Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Talk about anything and everything not related to this site or the Dreamcast, such as news stories, political discussion, or anything else. If there's not a forum for it, it belongs in here. Also, be warned that personal insults, threats, and spamming will not be tolerated.
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
https://www.artistsworkshop.eu/meble-kuchenne-na-wymiar-warszawa-gdzie-zamowic/
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Image

Zenith "porthole" TV console. Needs a new rectifier tube in the power supply and a few cosmetic touch-ups, then it's good to go. Got it at a yard sale this afternoon.
User avatar
Specially Cork
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11625
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2002 10:01 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Specially Cork »

It's only interesting if you're modding it into a secondary HD media center for the bedroom.
Image
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

BoneyCork wrote:It's only interesting if you're modding it into a secondary HD media center for the bedroom.
I'm modding it into a TV that works. This will involve removing a grody old vacuum tube, and in its place putting in a working vacuum tube of exactly the same type. It will also involve replacing old capacitors with similar capacitors, and touching up the finish.

It's the complex process of taking a broken old TV and converting it into a working old TV.
User avatar
Christuserloeser
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5948
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 12:16 am
Location: DCEvolution.net
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Christuserloeser »

That is an awesome TV!
Insane homebrew collector.
User avatar
Roofus
President & CEO Roofuscorp, LLC
President & CEO Roofuscorp, LLC
Posts: 9898
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2002 11:42 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Roofus »

How many HDMI ports does it have?
User avatar
Eviltaco64X
DCEmu Ultra Poster
DCEmu Ultra Poster
Posts: 1778
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:12 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 5 times

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Eviltaco64X »

Roofus wrote:How many HDMI ports does it have?
The best it gets is DVI, iirc
User avatar
Code-Red
DCEmu Ex-Admin
DCEmu Ex-Admin
Posts: 2601
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2001 5:54 pm
Location: Ontario
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Code-Red »

Thats a really nice find Fiddler!

Soon enough your house/apartment is going to be filled with retro equipment.
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Once this guy is fixed up, I'm going to hook it up with a digital converter box and our spare DVD player, and it'll be the TV in our office/garage space for now, and our guest room TV when we move to a bigger space.
Code-Red wrote:Soon enough your house/apartment is going to be filled with retro equipment.
That's kind of the direction we're headed in. I mean, we both still have modern computers, and our home theater is relatively up to date (HDTV, PS3, 5.1 channel sound system), but aside from that most of the stuff we have is older.

We've got an antique radio for each room of the house, most of our furniture is pretty old, all of our clocks are old mechanical ones, we've got typewriters and a Mac SE/30 in the home office, and I do all of my composing at a pump organ I salvaged last December. Here are few examples:

The organ I use to write my music:
Image
Got it for free, spent about $60 repairing the mechanics.

My main radio:
Image
Paid $500. Bought it with money I earned selling other radios. It's a highly sought-after model, and in a collector's market (read: once this damn recession is over) it's worth a bit over $1500.

The writing area:
Image
Here you can see Eva's typewriter (the No. 10, circa 1929), my home typewriter (the KMM, circa 1941... I also have a No. 10 at my office), and an SE/30. Paid about $50 apiece for each of those three things. And the desk is a 1930s writing desk I found at a yard sale in high school and refinished over the summer.

Our bed is an old waterbed frame with a normal mattress put on it:
Image
...a relatively inexpensive Craigslist find.

And, of course, there's the ruined radio I turned into a jukebox:
Image
It was built almost entirely out of old and discarded components.

Most of the things we get are secondhand, and not just because it's cheaper. It also reduces waste, and in many cases, older things were built better and are more easy to repair. I'd much rather have something well built that I can keep forever with maybe a few repairs down the road than something that have more features but will have to be thrown out and replaced in five or ten years.

