[OKDXA] 'Scuze Me While I Brag For A Moment...

Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:44:59 -0600

Nelson,

Glad ur so handy with the vintage stuff. You can help me with a recent
unbuilt Heathkit Ebay purchase....

W5ATV

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nelson Derks" <[email protected]>
To: "OKDXA Mail Reflector" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 1:41 PM
Subject: [OKDXA] 'Scuze Me While I Brag For A Moment...

>
> I must be suffering from HamFest deprivation... And those of you who know
me
> will recall that I only brag on the good deals, rarely on the oinkers.
>
> Yesterday I had the urge to scrounge so I wandered over to the Goodwill
> store near 145th E Ave and 91st St in Broken Arrow. They have a very small
> section devoted to electrical items so the pickings are slim, but I've
been
> looking for a cheap VCR to use as a stereo TV tuner. They had four in the
> $20 range, and one was a Sylvania marked with "19 Micron Heads" on the
> cassette door flap. Hmmm... That usually indicates a JVC machine. Of all
the
> VHS machines, it's my opinion that JVC tends to make the best of the bunch
> with SONY a close second.
>
> Walked it up front to find they were having a storewide sale, so it went
out
> the door for $15 plus tax. I then wandered over to the Salvation Army
Family
> Store on 91st near Elm, exactly a mile away. They have a much larger
> electronics section and among the new arrivals was a SONY KV-1928 TV set
> marked 'As Is, $39.95". The label on the back told me it was built in
> January of 1980 and the KV-19xx series was the line that put SONY firmly
in
> the lead as 'most desirable among TV manufacturers. This particular set
had
> one broken foot under the cabinet (easy fix) and was a bit dirty, but
> appeared to be a higher-end model that would clean up FB.
>
> Now, remember this is not a stereo set, not cable ready, has no A/V ins or
> outs, and is old enough to have separate UHF and VHF antenna ports. Its
only
> claim to modernity is electronic tuning. The Salvation Army store was also
> having a sale and at 25% off that made it a $30 TV. I offered $25 and got
> it. Neither of the two pieces came with their remote controls.
>
> The VCR plays and records like a champ and does respond to a JVC remote
> control. Suspicions confirmed. The tuner is crisp and the AFT is spot-on,
> but the big surprise came when I popped an S-VHS tape in the slot. It
played
> perfectly. Only a JVC will do that, and only their newer models have that
> feature. Since I'm an S-VHS kinda' guy, that was a nice bonus. The machine
> cleaned up to near-mint appearance and got a quick clean & lube on the
> innards. It's a keeper.
>
> As for the TV... It also cleaned up well and will need a slight tweak on
the
> convergence controls. Seeing a little red-green fringing in the center of
> the picture, which... Otherwise... Is bright, sharp and tracks grey scale
> perfectly. That's a sign of a CRT that's still in its prime. Also, for
those
> of you with an eye for video, remember when the SONY's made good pictures
> out of weak signals, had near zero color noise, perfect timing between the
> luminance and chroma channels, plus zero ringing in the picture? Yeah...
> It's like that, and reminded me why that was one of SONY's best series.
> Electrically, the set is extremely well preserved and easy on the eyes.
The
> newer sets are slightly sharper and more vibrant on saturated colors, but
> the digitally enhanced models don't have the same level of subtlety in
their
> grey scale rendition and tend to look a bit too 'processed' at times. At
> nearly 24 years old, this one has nothing to apologize for.
>
> Bottom Line: If you're a 'junker' this is a good time of year to visit
your
> local second-hand shop. Those who are looking for a charitable deduction
> have until the end of the year to clean house, so the junk is coming in
> NOW...
>
> Disclaimer: I also picked up a SONY AM/FM headset radio for a paltry $2
> that's heading for the trash. It plays, but with all the selectivity and
> sensitivity of a crystal set... The AM side is particularly bad as a local
5
> kW station can be heard in the background no matter where I tune.
>
> Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It's just like a HamFest... If
> someone had told me ten years ago that I'd score a primo VCR / TV combo
for
> $40 while killing time on a Saturday afternoon I'd have told them they
were
> nuts. Plug the VCR audio into a stereo, run the TV through the VCR RF out,
> buy a cheap universal remote, and I could have a pretty damned nice cable
> ready stereo TV setup. (!)
>
> - 83 minus the square of 3 de AC5UP
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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