Picked Up an Early Magnavox SS Console - Videokarma.org TV - Video

jstout66 · #1 10-09-2006, 02:18 PM

I'll have to borrow a digital camera and get a pix posted, but thought I'd see if I could get opinions good or bad on this Magnavox Console I got from a "Used" store the other day. The model number sticker is gone, and I haven't pulled the back off to try and get the code date off the tube to determine age, but I belive it's an early Solid State model. It has touch-tune with a red LED readout for channel number but does NOT pick up cable stations and it has a lever (up & down) to fine tune if needed. It has an in-line tube, and the Videomatic Eye below the screen. I thought the cabinet was cool and the picture is fantastic. It's a remote set. What are the weak points on Magnavox SS sets? I haven't ever owned a SS one. I do remember my Uncle (the Zenith dealer) hated them and said they were junk..... I was looking at Magnavox ads on eBay and I think my set is probably from 72 or 73.

Chad Hauris · #2 10-09-2006, 07:17 PM

I have one from '79 that is in a French Provincial white cabinet...it seems to have the best sound quality of almost any console TV speaker system I have heard.
It uses a very elaborate ultrasonic remote to provide direct channel access. I think some of these used a Sola regulated power transformer like the Zeniths...onlly problem I have seen in this age set is loose connections at the module sockets. Haven't had to get into this latest one I got as it works fine.

Randy Bassham · #3 10-09-2006, 08:48 PM

Those sets put a lot of beans on my table back when I worked for a Magnavox dealer. If your set has the constant voltage transformer it's a T995 chassis, if not it's a T991. As Chad said they had some connection problems around the connectors on the boards and the mother board. One regular problem was the pins of the regulator transistor on the regulator board would break loose and arc, shorting the regulator and several other transistors on the board. Back in the day we carried all the boards on the truck so we'd just swap out the board, Magnavox supplied a repair kit to rebuild the regulator board. I've got a T995 set with mechanical tuners that I hope to get working this winter. One other thing they had the same problem as Zenith with the safety caps that were installed in the early sets, the HV would go up to the stratosphere and arc through the neck of the picture tube. I probably replaced a couple dozen picture tubes because of this, Magnavox would just send us a new tube even if the set was out of warranty.

jstout66 · #4 10-09-2006, 09:34 PM

Chad, I think my set is the same era as yours since our control layout looks the same. My cabinet is much larger and mine has dual speakers. You're right about the sound. Fantastic! I hope this set lasts as it's the best console I've had in my office room to date. I did like my Chromacolor 2, but that one wasn't remote and it has an intermittant buzz in the audio.

kx250rider · #5 10-10-2006, 01:18 AM

OH NO!!!!!!!! The old 3-lever programmable tuner

.., Great picture, and a reliable chassis (once the 4-lead safety cap is replaced)... But YOU got the one with the 3-lever tuner. Let me get hold of a couple of Boeing engineers, and perhaps a committee of retired Magnavox senior field techs... Among them, they can teach you how to program that thing

But that IS a nice set, and that's the top of the line cabinet.

Charles

Bill R · #6 10-10-2006, 06:11 PM

Magnavox introduced the inline crt in the console sets in 1979. I have a 1978 Star system with the T995 chassis. Still worked the last time I checked a few years ago. It replaced my Philco roundie, which also still works. Well it needs to be recapped, and the usual old tv work though.

Bill R

jstout66 · #7 10-11-2006, 10:25 AM

Another question on this set (I swear I'll get a pix posted soon!) I saw an ad for the 1979 series of Magnavox sets and they called that series Computer Color 330 and made a big deal about their sets having 330 lines of resolution compared to ordinary sets with 260 lines. Was that due to the inline tube? I was wondering if all Delta's had 260 lines and all inlines 330? Does anyone know what modern CRT sets have for lines of resolution? Is it still 330? Say Charles, How the hell do I tune this set anyway? Does anyone know? I turn the AFC off and I can get one station tuned in, but then it throws off the others. It reminds me of my Parents 1979 Sony Console. THAT was a major pain in the ass to tune. I'm not gonna worry so much about the 4 lead cap. I figure it's HAD to have been changed. Those had a high failure rate when new (like Zeniths of that era) so I figure no way can it be on it's original one 27 years later...

andy · #8 10-11-2006, 01:45 PM

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