Finally found my TV. But...

[rojoknox]

Greetings from FixitLand!

I am following this thread with interest. Like Dave S., my "first TV" in 1970 was a 1953 Motorola (in my case, a 17F13 radio-TV-phono in the limed-oak cabinet; TV Chassis TS-401) given me by family friends. The phono in that rig was a funky triangular-shaped unit with a large record-support shelf that slid in and out for different-sized records. Unfortunately, the radio chassis and speaker had been removed; getting the set operational again was daunting for a 15-year-old! (Had to learn about "electro-dynamic speakers.") But the TV did play again, and ran until 1975 when I parted it out (wish I hadn't now! but I likely still have most of the tubes). Had a visible ion burn, but no brightener. The picture tube was a 17LP4 cylindrical-face tube, and it did seem to have a slightly wider pic than other tubes of its size. It's a touch more rectangular than most of its contemporaries. My Zenith K1846R has the same tube. The set was purchased new in the Portland, Oregon area, and at that time the only channel available here was KPTV Ch. 27, so it had a factory UHF tuner (which I never got to use, since Ch. 27 merged with KLOR Ch. 12 in 1958 and UHF went dark in Portland until 1982). The VHF tuner was wafer-switch-style rather than the turret type. High-voltage cage is built into the chassis rather than sitting proud on top of the chassis as with most sets. The set also uses selenium rectifiers, so beware...<grin!>

Good luck with your search...

J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"