I have to go back in a couple of weeks, I may be able to get a short video on my phone, no promises, but I'll try.

A couple of short vids Caution they are large, and take a while to download
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3o06aodlg2...20629.mp4?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zwrpgzcn6...05988.mp4?dl=1

The retrace lines are not visible while watching

Thanks for sharing! That's been my dream TV since first seeing a photo of one as a young teen. The power tuning appears to be the same setup used on the 811K radio (and probably others). I have one (they're fairly common) & it's a great gimmick.

Thanks for the vids! So great to see it working. I would've loved to have seen a shot of the entire set with the screen on. Such an impressive machine to watch TV on! I see it has the ion burn, but it's not bad at all. The early post-war Dumont sets have this often too.
I wasn't aware that these had motorized tuning, but I did hear RCA put one of their best radios in these sets to further entice buyers. Likely the radios were on a lot more than the TV screens!
I have a 811K too bgadow. It's a very common console, but so underrated. It's a very nice Vassos design and about as good a player as you'll find in a '30's radio. By the way, I too was blown away at the first sight of the TRK-9 as a teen in a book about early television. It was number one on my list until I started to realize just how rare it is.
Again, thank you for the vids.

I'm glad the video came out ok, The sound was working better 2 weeks ago,
There are still some dirty contacts that need to be used to clean them up a little.

My friend is selling the TRK, is it ok to post the auction details?

Yes, please do. I don't think it violates any forum rules and these rarely come up for sale.

It is in this auction: https://www.auctionzip.com/Listings/4108531.html
The Item www.auctionzip.com/Full-Image/4108531/fp510.cgi
A few extra pictures
https://sites.google.com/view/1939rcatrk9/home

Better listing link
 

The auction is tomorrow

Went for $20k

$25K with fees. I like my '54 Zenith 43M20 better for that kind of cabbage.

Totally agree, I am a user and collector of "to me" cool and usable things, not so much for history and scarcity. I would've sold it,as I wouldn't want to use it for the problem of replacing the picture tube when it was worn out, and bought 20 cool things to tinker with for the money, but that is just me.

I feel really smart for deciding to focus on finding a TRK-12...Most surviving examples of any pre-war US set, and one of if not the largest CRT screen size from pre-war surviving...Then I waited for the roughest complete example and got a $850 water damaged set and restored it.

Now my pre-war itch is scratched(Well maybe a mechanical set would be cool but I never see complete ones for sale, and I've seen incomplete go for silly money) and I don't need another unless I stumble upon a real bargain.

Does the TRK 9 and 12 use the same TV electronics? Just curious.