A Zenith TV with a clear back for teaching!?

[AlwaysLyceum]

This is an interesting TV with a clear back for teaching purposes. It's so chunky and thick!

http://cgi.ebay.com/LAB-VOLT-AA320-A...QQcmdZViewItem

[kx250rider]

A weird one indeed! Just for the record, that TV is one of the "best" base model Chromacolor II sets ever made. It has a beautiful CRT in it, and it looks like it has had all the upgrades (safety cap, 9-147 vs. 9-92 vert module, etc). However, in my opinion it is NOT worth $49. As great as they are, the going price is more like $12 at a garage sale or thrift shop.

BTW: I was down visiting my friend at his TV shop in West LA yesterday, and he has the top-of-the-line version of the RCA in your avatar. The one with the big jack panel, and the detachable safety glass. (Older than the Dimensia, but same idea). It still belongs to the original owner and is being repaired for a power supply problem.

Charles

[Pete Deksnis]

I've written for L-V and can probably provide a copy of the original AA-320 training manual to any AKer who may get the set.

The last NTSC Zenith was engineered by L-V for training in 2000. A friend who was the chief engineer lent me a 'chassis' from the last, small run. I wanted to compare 1954 CT-100 color hardware to 2000 solid-state hardware and this shot for my site was the result:

http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/potpou...ooldandnew.jpg

BION: Lab-Volt once wanted a basic course in vacuum tubes and so I wrote a short lab manual for them back in 1981. Curiously, that manual/course sold -- never well -- but on and off until the final edition in early 1999!

[old_tv_nut]

Never knew anything like this existed. Amazing! Is that an array of toggle switches in the bottom right picture? What do they do?

[Duane]

It would be my guess is the toggle switches are there to put in known troubles for training purposes,but solely a guess...

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Is that an array of toggle switches in the bottom right picture? What do they do?

Fault Insertion Switches. You are correct, Duane. Switches allowed the instructor to insert a fault the student then had to troubleshoot. The switches are in a locked compartment unavailable to the student. As the technology progressed, all types of trainers were connected to a PC and either faulted by a relay, analog switch, or other devious scheme.

[Carmine]

However, in my opinion it is NOT worth $49. As great as they are, the going price is more like $12 at a garage sale or thrift shop.

I don't know if I can agree with that... I have this same set in my garage... hardly a great enviroment for a TV considering I use it in all kinds of weather, cold, damp, carb-cleaner flying through the air, etc. Capt'n Moody gave it to me becuase he didn't want to see it hit the curb. I took it for the same reason, although I really had no use for it either.



Two years later, it's still working excellent. Any imperfections in that picture are caused by the camera... I cannot find fault with the picture in real life. It's also a great DXing set. If there is a signal, this set will display it. I kinda figure that when the big nukes hit, and cockroaches are driving the remaining /6 Dodge Darts, they'll be watching this TV set.

So $50 for a color set that won't quit, with a picture as good as anything new? Plus the oddball-factor of having a clear back? I think it's worth that price. I wouldn't mind stockpiling a few Chromacolor II sets so that I can go to my grave without buying a slave-built-box of crap.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Carmine

So $50 for a color set that won't quit, with a picture as good as anything new? Plus the oddball-factor of having a clear back? I think it's worth that price. I wouldn't mind stockpiling a few Chromacolor II sets so that I can go to my grave without buying a slave-built-box of crap.

Just for grins, how about throwing some of those switches and showing us the results?

[Carmine]

Perhaps I should have said "I have the normal version of that set..." Mine isn't the teaching version. But I haven't seen any "normal" Chromacolor sets at thrift stores lately, so my post was really just intended to say that $50 isn't that high for an unusual set like that.

Question for Pete Deksnis: What kind of faults might the switches set, and were there precautions for running the set with these problems? Such as no vertical sweep burning the CRT, or runaway HV producting radiation?

I should also mention that my parents bought nearly the same set in 1975 as their first color TV. We had it for 9 years, and it was replaced by a 19" remote Sylvania Superset. The major (and only) complaint with the Zenith was that the colors would sometimes "shift"... Now I'm pretty sure that it was probably just dirty modules (a good whack always brought it back) but back then I cared little for Solid-State sets. When the colors weren't "shifting", the pic was still as good as anything new.

It eventually went to my Uncle's hunting cabin. Then some of his idiot friends bought a Wal-Mart remote box and the Zenith came to an untimely end with a shotgun. The first show it was ever used for was "A Charlie Brown Christmas 1975" After years of watching Saturday morning cartoons, Rockford Files & Dukes of Hazzard, with a loving family, I can only imagine how sad and alone it must have felt in the cold woods, with a gun pointed at it.

Ok, I'm

[Sandy G]

No, Carmine, you ain't crazy...I kinda felt a pang of sadness for it too. Not saying I haven't done stupid stuff like that in my life-Oh boy, have I ever-but it still hurts to see something destroyed like that needlessly

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by Carmine

Question for Pete Deksnis: What kind of faults might the switches set, and were there precautions for running the set with these problems? Such as no vertical sweep burning the CRT, or runaway HV producting radiation?

I'm sure kill-the-vertical is one switch. Can probably get the entire list. Give me a couple of days...

[rcaman]

we had a ge ya chassis i believe in our class that had the clear back with the switches to train by. that thing had a great picture. steve

[dtuomi]

Originally Posted by Carmine

I should also mention that my parents bought nearly the same set in 1975 as their first color TV. We had it for 9 years, and it was replaced by a 19" remote Sylvania Superset. The major (and only) complaint with the Zenith was that the colors would sometimes "shift"... Now I'm pretty sure that it was probably just dirty modules (a good whack always brought it back) but back then I cared little for Solid-State sets. When the colors weren't "shifting", the pic was still as good as anything new.

My family owned this set from about 1976 when our old RCA color set was stolen. About 1982 they got a new Sylvania set and I got the Zenith. It became my 19" Commodore 64 monitor. And it kept going until around 1994 when I was in college. It was only repaired once while I owned it. And your right, it did shift colors (really noticable on a computer display) and a good whack would shift them back. It wasn't as bad for broadcasts. We had cable here in Ventura County, but I didn't get that in my room. My house did have an ancient television antenna that I was able to get hooked up to the TV, and it is a really good performer. My fondest memory was watching the 1984 Olympic Games coming from L.A. on that set off that crumbling old antenna. The set was given away to the Retarded Children group (who my parents always donated to). They will fix stuff up and resale it. I'm sure my old TV is still working away somewhere. It was still running when it left. I just finally could afford a real monitor by then.

David