Vintage televisions, anyone? Post pics here!

[DamianM]

The "guts" are from a late model TV. I don't think the old TVs have audio/video inputs. The conversion was set up for me a fellow in New Jersey named Harry Poster (look up Harry Poster [dot] com).

We're going to get a Roku to stream Netflix and Amazon instant soon.

NETFLIX!! Thats awesome.

I'm always on the look out now. but things have just got out of control with the pricing.( with everything pre 80s) Thank you History channel!

Some people don't understand its ultra dated tech and its more like a huge paper weight until its modified.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's entirely possible to attach a DVD player to an unaltered vintage TV -- simply use an old VCR as a modulator. Attach the disc player to the VCR a/v inputs, connect the VCR to the TV using a matching transformer at the antenna terminals ($3.95 at Radio Shack) and tune the TV to channel 3 or 4. And you're all set. This works with any TV from the prewar era right down to the advent of "cable ready." *Any* video device that feeds thru RCA cables can be attached to the VCR this way.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

That's exactly how many of my sets are running. Why spend money on Modulators (which have skyrocketed in price recently) when you can buy a VCR at Goodwill for $1.99?

It's entirely possible to attach a DVD player to an unaltered vintage TV -- simply use an old VCR as a modulator. Attach the disc player to the VCR a/v inputs, connect the VCR to the TV using a matching transformer at the antenna terminals ($3.95 at Radio Shack) and tune the TV to channel 3 or 4. And you're all set. This works with any TV from the prewar era right down to the advent of "cable ready." *Any* video device that feeds thru RCA cables can be attached to the VCR this way.

 

[Stearmen]

Test Pattern

This is for all of you with old fashion televisions hooked up to modern DVDs. Just pop this in at the end of the movie and get a laugh from your friends! [video=youtube;JJmZHo6W4S8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmZHo6W4S8[/video]

 

[Guttersnipe]

Guttersnipe: Very nice. Also, that's a mighty spiffy antique Chines deco rug you have there. Where did you find it?

Thanks! That particular rug is actually a 40s knock-off of a Nichols rug; it's Indian in origin. I'm a pretty avid collector of Nichols rugs. Honestly, the best source I've found for by Chinese rugs is Craigslist.

 

[dhermann1]

I'm afraid Chinese Deco rugs is too small an interest group to start its own thread on. I agree about Craigslist. I got my gorgeous 9 x 12 gold colored rug at an insane bargain price that way. Let's meet over at the "Most prized Art Deco possession" thread. I'd love to see your collection. I have 3, and they make me slightly nuts every time I look at them. (Favorite Art Deco possession??? Something like that.)

 

[Mayor La Trivia]

I have a TV from the early 1960s. It's really a fine piece of furniture which I use to place trinkets and photos on top. I've been thinking that it would be cool to take out the guts and put a flat screen TV where the cathode tube would have been.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I'm afraid Chinese Deco rugs is too small an interest group to start its own thread on. I agree about Craigslist. I got my gorgeous 9 x 12 gold colored rug at an insane bargain price that way. Let's meet over at the "Most prized Art Deco possession" thread. I'd love to see your collection. I have 3, and they make me slightly nuts every time I look at them. (Favorite Art Deco possession??? Something like that.)

ask and ye shall receive. I post a few pictures here

 

[vitanola]

A fellow on the Antique Radio Forum is offering a Philco Predicta "Barber-Pole" console, in working condition with the improved 6 volt picture tube for sale for the reasonable sum of $350.00 over in Massachusetts (Malden area, as I recall). I never cared for the Predictas, as they are not terribly well engineered, and their styling is rather extreme for my taste, but many folks love these unusual sets. If so, this might be for you.

Here is the thread on the ARF: http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=203866

and here is a photo of a representative example of this iconic (to some) television set:

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My great-grandpa had a predicta when my mom was a kid. I've always wanted one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

They turn up fairly often, but they invariably require major work to get them functional -- and they may be the most difficult set to work on ever designed. One of the things that drove Philco into bankruptcy in the early sixties was having to live up to the service warranties on Predictas, which began failing en masse while they were still new.

 

[John in Covina]

My parents owned a TV that was in a cool wood cabinette that had front doors that closed so you did not have to see the TV. When that tv got replaced dad kept the cabinette. Hoped to turn it into something I guess.

 

[Guttersnipe]

My great-grandpa had a predicta when my mom was a kid. I've always wanted one.

There is a company that makes pseudo-reproductions of Predicta TVs here is a link to their website. From what I understand, they have the look of Predictas, but the screens are larger and they are reputed to be more reliable. Also, they have color picture tubes.

 

[Hopalong]

with the DVD/VCR player hooked up to the old TV then you don't have to worry about wearing the tuner out and screwing up the picture like us kids did in the 1950's because you can use the electronic remote control to turn the channels. We had a Sylvania TV in the 50's with the Halo Lite to protect your eyes but the early TV I want to get has the screen that goes straight across the top and the bottom of the screen and curves on the sides because it looks really early 1950's Retro to me and I believe it took a round tube.

 

[decojoe67]

My '46 RCA Victor

I collect antique radios, but I used to be a serious antique TV collector. I have only 3 of them now and my favorite is my 7" 1946 RCA Victor 621TS. It was designed by John Vassos for RCA in a pre-war deco style (likely his last collaboration with the company). It was an attempt to market a small screen set that was a less costly than the bigger screen sets. The market quickly showed that TV buyers wanted the bigger screen sets, so production of this set ceased early on. They are scarce to find today and one of the most sought after antique TV's. This one is electronically restored and works very well. I had it about 20 years.

 

[GoetzManor]

I love the look of the old black and white televisions and if I lived alone, you can bet that I'd keep the TV that way. However my wife wants a new flat screen, so I'm thinking maybe a compromise where I'll be on the lookout for an old television and if I find one, I'll buy it and remove the tubes and retrofit the new flat screen inside it. Look of the classic with the picture of the modern. Anyone know if this is possible?

On a similar note, I just saw a tutorial on how to install an aux jack in an old radio so you can play an iPod and listen to it through its original tubes.

 

[Edward]

There is a company that makes pseudo-reproductions of Predicta TVs here is a link to their website. From what I understand, they have the look of Predictas, but the screens are larger and they are reputed to be more reliable. Also, they have color picture tubes.

Those are cute. If they did em with a 42" screen, I'd be tempted.

 

[decojoe67]

Pilot Radio "Candid" TV

About 10 years ago I sold one of these and regretted it. I finally picked up another one recently. It's hard to believe such a set was produced in '48-'49 (this one is a '49) with it's amazingly compact size and light weight. When properly restored it displays a nice little picture and crystal clear audio! The story with this one is that it was found in a window seat storage area in an old house here on Long Island. It must have had limited use because the rare original 3" CRT displays lots of contrast as if it was new. I'm never parting with this one! By the way, the magnifying lens was an extra cost option and it many times rarer than the set itself.

 

[decojoe67]

1948 GE bakelite "locomotive" TV

My neweat aquisition! In the late '40's a few companies began producing the larger 10" screen TV's with as compact as possible of a cabinet. GE produced a line of sets with a narrow, tall (but quite deep) cabinets in wood and bakelite. The bakelite version was the cheaper choice, but it was much more streamlined than the wood version making it much more collectible. Collectors call it the "locomotive" for obvious reasons!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Those are neat TVs when you get them to work -- but they're difficult to work on because of the way the chassis had to be compressed to fit in the cabinet. My best friend's father was a machinist for GE, and got one of the earliest versions of that set -- which my friend still has. The cabinet's kind of rough after forty years in the attic, but the set itself is still solid.