|
My 1956 Philco has had a brightner for over 20 years. I have posted on this set before so I will try to be brief. I bought the set in 1982 or 3 at the Goodwill, which by the way at that time was a modern day collectors dream. Back then there was stacks of 50's Black and white sets and many color roundies all the time. Many of these sets were commonly used up to that time and were just getting discardable. My Dad worked at a Sears Roebuck catalog store then and it was right next to the ONLY Goodwill I had ever seen. Now they are everywhere. Anyhow my Dad's job allowed me to keep an eye on the cool junk store.
Anyway my Philco cost $10 and gives good service TO THIS DAY with no recap. Only an occasional tube and once back in the 80's we sent it to the shop for a resistor that had caused the sound to become problematic. I guess my being young at the time gave me a premature eye for the nostalgia and pure beauty of the old sets.
As far as my Philco's use goes I used it daily from when I purchased it until 1986. Then I went in the Army until almost 1990 so the set was dormant. When I got out I used it only part time and had upgraded to a Zenith color roundie with remote control. Still good stuff, even then. Even then I was amazed with the reliability of the Philco and had grown attached to it. The 50's sets were getting rarrer by the early 90's. Then there was no internet in everyones home (or room) like now and I feel like its popularity opened new doors to finding old sets. For the most part we don't think of 50's sets as being "rare" now because there are a lot of them out there and we now have an instant way to locate nearly anything we want.
Back to the point after leaving the folks house the Philco remained dormant again until around 1994 or 5 after I had bough my own home. All the rest of the time I have played the set for an hour or so 3 or 4 times a year. At this point its like I am playing some kind of game trying to see how long a television can last without restoration. If Philco were still a company they would probably want to purchase it back to put in their archives, or a museum.
So, a brightner is NOT a death sentence. I think people get the wrong idea when it comes to brightner's. What it really means when you find a set with a brightner is that the set has a lot of hours of use and the crt has weakened with age and has lower emission. It would be somthing to consider in purchasing a set because you will eventually need a replacement tube but again not a death sentence.
My old set finally has gotten so it takes a good 5 minutes to become viewable in a lit room. Also the picture gets silvery looking when you play with the brightness control. Still in all the set still does its job. Funny the more I use the old thing the better the picture seems to get. It may outlive me and is almost 15 years older than I am......
|