And in case you couldn't tell, I kind of enjoy restoring, refinishing, and modifying things :wink:
User avatar
impetus
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 4566
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 2:32 pm
Location: Overland Park, KS
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by impetus »

I enjoy seeing you get this stuff and put it together. :kudos:
User avatar
Specially Cork
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11625
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2002 10:01 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Specially Cork »

I have absoslutely no interest in this sort of thing whatsoever, but I do enjoy the crazy misadventures of DMF.
Image
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

BoneyCork wrote:I have absoslutely no interest in this sort of thing whatsoever, but I do enjoy the crazy misadventures of DMF.
Watch us every Saturday. Same Bat time, same Bat channel.
User avatar
Nico0020
DCEmu User with No Life
DCEmu User with No Life
Posts: 3837
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2001 7:44 pm
Location: Fukuoka, Japan
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Nico0020 »

I remember watching a documentary or something about a guy who collected stuff like this. He was able to get a hold of a near perfect old television set. The actual unit worked I think was a projector that you had to open the top to view. Some parts still had to be replaced, and (at the time) it was actually able to pick up one channel. My only interest in very retro electronics is in typewriters. I need to buy one of those modified to work with USB!
*The Cadillac of signatures*
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Nico0020 wrote:I remember watching a documentary or something about a guy who collected stuff like this. He was able to get a hold of a near perfect old television set. The actual unit worked I think was a projector that you had to open the top to view. Some parts still had to be replaced, and (at the time) it was actually able to pick up one channel. My only interest in very retro electronics is in typewriters. I need to buy one of those modified to work with USB!
Engadget actually had an article the other day about a USB conversion kit.

What kind of typewriter are you looking for? I have two that I'm selling: a Royal Heritage III, which is a 1950s "portable" (latches to the inside of a suitcase-style carrying case) and is completely mechanical, and a more modern electric one from the 80s which has a one-line preview LCD, spell check, error correction, and a daisy wheel that you can swap out for different typefaces.

Also, is this the video you're talking about?

User avatar
Nico0020
DCEmu User with No Life
DCEmu User with No Life
Posts: 3837
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2001 7:44 pm
Location: Fukuoka, Japan
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Nico0020 »

looks similar, but was a longer video with the owner actually talking and explaining what he had done to it. I've never actually seen a typewriter with LCD spellcheck lol. I don't have the money as of now since I am having to save up for next semester but I may contact you down the line about the 50's portable.
*The Cadillac of signatures*
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Nico0020 wrote:looks similar, but was a longer video with the owner actually talking and explaining what he had done to it. I've never actually seen a typewriter with LCD spellcheck lol. I don't have the money as of now since I am having to save up for next semester but I may contact you down the line about the 50's portable.
Understandable; I remember all too well what that was like, especially the time I had to sell my GameCube for rent money and my roommates got me a new one for my birthday.

I'll see if I can get pictures of both posted next week.
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Bumping with new acquisitions. First up is a new radio, which I've now got working:

Image

It's not quite as good as my other radio, but it's got a very unique design, and I got a really good deal on it.

Next up is a fan I got because it gets stuffy at my office:

Image

I've also gotten an NES, a SNES, a Game Boy, and a large number of games for each.
User avatar
mankrip
DCEmu Ex-Mod
DCEmu Ex-Mod
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2001 5:12 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by mankrip »

DaMadFiddler wrote:Our bed is an old waterbed frame with a normal mattress put on it:
Image
...a relatively inexpensive Craigslist find.
So, you like to wear a hat and hold a book while having sex.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh mankrip Hell's end wgah'nagl fhtagn.
==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==
Dev blog / Twitter / YouTube
Image
Ex-Cyber
DCEmu User with No Life
DCEmu User with No Life
Posts: 3641
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2002 1:55 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Ex-Cyber »

Manoel wrote:So, you like to wear a hat and hold a book while having sex.
Don't knock it 'til you try it.
"You know, I have a great, wonderful, really original method of teaching antitrust law, and it kept 80 percent of the students awake. They learned things. It was fabulous." -- Justice Stephen Breyer
User avatar
DaMadFiddler
Team Screamcast
Team Screamcast
Posts: 7953
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:17 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Ex-Cyber wrote:
Manoel wrote:So, you like to wear a hat and hold a book while having sex.
Don't knock it 'til you try it.
NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

Image
User avatar
Eviltaco64X
DCEmu Ultra Poster
DCEmu Ultra Poster
Posts: 1778
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:12 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 5 times

Re: Fiddler Buys Something Old, Part 33 1/3 (Check My New TV!)

Post by Eviltaco64X »

I applaud your ability to track down stylish art deco electronics. Everytime I look into anything like that for sale, it's ridiculously overpriced.

At least auctions are great for that kind of thing, though.
Post Reply