Returned from my trip to NY with halo light...

[Carmine]

As promised in other threads, I have returned from NY. Since there wasn't much reason for me to drive the longer US route, I went through Canada. My girlfriend and I had a nice mini-vacation to Niagara falls.



The people selling the set were very nice, and thankfully had the good sense to put it on craigslist before kicking it to the curb.



It's not a very good cell phone picture, but it's complete and good cosmetically. Obviously works.

None of the border agents seemed to care much about the reason we were traveling, at least until Port Huron, re-entering the US...

"Purpose of your trip to Canada?"

"We drove through to purchase a TV in New York State."

"What kind of TV requires you to drive to NY?"

"Um, it's an old TV."

"Why would anybody want that?"

Now how am I supposed to answer that question? I said "it's a hobby", but he just looked at me weird. I'm supposed to explain to this 18 y/o who looks like he just reached level-4 in some idiot video game "WHY" I'd want an old TV? But he has the badge and gun...

He then asked if I collected anything else. I was going to say "Dead hookers", but thought better of it and just said "cars". That seemed to satisfy him that I was a red-blooded American, and he waived me though.

[Tube TV]

Some people think that a television collection is stange . some almost think your nuts , and they remind you that it's black and white . Then I tell them I also collect vintage cars and antique appliances and in my kitchen I have 3 stoves and 2 refrigerators . and also use a wood cook stove daily that is 96 years old . then they really thik im nuts .
I say as long as your having fun , that's the main thing .

Nice Halo light , Im looking forward to seeing more pics .
Its great to know that it isn't going to be someones fish tank .

[Sandy G]

Great save, Carmine ! An' it WORKS ! Does the "halo" work too ? Couldn't tell from the pic....

[Dan Starnes]

yup, great save!!!
Dan

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by Tube TV

Some people think that a television collection is stange . some almost think your nuts

I havent ever heard this mentioned but it is quite true. I have NEVER understood why TV's seem to be the outcast of a country where there are antique malls and flea markets full of supposed collectables. A lot of what I see is way more ridiculous than an old TV. Better than a die cast model car, better than stupid comic books and sports cards and action figures, much cooler than a set of Elvis bar stools. As far as antiques I would rather have a nice old TV to entertain me than a piece of old furniture, a rug, a clock, or a lamp.

But you still get that "OH" when you tell someone you collect and restore old TVs. I often wonder what the married to single ratio is in our culture. Probably leaning toward single, or better yet DIVORCED. I wonder what the taboo is. I don't think is has anything to do with the black and white picture although a lot of the current spoiled generation would rather not watch ANY TV that watch a black and white. If you have to move to change the channel, forget it. I couldnt give away a 19" color set that worked perfect to a friends teenage son because it had a turret tuner. Funny I dont remember it being any big deal to get up and change the channel. Then again we only had 4 or 5 and we would kind of just go by the TV guide. Now that might have been a workout if we had 200+ channels and had to channel surf like we do now. Hey maybe they should bring back a tuning knob to cut down on teenage obesity....

[Tube TV]

It is strange on the lack of acceptance of TV collecting ,
When you think about anique radio's pre and post war sets , there is a large following of collectors , lots of sets still around , and it is accepted as a collection .
In my area vintage TV's are scarce , if you collected TV's that were old , you were more of a junk collector , or someone who was interested electronics . Untill I got on the internet , I had not heard of anyone ever collecting or serviceing vintage televisions .
To this day I am suprised that a early TV is not kept around like a old radio is . Especially when you think that these sets were some of the first ones going into homes , and at the time everyone had spent alot for them .
But at least there are some of us out there .

[Sandy G]

Yeah, people come over here 'n' see all the old One-Eyed Monsters starin' back at 'em, they start checkin' to see if they have clear access to the exit door....Then I start tellin' about them, this one-the 7" Bakelite Admiral-was the 1st TV in town, or this one-the TV-37 Pilot-was the 1st TV under $100, & so on, they start thinkin' its maybe, just maybe kinda kewl...

[RetroHacker]

Originally Posted by Carmine

"Purpose of your trip to Canada?"

