Dumont Ra 108

[wiseguy]

there is one of these on e-bay,it is about 40 mins from me..i think im gunna bid on this,but what screen size is this?and is it common for the crt's to go bad? this would be my first dumont to recap..
link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...2934&rd=1&rd=1

[El Predicta]

I have the next year's model-1950 (or 51). These weigh a ton, well built inside and out. Not hard on picture tubes. Once recapped ( and there are dozens) and gone over, you will have a set that will last another 50+ years.

Larry in Mesquite, Tx.

[Tubejunke]

If you can drive and pick it up I say bid on this beauty and you will have something very special. I always brag on these sets as being the cutting edge of television technology at the time. Yes, very well built and YES, very heavy. DuMont must have even used premium capacitors because this set evidently is in near working condition as is, no restoration work. One reason I say this about the caps is the RA-109A that I bought in the 80's would fire up with no cap replacement. That was over 20 yeas ago and the sets were already 30 years old. My old sets original condition was exactly the same. Good raster, good sound, no video signal. The CRT should be a 19AP4 which is another very unique aspect of these sets. These CRTs were of metal and glass construction. Hard to imagine but true. The bad side is I have heard that some have a vacuum leak problem. Mine didnt and this set doesent as it has a bright raster.

I had to give my set away as it was to big for my house and too hard to move. I hated seeing it become a rats nest out in my shed so it went about 6 years ago. The caps at least in the HV section finally went out as I fired the old thing up before I let it go and no longer had a raster after a good sizzle came from below the HV section. I hope the guy that got it gave it a proper restoration or at least a better home.

One key factor with these sets I believe is that you pretty much had to be rich to afford one of these when new. I feel as if the owners took good care of them and being kind of an investment (almost as much as a small car) the owners kept them in good, dry storage after the set got likely replaced by a color set in the early 60's.

My friend you have found treasure! Go for it.......