A year after learning these simple radio circuits, I got my first vintage television, a 1963 Curtis Mathes.  It hardly played at all, but with a lot of reading and even more patience, I had it licked.  Over the years, I was finding more TV's. With repairing each set, I learned just a little bit more.

Since starting out with this hobby, I've found a lot of satisfaction in restoring these old sets to working condition.  Taking on the task of restoring an old set that's been dead for the past 3 or 4 decades can be somewhat challenging... especially if the chassis has multiple problems.  I feel that I am preserving a piece of our history.  It's like restoring a '65 Ford Mustang or a '69 Dodge Charger.  Like a classic car, these televisions can be restored well enough for daily use.  I watch my sets every day.  Also, these sets are great to look at even while turned off.  Years ago, a lot more time and effort went into the workmanship of television cabinets.  Back then, a television was a nice piece of furniture to have in the living room... unlike today's plastic "black-box" TV.

Picture tubes (CRT's) might need changing in TV's, but not always.  Sometimes I've pulled one picture tube from one set to put in another.  If a vintage color set has a weak picture tube, I can usually bring it to Dallas for rebuilding at a very reasonable price.  I also know a few other collectors that might have a tube if I need it.  In most cases, obtaining a replacement CRT is not as hard as it would seem for something so old.  Many of my sets still have the original CRT and work just fine.

Many times, sets can be found in pretty decent cosmetic condition.  They may need some cleaning and touching up, and other times they need to be stripped for refinishing.  I've found plenty with cabinets so bad that the set was only good for parts.  Now and then I've been lucky enough to find sets that only needed going over with furniture polish. 

How old does a set need to be for me to want it?  First of all, it needs to run on vacuum tubes.  All of the sets from the early days through the mid-60's were all tubes (with just a few exceptions).  Most sets from the late 60's to the early 70's had both tubes and transistors (known as hybrids).  By the mid-1970's, most all sets used only transistors (known as Solid-State).  For myself, my interest is mainly in pre-1970 TV sets.  I usually pass up any set made after 1970.

A good source of help and information is at AudioKarma.org.  There are several collectors there that share their experiences amongst each other.  There have been plenty of times in which I'd have a problem and someone at AudioKarma could give me the advise and insight I would need.  There's a great amount of knowlege to be found with these guys.  We also post photos of our finds.  Before and after shots of sets are usually quite impressive.  This site is also great if you have an interest in vintage audio.  There is a link below to this site.  Check it out.