I need advise on this RCA!
 

I am supposed to go get this today at 4. http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/clt/1077183858.html
I'm on a strict budget, is it worth it or should I pass? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Not a bargain, but not out of line. Unfortunately the real desision-swinging factors (CRT, tranny, flyback) are unknown. It's up to you.

That seems a bit high . I bought one just like that last year for 25 bucks . Wound up giving to a kid who just got into this hobby .

You could see if they will let you check the crt and see if the flyback looks burnt and maybe make an offer since they want so much for it.

Thanks guys! I'll go check it out but not necessarily buy it. If she'll hold it a day, I'll come back with a CRT tester. I wish I would have brought it today but I was in a rush.

It's a RCA model 8-T-241.

It looks in very nice shape but as the others have said it is not worth the price unless you know the CRT is good.

If you can't bring along a CRT tester at least bring a ohm meter to see if the CRT filament is good.

In a pinch, a trick to see if the transformer is good is to remove the rectifier tubes and plug the set. If all tubes light the transformer is good but I do not ever recommend plugging something in without a variac!

Well, I just got back. It is a POS. The pictures don't show the smashed corner on the front of the cabinet and delamination from it. It is overall kinda beat up with rust on the chassis in some spots and most labels are missing. CRT appears to be original. I told her I could come back tomorrow with a CRT tester and she got kinda impatient and said I won't be here at 4 tomorrow. Soooo....that's that. I'll wait for something better. Thanks for all the input, you guys are the best!

I know it's tough to walk away from something like this...but given your description, I would walk, too. I have one of these and I probably have too much invested in it...thing is, I bartered some tubes and electronic "clutter" for it so it was painless. I also have the same model, year newer I think. One of them has a bad crt. Same kinda condition as this one.

I have an 8-T-241 that I found in the basement of my first apartment in Chicago in 1980. Its cabinet is rotten on the back bottom area, and I have still never done any work on the set. These RCAs must have got abused a lot back in their time.

I can attest to that. Our family really abused our 6T74 RCA.
Bill Cahill

8-T-241s are still almost in the "dime a dozen" category around here. I bought a couple for ten or twenty bucks apiece as I came across them a few years back and I've since passed on several more (I mean, how many 8-T-241s does one person need anyway? And they're heavy!) I can hardly ever bring myself to part out a set, but at least one of them is just rough enough that I've come to think of it as a nice storage case for the 10BP4!

--Dave