MOTOROLA
model VT-71
7" Tabletop Television
circa 1949
The first video able to be produced on the 7" CRT after many hours of electrical restoration. This is a scene with Caesar Romero and Jackie Gleason in a movie featuring Glenn Miller and his Orchestra called "Orchestra Wives". Notice severe retrace lines, small picture height, and upper picture interference.
When the line voltage was first slowly applied to the fully recapped chassis, only a clear sound carrier was able to be heard through the TV's speaker with absolutely no signs of life on the CRT. Further investigation revealed a poor connection at the 1B3 High Voltage tube grid cap that appeared to have been a factory flaw. Once it was corrected, a pattern was produced on the CRT!
There is life after death!
These two pictures clearly show the absence of "retrace lines" that were eliminated with a blanking circuit modification. However, the upper portion of the picture is still being plagued with the newer technology for closed caption and other interference that is not evident on modern TV's. This better quality picture and full raster was soon plagued with vertical jitters and a shrinking height of picture after about 30 minutes of playing. Further development of the retrace mod will be needed to remedy this condition. Even with the slight problems of picture quality, nothing can diminish the great looks and sounds of 1940's hottie Marion Hutton!
After further repair of the "vertical hold" circuit and final installation of the blanking modification, a more stable picture is now being experienced. It has also now been observed that the stability remains after a 90-minute test period on the bench with only a slight hint of vertical jitters. It seems that this condition is somewhat inherent of the small 7" electrostatically deflected CRT's.
Further service will include alignment of the IF's and the front end. Once electrical restoration is completed, attention will turn to the cabinet for a complete repair and refinish.
This is the type of image you get when the IF's are misaligned. After the first attempt at TV alignment, this picture depicts the compression on the lower portion of the viewing area as well as a non-focused image.
Further alignment will be necessary.
With the cabinet fully restored and the chassis/CRT installed, the old Motorola is looking like a TV again. Here it is being monitored on the test bench. The pictures above depict the level gloss of the hand-rubbed lacquer finish and the vintage RCA O'scope's reflection in the top.
A set of custom labels were made for the "Channel 1" version of this set because they were unavailable commercially. The newer versions without channel 1 are made available through a couple of sources found on the internet.
The original emblem mounted on the lower front panel was broken and missing pieces. One was located, along with a good used plastic front panel, through the efforts and generosity of members at the "Antique Radio Forum".
After much more adjustment, alignment, and a few more component replacements, the picture now exhibits a clear and well-focused image.
Notice the image above is clearer than the one on the left, even when viewed through the plastic front panel. Here is a scene in a vintage Bob Hope movie where Bob is hiding in a large steamer trunk.
"Here's lookin' at you, kid."
Here's a fun picture of a vintage Zenith test pattern that is being injected into the TV with a B&K 1077B TV Analyst piece of test equipment. It looks a bit better in person than the picture depicts.