"We drove through to purchase a TV in New York State."

"What kind of TV requires you to drive to NY?"

"Um, it's an old TV."

"Why would anybody want that?"

Hehe. I have had some similar experiances. As well as old TV's and radios, I collect old computers. Twice in the last couple of months I've drivin to Canada to pick up some computer equipment. The first time I was coming back with my haul - a Burroughs B80 minicomputer from 1978. The entire back of the Chevy Venture was full - the system unit is the size of an office desk. A massive power supply (like a 30" cube) wedged in behind the driver's seat such that I had to be squished forward the entire ride. A disk rack wedged in behind the passenger seat, and massive thick cables stacked on top of it all. It must have looked really weird to see this van loaded down from the customs office there. On top of that, I was nervous - the first time I'd dealt with bringing anything back from Canada like this. The customs officer was really puzzled, and curious why someone would collect old computers. He seemed fascinated why anyone would want to fix up and play with such old equipment. I talked to him for a few minutes on the joys of collecting computers, and explained what my machine was. He peered into the back more closely, he could probably just barely make out the printing console poking up in the dark. The thing that I think conviced him was when I said "It's like the geek equivilent of collecting and restoring old cars".

The second time, I had a load of DEC and Sun gear. The passenger seat had a 21" monochrome monitor seat-belted to it, with a VT100 terminal on the floor. The back was loaded to the roof with hardware, a Unibus chassis was directly behind the headreast - good thing I didn't have to slam on the breaks... This customs officer was also intrigued, and was very nice, he was really interested in the whole idea of collecting old computers. He was very nice, and asked the "Where do you keep it all?" question. He seemed genuinely interested.

So, from my experience, the customs guys are very nice if you just talk to them honestly and nicely. And comparing your insanity to collecting old cars is a good way to get people to understand.

Although it seems to be very hard to get people to comprehend collecting old television sets -

"What do you do with them?"
- I fix them up and get them working again.

"Then what? What do you do after you fix them?"
- Watch them.

And that won't satisfy most people. They don't get it. For so many people, a collection or hobby has to be something that gets more valuable, or something that I sell. They just don't get that for people like me, the joy of bringing something old back to life and using it just doesn't make any sense. It's hard. Some people just never get it.

-Ian

[hposter]

Hey Carmine,

You got lucky coming home!

About 4 years ago, I went up to Canada, and came home with a small box truck full of Tvs--maybe 20 or 30.

I approached Customs on Friday eve, around 3 PM. Customs pulled me over, asked about the load, and after peaking into the truck, made me pull over.

Their solution--I'd need to get a written letter from each TV manufacturer (even the defunct ones), which said there was nothing dangerous in any of the televisions! I could get a hotel room in Canada, until Every letter was presented to the Customs agents. This, and every TV set was made in the USA, and just returning to the USA, after all those years!!

Frantically I went inside, to find a bunch of Broker's offices. One woman-broker was staying late, and she felt sorry for me, so for a few hundred dollars (when US $ were worth something), she drafted a report which said her Brokerage firm would stand behind the imports.

Needless to say, I arrived home after a big scare, knowing all future imports would go through trucking firms, FedEx or similar.

It was harrowing for a bit, but those two TRK-12's, and a couple dozen post-war 10" TVs, were very happy to come home with me.


Yep, I think you got back into the USA, easily!

Happy New Year! --- Harry

[wajobu]

Cool TV!

[fsjonsey]

That is one slick looking set. That sylvania is the nearest any other manufacturer came to making something close to the predicta in terms of design, in my opinion.

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by fsjonsey

nearest any other manufacturer came to making something close to the predicta in terms of design, in my opinion.

The 1957 Teleavia from France was similar. I photographed this one at the French Museum for Modern Art in Paris.

The German Wega company made a 1956 TV that looks like a Predicta tabletop, only with different knobs and a boxier CRT enclosure.

I almost bought a Teleavia a couple of years ago, but I like to restore and use things that I buy, and of course these are incompatible with US standards. Given the expense and risk of shipping from Europe, I decided not to buy it as a shelf queen, no matter how glamorous.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html