We must take revenge on these video heathen infidels! Someone should go to the pet store, buy a fish tank, and turn it into a TV.

Things are pretty stable in New York City. WCBS channel 2 was always CBS, WNBC channel 4 was always NBC, and WABC channel 7 was always ABC. The fact that the networks owned these stations I think had something to do with it... :scratch2: :D

If you check the UHF option in that eBay listing, notice the channel numbers clearly shown on the dial scale. The set in question does not have those but has a "dummy" panel there like the ones they used to put in car dashboards if you didn't have the radio or clock. We had a neighbor back in '53 who had one of the first TV's in our neighborhood and it did have the UHF tuner in from the factory and the dial scale looked just like the one on auction. When you switched the turret tuner to UHF between 2 and 13, the dial light on the UHF tuner came on.

While I'm personally against any kind of re purposing of vintage sets , I can totally understand why it happens .

I have a nearly mint condition 1950 Olympic 12" tabletop TV that I tried to sell recently for half of what I paid for it , only to be told by all of the "serious collectors" :rolleyes: that it is a trash brand and not worth even the $100 I was asking (yea , I paid $200 for it back when the economy was good) . Now , bear in mind that this TV has the original finish in a condition that it looks like it was in perfect storage for the last 40 years and has a nice strong 12LP4 . Even the original fiberboard back is still present . But , nonetheless , the "collectors" took great pleasure in telling me just how undesirable my "junk" is , and so I may just run a chainsaw through it and put it on You tube just to hear the continued wailing of these "collectors" who thought it SO funny to belittle my "trash brand" TV .

HMMM , Fishtank .... Chainsaw ...... A close toss up , but at least all the "serious collectors" won't have to worry about this pile of crap ending up in , GOD FORBID , Their collections :thumbsdn:

What the heck are you talking about ? I don't recalling reading anyone "trash talking" your set. If you're close to me, I might go for it.

Hi B Anderson ,

Oh yea , they trash talked it alright . I wish I had saved screenshots of the things that were said . Here I thought I was saving a decent old TV all these years , only to come to find out that due to who the manufacturer was , it's undesirable to anyone . I realize that I paid too much , that don't bother me , what's spent is spent . But I always thought some collector would enjoy a TV built pretty much like most of the others of the same time period . It's funny , people fall all over Muntz TVs , which are supposed to be the most shoddily built of them all , and turn their noses up at something like this Olympic . I'll admit , my primary interest in old electronics is Radios , and not TVs , and so I havn't much use for this in my collection . I will say , I have NEVER told someone that their old radio is "trash" , just based upon the nameplate . Yea , in case your wondering , it DID anger me the response I got , and thus the understanding that some , unwanted "trash" brands , just very well may end up as a fishtank . I don't like it anymore than any of you do , but my Olympic provides the textbook example . If both this forum and ARF could offend a collector such as myself whose been in the hobby close to 50 years , imagine how the newb feels who finds an old set , thinks they have something worthwhile , only to be gleefully told how much of a piece of junk it is . Is it any wonder why MORE sets don't end up re purposed , as their owners are told their value lies in scrap ?

BTW , the TV is in eastern Massachusetts , but I don't really expect you or anyone else to be beating a path to my door .......

If I were near you I would gladly pay 200 dollars for your cute Olympic TV. I really don't understand how people could consider such a nice piece to be trash. I paid MUCH more for my Philco Predicta, and I believe that 200 dollars for a 1950 working TV is a VERY good price.

Actually, it is that it's an Olympic that interests me. I've never seen one around here.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, I went through all your posts here and didn't see anyone talking your set down so I can't comment on that.

Your set is well worth $100 with a good CRT, I have a couple Olympics in my collection and they are well built sets, it true they are not high on the collectors food chain but they are still worth having.

there are all different levels of collectors, some only want Pre-War, some only want Post War from 1946-1948, some people only want specific brands like DuMont, or National and sometimes people can be snobbish about it.

Sometimes you just can't sell something because there's just no one near you who is interested but that doesn't mean it's not worth anything.

Tube chart on philco says 21ZP4 , That is a nice olympic , don't believe its trash

mike

I saw a empty 16" blond GE console cabinet at the G/W yesterday. They had it marked $49.99. There was a note attached saying, it could be used as a fish tank, etc. The cabinet was a little beat. :sigh:

I have a Olympic Duplicator which was used as a monitor by Hotel chains in the last 1940s. I would think any tv brand supplying commercial enterprises: bars, hotels, bus stations would have to be reliable for use all day everyday use when the common home use for tvs was weekends and evenings. I think the associated history of different manufacturers and models plays a lot into my collector experience. I can remember putting quarters into a tv at super-8 motels then years later putting a deposit on the remote at front desk and tvs not having any knobs. I like my Olympic TV.

Richard

The part that kills me the most about fishtanking is that , besides destroying a vintage TV , they would almost HAVE to make a lousy fishtank ! I have had several aquariums over the years (I'm too old now for all of the upkeep required) and I would never put an aquarium in a box where ya loose visibility of all but the forward facing side . Beyond that , I know how fish tanks can get a bit stinky if your not 100% on the upkeep , and the thought of a box of moldy wood in the living room would be enough for me to nix the idea right from the start . I had a 150 gallon salt water setup , and there aren't many TVs that would have fit inside , except maybe one of the "aircraft carrier" sets from the 60s .

There is a reason why fish tank supply stores sell nice stands for the tanks to sit on . This reason becomes crystal clear once ya see a couple of these hacked "custom enclosures" . So there ya have it , from a former aquarium owner and present day tube radio collector , a fishtanked TV would be my last , Last , LAST choice , in fact , I wouldn't have a tank at all if the only one available was a hacked antique TV ....

The chassis was missing already. Looks like it was for ages.
It was of no consequence forty years ago, as there was so many of them around.
The next two generations are going to ask what happened to the CRT TV's that are common today. :sigh:

Yes, to all of the above.

I also kept several aquariums years ago. A TV aquarium is such an awful idea that I have to think most fishtankers are either:

-- People who have never had an aquarium before and don't understand the practical aspects

or

-- People trying to sell something who don't care whether or not it's a sensible setup.

Phil Nelson