wonder what the wood beneath that covering looks like; if I were a betting man (I am not), I'd bet that's actually dark wood. I have a Zenith radio that has a blonde cabinet, but I've read on the antique radio forum that the blonde coloring can be removed, revealing a very nice looking walnut or mahogany finish cabinet underneath.


I wonder about your portable, though. It is VHF only, yet in the thumbnail below your post it is plainly showing a picture from MSNBC cable. I wonder how you are getting MSNBC on cable with this set without a cable box; in most areas this channel is shown on a channel well above 13 on local cable systems. (Here where I live, in northeastern Ohio near Cleveland, Time Warner Cable carries MSNBC on channel 40, its companion business channel CNBC on 41 and so on.) Only thing I can figure is that you are in fact using a box ahead of the set, but it is hidden behind the set or somewhere else well out of sight; that or else MSNBC is carried on a channel below 13 in your area.

[Randy Bassham]

"Only thing I can figure is that you are in fact using a box ahead of the set, but it is hidden behind the set or somewhere else well out of sight"

Take a look just under the set at the little box with the light on it, that's my DirecTV receiver, it's outputting on channel 3.

The set is original, the cabinet is wrapped in a kind of two tone vinyl coated cloth, from what I can tell it's just plywood underneath. It's not much of a looker but it's built like a tank and has a power transformer chassis, I suspect it wasn't all that cheap to buy when new.

I'm mainly using it now to watch old B&W dvd's through an RF modulator.