Early Prewar TV, 1939 Television by RCA Victor, working TV

[seatboi]

OH WHAT A GORGEOUS SET! You are SO lucky! I bet it's a hoot to watch, huh?? The oldest set I have restored/owned/watched is a Dumont "doghouse" from 1947. How WONDERFUL to see a set almost TEN years OLDER working so perfectly! GREAT job! AWESOME video! THANKS for posting! :)

[Billybopper1]

That's funny! Such a tiny screen on such a huge console. I can just imagine the Waltons trying to watch a program on one of these. John Boy telling Jim Bob to get out of the way because he can't see. HA HA!

[seatboi]

@Billybopper1 I actually remember an episode of the Waltons where john boy gets an electrostatic TV kit & gets electrocuted trying to make it work! Anyone else remember this one??

[NP4Mayans]

@seatboi Yes! That was the last episode of the Waltons (which ran for about 12 years I think). Ironic that they ended with an episode with a TV. Their first episode showed them getting their radio, which also was seen during the theme song each time. I think it may have been intentional to end the last show with a TV set.

[albertusj]

OMG, the screen is tiny

[fromthesidelines]

Incidentally, there WERE several movies presented on W2XBS during 1939; but Hollywood already had a "hands off" attitude towards TV; the major studios would not allow RCA/NBC to telecast their more recent films, for fear they'd lure viewers away from the movie theaters they controlled. Channel 1 had to settle for "B-pictures" (from two to ten years vintage) from small indepenent studios that had gone out of business, or foreign films of more recent vintage [usually shown with no subtitles].

[fromthesidelines]

This model was the one that most viewers in New York had in their own homes in 1939 (about 500 of them), which enabled them to see RCA's experimental programs on W2XBS {now WNBC-TV}, which initially aired for about two hours a day (one in the afternoon, one at night), on different days of the week.

[jshorva65]

Excellent! Have the original paper capacitors been re-stuffed museum-style with modern film units or simply replaced under the chassis with film types, discarding the old paper shells? There is great risk of recurrence of leakage path formation with age via the old paper shells and wax end seals of re-stuffed paper capacitors unless some sealant other than wax (colored to match the old wax for appearance) is used instead. Some form of high dielectric strength hot-melt glue and dyes are suggested

[NP4Mayans]

@jshorva65 Old paper capacitors were stuffed with modern ones.

[NP4Mayans]

@jshorva65 Old paper capacitors were stuffed with modern ones for authenticity. Hopefully this old horse stays operational.

[Lampshade51]

Beautiful sets. Those 1939 RCA TV sets with their stunning art deco design.

Lucky you. Take good care of them. There are not many still left.

[psychoclown420]

AT first it looks so big, then a little small, then really small, then you realize it's part of a giant bunker of wood!! XD. but seriously though, does it have ports for RCA cables? if so then you should play modern warfare 2 on it!!

[NP4Mayans]

@psychoclown420 -- It does have TWO RCA inputs on the radio chassis. One is for the TV audio (TV Chassis is separate) and the other is for attaching a separate Phonograph. I have run modern things on it like MTV / VH1 videos, but it looks bizarre.

[psychoclown420]

i could only imagine it would, are you in the U.S? if so, did you ever get a converter box for it?

[NP4Mayans]

@psychoclown420 Sorry for my delayed response. Yes, I am in the US and do have a converter box; but early movies and cartoons look better on it so I use a VCR.

[MrClassicDoctorWho]

@psychoclown420 loool MW 2 would be GREAT on it!!!

[405liner]

Thanks. Great to see some suitable material on the screen. The TRK5 is surely the ultimate 'bulbous' television. My tongue is hanging out in lust. Anyway, greetings from across the pond! Over here I'm running a 1937 Marconiphone 702.

[BJSTV]

You have not only the TRK-5 but a TT-5 RCA Television of 1939. How FANTASTIC!!! I own the RCA TRK-12 Console 1939 TV set in my collection. Take a look at BJSTV. Finally another collector with a 1939 Television set !!!!

[NP4Mayans]

@BJSTV Just downloaded video of the TT-5 running, playing the opening theme to Astroboy. Just look at my downloads by clicking my user name.